6 Thoughts
1) Well, that will do it. Miami played tough, showed grit, got down 21 in the third quarter and battled back to within 3 in the fourth quarter, but in the end the Celtics were a better team than Miami. Bigger, stronger, more good players. It's been a long, long season. Let's do what we do one last time...
2) Okay, we don't want to be all weepy, but we have to say it one more time for two guys. Dwyane Wade - he was great again, 31 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds. But he was just "normal great," not "mind-bendingly great," and in this series "normal great" was not enough. Don't know if Dwyane will be here next year, or somewhere else, but either way, he is almost certainly going to be playing with players who can give him more help than he received this year. He's got two, three more years at his peak, probably - it would be nice to see him get to make one more championship run. Always love Dwyane Wade, no matter where he is playing.
3) The other guy, of course, Udonis Haslem. If the Heat were like, "look, we could sign someone better and win more games, or we can re-sign Udonis and not be as good," I'm probably going for the "Udonis-not-as-good" option. As the season wound down, it has become clear to me that he is my favorite basketball player of all-time, for the reasons cited over and over in this blog. Beyond that, he's not just from Miami; he is Miami. We have Hispanic guys in Miami - that's one thing; we've got black dudes in Miami - that's UD; and we have white guys in Miami - mostly old Jews. I mean, that's just how we do it! And, by the way, it's the coolest city ever - partially because we have all different types of dudes. It's like this for UD, though: Dwyane Wade belongs to basketball fans everywhere; Udonis belongs to Miami. To see him come here in another team's uniform will be heartbreaking - I might have to skip that game. Frankly, it seems almost pointless to play a season if we don't have him. But I guess that's how life is. Doesn't seem fair, though...
4) Don't even want to be negative, but Mike Beasley didn't get to play in the second half. He earned his way off the court with a terrible first half with 2 points in 14 aimless minutes. Also, sported maybe the worst set of braids in the history of black people - a sort-of modified-Chris-Bosh-bunched-on-top-spilling-loose-in-back abomination. M.Minutos and I spent a good 8 minutes debating whether it was a mistake where he started to take the braids out, and then messed it up, and just had to leave it, or whether it was on purpose. In the end, I had to defer to her braiding expertise - she decided it was deliberate. If you are Coach Spo, and you get on the team bus for the ride to the arena, and you see that - you just have to shake your head. Not sure thinking up and executing that hairdo was a really focused use of time. If you were giving grades for the season, Mike probably earned a D-. I mean, he made it to all the games, he didn't get kicked off the team, so we should probably pass him. But if you gave him an F, it would be tough to argue. He is so passive - just hasn't learned to play with force - as M.Minutos pointed out, that's a problem, because the description is right there in the name of his position: he's a power forward...There have been a lot of rumors over the past week that Miami will try to trade Mike - hard - into someone else's cap space at the end of the season. That is, essentially just give him to another team - maybe even with a future first round pick as a sweetener - so they are not obligated to the 5 million he is due next season. If they do that, they will have the most salary cap room in the NBA this offseason - they would be able to sign Wade, two other maximum salary guys, and still have 6 million left over. Trading Mike and signing two max players isn't likely - but I guess it is worth a try. Hang in there, Mike. Try to get your mind right, hopefully with a fresh start somewhere new. I'll be rooting for you.
5) To end the season, we thought we would do some quick word associations with M.Minutos. By the way, we woke her up to do this. Some explanations in parentheses.
Jax: "Carlos Arroyo, rolling the 'r's'"
Eric Reid: "loyal" (freaky - same word flashed into my mind)
Tony Fiorentino: "Sacramento" (the one place he seems to despise)
Jermaine O'Neal: "number 7" (classic halftime piece early in the season when Jermaino explained that once, when he changed numbers, 'people' couldn't get used to him wearing a new number - in Casa Dos, earned the obligatory "and by 'people,' he means 'Jermaine O'Neal'" comment; a few days later, another Heat player, I forgot who, was explaining how weird it is when a guy changes numbers, and says, "like when Jermaine O'Neal changed numbers, I just couldn't get used to it;" Jermaino won't be back next year, and it was weird having him on the Heat for a season and a half - but he did what he could...Good luck, Jermaino!)
Quentin Richardson: "The Pres"
Coach Spoelstra: "he doesn't have any personality outside of the Heat" (by the way, M.Minutos meant that as a vague compliment, not a criticism at all)
Dorell Wright: "penis" (hey - he put it on the intra-net)
Joel Anthony: "natural butterfingers" (literally - literally - there have been hundreds of variations of this joke told in Casa Dos over the past two season: "that would have been a great pass, Dwyane, if you hadn't thrown it to a guy who naturally secretes butter out of his pores")
Mike Beasley: "the fro lives!" (Eric Reid's exclamation on a thunderous Mike Beasley follow-dunk during the one game this year he let the hair out - also the one game O. and P.Minutos attended this season)
Emcee Chalmers: "fouling"
Udonis Haslem: "Mr. Heat"
Dwyane Wade: "Flash"
6) No jokes, or long, gay signoffs. Basketball is huge in Casa Dos - we all love it. I mean, we all love it, if you completely exclude P.Minutos, who plays his own little league hoop games with the general intensity of an almost-6-year-old who could absolutely care less about organized sports of any kind. Or, Mike Beasley. But, besides that, everyone loves it. If you took the time to check this out once in a while, that kind of makes you family. But, like, don't come to my house without advance warning, or anything. Thanks to everyone who read, and especially everyone who took the time to write back at us. Always funny - and somewhat creepy - to realize quite a few people were reading this every game. May be back next year, may not. Don't know.
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Keep your minds right.
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