6 Thoughts
1) In fairness, no Nash. But, the Heat bounced back from their worst performance of the season to absolutely hammer this team. Without Nash this team isn't very good, but still, a young team on the road, after a blowout loss...good bounceback. The Suns have no backup point guard, which is troublesome against Miami because they can only compete by turning you over. Chalmers wreaked havoc with ball pressure, 5 steals, and numerous offense-disrupting deflections. I thought it was arguably his best game of a promising rookie season.
2) Wade, of course, was ridiculous. He essentially took the second half off against the Blazers and rested, but poured it all out tonight, with 43 on 24 shots, and 6 assists as well. There are maybe two or three guys: LeBron, Kobe, DWade who, when they get matched up against an old buddy, who burned his way out of town a year earlier, you can be pretty confident you are going to get a big night out of them. Wade dunked, made jumpers, did whatever he wanted, and carried a smirk on his face the whole time. No one can do that every night - but I am pretty sure he can do it any night they face Shaq. He went in to Shaq's new condo and embarrassed him, although he said all the right things before and afterwards.
3) Speaking of the Big Guy, it was a quiet night. He played 29 minutes and his line would indicate an efficient performance: 12 points on 6-8, with 9 rebounds, and only 1 turnover. But it was hardly that. First of all, the Suns wasted a ton of possessions early trying to figure out how to get it in low. Miami was fronting and backing Shaq, and he doesn't move side-to-side, so there were several turnovers - not on Shaq - trying to jam it in there. Miami used that to get up 15 early, and stayed up all night. Shaq couldn't get a lot of touches - against Joel Anthony and Udonis Haslem, hardly the biggest or toughest post defenders in the league. Shaq's baskets mostly came off penetrations when guys came off him and he scored easy hoops. As evidence, he didn't shoot a single free throw, and didn't get force Miami to foul him, sending them in to the penalty early, which was always one of the huge benefits of having real Shaq. Phoenix shot 11 free throws all night, which is pitiful against a tiny Miami team. Defensively -my goodness. Phoenix doesn't even pretend to guard the pick and roll, both defenders just sag and allow and the open 15 footer, generally. Shaq came out with about 7 minutes to go and they didn't bring him back because they can't stops with him on the court. Why Terry Porter thinks the way to play is to force the ball in to Shaq, I have no idea. ESPN.com had an article today with Antoine Stoudamire complaining about his role in the offense. Are there any other out-of-shape, overweight centers they can move New 'Toine for? Eddy Curry? I think this franchise is going the wrong, wrong way.
4) The Spo switched up tonight and started Joel Anthony, benching Beasley. Going for a little more size, and they jumped out early, so it turned out to be a great move. Beasley looked lost out there when he did get in there. He is incredibly skilled - tonight it seemed he didn't come to play hard. I mean, if you are a rookie, you should at least play hard. He looks like he is thinking out there a little, instead of just playing.
5) Jamal Magloire is active. Jamal Magloire is active. Two rebounds in 2 minutes, stuffed himself on the bottom the rim, got it back, got fouled, made a free throw, then lasered the second one off the backboard. Promising beginning, sort of. One good thing for Jamal - making his debut against Shaq made him appear relatively svelte. He should pretend he is hurt again until they play Eddy Curry.
6) I want no part of Marbury. Still, though The Captain will accuse me of being pro-labor, I think the Knicks are not acting in good faith. By all accounts, by their account, Marbury showed up in shape, ready to play, and has been on good behavior. Then, after publicly declaring that he had no plans to play him, Mike D'Antoni has asked him on a couple of occasion if he wanted to play; Marbury has opted not to. This time, seemingly because the Knicks were down to only two guards because of injuries and the LeBron oh-'10 Swap Meet they are conducting they were aggravated and suspended him. If they ask him to play, why can't he say "no?" All NBA parties on ESPN's coverage tonight seemed to agree that the financial penalty the Knicks have imposed will never stand up. Not that it matters...The Knicks certainly have the right to yank the guy around, fine. He is a pain in the butt, and I am sure they resent that, and his relatively poor play for them the last couple of years (though Plumber still loves him). But to make the guy's life miserable, for no reason, seems ridiculous. As ridiculous as him. If that is the standard they want to meet, I would challenge them to set the bar a little higher. The only possible defense is that they need his contract to make a deal come deadline time. But that seems like the most remote of possibilities, since they are obviously unwilling to take on any salary in pursuit of LeBron or Wade or Bosh.
If he is bought out, I am not sure whether the Heat would pursue him. Before the season started, I am pretty sure that he was option # 1 at point guard - I think they expected him to be bought out, and I am sure they expected to sign him. But now that Chalmers has shown the potential to be a starting guard in the league, I think it is better to let him play. The reality is that it is unlikely Miami will make the playoffs this year and, in fact, they are best served by finishing in the bottom 10, retaining their own draft pick to add an asset, along with an asset from Marion's expiring deal, and go from there. Marbury probably improves them immediately, just by his ability to make plays off the dribble. But I don't think he would good for the long-term prospects of the franchise.
