6 Thoughts
1) Unfortunate loss in Houston. Sometimes you get your normal looks and they just don't go in, and you end up shooting 40% from the floor. Meanwhile, a lumbering 7 foot 6 inch Chinaman goes 12-12 for the other team, and you get ground out near the end of a long road trip. Is that politically correct, by the way - "lumbering?"
2) For the game's opening jump ball, veteran official Derrick Stafford tossed the ball up in the air, then got absolutely woofed in the nose, full force, by a Joel Anthony elbow as he landed after jumping for the tip. Never, ever seen that before. Much blood ensued - Stafford was led to the Heat bench where the trainers attended to him - while just behind the scene on the bench Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was clearly doing his best to stifle the case of the giggles the play had given him.
3) Rocket guard Von Wafer lit up the Heat in the first half with 7-11 shooting. "Wonder if they call him Nilla," wondered M. Minutos benignly? We decided that they probably do: all except Crazyman Ron Artest, who we guessed calls him "Nillow," because he thinks that is what the other guys are saying, and because he has probably never made the connection. Probably a 50-50 bet that, although he has eaten nilla wafers, he doesn't know what they are called. Also probably believes the nickname is somehow related to Denver forward Carmelo Anthony's "Mellow," although there is no known connection between Wafer and Anthony. Also a fair bet that Artest has never considered why Carmelo is called "Mellow." You can't go wrong betting against Ron Artest knowing things, I would think...
4) Back in the day, physical play - and occasional fighting - were far more common in the NBA than they are right now. In general, there are only two guys currently in the NBA looking for a fight on a regular basis, and they are both undersized power forwards from Argentina: Luis Scola, who tried to decapitate struggling Mario Chalmers with an after-the-whistle-elbow this evening, and the Bulls' Andrea Nocioni, who gets in to shenanigans of his own making virtually every game. No joke here - just warrants mentioning. By the way, the entire original post for thought 4 was: "Paul Blart, Mall Cop," but I changed it. That's a little look behind the curtain for you.
5) It turns out that NBA Methuselah and Rocket backup, backup center, Dikembe Mutombo, will be attending Tuesday's presidential inauguration with his son and his father. I guess the Rockets don't have a game that day - not that it matters. Is it time for Obama to be president already? Man, time flies. It seems like just yesterday he was prematurely measuring the White House drapes.
6) Heat announcers Eric Reid and Tony Fiorentino had the last two nights off in Houston. Saw Valkyrie the first night, Grand Torino the second night. Both loved Grand Torino; Eric Reid called Valkyrie "not bad." For the irrepressably optimistic Reid, this is akin to taking a poop in his seat at the theater in disgust. At least they didn't see it in Sacremento. "Eric, I couldn't figure out why Tom Cruise was trying to kill Hitler," complained Tony.
