6 Thoughts
1) "Guys, it's a tie game, 15 seconds to go in the second overtime. Let's come out of this timeout, run the clock down, and take the last shot. Whatever you do, don't let Dwyane Wade steal the ball from you, steam upcourt, and make a running three pointer to win the game at the buzzer. Okay? Bring it in - one, two, three, Bulls!"
2) You have to kidding me: DWade - 15 of 21 for 48 points, 5 for 6 threes!, 12 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 blocks, one steal and running three pointer at the buzzer to win in double overtime. 15-21 for 48 points? What? What has gotten in to this kid? As the winning three went through the net, Wade ran to the scorers table, climbed up, and declared "this is my house." Heat play-by-player Eric Reid stood underneath him, pumping his fists, yelling, and waving in vain for a high five from Wade, before quickly composing himself, turning to partner Tony Fiorentino, and giving him a "come on, let's calm down and keep it professional," palms down gesture. Tony had never moved.
3) Earlier in the game, when talking about shotblocking, Reid, an impressive repository of NBA knowledge, referenced mid-80s Bulls fringe reserve big man Jawan Oldham, pointing out that "you certainly remember him, Tony!" After a long pause, it turned out Tony did not remember him: "I mean, the name seems kind of familiar, but I don't know, Eric." Oh. Well, for a mid-80s Bulls fringe reserve big man, he could really block a shot or two.
4) It was Noche Latino Night at the Heat's house. Or Latino Noche Night. I can't remember which way it goes. Free arepas for everyone! And the Heat's uniforms said "El Heat" on the front! And to all our Latin readers, we wish you a warm Buenos Aires!
5) Ben Gordon, scorching for the Bulls, deserves a mention, especially because he played at UConn, which is the next best thing to actually being from Connecticut. Brought us the 2004 National Championship, so he will always be considered part of the Dos family. As a bonus, he's from Mount Vernon, New York, Tony Fiorentino's hometown. 8 out of 11 threes for Ben on his way to 43 points of his own. 5 triples in the fourth quarter, including the last fifteen for the Bulls in regulation. Love that Ben Gordon.
6) I don't know how many Dos readers read, like, books, but it was an impossibly cool night at Florida Atlantic University before the game digging around in the Rare Books collection, and in the Jaffe Center for Book Arts. In the former saw a first edition Stephen Crane Maggie: a Girl of the Streets, which is an utter classic. Spare, grim, common, grey, concise, desperate, American. The Jaffe Center is a wing of the FAU library which contains one of the world's foremost collection of creative books, books which themselves are art: handmade, crafted, wildly imaginative, colorful, foldouts, foldins, popups, popsideways, fabrics, wood, refractioning, retracting - anything you can imagine. The director of the center is a guy named John Cutrone, who also owns his own book-creating label named Convivio Books in downtown Lake Worth. Amazingly awesome dude. For anyone interested in books at all, or for anyone with even a minimal level of joie de vivre, the Jaffe Center is definitely worth checking out, as is Convivio. At least have a look at their websites: http://www.library.fau.edu/depts/spc/JaffeCenter/jaffeabout.htm + http://www.conviviobookworks.com/.
