6 Thoughts
1) Well - that didn't go well. The Heat were down 19 going into the fourth quarter, then scored 1 basket in the first 10 minutes. Only two late Jamario Moon jumpers ratcheted them up to 7 for the quarter. Everything was bad. Wade was terrible with 19 points - only 2 in the second half - and approximately 40 turnovers. Jermaine O'Neal looked about 100 years old on his way to 5 points and 2 rebounds in 22 minutes. The Hawks, who extended eventual champion Boston to 7 games last year, looked physical, aggressive, and focused. It's just one game, and you've got to get to four - but it was a really, really bad one game.
2) Look, everything is more intense in a playoff series. Atlanta is going to bang Wade every chance they get, and surround him with length - that's their forte. Also, ironically, it is the same plan that my old college roommate AJ Cooney employed every Saturday night for four years in the early 90s...Someone else on Miami has to either make plays off the dribble, or in the post. Jermaino gave them nothing out of the post. Chalmers isn't quite at the point where he can consistently make things happen off the dribble. James Jones started at the 3 and actually did a credible job - knocked down a couple of early jumpers, moved the ball well, and competed defensively. That leaves us with...
3) ...Mr. Mike Beasley. Some people are going to complain that he didn't start - but he did play 31 minutes, though, admittedly, much of it was in garbage time. The whole second half was garbage time! Others are going to complain that he stood around on the perimeter and flung up bad jump shots - he finished 5-15 - but again, much of that was after the game was decided. Mike is a divisive kind of dude for a rookie. Here at Dos, if we took one positive thing away from the game, I thought it was that Mike competed in the paint, especially defensively. He was aggressive to rebounds and ended up with 10. He had 2 blocks and 2 steals, and several more plays where he walled-off drivers - I'm not sure I saw him successfully wall-off a driver all year. Offensively, twice in the third quarter he faced up Josh Smith, an outstanding athlete and shot-blocker, took him to the basket, and made clever finishes. Though Mike wouldn't "measure out" athletically - he doesn't jump real high, or run real fast, and he seems to fall down of his own accord more often than most human beings - he has really started to show the athletic gifts that he does possess. He has quick and strong hands, good anticipation, and an unbelievably ability to steady his upper body even when his legs are tangled up. Besides Wade, I thought he looked like the one Miami player who wasn't overmatched physically. Since day one, Mike has shown the talents that could make him a 20 point a game scorer - jeez, he could do that now on a bad team. But if he wants to be a really, really good player, the kind of player who wins playoff games, he has to be tough. And even though the numbers and results didn't quite bear it out tonight, I thought this game was a small step in that direction for him. He may start some in this series, he may not; but he is going to play a lot of minutes, and I bet he is going to get better as the series goes on.
4) This next point is for our black readers, our white readers who are not grouchy old men, and Hawks backup guard Ron "Flip" Murray: guaranteed, if I am in Atlanta and go to a Hawks game, I'm sitting in the "Flip Mode Squad." They are actually pretty good seats, down in the first level, in a corner. Put your hands where my eyes can see, Ron Murray!
5) Hawks coach Mike Woodson was wearing a bold grey-pinstriped zoot suit, and a silver lame tie. I'm not saying Atlanta is the only city in America where that outfit might not seem out of place, but Atlanta is the only city in America where that outfit might not seem out of place.
6) Believe me, I hesitate to do this, but The Captain wanted to clarify his support of The Unabomber, Ted Kaczinki. Sure seems like a bad idea, but here goes:
I feel compelled to my address my support for [The Unabomber] as it isn't entirely true. One rainy afternoon back in 1994, I was sitting having cocktails with Teddy (the Unabomber), Timmy McVeigh and Terry Nichols (Oklahoma City bombers), and Rudy (abortion clinic bomber) Rudolph. After several hours of Highballs and Rob Roys, Rudy starts poking fun at Timmy and Terry saying that anyone that uses fertilizer bombs is a "hack and a hick". This cut Terry especially deep since he was the one that provided the manure in the first place. Now, what happened next was the most surreal event that I have ever witnessed and was likely caused in part by the fact that we were all, well, bombed. Terry jumps up on the table and nearly knocks over Mona, which really teed me off. Anyone that's ever payed for a friction dance at 11:00 am knows what I mean. Well any way Terry is up on the table and he screams at Rudy "stick it up your *** you pro-life bastard." Knowing that Terry and Timmy always work together, Rudy immediately grabbed his Carling Black Label chaser, smashed it over Timmy's head, knocking him out, and with the remaining shard in his hand, slashed Terry's left Achilles tendon clean through. As Terry crumpled to the table, Rudy prepared to disembowel old Terry as I held Mona close to protect my investment. Having seen quite enough at this point, Teddy, as if propelled by a pipe bomb filled with C-4, jumped up and secured both Terry and Rudy by the scruffs of their red necks. As both of these warriors struggled to get free, Teddy simply said "can't we just get along." Those 5 little words caused Rudy and Terry to stop, look into each other's eyes and realize how silly they were acting. They reached out and hugged each other passionately and soon all was forgiven. Finally Timmy woke up and seeing his good buddy bleeding, he wrapped Mona's sweaty G-String around Terry's ankle as I held Mona's head under the table, again, for her own protection. Teddy ordered a round Wild Turkey 101 and soon we were all laughing again and having fun, except for Mona.This is the kind of guy Teddy K. is. He can mend fences and bring out the best in even people of questionable character. This also shows the deep love and respect that the members of the bombing community have for Teddy. Let's face it. How many MIT educated mathematicians do you know that could have handled this precarious situation so pleasingly. I don't condone sending bombs in the mail, especially since I myself use the USPO for several of my own business endeavors. I'm just saying that nobody's perfect.
...Annnnd, that's a wrap. My goodness. I just knew that was a bad idea...
Game Two Wednesday night...
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