6 Thoughts
1) Thrashed in Denver, second game of a four game West Coast swing. Some nights you come out and get smoked. Some nights you come out and let yourself get smoked - this was one of those nights. It's late, let's wrap it up.
2) One thing about Dwyane Wade - when he doesn't feel like playing, he lets everyone know he doesn't feel like playing. He had the intensity level ratcheted up to a 2 at tip off, dialed it down to about a .5 when Mario Chalmers picked up two instant fouls and Spo moved Wade to the point instead of inserting Carlos Arroyo. Playing point makes it tougher for Wade to get to the basket, and requires extra energy. He didn't feel like doing it tonight, that was clear. Walked around on offense, was sloppy with the dribble, played defense with his hands on his knees, and somehow, three or four different times, ended up with his back to his man defensively while he was driving to the basket and laying the ball in. A late, selfish third quarter flurry allowed him to finish with 25 points, but they were already down 25 by that point - he was just padding numbers. Denver is the only NBA city in which Wade has never won - now 0-6.
3) Exactly one guy came to play tonight for Miami: Mike Beasley. Wasn't efficient, didn't shoot particularly well, but still had 17 and 7 in 32 minutes. The offense - what offense there was - revolved around him in the first half. One particularly effective second quarter stretch saw Miami clear out for Beasley 4 straight trips: drive to the basket for a hoop; jab step to fake the same drive, hit the jumper; drive again, drew a foul on the floor; drove again, drew foul at the rim, made two free throws. Again, I hate to say it, but it looks like the game is starting to slow down a little for Mike.
4) Bad NBA refereeing example # 2652: Late in the third quarter, with Miami down 25 and Wade looking to pad his numbers, he rose up for a long three. Denver's J.R. Smith contested the jumper and swiped Wade across the arm, causing the shot to fall approximately 8 feet short. Even if you didn't see the shot - and, really, as a referee what else would you be watching - the result alone definitively indicated a foul. No call. Wade, aggravated to begin with, began to charge at the nearest official, only to be beaten to him by Coach Spo, who lit up referee Monty McCutcheon. Spo was protecting Wade - McCutcheon gave Spo a technical. Fine. During the free throw, Wade continued to glare and mutter at McCutcheon, who by this time, had to have realized that he had missed a call. Embarrassed as much as anything, he then gave Wade a ridiculous technical from 30 feet away. Fine. On the ensuing Denver possession, Kenyon Martin drove to the basket where Wade met him, intending to take Martin's head off to relieve a little of his frustration with a two-armed whack across the shoulder and neck. McCutcheon was standing approximately two feet away - made no call, obviously in deference to missing the call on Wade's jumper. Martin, even though the game had been decided for an hour or more, went ballistic, drawing an immediate technical, and when he continued to beef - and, really, the non-call was so egregious it was ridiculous - McCutcheon ejected him. It just seems to me, when you make a bad call, and then realize it - just apologize to the offended party. Don't give him an equal break the next trip - then you're just ticking someone else off. And don't start throwing people out of games. You're better than that, Monty McCutcheon. And your name is Monty...
5) Who wins a no-holds barred fight between Kenyon Martin and Udonis Haslem?
6) "Hey. It’s Tiger. You have to do me a favor. It’s huge. I’m starving and my wife won’t make me sandwiches anymore. I’m going to come over and I need you to make me a sandwich so I can eat it while I am there. I’ll only have like 15 or 20 minutes to eat it, then I have to get back here before she suspects anything. Please, do it quickly. This is huge. Also, I’d like some anal sex. Okay, bye.”
