1) Ugh. Ninth straight non-competitive game: this one was over halfway through the second quarter. Miami finishes 4 games in 5 nights with 3 wins and 1 loss - 3 of the 4 thirty point or more spreads, and the other twenty-four points. Just a weird, weird stretch of the season.
2) For the second straight night Dwyane Wade was absolutely brilliant - he completely dominated the Kings for the three quarters he played. Electric to the rim, finishing with aggression, finding open shooters, wreaking havoc defensively. He finished with 27 points on 11-15 shooting, with 8 assists against 0 (ze-ro!) turnovers, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks (!), and a steal. His buddy LeBron is coming to town Monday night - looks like Dwyane is getting ready! It will be even better when LeBron comes down this summer...and never leaves, settling in to his destined role as DWade's sidekick!
3) Mike Beasley. Mike Beasley! Playing hard on defense, hustling after loose balls, stepping into passing lanes, denying post position, going to the boards with passion, taking the ball aggressively to the rim: energy! Love! It! The skills are always going to be there - 21 more points tonight - but also 13 rebounds, and 4 assists. Also, he played a good portion of the fourth quarter with the reserves and he was very unselfish about spreading the ball around, when he could have looked to pad his own numbers...That's how you be a good teammate. Love the decision making from Mike tonight, and the energy. Good job, kid!
4) M.Minutos on fire tonight - had a nap today, was fired up by game time. Started off by commenting that she missed Jason Jackson's glasses and goatee. I must be getting old because I only vaguely remember either. Harshly criticized my call for the need for a Sunsport Network ombudsman when Tony Fiorentino shamelessly plugged Jax's halftime interviews with the Heat assistant coaches - we know, Tony, we love them, too: don't abuse our trust. Topped it off by confusing Kings coach Paul Westphal, an old school NBA quality player in his day, with Jerry West, one of the greatest shooting guards of all-time, and the model for the familiar NBA logo - probably the reason that they call him "The Logo," come to think of it. Look, M.Minutos knows her basketball, but this was an unforgivable gaffe, and she knew it. Didn't even try to go to the "all old white guys look the same to me" defense, which, as a white guy, I appreciated. Just snapped at me: "don't put this in the blog."
5) I am outraged. Somehow Spencer Hawes, he of the Space Needle tie and yellow jacket, and co-star of the Stephen A. Smith NBA draft parody on youtube (), is no longer the starter at center for the Kings, replaced by beefy 6'7" rookie Jon Brockman from, ahhh, I'm not sure, somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. Adding insult to injury, Eric Reid reported that Kings coach Paul Westphal (not "The Logo") explained the change by saying that Brockman "plays with a toughness that our team needs." Uh-oh - I think I know what that means, Spencer Hawes. Further, when Hawes finally did check in, along with Ime Udoka, Reid announced that "Ime Udoka is now in the game for the Kings...and so is Spencer Hawes." This is Spencer Hawes we are talking about - Spencer Hawes! He is not a "so is Spencer Hawes." He is: "Checking in: Spencer Hawes!!!" Later, just to top off his night, Spencer, who by the way is 7' tall, had his dunk attempt blocked by Dwyane Wade, followed a few minutes later by having a layup attempt blocked by James Jones. Not a good night overall for Spencer Hawes. Spencer: let's take off the dumb shirt, stand up straight, and get to work, okay?
6) I don't want to jinx it or anything, but I have seen all 43 games so far this year, and except for a couple of late game booty calls at the end of blowouts, I think I have seen just about every minute. Last year I saw 79 out the 82 games, which broke my personal high of 77 set in the '96-'97 season. On a pace to shatter that, and I have definitely never seen 43 in a row before. I credit my parents, a lot work with the tivo controller in the off-season, and my burning desire to see Mike Beasley try to throw a defensive rebound the length of the court off the other backboard at some point this season...Celebrated with a vanilla Coke float: electric and creamy, like Dwyane Wade!
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