6 Thoughts
1) ...and the struggles continue in Boston, to the Celtics, playing without Paul Pierce, and with Kevin Garnett on one leg. Miami now 24-25, under .500, banged up, and playing bad basketball...and a game tomorrow night in Cleveland...Honestly, I might just go see Avatar again tomorrow night - the outcome would be less predictable!
2) Jermaine O'Neal, playing with a bad back, granted - but didn't get a rebound until less than 6 minutes remained in the fourth quarter. Jermaino is 6'11"! Jermaino - come on, brother - you have to want the ball. Not much better: Mike Beasley, who at point late in the third quarter, instead of attacking and catching a defensive rebound, went up and poked it politely to the Celtics' Tony Allen, standing alone at the rim for a layup. In a related story, Miami shot 52% from the floor, but lost the rebounding battle 41-31: ballgame.
3) Celtic point guard Rajon Rondo was unstoppable tonight, 22 points, 14 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 threes with the shot clock going off - Rondo was doing it all. No one could stay in front of him, and the Heat spent most of their time on the defensive end chasing him around the court while he spat the ball to open shooter for easy looks. Skip Alston has been solidly defensively since coming to Miami, but he was overmatched tonight. Rough night for the Heat defense.
4) Okay, like anywhere else, people love to email this dopey little blog with complaints: Coach Spoelstra is a loser! Mike Beasley is too immature! Dwyane Wade is selfish! Jamal Magloire is Canadian! Rarely does anyone actually have any reasonable evidence to present, even if they happen to be right. It is actually cool to know what you are talking about - I know we don't often emphasize that as a country here in Amerika, but I promise you, it is. That being said, I am going to complain about Spo, with evidence - I was furious at Spo tonight at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Since the beginning of last year, he periodically decides to play Udonis Haslem at center, with Mike Beasley at power forward forward. First, both guys are about 6'8". Second, neither guy can jump. Third, one of the two has the general defensive court savvy of George W. Bush. Every time Spo gets it in his head to play those two together, the Heat have trouble defending the rim. And, guess what? The other team heads right to the rim. Miami began the fourth quarter tied - Spo went Haslem, Beasley, and Boston's first three possession of the fourth quarter were: Rondo drive to rim, everyone had to run to him, he spat to Ray Allen for an open 8 footer; Ray Allen drove right to the rim, got fouled, made a free throw; Rasheed Wallace drove right to rim, missed an easy layup, Baby Davis rebounded the ball, made easy layup. Two minutes in, after working hard to get back tied, the Heat were down 5, called timeout, and reinserted Jermaino. Spo: you have to play a big. Have to.
5) It's Black History Month - you know what that means! That's right - members of the Heat organization read short essays at halftime about great black Americans, with video montages and dramatic music playing in the background. In the first montage, in the Bucks game, we gave Coach Spo a 5 out of 10 for his wooden recitation about former Syracuse University running back Ernie Davis. Come on, Spo - sell it a little! But we gave Alonzo Mourning a solid 9 tonight for his dramatic speech on former Celtic great Bill Russell. Had Zo on an 8.5, but late in the piece Zo nailed a section on Russell overcoming racism: "he rooooohhhhzzze above it!" Good job, Zo! Tomorrow night, Heat assistant Ron Rothstein reads an essay he wrote titled: "Andre 3000: Rap Superstar, Fashion Icon, or Both?" Should be interesting!
6) "Is this The Situation?...Hey, it’s me, Tiger. I need a favor – it’s huge…Tiger…Tiger Woods...The golfer?...I was on the news a lot recently because I had, umm, some woman trouble, you know, Las Vegas, hostesses, crashing my SUV in my driveway on Thanksgiving?...I’m Cablinasian?...No?...Really?...Okay, sorry to bother you, man, never mind…”
