6 Thoughts
1) Bounce back night on the day after a tough loss to Chicago. And, looooook here, just what the doctor ordered: the Washington Wizards, coming into the game with a 1-27 record on the road. Ahhhhhh, that's more like it. Wizards hung tough behind blur-ish rookie point guard John Wall (24 with 12 dimes) and an unconscious shooting night from Nick Young (38 points on 19 shots), who always lights up the Heat. Miami had enough, though, and eased in with a victory to re-take the number one seed position in the Eastern Conference. Let us do...
2) He's young, he's talented, he's black, he's got a sweet afro - but most of all, Nick Young lights up Dwyane Wade - gave him 38 more tonight. Little known fact, though: young, talented, black men who light up Dwyane Wade hate to get, ummm, re-lit back by the more talented, more blacker, actual Dwyane Wade...or something...Dee Dub gave him 41, on 18-27! And he missed 6 free throws! 18 in the first four minutes of the second quarter! That's 75 points in 24 hours for Dwyane - just another week of work.
3) Okay, last night was something of a nadir for Chris Bosh. He shot 1-18 from the floor. He allowed multiple layups at the rim with minimal effort. He displayed all the urgency of a desk lamp. I received an email from a dude who claimed he tried to choke himself on a slice of pizza midway through the third quarter, just so he wouldn't have to watch Bosh play any more. Okay - I sent it to myself...Early in the game, Heat color commentator Tony Fiorentino said that just because had played poorly in Chicago, Bosh "wasn't going to change the way he plays." Ummm - not sure that was a great idea - I'd try to change it up a little after a 1-18 night...But he's a professional, he's a good player - it was all set up for a big bounce back game tonight, right? Right! It was set-up for that - but it didn't happen! Instead, he was dreadful again. Tentative, drifted, defended with passion only in short bursts. Spo tried to get him touches from different spots on the floor, but he just doesn't look confident right now. Dwyane and LeBron are guys who always play with confidence - they do what they do, regardless of outcomes. Chris isn't that guy, and he is suddenly in a crisis. Scored 15 on 5-12, with 8 rebounds, but even that sounds better than it was. Dwyane and LeBron need to boost him right now - I think sometimes they expect him to fend for himself, because they always fend for themselves. But he isn't as good as they are, or as tough-minded as they are, and as odd as it sounds, they need to help him fight his battles, help him get going. Because for them to get where they want to be at some point over the next couple of years - the finals - he is going to have to get tougher. And just because he isn't tough now, doesn't mean he can't get tougher. You know who they used to say wasn't tough enough? Two-time reigning NBA champ Pau Gasol! You know who else? Hosni Mubarak! And look at those guys now!
4)Any time a new player comes to your team, even a very famous player like LeBron James, we learn things about him that you can’t learn from seeing him play just four or five times a year. You learn things about his actual game, and other aspects of his overall oeuvre. For instance, about LeBron’s game we have learned: it isn’t the high-flying, slam-dunking freak show that we see on highlight montages of him. It is methodical, inexorable, and efficient. He is stubborn – there seems to be a minimum number of dribbles and long jumpers from a half-step inside the three point line (the worst shot in basketball) that he is required to take every game, come Hell or high water. But there is a night in, night out consistency to his play that no other player in the NBA remotely approaches: he is an efficient, high volume scorer every night. He organizes the offense, getting everyone their requisite touches, every night. He is a volume rebounder every night. He defends capably every night. There are no nights off, no real nights where you say, “Ahh, it’s just one of those nights, he just doesn’t have it.” He always has it. It comes so easy, that you always think he can do more, and it can be frustrating. On the other hand, it is so much more than any other player produces nightly, that there is no real basis for comparison. He is the most productive player in the league, and it isn’t even close. He is a freak. A methodical, unimaginative freak – but a freak nonetheless. That’s interesting. But just as interesting are the things you learn about LeBron that don’t have anything to do with his basketball play. All accounts paint him as polite and easy to deal with in the locker room. Numerous players have also cited him as the funniest player in the locker room – which is amazing because his “interview persona” takes the same methodical approach his on court play does. He wears giant headphones in the tunnels of arenas walking into the game. There is nothing – nothing - he loves more than being the first player to sit down on the bench for a timeout – it is the most aggressive part of his personality. On his Twitter account, he loves to exhort people to “Let’s Go!” Last night, we gleaned a new nugget: getting to ready to check back in after his customary beginning-of-the-second-quarter rest on the bench, he stood up, and stripped off in succession: a warmup jacket, then a white long-sleeve t-shirt, then another white long-sleeve t-shirt, to get down to his jersey. That’s four layers! Impressive! I thought I was cool for going Tyreke Evans “hood up” in Connecticut, but I’m going to try out this layering – how many white J.Crew v-neck t-shirts do you think I can get on my body at one time?
5) This game was boring, so I need to take this space to address one thing about last night’s game against Chicago. Apparently we had a Bulls fan read the blog and he wrote in to complain that “you didn’t give the Bulls enough credit for last night’s win.” Also, predictably didn’t like it when I called Bulls center Joakim Noah “one of the prettiest gals in the NBA,” or declared him “a bust.” Chicago dude, I don’t know how much of this blog you have read, but we are coming off a months-long sabbatical due to a borderline nervous breakdown, and to be honest, even at our best, we aren’t exactly basketballreference.com. Bulls are awesome. I love Joakim Noah – I think after Dwight Howard he is the next best center in the NBA, and he is obviously isn’t a bust – that’s an old Fake Steven A. Smith joke contained here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvJGghOuFlQ. And, to be fair, he does have lovely flowing locks. I would not be shocked – at all – if the Bulls won the championship this year. Don’t want to lose our Chicago readers. Or reader.
6) Big news at Dos Minutos International Headquarters: The Captain is several days into a stellar-looking beard. Rugged! Today someone breathlessly compared him to a still-alive Steve McQueen. Okay – it was me…Don’t know exactly what is troubling The Cap, but I would urge him to remember that: it’s okay to have feelings; it’s okay to reach out for help to talk about those feelings; but it is even better to grow a troubled white man’s beard! Do it, Ryan-Gosling-in-The-Notebook - “It wasn’t over when you left.” “It’s STILL not over!” Yeaaaahhhh! We’ll keep you all posted!
Sunday night: in Miami vs the New Look Knicks! My Melo! The Garden is buzzing, Miami is buzzing, it is like the 90's all over again, but without fighting...so far! C u thn!
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