6 Thoughts
1) "Yo, yo, yo, LeBron, nahhh, yo - when everyone said you need to be more aggressive at the ends of games and attack the rim, what they had meant to say was, 'Be more aggressive at the ends of games and attack the rim, and then, when they foul you, make the free throws!' Our bad, our bad - should have made that clear!" LeBron was 9-17 from the line, team was 20-34. He was incredibly aggressive down the stretch, pounding the paint, and taking hard fouls - just didn't make the free throws. For the second straight night, the game was lost because of poor free throw shooting. Say whatever you want - fatigue from the road trip, and back to backs, and multiple overtime games - but whatever, junk happens in the NBA. You make some free throws, you're 10-1. You miss a bunch, you're 8-3. What does it matter, in the end? Not much; but at 1:45am for the second straight night, you'd rather just see the free throws made and win the game.
2) The best and worst thing about the NBA is how emotional the games are...for the fans! Twitter was on the verge of spontaneously combusting as Miami missed all the free throws, and I'll get a gaggle of emails tomorrow to trade LeBron for Mike Beasley. People get frustrated - emotionally frustrated - when their teams lose. The players are generally able to get a better perspective on it. Case in point: with 1:40 left in overtime in what was a close (but very poorly played) game, LeBron stood on the sidelines waiting for the refs to discuss some issue or other - there was a lot of "ref-discussing" tonight. As he did, his former teammate Mo Williams, who claimed he almost had to retire because he was so distraught when LeBron left Cleveland (that is not a joke - he said it, multiple times), sidled over to him, and they shared a short conversation, both of them relaxed and laughing. Fans lose their minds - players play, that's what they do, and they handle the ups and downs of a game, and a season, much more rationally...
3) Play of the game: No doubter, for sure, it was when Coach Spo completely lost his shit when the refs didn't call a foul the Heat tried to give with a few seconds left, down 3. The game was pretty much over at that point, and no one actually did give a definitive foul; Spo was actually mad about a crucial no-goaltending call on DeAndre Jordan about a minute earlier. That was a blown call - okay, it happens, especially on the road, and Spo knows that. But the combination of the no-call, and the missed free throws two nights in a row was enough for Spo, and he charged out on the court and let it all out, getting ejected. Can't remember Spo doing that before - it was funny. Go get'em, Spo!!! Runner-up: also an easy call. It was when, two plays in a row, late in the game, the refs had to go to the monitor to check an out of bounds call, ESPN (also broadcasting the game) somehow didn't have good angles of the plays, and the refs came over to use Eric and Tony's Sunsports monitor. And this was after the refs had to do the same thing earlier in the game. Over the years, there is nothing in an NBA game - not a DWade dunk, not a UD drawn-charge, not winning a title - that makes Eric Reid as excited as getting personally involved in viewing a replay with the refs: "Right there, Wade clearly hits the ball off Jordan," Reid shouted at the refs as they watched the replay with him, "Heat ball!" Eric is the most die hard of Heat fans - he'll take the two straight losses tough. But getting to be involved in three replay calls will definitely take some of the sting out of the night for him.
4) From Snets, via email, regarding last night’s post in which he says we incorrectly characterized his comparison of Heat rookie point guard Norris Cole to one-handed-dribbling, small, white, eighty-year old former Celtic great Bob Cousy:
I never said Cole’s style of play was reminiscent of Bob Cousy – I said he ran with the ball like Bob Cousy – that weird straight up style – I demand a correction.
Oh, yes, I totally see the difference – that’s a lot clearer, I was way, wayyy off! Correction granted! Worth noting: not one of our other readers has ever even heard of Bob Cousy, who retired in like 1962.
5) So it looks like we have a few new readers after Jax repped the blog on tv last night. Just so those new readers know, we don’t usually write a running blog during games like we did last night. That was a one time-change-it-up for a late night, West Coast game. I hated it, so we won’t be doing that again. Usually what we do is offer six thoughts. The first two or three summarize the game, then we usually make fun of Chris Bosh in one, irrationally praise Mario “Emcee” Chalmer(s) in another, and, if we have time, check in on the loquacious Shane Battier’s latest activities. Down in thought # 6, we offer an album review, or answer questions from friends of the blog, or anything else on our mind –there are no rules down there. Just know that it will probably be stupid, and not that entertaining…So, a few long-time friends of the blog emailed to ask if Jax repping the blog was the greatest moment in blog history. Oh, no. It was nice, and I appreciate the love, but I am pretty used to being on tv, believe me. Growing up, MyMommaMinutos was the Executive Director of our small town’s local tv access channel, which beamed out to several hundred households throughout West Hartford, Connecticut . So I’ve been around “the biz” all my life. Still, it’s a great question. Obviously, the greatest moment in the history of this blog was when we reverse-jinxed the Heat into last year’s Finals by writing a blog during the fourth quarter of Game 5 against the Bulls, writing off that game as a loss before it ended, thus spurring the team to one of the most improbable comebacks in playoff history. Runner-up: when we reverse jinxed LeBron onto the team by saying “he is not welcome here.” Second runner-up: when we accused Jax of stealing a turkey during a Heat Thanksgiving charity event, and then he emailed us to say, essentially, “How dare you!” He took it in good spirit (I think). In retrospect, that was wrong. But, man, there was something about the way he was eyeing those turkeys in the halftime video highlights of the event…
6) Both O.Minutos (guitar) and P.Minutos (piano) are taking musical lessons. I was psyched when I returned home from a typically grueling, yet rewarding, day at Dos Minutos International Headquarters last week to discover that O.Minutos had learned the riff to AC/DCs “Back in Black,” which is super-easy to play, and also super-awesome. He is 9, so he has no idea who AC/DC is, but he likes the song, and the three of us can play it together, which is cool (not sure AC/DC utilizes a lot of live keyboards in their songs, but don’t tell P.Minutos that). I had the exact opposite reaction a couple of days ago when I walked in the door, saw P.Minutos tickling the ivories, and then heard the horrific lilting gruel that is Simon and Garfunkel’s “Scarborough Fair” droning insistently from his piano. Oh, my heavens! If I had known there was a chance that one of my kids was going to learn a Simon and Garfunkel song, I never would have let them begin instrument lessons. I wouldn’t have even told them about music in the first place! As I related this story to The Captain back at the safety of Dos M. Int’l HQ’s, he shook his head for the umpteenth time at my hatred for Simon and Garfunkel, in general, and that song, specifically. “Oh, yeah, it’s a real rocker,” I told him. “It’s not supposed to be, it’s a folk song. It’s not a rocker,” he insisted. No...no, it isn’t.
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It is 2:28 am, that's a wrap. Back Friday night for another late game - balls. That's alright, get them all out of the way early. If you need me before then, I'll be sleeping. Zzzzzzz....
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It is 2:28 am, that's a wrap. Back Friday night for another late game - balls. That's alright, get them all out of the way early. If you need me before then, I'll be sleeping. Zzzzzzz....
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