6 Thoughts
1) Somehow, I turned a 3:30pm game into a late night West Coast-ish affair - it's 1:30am. Spent the evening in South Beach drinking mojitos, eating Cuban food, avoiding all televisions so as not to see the Heat score, then cutting the mojitos with some strong, strong Cuban coffee for the ride home. Then, drank a Redbull, and watched Miami kill Orlando...annnddd, now I'm wide awake! C'mon, c'mon, get it, get it - I'm on fiyah, I'm up in here! Best record in the NBA! Chris Brown sighting in # 6! Let's go!
2) Dwyane Wade, again, was brilliant in the first half. 19 points in 18 minutes. He dunked in transition. He posted and made turnaround jumpers. He drove the lane and finished over Dwight Howard, around Dwight Howard, and once, impressively, through Dwight Howard for the and-one! He's put up high teens, or better, every first half in this six game winning streak. Came out in the third quarter and swatted a Dwight Howard layup, then blocked his follow, though the sympathetic ref called a foul so it wouldn't be too embarrasing for Dwight. Dwyane last week pointed out that he can't wear a mouthguard, like most NBA players, because he likes to chew gum while he plays. During one break in the action in the first half, M.Minutos and I rewound the DVR several times to try to figure out what kind of gum Dwyane was chomping. M.Minutos says: Trident. Dos Minutos: Bubble Yum. I am pretty sure I am right, if they still have Bubble Yum.
3) Dwyane probably kind of won the game, but KJ James played harder than anybody. He finished with 25 points on only 14 shots, and he scored in every way there is to score. He got to the rim in transition, and in the halfcourt. He got to the free throw line. He made a triple. He went down on the low block, spun in to the lane, and made a little hanger - statistically speaking, if you're in to that sort of thing, he scores more points per post touch than any player in basketball. But even better, he passed the ball well: found Dwyane Wade cutting for scores; found open shooters for easy jumpers. Even better than that, he rebounded: 11 rebounds, many of them in traffic. And even better than that, he defended: contested jumpers; jammed entry passes on the ball, and on the weak side; got his booty down in the lane and bodied Dwight Howard off the spot several times. In general, he shrunk the court and made it difficult for Orlando to run offense. Even though the Magic shot the three well again (11-29), they were only 16-45 inside the arc, for 37% overall (and only 78 points). You are skilled defensively, KJ James, and I exhort you.
4) This game was over when: Udonis Haslem made three straight jumpers at the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth to push the lead to 18. For, I believe, the fifth straight game, the entire fourth quarter was extended garbage time. UD struggled with his jumper early, but found it late, 5-11 for 10 points and 5 boards in 25 minutes off the bench. Right now it is Dwyane, KJ James, and then different guys every night. Even Bosh has been reduced to an ancillary part, and I think this works best. Instead of trying to force feed him touches, especially post touches, he spaces the floor, and takes opportunity jumpers, and garbage around the rim. 8 points and 9 boards tonight, and some solid defense staying out at home on Ryan Anderson (only 3-8 for 9 points). As skilled a scorer as Chris is, he isn't as skilled a scorer as Dwyane and KJ - this notion about trying to force enough shots for the three of them has, for the moment, worked itself out to "Dwyane and KJ eat, then everyone else gets leftovers." Personally, I'm fine with it. Not sure how Chris likes it, but if he likes winning, I recommend he stay the course (dad-ism).
5) Okay, last time we played Orlando, I thought we wouldn't play them again until after the trade deadline and that Dwight Howard would be gone. Oops, bad job by me. Don't know if we play them yet again before the trade deadline - I'm not even sure when the trade deadline is, sometime in mid-March, I believe - but it's time to consider what the best options for him and Orlando are. And by "best options for him and Orlando," of course, I mean, "the Miami Heat." He's a very good player, so the best option for us is that they trade him to another league, preferably in another country, like Communist China (hear they love Rick Santorum there). Barring that, I guess I prefer they trade him out west to the other conference, but not to Dallas or the Lakers, because that would be super, super annoying, especially if we had to play them in the Finals. That's problematic, because people believe that he is only willing to sign extensions in those two cities and New Jersey. I can tell you the only thing - the only thing - I fear is that Chicago figures out that they need to move on him hard. They have good young bigs they can trade (attractive to Orlando). They play Derrick Rose and Luol Deng, their two best players, tons of minutes every night, because that is what they have to do to win games (all credit to them - they go hard all the time). But, even though they are absolutely good enough to beat Miami in a series, the reality is that they don't have as much top-end talent as Miami, so it is always going to be tough on them in a seven game series - you wouldn't say they would be favored against Miami, all things being equal, health-wise. If they get Dwight Howard, that evens that equation up quite a bit. It's a big, cool city, he'd playing with another great player - it's a pretty attractive situation. Like all other players, he should absolutely go wherever he wants to - let's just hope that's not Chicago. And in his desire to leave Orlando, I respect him and salute him, because with all due respect, that city is the absolute armpit of the universe.
6) Chris Brown sighting! CHRIS BROWN SIGHTING!!! So my uncle and aunt are in South Beach for the weekend. They are staying at the swanky, celebrity-drenched W Hotel, which, for example, is where KJ James celebrated his decision to come to play for the Heat two summers ago (or was it 100 years ago? Man, time flies). My uncle and aunt are just normal white people, but they are normal white people who like to come kill it at the W Hotel for a few days each February, so, you know...So M.Minutos and I get to the hotel this evening to pick them up for dinner. We step on to the elevator and who steps on with us? Ch-ris Br-own! Fresh off his something win (Grammy?), and subsequent meltdown about how nobody likes him just because he likes to beat the hell out of girls. So, he is leaning against one wall of the elevator (with a few mellow dudes with him), and I'm leaning against the opposite wall. Lanky, good-looking kid, by the way (him, not me - okay, both of us). So I'm kind of looking at him, and he's looking at me, and I was pretty sure he didn't think I would know who he is, since I imagine I'm not exactly his normal demographic, which I assume is "teenage girls who don't mind a good smack." But, like, we're both kind of dudes, so I give him a little nod, and he nods back, and then I'm like, Well, I need to say something, so I'm like, "Hey - you want to have a rap-off?" And he smiles a little and goes, "Battle," and I'm like, "What?" and he's like, "Battle - it's a 'rap battle', not a 'rap-off'," and I'm like, "Okay, do you want to have one," and he's like, "Not really," and I was like, "I don't really either - I'm not that good at rapping, honestly." And the elevator doors opened for my uncle's floor, and M.Minutos steps out, and I tell Chris Brown, "I bid you adieu," and give him an exaggerated royal bow, before exiting. Not sure if that was cool or not - maybe I shouldn't have done that. Ahh, I think he appreciated it. The end!
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Not too sure when the next game is. I believe it is Tuesday against Sacramento. I do know that Thursday we play Linsanity, and then have a week off between games, due to the all-star break! Can't wait for both! Until then, if you need me, I'll be working on my battle skillz, and my two step: I'LL BE READY FOR YOU CHRIS BROWN! OH, YOU BEST BELIEVE, I'M GON' BE READY!!!
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