6 Thoughts
1) Everything's back to normal, everything's okay again. Not with the Heat - I mean my tv is fixed, cable guy came out and re-wired some stuff. Picture looked crys-tal, I felt like I was in Philadelphia at the game! Oh, and the Heat won, too, a good clinical effort against an athletic and spunky Sixers squad that had been playing great at home. Here's the rundown: in #2 we are going to highlight a new closing lineup; in #3 look at the balanced scoring effort; and in #4 review KJ's (remember: King James) performance in the new halftime game show, "Black History Month." Then in #5 we'll make fun of Elton Brand, like we always do when we play the Sixers; and then wrap it up with a video in #6. Let's get to it, we've got some pork to roast this weekend!
2) Okay, so when Miami put this team together last year, obviously, the closing group they had in mind, the way they wanted to end (not necessarily start) games was this: Wade and KJ at the guards handling the ball, with Miller, Bosh, and Haslem up front. That's a great floor-spacing group: Wade and KJ can make plays for jumpers for any of the other three. And though that group lacks bulk in the frontcourt, Wade, KJ, and Miller all rebound so well that the glass should not be a problem. Then Miller instantly got hurt, then Udonis got hurt, and until game two of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Bulls, that group did not even play one second of basketball together. And even then, Miller was playing with a broken thumb, and a shoulder that needed surgery, and UD had a broken foot. This year, with the addition of Battier, and the excellent shooting of Chalmers, the rotations have been a work in progress, and we had still never seen this specific lineup. With 8 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, and the Heat up 8, Coach Spo went to it - for a basketball nerd like myself, it was super-exciting, I noticed it the second they came on the court, and couldn't wait to see how it worked. Annnnd, 5 minutes later the Heat had gone on a 15-0 run, were ahead by 23, and the game was over! Wade and KJ handled the ball up top, and found Miller for a jumper, and then UD for back to back jumpers to push out ahead. Open shots came easily for this group. On the defensive end, the advantage was even more pronounced. 6'2" guard Lou Williams is the Sixers crunch time iso go-to scorer - LeBron took him and erased him. Williams ended the game 6-17 from the floor. Wade took Sixers point guard Jrue Holiday, and suddenly his penetrations down the lane were a lot less comfortable. And everyone rebounded. It obviously won't be this easy with this group every game, but this is the goal, I think. This is how you want to close games out, with this group.
3) Balanced scoring tonight: Dwyane had 26 on 20 shots (and only 1 turnover); KJ had 19 points 12 rebounds, 8 assists (and only 2 turnovers); Chalmers had 13 (3-4 triples); Miller (2-3 triples, over 55% for the season) and Bosh each had 12; and Norris Cole chipped with 11, on 3 threes of his own. That's rare for the Heat - usually Wade, KJ, and Bosh dominate the scoring. But tonight those guys created for others.
4) Okay, so "Hot Seconds With Jax" ended last week, with KJ as the champion. The next halftime game show is "Black History Month," in which each player takes a turn reading a monologue about a famous, you know, black person. Last game, Dwyane kicked things off by reading about the Williams sisters, Venus and the other one. Positives: Dwyane's monologue was incredibly long, seemed like 20 minutes. His stamina was impressive. Negatives: I didn't like his outfit, it was kind of a black-on-black shirt and suit, with a weird gray collar-y thing. Dwyane's a great dresser - this outfit just didn't work. Another huge negative: the Williams sisters are totally annoying. Overall, I gave Dwyane a B. Tonight, KJ was up, and he was excellent. He read on Joe Louis. As you might expect, I am skeptical that KJ has ever heard of Joe Louis. Or boxing, for that matter. But you never would have known that the way he cranked it out - solid reading skills, did a good job, really sold Joe Louis' career, especially the poignant part at the end when Joe Louis has IRS problems, and had to try to make a comeback way too late in life. I also never knew that Ronald Reagan gave special permission for Joe Louis to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery when he died - thanks for the knowledge, KJ! Also, KJ loves a scarf, like a winter scarf, and he sported a sweet one during his segment. I mean, I don't like to have to declare a winner when you are talking about educating people about black history, but we have to. And right now, KJ is in the lead.
5) Oh, Elton Brand. You are the very definition of a #1 overall draft pick bust. In fairness, you were extremely poorly coached in college, but you certainly have made minimal effort to get into basketball shape over the past few seasons. You are a long-armed, pot-bellied anvil in the middle of both the Sixers offense and defense. Tonight you started, but played only 23 minutes, went 0-3 from the floor, and were outscored by The Warden, Joel Anthony, 2-0. Your highlight came on the first possession of the third quarter when the Sixers ran a set designed to get you a post touch, you spent 17 seconds trying to shove Chris Bosh out of the way so you could get to the spot, at one point turning your back to the ball that was supposed to be entered to you, just so you could continue pushing. Finally, you cleared enough space to receive the pass, two steps further out on the wing than you were supposed to, "elevated" for a jumper, then crashed a line drive off the rim. The next time down the court, you missed an 8 footer equally badly, and instead of trying grab the rebound, instead put two hands in Butter's back and shoved him past the ball while someone else on the Heat started a fast break. The next time down, someone else on the Sixers shot a layup, but as the ball was spinning on the rim, about to go down, you inexplicably reached up and lightly touched it, then landed and instantly waived your hands wildly, like, "I didn't touch that," which compelled the referees to whistle you for offensive goaltending and waive off the basket. It was really quite a stretch, Elton Brand. It was really something.
6) So this condensed schedule is super-cutting into time to do other things. For instance, I haven't listened to a new band in weeks and weeks. I know there is one album I sooo want - Twilight Singers live in New York - but the Russian website doesn't have it yet. Heaven forbid I pay like $10 for it at itunes. But, here is a song that I absolutely have totally been loving since I first heard it this summer: "Nothing But a Miracle" by Diane Birch and Darryl Hall. I hate to admit this, but I love, love, love Hall & Oates! C'mon, dude, I don't care how cool, or how detached, or how ironic you are, you have to love Hall & Oates. That is real, classic, filthy illness. And it only gets better with time. So now Hall has this tv show (started as a webshow) where he has musicians visit him at his pastoral estate in New York, and they eat cool food and jam. This young gal, I don't really know anything about her, but you can tell she is feeling all over that 70s vibe so hard, and at the end of the song she bursts out smiling, like, "Holy crap, Darryl Hall just sang my song!" So, so good:
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Well, we'll be back on Superbowl Sunday with a game against Toronto. I'm not even going to lie: although I am super-excited about slow-roasting a pork butt for Superbowl Sunday fare, I haven't seen the actual game in a decade - I'll probably be watching the Heat game during Giants-Pats. If you need me before then, I'll be learning the guitar part to "Nothing But a Miracle" so that Great Friend of the Blog Snets and I can rock a duet. I gotta get myself together, people. I gotta go out and buy myself a little black dress - I'm so tired of this t-shirt. Night!
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