1) The Mike Bibby Classic on Ascot Friday in Atlanta! Just don't get no better than that. The two teams on which Mike Bibby had his greatest successes (if you don't count all his great seasons in Sacramento, which I don't) - and in his honor, the two point guards, Almario Vernard Chalmers and Jeff Teague delivered in a huge way. And Heat sideline reporter extraordinaire, Jason Jackson, who brings it extra-hard on Friday nights throughout the season, sartorially speaking, remembered to bring the ascot - last Friday he forgot to bring it to New York, and that's the only game we've lost! Ten toes in, boy! Not five! Ten toes in! Let it Fly!
2) Now, look, no one on the Heat or the Hawks is ever going to play the point guard position better than Mike Bibby did for these two franchises. But Chalmers and Teague both tried tonight - and they were entertaining. During Emcee's rookie season, Miami lost a 7 game series to the Hawks in the first round of the playoffs in which Emcee and Bibby spent 35 minutes a night standing on the perimeter girl-slapping each other into as great a state of aggravation as each of them can muster which, frankly, is not that great. They are mellow dudes. Tonight, though, Chalmers showed his growth as a player - instead of slapping people, he was tackling dudes all night long. In the first quarter, he drove on Teague, Teague blocked his running layup, then Chalmers hit Teague in the face with an "accidental swinging forearm," then wrapped up Teague's arm and held onto him so Teague couldn't run back up court. In the second quarter he fell and wrapped up Josh Smith's leg, holding on so Smith couldn't go anywhere, then later barrelled into a loose ball scrum and absolutely tackled Anthony Tolliver to the floor! Getting physical! He also had 10 points, including a big three down the stretch, and didn't turn the ball over. But Teague, who was obviously well-mentored by Bibby, was great himself - he had 20 points on 7-8 shooting, including late back-to-back threes to tie the score, the second a backing up triple off the dribble that the Heat dared him to shoot. Also had 11 assists and only 2 turnovers. I'd like to think that somewhere Mike Bibby was watching this game and beaming with pride at his two former students, but he was probably sleeping.
3) Dwyane Wade missed this game with a cold. This is exactly what I think we all hoped would happen this year - it's a long road trip the Heat are starting, it's a super-long season, we have a lot of aching, older bodies (not me, of course - I feel great) - give dudes nights off if they don't feel great. Mike Mil-lar started in his place, and Ray Allen scored 17 (on 3-5 triples - Jesus, can he shoot!), but it was, ummm, Rashard Lewis (!) who stepped up to replace Dwyane by scoring three straight huge hoops late in the third quarter after the Heat had slipped behind by 5. He knocked down a long left wing triple, then scored two straight post up short turnaround jumpers when he recognized he had a mismatch against the smaller Anthony Morrow - along with a Mil-lar technical free throw, the Heat went from 5 behind to 3 up in 90 seconds. I can't say I've enjoyed watching Lewis play so far this season, but this was his best stretch of play.
4) KJ James didn't seem overly engaged, then bumped knees with Josh Smith in the second quarter, and seemed even less engaged afterwards. Still, he finished with 21 points on 9-17, 11 assists, and 9 rebounds. He only took one shot in the fourth quarter when, up 2, he took two dribbles to the left wing, Jordan-shoved DeShawn Stevenson to the ground, and buried a 20 footer to put the Heat up 4 with 13 seconds left. Ballgame. He's okay.
5) Chris Bosh: 7-13 from the floor, 10-10 from the line, for 24 points, and stuck a sweet pullup 20 footer in transition to put the Heat up 2 with 2 minutes to play. Then, with under a minute to go, he made the play of the game by recognizing the Hawks trying to alley-oop backdoor to Josh Smith, and getting up to tip the ball away. He's playing so well this season, so relaxed but active on both ends, if that makes any sense. On the other hand, he's murdering my prediction that he would make more than 50 triples - 0-2 tonight, to fall to 1-10 on the season through 6 games. Every time he catches the ball anywhere behind the arc, even if it's 70 feet away, I scream for him to shoot. Got to get to 50, boy, you're wayyy behind pace! Ten toes in, boy, not five - ten toes in!!!
6) Even if you were in Hell, you'd still be 45 minutes out of Scranton. But if you did ever get there, you might see this:
So good! When is he coming out with another album? Is it true that he also did some acting? Not familiar with that part of his career. By the way, not a lot of people know this, but after Bruce Willis left that band, they hired Darius Rucker and became Hootie and the Blowfish. Everybody wins!
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Next game is Sunday. I hate Sunday games more than I hate Russell Westbrook, but at least it's an evening game, not an afternoon game. I think we are in Memphis. If you need me before then, I'll be wearing a headband, practicing long set shots, and "casually" throwing towels while opponents are shooting free throws. Have a great weekend - drink a wine cooler or three for me!
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