6 Thoughts
1) That's 20 up and 6 down. We'll take it...Let's go.
2) This Bobcat team has lost 16 in a row, and besides their lightning-quick point guard from the University of Connecticut, Kemba Walker, they probably don't have another starter-level NBA player on their roster. Still, after a quick start in which KJ James (27, 12, 8, 4 steals, 2 blocks) stole the ball and dunked it about 4 times in 90 seconds to begin the game, Miami was draag-inggg after their hard fought win over the presumptive 2013 champion OKC Thunder yesterday. The Bobcats scrapped and scrapped and had it down to 2 with about 5 minutes to go, whereupon KJ dribbled for 22 seconds on a possession, stepped back and hit a three from the left wing; then Wade dropped two long jumpers in a row: then KJ got middle, elevated, and threw a sick lookaway pass to Shane Battioke for a triple from the right corner; then KJ banged in another triple from the top. Ballgame. Too much scoring. And they weren't even really trying that hard, just seeking out good jump shot opportunities and ripping them.
3) I don't know how many times we have to say it here, we keep saying it over and over, but some guys seem like they gotta learn the hard way. There's plenty of guys on the Heat you can f- with. You can f- with Mike Miller - he's just going to laugh it off. Same with Battier. Chris Bosh won't care at all if you f- with him, he'll look right past you and go about his business, and Emcee Chalmers won't even notice you are f-ing with them, he'd assume you were talking to someone else ("who, me?"). You can even f- with KJ James. You know what he usually does when people f- with him? Demands the ball out on the wing, glares at the guy, holds it for 14 seconds, then shoots a fadeaway. Sometimes it goes in; sometimes it doesn't. But the one guy never to f- with on the Heat is Dwyane Wade. He's from the pro-jects in Chicago, he's a little nasty to begin with, and he's the rare player who seems to elevate his level of play when he gets mad. The Bobcats were a little chippy tonight - we all get it, they've lost a ton of games in a row, a lot of the guys are fighting for their NBA lives, and they are kind of trying to prove their manhood against the champs. Gerald Henderson, in particular, was irritating the Miami players. He was grabbing a lot, he was bumping a lot, he gave an (uncalled, of course) flagrant foul on a KJ James dunk, and the whole while he was chirping. Finally, at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Dwyane had had enough, and he started a drive from about 25 feet out, Henderson slid over in front of the restricted area to draw a charge, Dwyane saw him, took another power dribble, and launched himself forward and trucked Henderson, laying him out flat! As the whistle blew and the refs called an offensive foul on Wade, he stood up over Henderson and smirked down at him with a satisfied look on his face. A couple of trips later, as Wade came over halfcourt with the ball, inexplicably Bobcat guard Ramon Sessions rushed at Wade 40 feet from the hoop and roughly started to wrap him up, like he was taking a foul at the end of an NBA Finals game down a point with 4 seconds to go, whereupon Dwyane, after his initial shock at being grabbed, kneed Sessions in the, ummm, well, I guess you'd say "the nuts." Ouch! Both Henderson and Sessions are going to be sore tomorrow - that's learning the hard way! Wade also scored 13 fourth quarter points (after dropping 11 in 4th against OKC on Xmas), and finished with 29 on 10-19, with 9 boards and 5 dimes. Gerald Henderson and Ramon Sessions, if you didn't know, now you know: don't f- with Dwyane Wade.
4) Out: Walter Ray Allen (cheap shot, #KendrickPerkins #doucheball). In: all the other shooters, including the reclaimed-from-mothballs James Johnson (as Ray likes to call him). James Jones saw his first meaningful action in weeks and knocked down 2 long jumpers. Battier made 3 out of 5 triples, Chalmers made 4 out of 6 (8-14 the last two days for 37 points!), Wade made one, Bosh made one, KJ made 2-4. Overall, 12-23 from distance. That's how you survive on the second night of a Christmas back-to-back, when the energy is low, and it's the other team's biggest game of the season. Load up on shooters, find them, and let them do what they do.
5) Would you say that Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is the best-dressed coach in the NBA? Tonight he had a very sharp small-checked blue shirt, with a solid blue tie, and a properly tailored suit. Looked good. I predicted that at some point this year he is going to go super-low with that messy bush of hair he has, and will rival Mario "Emcee" Chalmers, People Magazine's reigning Sexiest Man in Alaska, looks-wise. They will be competing for the same alluring women when they go out clubbing together on the road. Question, though: who do you think picks out and buys Spo's clothes? He doesn't seem like he would have much interest in shopping, he seems like he spends all his time breaking down game film, calling Dr. Jack Ramsay for advice on how to defend the side pick-and-roll, or drinking iced coffee. I think he probably has a local personal shopper come to the office and show him a bunch of stuff, and Spo picks what he likes (with advice from the shopper) - by the way, would you call such a person a "stylist?" I say no, that person is a "personal shopper;" M.Minutos says it is a "stylist." It's not a stylist, a stylist would also arrange a haircut for Spo, and he clearly hasn't had a professional haircut in years...M.Minutos said she thinks Spo and Assistant Coach Loc (David Fizdale) go shopping together in the offseason. Whatever - the important thing to note is that Spo is a very well-dressed and, dare I say, handsome young man!
6) Did you see who was in the news again recently? It's our favorite United States congressperson, Senator Mike Crapo from Idaho! And he's in a bit of trouble - got arrested for a DUI. Oh, no. Look, I don't like the giant mess that Crapo has made here - frankly, it stinks - but if he's willing to admit to his foul ways, I'm more than happy to wipe the record clean and give him a fresh start, even if the stain from this incident lasts a while. I mean, it’s the holiday season, a time for sharing Yule logs and Christmas loaves with your family and friends, not for acting stinky over an accident or two. In fact, I'd argue that one great thing all of us could do this week is to slip into a neighbors' house when they are out and leave them an unexpected pile of presents - drop it somewhere where they are sure to see it, like the front foyer, or the kitchen. It's the kind of random explosion of kindness that could make someone tear up, and really fertilize a new sense of community in our neighborhoods. That's right, people: I smell a change coming in America, and it's led by Senator Mike Crapo!
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Off tomorrow night, then another back-to-backer starting in Detroit. If you need me before then, I'll be buying a personal breathalyzer for my car. Bottoms up!
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