6 Thoughts
1) That was unbelievable, and I don't mean in a good way. Out of 82 games, some are going to be dullfests. I mean, that was unwatchable. The Pacers slowed the game to a crawl; watched everyone on Miami miss every jump shot they took all night - except, ironically, Dwyane Wade; missed every shot they took all night; but kept batting the ball at the rim until it went in. This wasn't exactly "Showtime" by these two teams. Not sure this was exactly what Dr. Naismith had in mind when he invented basketball a hundred years or so ago. Had he envisioned this ballgame, he might never have bothered...let's just get it over with, let's go...blahhhhh...
2) Honestly? Maybe the Pacers are the second best team in the East. Miami is easily the best, I still haven't seen any East team do anything all season that makes me think it can beat Miami 4 out of 7. Depending on who is playing well, various teams are going to look like the second best at different times. Chicago looks tough if Rose gets back - they are clearly the second best team if that happens; Brooklyn is playing well since they waxed Avery Johnson; Boston just went on the road and won a couple of tough games to stay up in the playoff hunt. Knicks are falling back to earth a bit. But Indiana is long, they are physical, they defend super-hard, and they rebound. However, they can not shoot. At all. They finished the game at 36% from the floor, and a lot of those misses were two-footers that they missed as they smacked the ball around the rim. On the one hand, it's a brutal style to watch - I can't imagine being a Pacers fan and having to watch that 82 games a year. They do know basketball is for fun, right? On the other hand, defense and rebounding always translates - you can always do it, even on a night when your shot isn't dropping. Overall? I don't know. Just, please, for the love of God, don't make me watch them again for a while.
3) Okay, we have to talk about it. Miami got killed on the glass. I mean, annihilated. Some times that happens, and it doesn't matter at all - raw rebounding totals don't mean much, they don't correlate with winning necessarily. But on a night when the other team can't make a basket, you'd probably like to hold them to less than 22 offensive rebounds - it virtually seemed like the only way Indiana scored all night was on the third shot of a possession when Miami simply got tired of defending. Just as damaging: against an excellent defensive team like Indiana (by most ranking systems, the NBA's best right now), you need to get out and create early offense, especially a team like Miami that is so good at transition. You can't do that if you never get a rebound. So tonight it was a big problem, and it has already been a meme for weeks, and the chatter is only going to get louder now. Miami is gonna sign Jarvis Varnado, a lanky 6'10" jumping jack whom they drafted in the second round a couple of years ago. You think he is going to come in and be Wes Unseld? Unlikely. They also reportedly looked at Chris "The Birdman" Anderson today - he may not come in and be Wes Unseld either, but on a night like tonight, at least he would have been interesting to look at, and I've been praying we get him all year, love that kid! SIGN HIM UP! If the Heat does sign him, M.Minutos may move out - I already randomly shout out "Bird-man, drive a red Range!" upwards of twenty times a day, and he isn't even on our team yet! Shall we use another "overall?" Yes, let's use another "overall." Overall, Coach Spo keeps saying that the guys already on the team can rebound enough to win a championship. and he's probably right. You know how he and I know that? Because this same group rebounded enough last year to win a championship! Pretty easily, too, by the way! Jiminy Cricket, people, if you can't tell when a team is on "coast mode," I don't know what to tell you. OKC lost last night to Washington, you think people in OKC are panicking? Actually, yes, probably they are - never going to lose money betting on "fans over-reacting to regular season wins and losses."
4) We always praise KJ James, so tonight we have to man up: Paul George outplayed him. Hey, there are 82 games, sometimes even KJ James is going to be outplayed. KJ sprained his ankle last game, maybe he wasn't feeling great, or maybe the other guy just took it to him. KJ wasn't terrible, he scored 22 on 10-20, and had 10 rebounds. Frankly, if he didn't get a defensive rebound, Miami didn't get a defensive rebound - he was the only guy who really competed at all on the defensive glass. But he also turned it over 7 times, a lot of them kind of unforced, and Paul George scored 29 with 11 rebounds, but now that I look at it, he shot 12-27 from the floor (for the Pacers, though, that's Steve Kerr-like). I thought he was the aggressor of the two. Shall we just say it was a draw? Naw - I'm gonna say Paul George outplayed him. He's only 22, that kid is serious. That was well-written!
5) This blog sucks tonight, I'm struggling, just like the Heat - the game was boring, nothing I can do is going to liven it up. How about this: quick, how many career triples do you think Udonis Haslem has made? Answer: 0. He's 0-14 in his career. Hasn't even tried one since 2007. He's taken over 5,000 shots in his career, only 14 were triples, and none went in. Hmmm. Super-interesting, right? By the way, he's terrible right now. I love UD, but even though his rebounding rate is reasonably impressive, it's partially because he plays with bigs who don't rebound much, either; he can't make a shot; and his defense is a step slow. He's also lost his ability to catch the ball in traffic, and he's 32. He's not an NBA-level rotation player right now, and he probably never will be again. Remember when I said Jarvis Varnado and Chris Anderson weren't Wes Unseld? They don't have to be to help Miami right now - they only have to be able to outplay UD. That kills me to say, but there's no sense lying about it. Along with Dwyane and me, UD has brought Miami two titles - he's got nothing to hang his head about.
6) OMG. That was creepy. One day later? One day later? #FrameUp
"Andray Blatche was Nets player questioned in sexual assault investigation, according to report"
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Sorry my blog stunk tonight. I'm sure the writer of "Yee-haw Pacers!" smoked me. I'm like Miami and OKC - in full coast mode! Our next game is Thursday in Portland, I'll try to pick it up for that one. If you need me before then, I will be staying away - far away - from Humphries Park in Venice, Florida. Oh, and I'll also be staying far, far away from Kris Humphries. And Andray Blatche! Goodness, what a pair of teammates! See you Thursday!
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