Heat 141 Kings 129 2ot

6 Thoughts

1) First rule about Sacramento games: they are always - ALWAYS - entertaining!  Miami couldn't stop Sacramento; Sacramento couldn't stop Miami; and nobody, absolutely nobody, could stop referee Sean Wright!  Wheewww, that was a close one - almost had to put Mike Miller in!  This game was incredibly entertaining, right down to the last play when Dwyane Wade was dribbling out the clock at halfcourt up 12 points with 15 seconds left and Tyreke Evans suddenly and pointlessly stole the ball, charged downcourt, and then missed an uncontested layup - then the Heat threw the ball back out to Dwyane, and he put it down on the floor, and stood on it with one foot for the last 5 seconds while glaring at Evans!  Twelve in a row, 25-3 at home, 41-14 overall: Let!  It!  Fly!

2) I'm just gonna say it - I didn't think KJ James played very well.  I thought he was slow defensively (5th game in 7 nights - it happens), I thought he held the ball too much on offense, I thought he was not decisive on his drives, and he made two horrible plays late in regulation that allowed the Kings to get to overtime: let DeMarcus Cousins strip him on a drive, and took a bad iso fallaway over John Salmons.  Okay, I acknowledge: he scored 40 points on only 23 shots, and had 16 assists, and 8 rebounds, but I really didn't think he was on his game.  On the other hand, I thought Dwyane Wade was great: lively on his legs, quick decisions, and made a huge chase down block on Tyreke Evans in the second overtime that helped put the game away.  39 on 19-28 from Dwyane, with 8 boards and 7 assists.  That's the most points the two have ever scored in game together - funny that one played a little below his standards, and one was terrific, it shows how numbers can be deceptive sometimes.  You know whose numbers didn't lie at all?  Birdman!  He's getting his legs - 4 dunks and 2 free throws for 10 points in 16 minutes.  He makes some mistakes on the defensive end chasing the ball, but he makes those mistakes going 100 miles an hour, in contrast to Chris Bosh, who makes his defensive mistakes going 1 mile an hour.  It's the difference between what a Birdman does and what a Birdman brings (as Chris Anderson likes to say), and what a statue does and what a statue brings (Chris Bosh never comments on this - statues do not talk).

3) Still, the most unstoppable force in this game was referee Sean Wright.  I have never seen anyone referee a game quite like he did tonight.  Halfway through the second quarter, it had become very obvious: if Sean Wright was in the position under the basket, and the ball came into the paint, and someone contested the play, he was calling a foul.  Period. "Defense is a foul," I imagined him telling players, every time they argued.  It was glaring - in Casa Dos, we started laughing every time someone started a drive with him under the rim.  He would literally blow his whistle without even looking at the play: "don't need to, someone tried to play defense."  So, one of the most annoying things about the NBA are fans who push conspiracy theories that the league wants this team to win, or that team to lose; or that only stars get calls, like they aren't stars because they create more fouls than lesser athletes.  These are all bogus and silly...except for the long-running mid-to-late 90s Knicks-over-Heat conspiracy masterminded by the evil David Stern, and implemented by his sniveling cohort "Knick" Bavetta - that one was obviously true, I mean, let's be real!...But I really think the following is true, or at least it was true tonight: because Sean Wright was calling absolutely every play at the rim a foul, when his partners Bennett Salvatore and Scott Twardoski would be under the rim, they felt they couldn't call anything a foul.  Like they realized that if they started calling fouls too, this game wasn't going to end until Saturday.  So this dynamic led to a totally bizarre, but fairly evenly refereed game, on the whole.  For a good long while I felt like the Heat were getting the short end of the stick - for some reason Wright was always under the Kings offensive basket, and they were shooting a ton of free throws.  But it evened up late on a couple of Heat drives, mostly notably when Norris Cole got out of control behind the backboard, jumped in the air, Tyreke Evans intentionally avoided him since he knew Cole was behind the backboard, and Cole threw a pass into Evans' armpit for a key turnover...except Sean Wright was on the baseline and called his 100th straight foul from that position on Evans, who couldn't believe it: "hey, what were you doing in the defensive painted area anyways - I have to call that!"  I have to admit, I wouldn't want to watch this Sean Wright ref every game, but for one night it was super-fascinating.

4) The Kings are probably moving from Sacramento to Seattle for next season.  DON'T EVEN LIE, ERIC REID AND TONY FIORENTINO, I SEE YOU, I SEE RIGHT THROUGH YOUR "I-FEEL-SO-BAD-FOR-THE-FANS-OF-SACRAMENTO" POPPYCOCK!  YOU ARE DANCING ON THE INSIDE BECAUSE YOU NEVER HAVE TO GO TO SACRAMENTO AGAIN!  DANCING, I TELL YOU!!!

5) A couple of weeks ago we got an email at Dos Minutos from a PR firm repping Jetset Magazine, which this month featured Dwyane Wade on its cover, although they misspelled his name in the press release - guess those fancy, private school educations aren't everything.  Here's part of the note the PR firm sent us: 

 
I wanted to pass along a press release to you about Jetset Magazine, a luxury magazine with a $5.3 million dollar average household income is looking to emerge into the Miami market with high end events like a celebrity yacht party and also featuring Miami Heat super star Dwayne Wade on their cover. I would really love your help in getting the word out about Jetset to help increase their readership. They also are looking for new advertisers all the time- this year their focus is on Miami and all the high end luxury products,real estate, and fashion!

Holy smokes, I can't believe this! Last summer, when I commissioned The Captain to do a study identifying potential cross-promotional advertising partners for Dos Minutos, the very first name on his list was Jetset Magazine! His report said that a high percentage of Jetset's readers were already Dos Minutos readers, and that "they really love it when you write about Idaho senator Mike Crapo and pretend that his last name is pronounced like poop, or when you post shaky smart-phone video clips of the Cincinnati alt-rock band Wussy." Ummm, duh? Who wouldn't?...Anyways, I took a look at Jetset's most recent issue, and I really like it, got some great ideas for future blog topics in there. In fact, in an upcoming Dos Minutos I'll be writing a rebuttal to Jetset's glowing review of Ulysse Nardin's new collection of luxury watches, titled "Ulysse Nardin: Not That Much Different From Swatches, Really."

 

6) Another thing that Jetset Magazine and Dos Minutos have in common: total support for equal rights and opportunities for everyone.  Exciting young Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried recently came out in support of gay marriage and human rights.  Here's part of his statement:

 

"I have two moms and I love them both very much. I respect, honor and support them in every way. The bond I have with them has made me realize that I want all members of the LGBT community -- whether they are parents, players, coaches or fans -- to feel welcome in the NBA and in all of our communities."

Love this dude now. I don't think you can go wrong standing up for something positive and inclusive. Everyone should have an opportunity to participate in the NBA in any way they want to, or are able to, without fear of being discriminated against, or ridiculed. Except for Russell Westbrook.  
-----  
A couple off nights before starting a very busy March, including a lot of road games.  Kicks off Friday at home against Memphis, though.  Only 27 games left - crazy!  Time sure flies you are #Champs!  If you need me before Friday, I'll be living that "Jetset Lifestyle," boy - massage at the Mandarin Oriental with Jax; early dinner at The Forge with my dad, Pat Riley; and a private room at Liv with Dwyane and Gabrielle Union to chill the night away.  Whoops, hope Dwyane doesn't have to leave early to get his rest!...Oh, and trying to think of more fake absurd celebrity encounters for this blog, like the time I called Sammy Davis Jr. the "n" word on a golf course in Las Vegas.  See you Friday, peons!
----- 

Heat 109 Cavaliers 105

6 Thoughts

1) Wow.  I'll say one thing: those Cavaliers came to play.  They kept getting down 20, and then fighting back, then getting down 18, then fighting back.  Then they fought back so hard that they got all the way over the hump and led by 8 halfway through the fourth quarter.  With Miami looking exhausted on their fourth game in five nights, it seemed like these young Cavaliers were going to steal one.  Wow.  Then Dwyane Wade went bananas, KJ James locked down Kyrie Irving, Cavs coach Byron Scott's rules were not followed, and the Heat won their eleventh in a row.  Wow.  Mike Miller was in the house.  He didn't play, but rules is rules: let it fly!  Wow.

2) Or, for the second straight night: WOW!  "Way of Wade" went all 2006 in the fourth quarter, scoring 15 points, and making every offensive play down the stretch.  Went middle, got knocked to the floor, dropped the ball, wrestled it away from two Cavs and from his side threw a laser to Battier for a big triple with 6 minutes to go to slice the Cavs lead from 7 to 4.   Cut off the ball behind the defense and caught a KJ James bullet for a layup to cut the lead to 1 with 3 minutes to go, then got to the rim again moments later to put the Heat back ahead.  Then, after the Cavs re-took the lead, he grabbed a Cleveland miss, pushed it quickly up the floor before the defense could get set, and found Battier for another corner triple to give the Heat a 2 point lead with a minute to go, then under 30 seconds, up 2, he ran screen and roll with James at the elbow, turned the corner, thundered down the lane and two-hand tomahawked flushed the Cavs away.  Ballgame.  It's the fourth game in five nights, he's an aging veteran: this shouldn't be happening, right?  He shouldn't still be taking games over down the stretch, right?  24 points, 5 boards, 6 assists, 2 blocks and a steal.  There's still a little something left in the tank.  Way of Wade - WOW - indeed...And, yes, he did get a WOW into his postgame interview: there's a little left in the marketing tank, too!  What the heck are in those Li-Ning sneakers?  It's almost like Dwyane is playing better just for marketing purposes!

3) KJ James looked worn down a little tonight.  I mean, yes, he did have 3 smashing dunks in the first quarter, and he did have 28 points and 8 assists.  But he looked a little slow defensively in some help situations, and did not really make an effort on the glass, let a few rebounds go.  Also missed an uncontested bunny right before the Wade tomahawk dunk to win the game.  He's human.  But you know why he's the MVP?  Because the Cavs super point guard Kyrie Irving was shredding the Heat throughout the second half - they couldn't stay in front of him, and he kept breaking them down off the dribble for buckets, or collapsing the defense and finding open shooters.  With the Heat down 3 and 3:30 to go, Coach Fun put KJ on Irving.  From that point until the end of the game Irving went 0-4, on two long, contested triples; a heavily contested drive; and an 18 foot running off-handed airball throw to beat the shot clock.  Lockdown, ballgame.  KJ is the best offensive player in basketball: no one creates as many opportunities, in as many ways, as he does.  But he also may be the best defensive player in the league - he's certainly the most versatile.  The Heat just put him on an All-Star quality, high-level scoring point guard, and at 6'8" 260 (or whatever), he totally shut him down.  That's ridiculous (but it's not WOW)...

4) Eric Reid and Tony Fiorentino reported that Cavs coach Byron Scott told them before the game that one of the Cavs defensive rules is that they never leave corner three point shooters open.  Ummm, that may be more of a "suggestion" than a "rule," because all the Cavs did all night was leave corner triples, and all triples, open.  Battier hit the two huge ones coming down the stretch (one from each corner), and also made 4-7 for the game (and one of the misses was a halfcourt clock heave that almost went in).  Walter Ray Allen was 3-3; Emcee Chalmers was 4-5; and even Bosh drilled one (that's 10 for the season -he's got some work to do to get to 50, like I predicted).  Heat were 12-19 overall, and they haven't lost a game yet this season when they make at least 10.  When their shooters are shooting it well, it's almost always going to be a win, they have too many other ways to score as well, it's going to be too many points to beat them.  Credit to the Cavs for almost getting it done.

5) And one way they almost got it done: threes of their own, especially 3 in a row from backup, journeyman wing CJ Miles, who has always had a nice looking stroke.  Holy Mike Mil-lar!  He scored 11 straight points in 3 possessions late in the third quarter which took the Cavs from down 10 to up 1: three triples, a foul on Chalmers on the third one, and a technical foul on Spo for protesting a no-call on a KJ James drive-and-get-knocked-to-the-ground-on-a-bodycheck that went uncalled on the play preceding the Miles four point play.  I don't know why that was the call that got to Spo - apparently he didn't get the memo that all bets are off on any KJ James drive to the bucket...In any case, on the next Cavs possession, like any good shooter feeling it should, Miles came off a screen, caught a pass, and launched a three as he was turning without even bothering to look at the basket, and it rattled around and came thisclose to dropping before bouncing out.  Whew!  Even on the wrong end of it, it was quite a stretch to watch. 

6) Worse parental group: Deadbeat Dads or My Two Dads?  Neither, says R.Minutos: "The worst dads are Grateful Deadhead dads.  They smell like patchouli oil, smoke pot all day, and eat grilled cheese sandwiches with their shirts off.  My Two Dads are at least in shape, smell like a lush green forest, and are impeccable dressers."...Good points, although I'm not sure how in shape Paul Reiser was - I feel like he'd look like a soft, pasty puff of marshmallow with his shirt off.  Also, he wears a hairpiece.  Nice beard on Greg Evigan, though.  These are the things we talk about at Dos Minutos Int'l HQs.  The end. 
-----
The next game is Tuesday, in Miami, against Sacramento.  The first rule about games against Sacramento: they are always entertaining in one way or another.  If you need me before then, I'll be buying some Chinese sneakers - I may still have some game left in these legs after all!
-----

Heat 114 Sixers 90

6 Thoughts

1) Standard-issue road blowout of a bad team.  Philly shot jumpers well for a half and sort of hung around for a while, but the Heat got easy shots all night long and blew the Sixers out in the third quarter.  Five wins in a row on the road, ten wins in a row overall, everybody is playing well, our two best players have "side projects" going, and even the Heat's announcers are rolling.  Mike Miller stayed home with the ear infection - didn't need him! - so leggo!

2) Remember how the last two and a half seasons there would be certain times of the game, generally at the beginning of the second and fourth quarters, when the Heat would have "Bosh Time?"  KJ James and Dwyane Wade would rest at the same time, and the idea would be to get Bosh extra offensive touches?  Yeah, that's over.  Coach Spo switched this up a few weeks back, and now this never happens.  All three start together, then Bosh and Wade usually come out towards the end of the first quarter, and KJ stays out there.  Then for the rest of the game, either he or Wade (or both) is always on the court.  Umm, good idea.  It seemed way harder for Spo to figure out than everyone else on Earth.  That formula worked to perfection tonight.  KJ played a controlled, but physically dominant, game - mostly sought out good spots on the floor, accepted Sixer double teams, and found open teammates.  A very efficient night for KJ: 16 points on  7-12, 10 rebounds, 11 assists.  Triple double!  But Wade was the best player in the game (for once - tough when the best player on Earth is your teammate!): 33 points on 14-18 from the floor.  He made mid-range jumper after mid-range jumper, and occasionally mixed in a whirling drive to the rim.  KJ James is the MVP - no doubt.  Dwyane Wade, though - there's not another player better than him in the Eastern Conference, right?  He's averaging 21 points a game on 50% shooting from the floor, as a 6'4" guard.  He also gets 5 boards and 5 assists a night, and makes all kinds of dynamic defensive plays, especially when the game is on the line.  He passed the 16,000 career point mark tonight.  Wow...

3) Or: WOW!  New nickname for Dwyane Wade!  He and his Chinese sneaker company, Li-Ning, have a marketing campaign called "Way of Wade."  Acronym: WOW!  Dwyane goes to Asia a great deal in the offseason with his various endorsement interests, and a Chinese sneaker company finally dropped big, big dollars to steal him away from Nike.  He dropped a "WOW" on Heat television host Jason Jackson in the post-game interview, and Dwyane's long been a good marketer: you're not going to hear much else out of his mouth for the next good while.  When Dwyane was a free agent two and a half years ago, alot of people thought that he would sign in New York for marketing purposes - "he can make sooo much more money on endorsements playing in New York."  Yeah - you can't go anywhere without seeing a Raymond Felton ad, these days...KJ has his own little side project going as well, more of the basketball-related variety.  To start every game, Chris Bosh wins the tip (you know, I don't know how he does it - this seems like something he would be terrible at - but he does), right back to James, standing 8 feet behind him.  Then KJ bends over, puts the ball on the ground, like a football center, and shotgun snaps it back to Mario "Emcee" Chalmers, who then brings it up to start the game.  For sure, one of these days Rio isn't going to be paying attention, and the ball is going to sail past him out of bounds, which will make it even better, although at that point Coach Fun (aka Spo) will shut it down.  Remember when KJ was a free agent the same summer as Dwyane and a few people thought he might sign in New Jersey because their owner was from overseas, and he could really capture the international endorsement market?  Yeah - you can't go anywhere in Europe without seeing a Gerald-Wallace-hiking-the-opening-tip-back-to-Joe-Johnson ad, these days!

4) The Sixers are not very good, and their very high-strung coach Doug Collins is not having fun.  Is he ever?  Answer: no.  Heat play-by-player Eric Reid reported that Collins "was not happy at halftime of their loss to Minnesota the other night, or after the game."  Or, anytime, ever!  That's why he's Doug Collins!  And he certainly was not happy when the Heat only had 5 fouls called on them through the first three quarters, at which point the game was over.  Lot of jumpers by the Sixers, to be fair, and especially when there is a rim-protecting statue like Chris Bosh anchoring the defense...Also, in the first quarter, The Coach, Tony Fiorentino, broke down Sixer guard Evan Turner's repertoire: "he's an attacker, he is going to try to drive and score - he's probably not going to pass the ball."  High praise!

5) So Jax has been on a roll lately: last game he slipped in a little Michel-le "Nicety" reference.  I always thought Dr. Dre's (or was it Reggie Rose's?) quick rap at the end of that jam was kind of an underrated nice moment.  His flow is kind of underrated in general, right?  I enjoy his style more than that nasally Snoop Dog, frankly.  Tonight Jax took it back even farther, and whiter - much whiter - when he dropped a "time keeps on slippin" from the Steven Miller Band on us.  Say it ain't so, Jax!  I once saw the Steven Miller Band at Lake Compounce in Connecticut when I was in high school - longest 8 hours of my life.  A few weeks later, I saw them again at Giants Stadium, opening up for The Dead.  "If they play 'Abracadabra,' I'm leaving," our biggest Deadhead friend, WebMinutos, told us as we entered the stadium.  You mean like to go to the bathroom?  "No - I'm leaving the whole concert, I'm walking out, getting in my car, and driving back to Connecticut.  F- seeing the Dead."  Haaa!  I guess he really didn't like that song!  They didn't play it.  C'mon, Web - and Jax - you know I love you boys, but neither of you know a thing about wild mountain honey...

6) So at Dos Minutos International Headquarters this past week, The Captain announced to me that, for charitable purposes, he is volunteering next weekend at The Honda Classic, which is a professional golf tournament in Palm Beach County.  Great news - was he excited?  "No - I have to learn a whole manual of etiquette, and rules, and procedures and things, it's a thick manual, it will take forever.  It's like slavery."  Ummm, yes?  Kind of just like slavery, except for the part that at the end of six hours walking around "shhh-ing" people on an immaculately manicured golf course with Tiger Woods, The Captain will drink three Jim Beam & Cokes and then drive home to sleep in his own bed in the luxurious West Palm Beach enclave known as The Acres.  Gosh, the trouble The Captain's eyes have seen!  Old Man River, he just keeps rollin' along!
-----
Fourth game in five nights tomorrow, back in Miami against Cleveland.  Cue the KJ-is-going-back-to-Cleveland-to-play-with-Kyrie-Irving-after-next-season columns in three, two, one...If you need me before then, I'll be working on my "Jax' Greatest Hits" mixtape.  Have a good Sunday, everyone (I'm looking at you, Doug Collins).
-----

Heat 86 Bulls 67

6 Thoughts

1) I'm not gonna lie: I thought that would be a lot harder.  I mean, the Bulls are sooo tough, they talk sooo much smack, and the Heat were on the second night of a road back-to-back in Chicago, those ferocious fans, in a national tv showdown - according to the Bulls, this is what they live for.  You know, I really, really expected a war, an absolute donnybrook!  But, no, it was super-easy!  Wow, I really did not expect that!...Buhhh-lowww-outtt!!!  Blah blah blah, Bulls: blah.  blah.  blah!  Nine wins in a row for Miami, but Mike Miller is still sick, and we only made 3 triples (why waste them?), so once again we can not let it fly.  C'mon, c'mon, leggo!

2) Here's how the game went: the Bulls would walk the ball up the court at a glacial pace because they are scared to run with the Heat, they would pass it around for a while, then Miami would either steal it; or Joakim Noah would pass the ball into a teammate's shins, then the Heat would steal it.  They would bring the ball up the court, KJ James would survey the scene and either stick a jumper (11-15 for 26 points, and one of the misses was a running left-handed triple at a quarter buzzer); or find a wide open teammate for a bucket (Wade - 20 points; Bosh - 12 points; Walter Ray Allen - 11 points).  Miami roasted the vaunted Bulls defense for 50.7% from the floor.  Only the Heat's tired legs, which led to some general turnover sloppiness, kept this game even remotely competitive - Miami had the Bulls on the verge of a blowout all night, before finally putting them away halfway through the fourth quarter.

3) Miami's defense was good, and the Bulls offense is pretty bad to begin with, so Chicago shot 37% from the floor and had 26 turnovers.  In a related story, today was the trade deadline.  Miami made only one move: clearing a roster space by sending Dexter Pittman to Memphis.  But it was a positive day anyways because some of their primary competition in the East tried to add last second pieces for the playoffs, and failed.  Chicago and Indiana were looking for shooting, especially J.J. Redick, who ended up going from Orlando to Milwaukee, where he really can't do much damage.  That's a win for Miami.  Chicago and Indiana struggle to score, and Redick is one of the better shooters in the league.  Miami's offense is better than it has been in either of the two previous seasons - they have more shooters, they move the ball better, KJ is simply a better basketball player now.  And in games like tonight, where they show up and make an effort defensively, they are clearly one of the two or three toughest teams to score on.  For teams like Chicago and Indiana, seven games over two weeks against this team looks like a tough task right now - tough to see how either one can score enough to beat Miami 4 out of 7.      

4) Of course, one thing that would instantly make the Bulls better is the return of mouth-breathing Derrick Rose, who has been out all season with a knee injury.  Even with him, their offense has never been very efficient, but he is a volume shooter and scorer - it certainly can't get worse than it was tonight.  Rose has been practicing for a couple of weeks now, and all interested parties must be very excited about his impending return.  Or not: his brother and "manager," Reggie Rose, excoriated Bulls management in the press today, claiming that they don't do enough to help his brother.  He said it better than I can, here you go:

Joakim Noah is a great player. Luol Deng is a great player. But you need more than that. You have to put together pieces to your main piece. The players can only do so much. It's up to the organization to make them better.

Yes, yes!  That's what I always say: you have to put together pieces to your main piece!  Two other All-Stars besides your brother isn't enough - most good teams have 6 or 7 All-Stars!  And by the way, the other guys on the Bulls, the ones you are publicly criticizing for not being good enough?  Those are the guys that are, you know, actually out there playing, unlike your brother.  Didn't he have a whole Addidas campaign talking about how fast he would be back?  I don't mean, like, now - I mean, months and months ago?  I thought I remembered seeing an ad like that quite a while back.  Tick tock, Derrick Rose, tick tock...Good god, Derrick Rose and his brother are an embarrassment to that franchise, and the whole city of Chicago.  Those fans must really hate having him as their best player.  On the other hand, at least his brother looks exactly like Dr. Dre!




 5) Well, great friend of the blog Snets has been giving some thought to the rumors that KJ James will opt out of his contract after next season and go back to Cleveland.  I wouldn't blame him if he did, and he already won a title for us, so I don't want to hear any complaining if it happens.  Here's what Snets emailed me this morning:

I wonder what our lives will be like post LBJ - you got to figure that Wade is going to look around albeit probably not very hard - Bosh will probably leave - Miller will be gone - Lewis and Battier probably retired, Allen retired - Spo will get fired mid season without Riley who will be gone, well we'll still probably have Chalmers

Wait - we will still have Chalmers?  Sounds great, I'm in!!!

6) You know what the biggest problem with the Twilight movies is? Those Indian dudes aren't werewolves! Those are giant, magical wolves, yes, that's true, but they aren't werewolves. Werewolves have wolf heads and paws, and hairy bodies, but they still walk upright and can talk, like Michael J. Fox in "Teen Wolf."   Ummm, duh? These Indian dudes don’t talk once they turn into wolves, and they prowl on all fours. Isn't that the whole point of a werewolf? Part-human, part-wolf? If you totally turn into a wolf, you aren't a werewolf, you're just a crazy Indian dude who turns into a wolf. Seems fairly obvious, hard to see how the filmmakers messed that up. Frustrating when people don't take their craft seriously enough…
-----
Again, just to clarify: tonight was a super-easy win.  They won't all be this easy, I assure you!  We will be back Saturday in Philly, then in Miami on Sunday for Cleveland.  Four games in five nights, brutal..for me...Look for me before Saturday if you need me, but don't waste your time looking for Reggie Rose: Reggie Rose is dead, he's locked up in my basement!  See you Saturday!
-----

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WE WILL STILL HAVE CHALMERS?

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We will still have Chalmers? Sounds great, I'm in!

Jeffrey Fine NMLS 402192
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From: David J. Snetsinger [mailto:snets@att.net]
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 9:51 AM
To: Jeff Fine
Subject: RE:

I wonder what our lives will be like post LBJ - you got to figure that Wade is going to look around albeit probably not very hard - Bosh will probably leave - Miller will be gone - Lewis and Battier probably retired, Allen retired - Spo will get fired mid season without Riley who will be gone, well we'll still probably have Chalmers

-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Fine [mailto:jfine@mackbank.com]
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 9:39 AM
To: David J. Snetsinger
Subject: RE:

Agreed on Beasley - he can always scored 20, but it's a lot of 8-22s, it's a terrible 20. He's Josh Smith, without the rebounding, passing, or defending.

Yeah, both teams were terrible last night. I guess that is to be expected after some time away, and I am sure they all partied some, both guys at the all star game, and guys on vacation. It was weird to see LeBron not totally dominate a game in every way, for once. My expectations for him are unrealistic. I expect him to make every play, all game, every game, on both ends of the floor.

Jeffrey Fine NMLS 402192
Mackinac Savings Bank, FSB NMLS 401686
2901 North Military Trail
West Palm Beach, Fl 33409
Office: 561-686-2352 ext 2213
Cell: 561-635-5599
Fax: 561-687-9818

The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from your computer.


-----Original Message-----
From: David J. Snetsinger [mailto:snets@att.net]
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 9:18 AM
To: Jeff Fine
Subject: RE:

We should have won that game last night by 30 points - they missed so many bunny's and let's not even talk about Bosh

-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Fine [mailto:jfine@mackbank.com]
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 9:05 AM
To: Snets
Subject: RE:

He has two more years guaranteed on his contract after this one, at like 6 million per year, I believe. The second Phoenix signed him to that deal, this is pretty much what I knew would happen (even though I was glad he got the money). His only chance, I have always believed, is to have a limited "gunner" role off the bench on a good team. Like he could play for us instead of Rashard Lewis. He has never been better than he was here. I feel bad for him, and like I am the only person who understands him!

Jeffrey Fine NMLS 402192
Mackinac Savings Bank, FSB NMLS 401686
2901 North Military Trail
West Palm Beach, Fl 33409
Office: 561-686-2352 ext 2213
Cell: 561-635-5599
Fax: 561-687-9818

The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from your computer.

-----Original Message-----
From: Snets [mailto:snets@att.net]
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 7:39 AM
To: Jeff Fine
Subject:

I wonder if the Bease will have a job next year They call me the Bease I keep rolling down the road (with apologies to Lynryd Skynryd)

Sent from my iPhone

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Heat 103 Hawks 90

6 Thoughts

1) This could have been another pedestrian, sloppy, first-game-back-from-the-All-Stars slogfest, but instead it turned out to be a great night in a lot of ways.  The Heat were atrocious for three quarters, then exploded to win the fourth quarter 40-17...The Knicks got hammered in Indiana, so Miami has a 5 game lead in the Eastern Conference standings, for what it's worth.  They have been second the last couple of years and still made it to the Finals, so it's probably not worth much...Oklahoma City lost in Houston (James Harden with an all-time "I hate what you did to me" game: 46 points!), and now, for all the complaining Heat fans do about Miami ("why can't we rebound," "Dwyane Wade doesn't run back on defense," "Chris Bosh plays defense like a statue"), the Heat have passed the Thunder, and now have the second best record in the NBA, behind only the Spurs....Finally, tonight ended an era, as the most Hawk-y Hawk of all, Josh Smith, probably played his last game for Atlanta.  He's almost assuredly getting traded tomorrow.  Glad we got to see his last game in the ATL, and it was vintage...We're heading down the home stretch now, kids, but Mike Mil-lar was out with the flu, so we can not let it fly...leggo!

2) Listen, let's be honest: the Hawks are not the most difficult team to trick.  There's a fairly decent chance that if you set a screen off the ball, or make a cut to the rim, or even simply drive-and-kick, someone on their defense is going to get lost.  Sometimes it might be Josh Smith, sometimes it might be DeShawn Stevenson, or Jeff Teague (it probably won't be Al Horford - AL HORFORD!) - in the end, does it matter which guy it is?  For three quarters Miami didn't do any of that, and they trailed by 10.  Cue the crafty old dudes for what one tweeter called "some basketry!"  The fourth quarter started: corner triple by Shane Battier; Ray Allen sealing Korver on the block for a layup-and-1; Battier corner triple; Ray backdoor layup on a 25 foot, one bounce laser from Battioke - a couple of minutes into the quarter they already had the lead, all on crafty old dudes making crafty-old-dude plays!  And it never stopped: Dwyane Wade (20 points) and KJ James (24 points, 11 dimes, 6 rebounds, 4 steals) started posting at the elbow, and letting Battioke and Ray sneak around and find cracks in the Hawks defense.  Battioke finished 5-8 on triples and scored 17 (and frustrated Josh Smith on the defensive end), and Ray scored 13 in the fourth to finish with 15 in the game.  Overall, 13 assists on 14 buckets in the fourth quarter for the Heat - that's crazy ball movement.  On a night where Miami was mostly brutal on offense, and KJ and Dwyane never really dominated, they still scored 103.  When those shooters make shots, man...

3) There are certain cities Miami goes to where the crowd isn't exactly intimidating.  And by "isn't exactly intimidating," I mean, "most people are rooting for the Heat."  It happens when they play the Nets, it happens when play Charlotte, but most of all, it happens when they play Atlanta.  It was an overwhelmingly vocal crowd in favor of the Heat - M.Minutos was out of the room during part of the Heat fourth quarter run, heard the crowd roaring, and thought the Heat were getting blown out until she re-entered the room and remembered, "oh yeah - it's Atlanta: Miami's on a run!"  After the game, Heat sideline reporter, the glorious Jason Jackson, noted the abundance of Heat fans in the Hawks' building to Shane Battier, who laughed and agreed: "Yeah, the crowd was great!"  That reminds me, you know who should go to Atlanta?  Dwight Howard.  No one there cares too much about basketball; he won't have the hot spotlight on him for every dumb thing he says or does (and that's a lot of things); he's from there, so if there is anyone left in America who likes him, you would figure they live in that city; they have a couple of decent players; and if he gets healthy and makes them relevant after all these (wonderfully) mediocre years, he'll be a hero.  It's so perfect that there is absolutely no way his serial-bad-decision-making self will figure it out.  In fact, it makes so much sense that it is probably the one place on Earth that we can unequivocally rule out.

4) Ode to Josh Smith: no one loves the Hawks the last few years like I have loved the Hawks.  They have had a motley collection of half-interested, talented dudes (Josh Smith, Joe Johnson); a huge lottery bust (Marvin Williams); a youtube icon (Al Horford, from the sock Steven A Smith videos - AL HORFORD!); and, of course, one of the greatest superstars this league has ever seen, Mike Bibby, who once spent an entire seven game playoff series against the Heat engaging in a perimeter slap-fest with then-Heat rookie Mario Chalmers - you know, the guy who turned out to be Almario Vernard "Emcee" Chalmers!  It was an interesting group of kids - good enough to give you a game, but not good enough to beat a good team in a playoff series, and year-after-year they would get bounced in the second round of a fairly top-heavy Eastern Conference.  But the Hawks have been systematically dismantling that group the last year or two, and Josh Smith was one of the last ones standing.  And, really, the most interesting of all - he has gifts that most 6'10" guys don't have: he's coordinated, he's a willing and good passer; he's a good shot-blocker.  He does everything well, as someone said tonight, but the one thing he doesn't do well, shoot from the perimeter, that's the thing he loves to do the most!  There is no sound in the NBA like when Josh Smith catches the ball out on the wing in Atlanta, looks at the basket, nobody from the other team even remotely runs at him, the two hundred people actually rooting for the Hawks start going "nooooooo," and then, after a long pause like everyone is frozen in time, launches an iron-clanging moonball off the bracket attaching the rim to the backboard.  M.Minutos said it best tonight: nothing anyone else says or does affects him one iota, not the other team, not his own team, not the coaches, not the refs.  Josh Smith is gonna do the things that a Josh Smith does, and what a Josh Smith brings.  And it is always fun to watch, he's one of my all-time favorites.  He's gonna be traded tomorrow and tonight, fittingly, was a classic Josh Smith game: he made some great passes (9 assists), and some terrible ones (5 turnovers).  He had 9 rebounds, but got lost a lot on defense - he couldn't figure out to stay spaced out to the Heat shooters, he always sagged to the paint, and Miami made 10-23 threes, 5 by his guy.  He scored 10 points on 5-13 from the floor, including 1-8 from outside the paint, and 0-4 from the three point line, despite a guy 4 inches shorter than him guarding him all night.  I felt like that was a shame, I would have liked to see him hit one triple on his way out the door, that stunk.  Let it be noted that pretty much his last play as an Atlanta Hawk came with time running down in another not-too-close loss to a team that is simply a little better, when he drove the lane, nobody played defense because the game was over, he came to a jump stop with nobody around him whatsoever, and then the ball simply went flying out of his hands to the Heat.  He'll get traded tomorrow to the Nets, or Celtics, or Bucks, or someone, and Miami will beat that team in the second round of the playoffs, just like always happens to Josh Smith, but it won't ever be the same.  The Hawks are the Hawks no more - it will never be the same.  Bon Voyage, Josh Smith, good luck in your new home.  Can't wait to see you again.  Don't forget your handbands!
 
5) Big feud swirling around the Heat right now, rapper Lil Wayne is mad at us...again. Famously, a couple of years ago he came to a Heat game in New Orleans - the day he got out of prison, I might add, though I'm sure it was a bum rap - and Dwyane and KJ did not say hi to him because they were, you know, busy playing basketball, and he got very angry. That hasn't really stopped him from coming to Heat games since then, but when he does, he roots for the other team - ha! He was ejected from the Heat-Lakers game last week because Heat fans were mocking him, and he turned around and pantomimed a shooting motion with his finger at one of them. Not satisfied with that, a few days later he claimed that he was banned from All-Star Weekend in Houston because he slept with Chris Bosh's wife.   The most surprising thing about this claim is that someone believes that Chris Bosh has enough pull to get anyone banned from anything! So now they are feuding…Oh, no -not Lil Wayne and Chris Bosh - Chris Bosh could care less, he is trying to win a championship…Lil Wayne is feuding with septuagenarian Heat color commentator Tony Fiorentino!

 
@MrVermaMoney: I don't like Lil Wayne taking shots at the heat and calling out Chris Bosh wife.

 
Tony Fiorentino‏@TonyHEAT2xWC: Lil who?

 
Yeahhh, Tony! Gansta-up, boyyy!

Epilogue: around the time of the game, people reported that Lil Wayne went on the radio to apologize to KJ and the city of Miami, and to say that the only person on the Heat that he was actually mad at was Dwyane Wade, since during the Laker game, Dwyane said "fuck you," to him.  Good job, Dwyane...

6) Worst possible outcome of the Blade Runner murder case: that it wasn't Oscar Blade Runner (Hubie-ism) who killed this woman, but actually another all-time great South African athlete, golfer Gary Player, who won the Masters golf tournament three times in the 1960s and 70s:

 


Eyes of a killer...

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The Heat have won 8 in a row, but have a game tomorrow night in Chicago.  There's no worse team to play on a road back-to-back than Chicago, since they take every game so seriously.  Nerds.  If you need me before tomorrow, I won't be playing golf, I can assure you that.  See you in Chicago!

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Heat 110 Thunder 100

6 Thoughts

1) Rematch of last year's Finals and this season's Christmas Day game...annnnd, STILLLL HEAVYWEIGHHTTT CHAMPIONS OF THE WORRRLLLDDD, THE MI-AM-I HEAAAATTTT!!!  We ruined Russell Westbrook's summer, we ruined his Christmas, and now we ruined his Valentines Day!  How sweet it is!  C'mon, c'mon: leggo!  Let it fly!!!

2) This was an absolute knockout from beginning to end, Miami went deep into the heart of Texas, or Arkansas, or wherever Oklahoma City is, and blew the Thunder off the court.  Kevin Durant tacked on 22 points in garbage time - which was the entire fourth quarter - to make the final score appear closer than the game actually was.  It's just one game, of course, except that now Miami has beaten OKC in "just one game" six straight times, and two of the last three have been total blowouts.  And we didn't even have to use Mike Miller tonight, it never became necessary - he's for big games only!...We've said this so many times, in so many ways: the biggest problem for OKC is that KJ James can handle Kevin Durant a little bit defensively.  No one can stop Kevin Durant.  But KJ can make him work - Durant missed his first 7 shots tonight and Miami blew out to a double digit lead that they would never really relinquish.  But on the other end, Durant, who is a very good defender, can't really handle KJ.  Durant got two early fouls again tonight - a theme when they play Miami - and to be honest, KJ didn't really even have to work too hard tonight, he didn't go to his "playoff" offense, his mid-post game.  He never needed to - he stood up top and made jumpers, and found open shooters.  In 40 calm, focused minutes, he scored 39 points on 14-24, and had 12 rebounds, and 7 assists.  He made a 30 foot triple.  He had a ridiculous late-shot-clock-out-of-bounds-play-step-to-the-rim-and-slam-the-lob.  He had an offensive rebound and putback where his headband got knocked off, but no foul was called.  Any time OKC even remotely threatened to make a move back into the game, KJ made a play and squelched it.  Kevin Durant is great, he's easily the second best player in the league.  But KJ James is better.  Not only that: KJ James has more hair!  I see you, Kevin Durant, just cuz you got a dark skull doesn't mean I can't see that shine coming through on the top of yo' head!  KJ may be receding back, but you are getting patchy all over.  Shave it off, boy, SHAVE IT OFF!!!

3) After KJ James, the next biggest problem for OKC in this matchup is that every time they play, Chris Bosh decides to play defense.  It's like he saves all his defensive energy for two regular season games, plus however long the Finals go (it's tough to see anyone but these two teams matching up again this year).  Chris had 12 rebounds, which is usually about a week and a half's worth for him, and a lot of them were effort rebounds in traffic.  He had 2 steals.  He blocked a Serge Ibaka dunk, and he blocked two layups by the unbelievably unlikable Russell Westbrook.  Hey, Furious Boy, Happy Valentines Day: Chris Bosh just kissed two of your layups into the eighth row!...Bosh also drew a charge on Durant, who along with Wesbrook probably would have fouled out halfway through the third quarter if the refs hadn't taken mercy on OKC (more on that in #4).  Chris played with tremendous energy on the defensive end - he was the biggest reason OKC shot 44% from the floor (and a lot of those buckets were giveaways late).  Not only that, but he took apart anyone OKC threw at him: Ibaka, Perkins, Collison (black dudes, white dudes - it didn't matter), and finished 10-14 for 20 points, including a dunk at the halftime buzzer on a fantastic inbounds play where he darted across the lane, sealed his guy on his hip, caught a 40 foot inbounds pass, and quickly flushed it to put Miami up 17 at half.  I mean, you watch him night in and night out, and I think it is fair to say that he does not always bring it.  But when he brings it, not a lot of guys can get to his level, and certainly not Serge Ibaka, who scored 6 points and had 6 rebounds.  Bosh is Miami's third best player; Ibaka is OKC's third best player now that James Harden is gone.  If Bosh continues to outplay Ibaka this badly, it's going to be tough for OKC to beat Miami in a series.

4) Play of the game: probably in the first half when TNT announcer Steve Kerr claimed that "these fans remind me of Utah."  Haaa!!!  Yes!!! Very, very white; very, very angry; and not very knowledgeable about basketball!!!  As Miami was beginning to blow OKC off its own floor in the second quarter, Kevin Durant and the rest of the Thunder lost their cool a little bit.  It happens.  Durant slapped the floor and got a technical (very weak technical by the way), and then went hurtling blindly and recklessly for an offensive rebound into Chris Birdman's back (Hubie-ism), and took a hard fall.  If anything, it was a foul on Durant, and the refs called nothing, but the crowd went bananas, coming very strong with a creative "refs, you suck" chant!  It was a heightened atmosphere for a few moments there, I'm not gonna lie - I felt a little worried for the refs, and especially Danny Crawford and Sean Corbin.  Draw your own conclusions why.  Crawford and Corbin, and their buddy Kevin Fehr (balder than both KJ and KD, for the record), responded by instantly calling about 12 straight fouls on Miami to try to ease the tension.  That's life in the NBA - you get up big on the road, and the crowd gets angry, you know a bunch of calls are going the other way (it was that way all night, OKC shot 34 free throws to Miami's 22, and a bunch of Miami's were intentional fouls at the end - OKC shot twice as many, essentially).  As a fan, you understand it, but it's frustrating...but as the camera panned the Heat bench, there they were smiling and laughing, having a grand old time - they couldn't have looked more relaxed!  The fans were flipping out, Durant and Westbrook were flipping out, the refs were flipping out, but KJ, Battier, Dwyane, et al - they were just laughing.  It's not their first time at the rodeo, you know?
 
5) Look, we all have mixed feelings about Chris Bosh. Some times, like tonight, he is absolutely terrific - it is hard to imagine the Heat could have won the championship last year without his outstanding defense and overall effort in the latter stages of the playoffs. At other times, he seems passive, disengaged, and a little loopy, annnd plays defense like a statue. But no one's feelings about Chris Bosh are quite as mixed as The Captain's. Here is what he told me one day this week at Dos Minutos International Headquarters:

 
"I had a dream last night and you were in it! We were at a waterpark, and we were walking around, going on rides, and then we went to the locker room to take showers. I was showering in an individual shower stall, with only a curtain drawn across the door. You know how sometimes you get the feeling someone is watching you? All of a sudden I got that feeling, I could feel someone was watching me, and I could sense that the person was very, very tall. I look over, and it's Chris Bosh standing there, looking at me. He was wearing his "red hot" uniform that the Heat have been wearing lately. I kind of understood to get out of the stall so that he could shower, and then I sat in the locker room waiting for another shower to open up. What do you think about that?"

 
Ahh, seems perfectly normal, I wouldn't worry about it at all. Your hour's up, see you next week. Please take care of your co-pay with the receptionist on the way out…

 

6) This is one of my favorite rap songs of recent years. Surprising, too. I mean we all know what a great rapper Nas is, but who knew Adam Duritz from the Counting Crows could spit it like this? Check it out:


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Big, big, BIG doings this weekend: Mario Chalmers' jersey gets retired at the University of Kansas!  Oh yeah, I think it's also All-Star Weekend...that means this blog is on vacation!  We don't play again until next Wednesday in the ATL.  If you need me before then, I'm not sure what I will be doing, but I can absolutely promise you that it will not involve either waterparks, or The Captain...Happy All-Stars, everybody! #Champs
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