ihatemusic

Lebron shooting more, trying harder, and generally more into the game tonight than he was at any point in the playoffs last year.

I hope he dies in a grease fire.

also, their offense looked worse than Cleveland's last year.

Stagnant, and too much lebron dribbling as usual.

The Heat played terrible and still almost came back to win. When the Celtics were up 19 I was hoping for a 20+ point blowout, so naturally Boston let them back in the game. The entire contest actually made me a little sick to my stomach, with The Actress flailing around and coming up with a phantom back injury before draining some threes. The repetitive Nike LeBron commercial "What should I do?" only added to my nausea.

Lakers were stagnant for three quarters and the Rockets were making every piece of junk they threw in the air, until the roles reversed in the 4th. Nice to see Yao healthy.

Oh and Shannon Brown's four threes, three steals, and a fast break layup in the 4th quarter provided the most exciting basketball of the evening.

The big question mark about Miami for me will be their lack of interior toughness. LeBron is really all they've got on that front, and it's a lot to ask of him to be their protector of the paint along with everything else they're going to need from him. I don't see it standing in the way of them winning a bunch of regular season games, but some team they face in the playoffs is probably going to exploit it.

If you were going to build a team from scratch, you'd never put together the Heat. Their best rebounder isn't a starter, they don't have anybody who can post up for a basket, and their two best players are slashers (& Miller's game is kind of similar too). I think they'll win a bunch of games because they have so much talent, but it's kind of a whack team.

Celtics were very pass-happy last night. Sometimes you just need to take the damn shot.

How soon does Riley take over from Spoelstra?

Noj, how did Blake play?

Blake hit several big shots to key the comeback when the Lakers were down 15, then hit the go-ahead three with time winding down in the 4th, then defended Brooks well when the Rockets had a chance to tie with less than three seconds left.

rather the C's make the extra pass than shoot too much. They had so many great open looks and they made about how many one would expect.

Methinks when Wade is up to speed the Heat win many games but despite the spectacular nature of his talent and Lebron's this will be a very ugly tema to watch - no point guard - no easy baskets except steals that lead to slams.

they will win a ton of games but they can rot in hell far as I am concerned.

as long as it was a win last night I am happy

as far as the Pierce play with Lebron running him over like a truck - no way in the world that is a block - shocked that Legler later said he thought it was a block - it was a great play by Pierce despit him being 33. I think he looks better than last year and I know it is early but the whole team looks to be in good physical and mental condition.

I think Garnett is a shell of himself but I don't see Allen or Pierce being as worse for wear compared to last year

My pick for most improved will go to Big Baby - I was hopin he would shed some pounds but he looks quick and focused and he looks like he thinks he can do whatever he wants to against the taller guys.

IKnicks starting 2 rookies (Mozgov and Landry Fields) tonight, pretty unique for a team who didn't have a first round pick. and no, I don't really think that's a good thing.

Knicks look to be some bricklayers outside of Gallo and Amare!!

Turiac, Fields, etc.

Will be interesting to see if this Randolph kid has any game to go with his athletic ability


looking forward to watching though tonite as I have no FOX!!

wow, Boston is an insane 72-10 before Christmas since Garnett got there.

The Heat could use Big Baby.

And their problem isn't that they don't have a point guard--they've actually got a couple of them. Their problem is that Wade and James want to handle all the time. I predict they'll have a pretty crappy assist -to-basket ratio with one or the other of those two guys diddling at the top of the key until there's only a couple of seconds left on the clock and then shooting a 3 or slashing into the lane. It's just the Cavs all over again.

Noj wrote:Blake hit several big shots to key the comeback when the Lakers were down 15, then hit the go-ahead three with time winding down in the 4th, then defended Brooks well when the Rockets had a chance to tie with less than three seconds left.

Blake's a terrific fit for the triangle and tough as nails. As long as he's called upon to do no more than make 3's and FTs and move the ball around in the system, he's outstanding. Just don't ever expect him to penetrate or do any real on-ball defense. Or fight through a pick...

I pretty much agree with that evaluation of Blake, particularly his toughness which is probably why he's lasted in the league as long as he has. He kind of reminds me of a smaller Jerry Sloan because he won't back down from anybody including Dwight Howard.

Break up the Cavs

Nowhere near as dirty, though Fisher's tutelage may change that (and give him a few more years in the league).

James had another 7 turnovers yesterday. He's averaging 8.5 over his first two games. If he's going to play the point, I guess that's what Miami fans can expect to see.

in a real shocker, Delonte West lost his shit again. this may be dude's final strike in this league:

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=17754

Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce were very unhappy with the incident, especially since it occurred just hours before a game.

Was Garnett pissed off because there was a cheap shot dished out by somebody other than him or that West might not be available for him to subsequently pop? Good riddance to one crazy fuck; I'm not sure what the Celtics thought they were getting but it was an unsurprising waste of a roster spot.