The Miami cHeat: As Basketbawful reader Aaron said: "The Heat can only beat bad teams" is no longer true!
Despite LeBron's big night -- 27 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds, 20,562 boos and
a three-pointer that shouldn't have counted -- the lowly Cadavers beat the mighty cHeat in what may be the greatest underdog story since Peter La Fleur's misfits from Average Joe's defeated White Goodman and his Globo-Gym team at the American Dodgeball Association of America tournament in Las Vegas.
I know what you're probably saying: Something like "Pffffft!!" or "Buhwhaaaaaa...?!" And not just because Globo-Gym wins in the
alternate ending to
Dodgeball. The idea that the worst team in basketball could defeat the Nazgul is nearly beyond belief. But I promise you: It's not a misprint. Not a typo. We're still two days away from April 1, so this isn't an April Fool's Day joke. Cleveland straight up took it to Miami despite the fact that (USELESS STAT ALERT!!) King Crab became the first (and only) player since Wilt Chamberlain to have a triple-double against a team he had won an MVP with.
So...how'd it happen?
From ESPN Stats and Information: "The Heat came into Tuesday's game ranked second in opponent field goal percentage. On Tuesday they allowed the Cavaliers to shoot 55.6 percent, giving up more than 12 percent on their season average. The Heat, who were outscored by 11 in the second quarter, allowed the Cavaliers to shoot 5-for-6 from outside of 15 feet including four 3-pointers in that quarter."
The Clevelanders finished with an eFG% of 62.7 percent and an Offensive Rating of 115.9. Miami could do nothing with J.J. Hickson (21 points and 12 rebounds) or Anthony Parker (20 points on 7-for-9 shooting).
Not only were the Cads red-hot, they held the cHeat to 42.3 percent shooting and outrebounded them 44-30. Cleveland led by as many as 23 points and held off a Miami rally to win by double digits. Speaking of which...
From ESPN Stats and Information: "Despite LeBron's historic effort, the Cavaliers beat the Heat by 12 to earn their first double-digit win this season. Every other team has at least four wins by 10 or more points. Should Cleveland not win one of its nine remaining games by double-digits, the Elias Sports Bureau says the Cavaliers would be just the second team ever to have fewer than two double-digit wins in a season. Cleveland would join the 1997-98 Raptors (one)."
I know, I know. Wow.
Said Anthony Parker: "The first time we played them here, we were embarrassed and they took a little from us. This is the night that we wanted to get that back, for us, but more for the fans. That was great getting it back for them."
Added cHeat coach Erik Spoelstra: "The majority of time in this league you get what you deserve and we got exactly what we deserved. They played harder than us. They came out with much more desperation and sense of urgency. This pattern started two games ago, and we're a little confused what our identity is."
Confused what our identity is? That's a weird statement.
But Coach Spo' is right about the Cads playing harder. Especially Ryan Hollins. I mean, damn, son. He would not be denied. And he would not be intimidated, no matter how butthurt D-Wade was feeling:
And Ryan wants the Boshtrich to know something: NOT IN MY HOUSE!!
Hollins' performance (13 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks, 12 free throw attempts and a plus-minus score of +33) focused the camera of shame both on Bosh's soiled panties (10 points, 5-for-14, 4 rebounds, a game-worst plus-minus of -24) and the extreme suck generated by Miami's bench (6 total points on 3-for-12 shooting). Yeah, we all know that Chris' nuts tend to shrivel when he encounters brute force and
John Hollinger's "revelation" that the Heat reserves blow rocked our minds about as hard as that recent study that said open shots are better than contested shots...
...but I can't help but think back to the Miami teams from
2004-05 and
2005-06. You know, when they added Shaq, and guys like Damon Jones, Christian Laettner, Jason Kapono and James Posey started playing great. I mean, it's just weird, isn't it? The hallmark of great players is usually how they enhance the performance of their teammates. And while the Nazgul are surrounded by a bunch of stiffs, some of these stiffs have been servicable roleplayers on other teams. Why isn't playing with two MVP-caliber players making these guys any better?
Random statistical anomoly: Joel Anthony (0 points, 0-for-2, 2 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 2 fouls) was the only Miami player with a positive plus-minus score (+13).
LeBron James: Skipping player introductions to avoid boos? Really? Cleveland took its medicine. You can take yours.
The New Jersey Nyets: Not sure what to say about this one: The Deron William-less Nyets fell behind 34-21 after 12 minutes, trailed by as many as 26 points and lost 112-87. At home. It was their third fail in a row and the seventh in eight games. Make it two straight seasons with at least 50 losses.
Screamed New Jersey coach Avery Johnson: "I'M DISAPPOINTED. WE CAN'T KEEP WRITING THESE OFF AS BAD GAMES. I'M A COMPETITOR. WE EXPECT MORE. I DON'T MAKE EXCUSES. WE JUST DIDN'T GET IT DONE TONIGHT."
The Gol_en State Warriors: Kevin Durant broke out of his self-described slump by scoring 39 points on 13-for-23 from the field, 3-for-5 from downtown and 10-for-12 from the line. It was the Durantula's highest scoring output since dropping 43 on the Hornets back on February 2.
And, hey, it happened against the Warriors! We are not surprised.
Minor Controversy Alert! The Thunder were down 111-109 when Durant used the so-called "rip" move that's become so popular among the league's perimeter scorers (Kobe does this a lot). You know, the one where the offensive player whips the ball and his arms up through the defender's outstretched arm, drawing a cheapie foul. Which Durant did. He went on to drain all three freebies to put OKC on top.
Gol_en State coach Keith Smart wasn't happy. How could he be? I mean, his team got penalized for
finally playing some defense.
Said Smart: "That shouldn't be a call because defensive players, you're trying to tell your guys to get up on a good player. If the player's going to bait you into a foul -- and I understand it's a rule, so there's nothing we can do about it -- but ... who has the right to the space? We've got to come to a conclusion."
Apparently, we (and by "we" I mean "the league") have come to a conclusion, and conclusion seems to be that the offensive player has the right to that space.
The Phoenix Suns: Christ.
I really believe that triple-overtime loss to the Lakers was the death of the Suns' playoff hopes. Past that, the loss to the Hornets was the funeral and the loss to the Mavs was when they buried the coffin. Last night's loss to the Kings? That's was like a random homeless guy stumbling by and peeing on the grave.
The Kings?!
Said Suns coach Alvin Gentry: "You have to play your way into the playoffs. Right now, the way we're playing we don't deserve to be in the playoffs. All the teams we are chasing are really good. And we are not. We are still alive in the playoff race, but we are basically on life support."
It's true Phoenix hasn't been mathematically eliminated, but that says more about the failure of math than it does about the Suns' realistic chances of actually reaching the postseason. Besides, I'm not sure watching Vince Carter bricking contested three-pointers in a four-game sweep would make me feel any better about the way Robert Sarver is ruining the end of Steve Nash's career.
The Maloofs: From the
AP recap:
Early Tuesday night, the Anaheim City Council voted 5-0 to approve a $75 million financial package to lure the Kings from Sacramento. The council also voted 5-0 to pay for the Kings' relocation.
Orange County billionaire Henry Samueli, who manages the Honda Center where the Kings would play, will finance the deal himself, while the city is issuing the bond package. Officials at the Honda Center announced Tuesday that they will be creating a waiting list for fans who have inquired about NBA tickets for next season.
At a press conference, Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson, a former NBA star in Phoenix, said he's resigned to the Kings moving to Anaheim but expects the Maloof ownership group to pay its $77 million loan to the City of Sacramento.
From
AnacondaHL: "The various Suns players and affiliates on Twitter were repeatedly mentioning that this could be the last time the Suns play in Sacramento, and then Channing Frye
reveals the picture on the ticket which includes a fan holding up a picture that says 'I heart the O.C. #18.' Wow indeed."
Chris's Sad Lacktion Ledger:El (Oh El) Heat-HAPPY Cavs: Erick Dampier gathered just one board in exactly 12 minutes as starting center, only to lose the rock twice and foul thricely for a 5:1 Voskuhl.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas bricked and lost the rock once, and fouled twice for a +4 and a 3:0 Voskuhl.
Eddie House bricked and fouled once each in 5:28 for a +2.
Meanwhile, for the WINNING Cleveland team, Joey Graham wired himself 3.1 trillion (3:05).
Labels: Maloof brothers, Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, Worst of the Night
Nice Dodgeball reference, by the way. When I first saw that alternate ending, I dubbed it "Best Alternate Ending of All Time". I have yet to find a movie that takes the title away.
Of course, I didn't watch the game, so I don't know what Hollins was doing before this. But hey, I won't let that stop me from making a snap judgement. :D
Oh, and LeBron skipped the intros? That is such a pussy move. P-U-S-S-Y, LeBron. I hardly ever use that word, but after all your arrogance and talk of karma, you reveal yourself to be a straight up pussy. Shit.
Re: rip move. In my humble opinion, if the shooter is trying to bring the ball up for a shot and the defender gets arm instead of ball, it's a foul. Don't bail out stupid defenders by not calling it. Those lame-ass leaning or jumping into the defender moves (see UNC losing to Kentucky and trying to draw a last minute 4 point play) are totally different.
Bodying up on the O player is different. But if you're dumb enough to reach in there and get his arm, I have no sympathy for you. And no, it's not a "right to the space" issue. It's a "right not to get your arm grabbed while trying to get the ball up for a shot" issue.
re: Maloofs: Right on! Anaheim is the latest in a long line of political whores fellating owners of pro-sports franchises. The city will prosper from this, well, not at all. So sad. Idiots. Yo Anaheim, wake the f*** up and vote those asses out of office. They're pissing your tax dollars away.
http://www.nba.com/playerfile/omri_casspi/index.html?nav=page
Rip through move: Other notable offenders in the 2000s era are Pierce, Billups, Dirk, and Duncan. Jordan and Reggie used to do this all the time too.
*completely not allowing a defender to jump even in his own space
*gross continuation calls
These are worst thing to happen to the NBA this year. Games are close. Refs already suck, defense is already illegal, don't add these horrible things. Sometimes the rip is okay, when the hands are really in there, but I've never heard more than this year "you can't leave your feet with a jump shooter." REALLY?
I would not personally lump Kobe into this, though, I'd say one thing I do like about his game (like D-Rose) is that he doesn't really attempt to initiate contact, he plays it straight. The whole way initiating contact is called is a bit absurd, and I've definitely started enjoying Durant's game a lot less as he does this.
These are desperate times here in the River City.
Rip move call - NBA rules generally favor offense and I think that's the right way. It's not fair sometimes, but rules favoring defense would make the game far less entertaining to watch.
The Association: Fannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnntastic.
The NBA will continue to allow most of those debatable issues to favor the offense. Overlord Stern wants more scoring, pathetic humans.
Overlord Stern wants more scoring
More scoring, and less small markets.
Alright. I will break down why this statement is, in my opinion, erroneous
The only real failure among the role players is Mike Miller. So much more was expected out of him, but he just misses open 3 after open 3. He has no confidence, and is absolutely fragile physically as well. He has to lead the league in jump-pass-turnover.
The other guys have always been grade-A stiffs on minimum contracts (and if not, then they are just damn old). You can't compare a one dimensional shooter like James Jones to James Posey. Hell, I'd kill for Antoine Walker right now. I feel like our shooters should be shattering NBA records with how open they are night after night, but no luck.
Furthermore, I pretty much gave up on Haslem. It's practically April. He's not healthy now, no point in risking his career.
So well done Cleveland. Hopefully this was a wakeup call.
Right, as we saw with the Supersonics/Thunder's move from Seattle to Oklahoma City.
Stern wants what the owners want, because he works for them: the right to move their team, even if it's not in the league's best financial interests in the short run.
Stern wants what the owners want, because he works for them: the right to move their team, even if it's not in the league's best financial interests in the short run.
1. I concede that on the surface, OKC is smaller, but then it comes to a couple of things that the seemingly larger Seattle couldn't offer:
- Fanbase in OKC demanded team after the Hornets' visit; fanbase in Seattle turned off by Bennett.
- NEW ARENA (even though Seattle's had only been renovated TEN YEARS previous to the demands)
Orlando isn't a big market really if you go by city population, and yet they've always had a big market budget. So it's somewhat contextual too. (Los Angeles is considered small market to an extent in the NHL because while larger than other cities, the potential fanbase generally follows the Lakers or Dodgers already.)
2. Therein lies the sticky question:
Does ownership have the "right" to leave a city every time they don't get revenue sources handed to them, as both Bennett and the Maloofs have demanded?
I realize that there are times where cities flat out don't work for a sport - Kansas City for arena sports in particular - but when we're in a situation where I know that this is primarily because of the Maloofs' own financial troubles, and not anything wrong the fans did, then how am I supposed to feel about this?
I'm not going to become an Anaheim Royals fan, and I seriously have to question whether I want to keep watching the Association should they let this happen while pointing and laughing at Sacramento for not cowtowing to the inheritors' demands for tax dollars to make them even richer.
The question is: Why isn't that happening now?
My take? I think guys were more involved on those other teams. Let's face it, the team features LeBron, D-Wade and The RuPaul of Big Men. That's three hungry mouths to feed. Means fewer opportunities and touches for everybody else.
Even if you compare, say, the 2005 team to this year's squad, the Usage Rate of the rotation players was a little higher. Those guys were fully integrated into the system. Can this team's roation players say that? Assuming their IS a system, and I'm not sure there is, other than, "Give the ball to [Nazgul X] and watch."
This worked in Cleveland when LeBron was surrounded by selfless shooters and rebounders. But I too many opportunities get gobbled up by the Super Friends, making it impossible for the other guys to get into a rhythm.
Perhaps the best commentary I've read about this situation. The NBA is exposing itself as willing to dump good markets for the sake of the whims of the owners. I fail to see how moving the Kings to Anaheim makes the league better ... aside from the obvious cash that will line some pockets. Pro sports has ceased to be about playing a game for the entertainment of fans; now it's about making rich people richer, fans be damned. Fans are apparently just a hinderance to the business of sports.
If you really want to teach the NBA and NFL a lesson stop going to games, stop watching them on TV. read a book or something
The fact that they waited five more years, some may argue was "commitment to the market," but to me suggests they function on emotionality, not rationality. If they didn't want to be here from the start - and negotiated with Anaheim secretly as they have over the last few months, when everyone else thought there were no immediate worries of losing the squad - then no amount of time they have kept the team here suggests they did it for any other reason than to wait for the next best opportunity to go (in this case, that supposed Fox Sports West TV deal).
There have been rumblings the entire time that they've owned the team that they've talked to Anaheim as far back as 1998. What does that say about their actual attitude towards Sacramento?
Anonymous: Oh, I agree, and in California, the private funding (with some subsidies) that got Pac Bell Park built probably spelled the death knell for schemes like what Measure Q and R proposed in '06. But not going to games is a double-edged sword: Clay Bennett used it as an excuse to cut from Seattle when he knew full well it was because the Sonics fans were protesting his plan to abandon the city the whole time.
---
You know things are truly dire in Sacramento when a local radio personality has started a fundraiser to try to get fans and local businesses to throw meager amounts at a new arena here. WOW.
At the risk of being overly cynical, this has always been the case. The NBA actually got its start because hockey owners wanted an way to fill their arenas when there were no hockey games going on. Sports aren't humanitarian causes to chase away our boredom. They exist to make money. Anyone who says differently is selling something.
It would be interesting to see exactly what kind of shots the rest of the Heat squad are getting, are they literally wide open, do they have a bit of time to set their feet, or are they forcing up bad threes because Lebron or Wade had run out 20 second of the clock playing their games of one-on-one?
If this continues, the Heat won't be able to beat a pinata by the playoffs. And since the really terrible teams (that is, the only ones they can beat, sometimes) aren't going to be IN the playoffs...
WV : mantaxi
mantaxi!!
Per Brian T. Smith on Twitter
Jazz's O'Connor included Hayward, Favors, Harris, Bell in Utah's core moving forward.
And come on... Anaheim, of all places, is going to join the "team in all but one major sport" club? Anaheim. Have you BEEN to Anaheim?
I guess my poorly articluated point was that the gloves have come off in the owners/players vs the fans fight. The league no longer even pretends to care about the fans (ie. the response to Donaghy, Seattle, Sac-town, LeBron ...), and as a huge sports fan, this kills me. The NBA exists as a multi-billion dollar business because of the fans - and I'm hard-pressed to think of anything the league has done recently purely to make the game and NBA experience more enjoyable for the fans at large. In fact, it seems like they're doing the opposite.
Simply put - I understand that the NBA is a business ... but it's a business the requires people like us to make it a successful operation. Aside from the obvious - a one-time payout to the league - what is the long-term gain for the NBA in allowing situations like Seattle and Sacramento to happen? It's not growing the game in any way, and it doesn't make the product any better. It just serves to alienate millions of existing fans (i.e. how many Sonics fans still have an active interest in the game? How many Oklahomans were fans before they got a team? What's the net result of the move? I could be way off, but my guess is there were less NBA fans after that move). Why doesn't the league put it's foot down - instead of allowing good markets to be destroyed, move teams from the terrible markets that just don't have the requisite support required to have a pro team (I won't anger anyone by naming names, but we all know of a few)?
Perhaps I'm just jaded as a fan of a "small market" team (the Craps) that, in the current NBA, has virtually no chance of ever being relevant unless they are terrible for a long time - and even then, there's no guarentees (amiright Cleveland?). I powered through the Vag Carter BS and determined to not let it ruin my love of the game. This year though? My interest has reached an all-time low.
I'm obvious at the point of ranting now, but if the NBA keeps making all of their decisions from a business standpoint with dollar signs in their eyes, the league will eventually be worse off. The majority of the teams are not in what owners and players deem to be attractive markets. Not every team has the ability to be comically terrible for a decade like the Knicks and emerge unscathed ... but under the current system of stacking the best players on a handful of teams, we're going to see half the league stuck on Cuban's "treadmill of mediocrity" for years ... then what? Is the game that good that the fans will perservere?
/end rant
BTW - I feel obligated to note that I'm not some lefty anti-capitalist; I have an MBA and work for a major investment bank with $5B+ in profits annually ... but I don't feel good about myself for this ... sports used to hide this aspect from fans, now it's in your face every time you go to ESPN, Yahoo ...
In theory, James Jones has had a renaissance year (especially the first half). Haslem was giving his usual production. And I have to say Bibby looks like a great move despite his defensive shortcomings.
But the other guys either don't hit shots, or are too afraid to take them. But you do bring up an interesting question. It's just that Inside-Out Heat was more....I guess player friendly than Big 3 and feces.
Oh and on Laettner. C'mon. It's nice the guy shot well, but he didn't do anything but easy put ins. You must realize the bigs after Bosh on this team are just laughably awful. You can post all the Joel Anthony stats (or lack thereof) you want, but watch him in person for 3 years.
(Cue up the rollerskating dino.)
Given that David Stern has tacitly shown that a Donald Sterling organization who cannot sell out but for 13 games a year (because of the Blake Griffin effect) is the type of owner and team he wants in this association, Richard Peddie and the other MLSE minions are perfect for the Association as it is presently constructed.
Winner: not the fans.
Your humble opinion plus every set of rules for college and pro basketball is 100% correct.
The only space a defender is "entitled" to is in his/her body's vertical plane. If your arm is outstretched toward the offensive player it couldn't possibly be in that vertical plane.
...unless your gut extends the same length as your arm!
Lakers
Celtics
Knicks
the pesky Spurs
Magic
Whoever King Crab/Wade Are Playing For This Year
...and 23 Donald Sterlings.
Actually, don't imagine that. I have a feeling this is exactly what most of the braintrust under Stern's tutelage thinks will work great.
1) To turn as high a profit as possible.
2) For self-aggrandizement
From the fans perspective, they want their owner to be all about number 2. So when they do things that make you think, "That guy is a self-important asshole", don't be surprised. In fact cheer it because it truth all of us fans are like that too.
But then there's a second type. The ones who came in when the money became big-time. Those are all about number 1, they ONLY care about making a profit. Sterling is the face of that type of owner, but there are many examples. If you want the best examples, look to baseball. Baseball has been big business for longer than basketball and football, thus they have more of these types of owners. Never spend more than the minimum. Seems to not care about the fans. Care about winning only if it's guaranteed they'd sell enough tickets to justify the expense. These are the owners that fans hate. And rightly so.
But, I can sympathize with this type of owner. I put myself in the shoes of one of them. Say I won billions of dollars tomorrow. I look and notice that the Edmonton Oilers are for sale, and their valued twice the offering price. So I purchase them for 500 million dollars of my money (through a series of large loans).
Turns out the Oilers are bad. I don't understand hockey so I hire some people to run things. Evidently they aren't very good and the team keeps on losing. Fans stop showing up and my income is sagging. I slash budget where I can, and since player budgets make up the majority of the expenses you bet that I invest in a "youth movement".
I am seriously hurting for cash. My creditors are wondering when I'll pay them back. I'm not destitute, I'm still living comfortably. But I am NOT happy. I know new stadiums make money so I ask Edmonton to make me a new one. They refuse. At the same time, Mexico City is calling me. They'll give me a huge amount of cash and eventually a new stadium if I move the team to them.
So what do I do? Evidently Edmonton is a loyal NHL city and Mexico City has some obvious risks (kidnapping being one). But I have no ties to Edmonton, they just happened to be where I bought my team. Yes, the fans of Edmonton gave me my income...but so will the fans in Mexico City. And for all the talk of the Oilers belonging to the fans, I don't remember any one of them ponying up 500 million to buy the team. They sure seem entitled but I saw the empty seats in the arena just because the team was bad. And most of all, I OWN THIS TEAM! HOW DARE SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT TO DO WITH IT!
It sucks. I'm a Kings fan. But there's nothing I can do. I can't tell someone what to do with their property. Definitely I want Sacramento to get every penny they loaned to the Maloofs. But past that, the only thing I own are my memories.
Burn in hell Lakers. Burn in hell.
Don't blink...
wordver = proper
No, I'm not channeling the spirit of MC Hammer. 'Proper' really was my word verification.
One thing people forget: lame pro sports teams may lose money sometimes, but their total value grows even faster. The value of Sterling's team has increased far more than the total of his yearly losses (financial that is, LOL). That makes it a good investment. Of course, not all teams are in one of the continent's bigger cities, which guarantees a hefty resale.
As for the city that shall not be named, they have two things that make them unusual: they got a rapidly rising Durant that wasn't even on the horizon when they started their scam, and they have the novelty boost. They'll hit bottom at some point, and players won't want to play in a redneck arm pit.
Anyway, the take home is for cities to STOP responding to the extortion, and stop the freakin corporate welfare. DO NOT build new arenas for teams. The economics studies are out there, and pro sports franchises DO NOT boost local economies. Enough, already! Once people have finally learn what was proven years ago, they'll stop that shit and teams won't be able to con a new community into bankrupting itself. Wake the fuck up, people. It's a boondoggle.
Oh, and why would you pay for it? It's a rip-off. For live sports, I'd rather go see the local college play, even though I enjoy watching NBA more than college. I'll take more pro sports on TV, thanks.
PS Do we start calling them the Zombie Kings? Zombie Sonics has worked well, since I'm not allowed to say the name of the team..