Poe

Yea, how dare they help the team win!

Well, when you've taken nearly 20,000 shots in you career... you're probably going to make a few of them

Agh, I missed this one. On top of the loss, it looks like Haslem didn't play, and Q-Rich got hurt during this one. Not good. At least Haslem may come back for Friday's game. It's tough to see the Heat struggling like this. It started with the game against the Nets. They just aren't playing with the same intensity and desire that they did to start the season. Maybe Pat Riley needs to step in and conjure up some sort of speech to sort of re-motivate the Heat and get them back up to speed. I'd like to see Dorell getting more minutes. It's frustrating to see them getting replaced by Cook and his 27% shooting to start this year. I don't know if it's the shoulder that's bothering him, but really, he's never truly shot a good percentage in his career anyway (37%). From the games I've seen him play, his shot selection hasn't been the best, either. Even though Dorell isn't quite as aggressive on offense as Daequan, at least he takes better shots and shoots a much higher percentage (50% this year, and 46% for his career). Anyway, looking at the game, it looks like it all came down to turnovers and free throw shooting. The Hawks shot way more free throws than the Heat, plus making a higher percentage. And, by the looks of it, the Heat obviously need to be more scrappy on defense and take better care of the ball.

When playing the Cavs, Chalmers had a bad habit of giving Mo Williams too much room behind the arc. Bibby is also a very good spot up shooter, and Chalmers has to get out on him. Q-Rich isn't exactly a bad man defender, but he struggles when guarding players that have more size, and since he's forced to play the SF spot at 6'5'', he's almost always having a hard time keeping his man from taking advantage one-on-one. On average, starting Small Forwards have the highest opposing PPG against the Heat than any of the other positions at 21.8 PPG, starting PGs being the second highest at 16.6. Luckily the Hawks don't have any current stars at those positions. Hopefully Marvin Williams won't be able to take advantage of his size, and Bibby will have a cold day from behind the arc. I wouldn't be too surprised to see Haslem starting this game with Q coming off the bench for match up purposes. We'll see what happens. Other than that, I'm expecting O'Neal to have a good game. Joe Johnson will probably struggle with Wade matched up defensively against him, and I think Josh Smith's performance will depend on how often he's matched up against Haslem.

I think most of the top athletes in the NBA could have became NFL stars if they had chosen to. Wade, Kobe, Iverson... I could see them playing football.

Hell no. Jackson was a problem for a while now, but Ellis just has a problem with the coach, among most of the team. If anything, it's the coach that needs to go, but if they absolutely have to trade Ellis, they need something valuable in return. Either a good combo forward with versatility or a big 2 guard.

You'd think they'd get it after the 20th time in a row of Bogut setting the same screen at the top of the key and Jennings nailing jumper after jumper.

On a serious note, I'd say a bust is a player who goes far below expectations in the league and shows little to no promise for potential, or simply hasn't risen yet. High draft picks, like Kwame Brown and Darko Milicic, are busts because they fit that definition, and have yet to prove otherwise. I wouldn't consider Greg Oden a bust, yet, because he still shows signs of potential and becoming the player he was expected to be.

I don't know, ask Kwame Brown.

That's possible if the Suns can keep up their record. It's also possible that Joe Johnson can get it if the Hawks do the same, which I really doubt. I hope Wade or Kobe get it, though. Wade, cause I thought he deserved it last year. And Kobe, because he deserves more than 1 MVP in his career.

It would be the best situation for Iverson, but I'm not sure if it's the best scenario for the Knicks. The fast paced game would inflate AI's stats, and I'm sure he would love that. I just feel unsure about the Knicks getting another player with no defense. And, also, I don't think Nate Robinson and AI would work very well together, either.

Ellis and Maggette need to be traded for a good big man or combo forward. Curry needs more playing time, Maggette needs to go, and they need way more depth at the low post.

You sure? I'm not even sure if I can even say he's the best PF, yet. Beasley: 13.1 PPG (40.4% FG), 5.9 RPG, 1.0 APG, 30 MPG, +12.4 EFF Haslem: 12.4 PPG (50% FG), 9.7 RPG, 0.9 APG, 31 MPG, +15.9 EFF

I'm not asking for who's the number 2 scoring option, which is Michael Beasley, and not necessarily asking for who's the 2nd best from a statistical standpoint, or who's most likely going to be the best in the future. I'm asking for who, as of right now, is the 2nd best player on the Heat team in terms of on court per-minute production, skill set, awareness, overall abilities, perhaps durability, and everything else that factors into a basketball player. So, in your opinion, who would you say is currently the 2nd best player on the Miami Heat team? Discuss.

Nobody has gotten close to the point average either. Heck, I don't think any player has averaged 50 ppg in a single month since Wilt. I don't think either will be catchable with the circumstances in today's game, and I'm starting to repeat myself, but I'm still taking extraordinary numbers over the course of 82 games as more unbeatable than pulling extraordinary numbers in a single game, and I guess that's just my opinion.

What's one game vs 82?

13 doesn't sound like a lot, but it is, especially for an average throughout 82 games. There's a big difference between 8 points and 21 points, or 24 points and 37 points, or 37 and 50.

Yea, but it's rare for players to get it more than once a year, if that. Some superstars like Wade, Kobe, and LeBron may get it, like, 3 or 4 times in a year. Maybe a couple more, maybe a couple less. What I'm saying is, if you take the best 82 games of out a guy like Kobe's 957 career games, it still probably wouldn't average close to 50 ppg, and he's been the league's best scorer this past decade. And to think of a guy averaging 50 points each game for an entire season? I'm still taking the best season average over the single game record, not to degrade how incredible getting over 55 boards in one game would be, I'm still taking the night in and night out remarkable performances over that.

And how often do players get 50 points in their careers? Heck, I don't think that Kobe or even Jordan has had enough 50 point games to fill in an 82 game season.

Ummm.. Kobe just came out of a usual 27 ppg season, was regular season MVP only a couple years ago, was finals MVP last year.... while Bynum just came out of a 14 ppg season, has 9 ppg for his career, and had a 6 point playoff average last season.... and you're telling me that Kobe Bryant, arguably the best player since Jordan and is still putting up a very solid 30 ppg so far this year, is a second option to Andrew Bynum because of a couple off games???

Yea, I think I'm going with the 50ppg. It's one thing to have one single great night, but it's another to put up spectacular and almost unrealistic numbers on a nightly basis, and wind up averaging a point number that most players, even some stars, don't even achieve as a career high. In today's league, there is no way anyone is ever going to come close to that point number for a full 82 game season. Although the single game rebounding number also seems unrealistic, I think the ppg average is by far the most out of reach at this point. Same thing with his 27 rpg average as well.

I'm just saying, whatever the reasons are, I just hate seeing contributing members that made interesting topics and had some knowledgeable posts leave like this.

I'm stuck between the 50 ppg and the rebounds. Russel and Wilt's record kind of goes along the same lines, and if I had to vote for the rebounding record I'd have to vote for both. Like the rebounding high, the season ppg hasn't been touched, either. Closest we got were Kobe and Jordan with their 35+ ppg years. In today's league, I don't see either being touched, unless we get some sort of 8 foot guy into the league that can actually get up and down the court with ease and has the athleticism of LeBron James or something. The other things to consider are the 100 point game and the 33 win streak, but the Rockets had that 24 game winning streak (IIRC) and Kobe had that 81 point game, so those look more touchable.

I agree. The dude knew his stuff. First Snake, then Diesel. I hope this trend doesn't continue.

I can tell from the stats which team is hustling more. Rockets with 57 boards so far, and the Lakers with 36.