Poe

hmmm... trash talk to a beat, except without the beat.. I gotta go with Air Rondo. His seemed to flow better and was easier follow from line to line. Smitty's was all over the place, and not in a good way IMO. I'm not a big fan of rap and I haven't heard a lot of showdowns, but I figured I'll still voice my opinion with these.

Miami Herald Good to see that Beasley is working hard. He has the right mentality to become a superstar in this league, despite the false image the media has set on him. Beasley is really going to have to step up tomorrow and the day after. There is some bad news that Wade may miss those games as well, though nothing is completely certain. I hope we can expect a couple big nights from Bease.

I wouldn't necessarily call the black santa commercial outright racist, though you can make a case for it by it's definition (to distinguish a race as superior/inferior - a black santa living in a poor environment versus a white santa living in the north pole in sort of a kingdom-like environment supervising elves and their toy-making and whatnot). Personally, I'd call it something more towards reinforcing stereotypes made in our society. Showing that "this is the way things are supposed to be", when there is absolutely no reason for things to be that way. Tell me if I'm not making any sense. I always feel like I have a hard time explaining what's really on my mind.

IMO, the only team in the league that I think can truly knock the Lakers out of the playoffs is the Mavericks. If I'm going to choose between two teams to win the NBA Finals, it's between those two. Don't get me wrong, though. I do believe the Cavs will make the Finals and could give LA a bit of a scare. I'm not completely counting them out. I just feel the chances of LA and Dallas winning are both greater.

Would be a fantastic series, though I think the Lakers would still win despite the Cavs recent acquisitions.

Honestly, guys, you can feel bad all you want, but how you choose to feel about this doesn't change what happened. There is no right or wrong in how you look at it. If you are going to take anything out of this, you might as well enjoy it as humor, cause this [expletive] is [expletive]ing hilarious.

Let me think... http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv40/The_Poe/Picture5.png

I wonder how long it actually took for her to get her crap out of his house...

Whether Spoe 'cut it' or not, the Heat aren't winning any championships with their current team, not last year and certainly not this year either, even if an elite coach was coaching this team. Riley is obviously not using Spo to tank like he's Kiki, cause the Heat were in the playoffs last year and will be again this year. There's a lot of stress in the coaching job, and it's hard to coach for so many years at a time. Riley probably thought it would make better use of the non-contending span to give Spoelstra extra experience instead of wasting the two years on himself, if I'm making any sense. Rothstein has been mentoring Spoelstra, actually. Riley has had very little to do with Spoelstra's decisions the past year and a half. Still, Spoelstra respects Riley, and he basis his coaching style off of him. I wouldn't be too surprised to see him step down for a couple years and let Riley take over, and then regain his position later on as a much improved coach.

He's too loyal to Riley. He's the one he gave Spoelstra a chance. If it wasn't for Pat Riley, Spo probably would have never even had a job with the NBA this early in his life. BTW, I edited the other post I made, in case you missed it.

As much as people like to say success is based off the talent of the players, you need a great coach as well. I don't think Spoelstra is a terrible coach by any means, but he just doesn't have the experience yet. There is a chance that he could become a great coach in the future, though. However, it's going to take longer than a few years for him to reach that potential, and by next year, the Heat will need every piece possible that is ready to contend right away. I think the idea of Riley taking his old job back is very likely. No need to fire Spoelstra, though. Just let him step down a bit from his role. He'll become a head coach again when he's ready. He still has a lot in his life ahead of him. BTW, I don't think Spoelstra was doomed to fail when getting the job. He has been with the Heat organization for a long time, and many of the players knew he would eventually become the head coach. I think he's a smart guy, a very hard worker, obsessed with his job (in a good way), open minded (which is very rare with coaches... or any person in general), and he flat out knows the game of basketball. I think the problem is just his lack of experience as being in the position of head coach. There's a lot to learn about being a head coach that can't be taught unless he's gone through it himself. Perhaps Riley put Spoelstra in this position on purpose, not because he was supposed to fail or anything like that, but to take advantage of a 2-year non-championship-contending-but-still-good-enough-for-the-playoffs span to give Spoelstra some more experience for when he might step up as a head coach again in the future. If Riley is to coach this team again when they are contenders, he still won't be coaching this team forever. He'll need someone else to take his place again, whether it will be 2..3.. or 4 years down, and I think he has a lot of confidence in Spoelstra that he might become a great coach one day.

Well, he hasn't had any problems the past 12 years.

Hasheem ThaBUST

You already answered your own question.

I'd like to hear the reasoning behind this.

Is it just me, or is that chick's elbows bending the wrong way....

Keep Reading This is an article I found on bleacherreport, but this pretty much sums up most of the complaints Spoelstra has been dealt with throughout the year. Criticisms include his rotations, playcalling, late game line ups, getting his players focused before every game, all around decision making as a coach, giving enough minutes for certain players (Beasley, Wright) and their absence in the fourth quarter, and giving too many minutes for other players (Chalmers, Cook) and their prominence in the fourth quarter. With the free agent splash the Heat will hope to make, I think it's a legit question on whether Spoelstra will keep his job as the head coach. Do players respect him enough to want to come to Miami and be coached by him? Does Wade respect him enough? If they do keep Spo and the Heat manage to build a contending team, will his youth and inexperience as a head coach catch up to him in pressure situations? Either way, though, I do not believe Spo will be out of a job. If anything, he would have to step down to being the assistant again. Still, will Spoelstra still be the head coach the team next year? Or will Riley retake that spot? Or will Riley perhaps find a new coach? All are valid questions, IMO.

That's the thing. I think the only real reason this college-first rule is there is because of the colleges. It has nothing to do with education, nothing to do with preparing for the NBA, and nothing to do with the players ability to handle money. The rule is there just because colleges fear they won't be able to get top-notch players unless the NBA makes it so that they have no choice. That makes much more sense to me. It's entirely self-interest.

Sure, you can name a lot of failed picks with high school players, but are you telling me there haven't been failed picks with college players as well? Either way, I don't see how any of that translates into why a player should not even be allowed to enter the NBA unless he's a certain age or has been to college first. Some players are ready for the pro level of basketball right out of highschool, and some are not until after a couple years of college, and some are never ready. It's up to the players to decide what is the best decision for their career, and it's up to the scouts to decide if a player is worth drafting regardless of age.

Yea, there are plenty of names that probably should have gone in there. It's difficult to name just 10 players for the toughest basketball league in the world. There's Carl Landry, Rajon Rondo, Udonis Haslem, Ben Wallace, Dajuan Blaire, maybe even Stephen Jackson... I'm sure there are many others I may have forgotten.

My answer remains the same. I would stay.

That would be pretty hypocritical of him... to say this upcoming FA is going to be like an over-hyped movie, then wind up leaving himself.

The NBA's 10 Toughest Players If you're too lazy to click the link or read their descriptions, here's the list: 10. Jason Maxiell 9. Allen Iverson 8. Gerald Wallace 7. Ersan Ilyasova 6. Jason Kidd 5. Dwyane Wade 4. Caron Butler 3. Kobe Bryant 2. Kenyan Martin 1. Ron Artest

All three will be staying with their respective teams.