Poe

So the addition of Amir, Sonny, Demar, and Jack turned the Raptors from a 14th seeded team into a 5th seeded team??

I find it interesting how the Raptors + Hedo this year = playoff team. Whereas, the Raps didn't even come close to the playoffs last year. There may be some intangibles Hedo brings that helps his team win games.

Well, in order for Wizards to have any hope of making the playoffs, they'll need to be at least a .500 team. Right now, their record stands at 18 - 33. To be at .500 by the end of their 82nd game, they'll need to be 23 - 8 from here on out. With a team lead by Mike Miller and Josh Howard, do you really believe that to be a realistic goal? With that in mind, tanking for a better pick sounds like the best option moving forward, though I'm sure you'd hate to see this season come to such a waste.

Man... the Wizards might as well make John Wall their team captain already Still, though. This has got to be an EXTREMELY frustrating season for the Wizards and their fans. Not only are they the second worst team in the East by record, but they lost all three of their main core players in a single season, including Brandon Haywood. I mean, wow...

Nate to the Celtics is a joke, IMO. If this happens, the Cavs are going to the finals for sure.

Source Well, I suppose the Amare to Miami trade has become almost officially a "no". I'm perfectly OK with that, to be honest.

Amazing pick up for the Cavs... If all goes well, they'll be in the Finals... maybe even win it all. We'll see how Jamison fits in, first. As for the Wizards, who's left on their team? Who's their leader? Josh Howard? Man, talk about tanking...

Fairly good win. Beasley and Richardson were the leaders of this game, and O'Neal did some nice things towards the end. Cook shot the ball as awful as ever. It's a wonder why he was played 35 minutes that game, especially since he was giving up a lot of silly fouls. Wright has been uncharacteristically turning over the ball recently, though, but he's still a lot better than Cook. I'm still concerned about Wade. Anyone know how long he's out?

I have no idea. He was running up the court with the ball, and all of a sudden he started limping really badly. He called a time out and hopped over to the bench. He was grimacing, clearly in a lot of pain. It looks like he'll be out for the game with a sprained left calf. Hopefully it's not too serious.

At least O'Neal is back... but Wade....

I never denied the talent, and I understand the reasons behind the move. I just don't like seeing players leave. That's all I was saying. "He's had six years in the league now, one season where he averaged 25 minutes per game" - Forget the 6 year timeframe. This guy has had less games played than most third year players, and most of the playing time he had in his own first three years were during garbage time. Why was that? Because he was playing behind Posey and Walker while the Heat were busy going after a championship. When Dorell finally had a chance to play, he had an injury that sat him out for a year and a half, plus other injuries earlier in his career that kept him on the bench without ever getting consistent playing time. "He doesn't make the best decisions with the basketball" - I completely disagree. Dorell makes very good decisions with the basketball. He is typically relied on to be a point-forward in the offense. He reads the defense well, keeps his head up, and has a point guard's mentality of knowing where every player is on the floor at all times. He averages just barely 1 turnover per 36 minutes despite handling the ball as much as he does. Over the past three games, he's averaged 4 assists as a result of Spoelstra giving him a larger role off the bench. Though it was in just a 24 minute average, he didn't play any end-game minutes since all those games happened to be blowouts, when he normally plays crunch time with Wade and Richardson. "Typically, all-stars have a lot more in their repertoire" - I think Dorell has a heck of a lot in his repertoire. I'm not basing his all star potential on blind faith, here. He has everything in his skill-set needed to become one. The only things that has stood in his way are confidence and experience. Now that he's getting consistent minutes, his confidence is growing, and so is his experience on the court. What Dorell has in his repertoire: - Unique ability to both play and defend up to 4 positions. - Ball handles very well for a player his size, giving him the ability to run the point-forward. - Has a point guards mentality on offense, and can be relied on to make the right read with the ball in his hands in many situations like pick and rolls, the fast break, and simply driving to the basket. - Shoots a high percentage from all areas on the floor, including the recent addition of a consistent 3 point shot. - Has the athleticism to finish well around the basket, block shots defensively, and grab rebounds consistently. - Feeds well off of play makers, and is becoming better at timing his cuts to the basket and finding the open area on the court. - Will read plays defensively, and with his athleticism and length, will grab steals, get deflections, and bother jumpshooters. - Guards the post well despite his thin frame. What Dorell lacks: - Better strength - An offensive post game - Supreme confidence To me, that's an all star potential repertoire. Strength is something he can control, though I don't believe it's an extreme problem of any sorts. Confidence is probably his biggest key, and as that grows, so does his game. Other than that, he shoots well, finishes well, passes well, rebounds well, blocks shots, gets steals, and doesn't turn the ball over very much. With the all-around numbers that he'll put up by his prime, he should become an all star. As he gets consistent playing time, he's proven to get better and better each game. He's shown a lot of growth this season, and still has a lot more growing room left. I just hope Pat Riley realizes that.

"Under God" wasn't originally in the pledge. I don't remember the exact history, though, but Christians found a way to sneak it in there over time.

That's not what I was referring to. What I'm saying is, I hate to see players go. One or two guys is hard enough, but 4 key guys is a bit much for me. - As badly as Chalmers has done this season, I can't help but like the guy, and hope he's able to turn it around. I'm rooting for him to regain that defensive intensity he had last season, combine that with his offensive improvement, and build his way back into the starting line up. - Cook is another young guy I'm rooting for. I loved the range he brought last season, and his perimeter defense is actually pretty good. It was a great memory to see him win the 3 point shootout to represent the Heat team. - Wright has become one of my favorite players, not just on the Heat team itself, but in the whole league. I truly believe he's going to become one of the top players in the league and he'll have at least one or two all star games in by his prime. I mean it. - Quentin is newer, so I wouldn't be too dissapointed to see him go. He had great motivation to start the season. He showed so much dedication to lose that weight, buying into the Heat system by leading the team in drawn charges, and seeing his reaction to hitting key 3 point shots made me think he was one of my favorite guys. That motivation hasn't lasted, though, and the grueling 82 game season has gotten to him early. The strong play to start the season turned out to be a spurt that was short lived, unfortunately.

Tell me about it. I'm nervous as it is. I don't want to see certain players go, but at the same time, I understand the business, the necessity to bring the right talent to surround Wade, and build a potential dynasty.

Position depth with that deal would be: PG: Alston/Arroyo SG: Wade/??? SF: Jones/Diawara PF: Amar'e/Beasley/Haslem C: O'Neal/Anthony/Magloire That's not comparing starting line up and bench, that's just the depth chart for each player and their natural position. If this deal were to go down, the Heat would have 11 players left, so one more player would need to go the Heat's way, and it obviously needs to be a shooting guard. The depth at the PG, SG, AND SF get a heck of a lot worse with this deal. Sure, an Alston - Wade - Beasley - Amare - O'Neal starting line up looks killer on paper, but the bench would be disastrous, and Spoelstra already has a bad reputation among Heat fans with his in-game rotations. Not to mention, the Heat bench have been outstanding the past 3 games, averaging out about 44 points per game during that stretch, and even outscoring the starters in some occasions. The defense has been superb as well, holding all three of these teams to under 80 points, which includes playoff teams in the Hawks and the Rockets. If that deal were to go down, the perimeter defense would take a big hit with Beasley starting trying to guard SFs full time, Jones being outmatched trying to defend SGs off the bench due to lack of depth on the perimeter, and Amare already have a bad reputation on his defensive effort. [expletive], I hope that deal doesn't go down. Not just because it would create so many problems, but I've grown an attachment to many of these players. It sucks to see one or two go, but four key rotation guys?? It's one thing to trade for Shaq, but Amare isn't even near the same level of impact as Shaq was at the time. Common, Riles.

Chalmers, Cook, Richardson, AND Wright? That's way too many players for me to handle. Common, Riley, don't do this...

AND the bench. The bench has averaged roughly 44 ppg over those games. Give a lot of credit to Haslem, Cook, Wright, and Arroyo for stepping up.

Great game for Q so far. He's grabbing boards and knocking down shots. Wright has played terrible so far making silly plays with 3 TOs, so I suppose he isn't quite ready to start just yet. Jermaine O'Neal is continuing to play very well. He's averaged about 18 and 12 over the past three games, and it looks like he's heading into another one of those nights. The change in Spoelstra's rotation has benefited him greatly. Beasley, on the other hand, has been having difficulties finding his own shot.

Yea.. I think the bottom line is that, the trade simply doesn't work out. Riles is going to have to find another third team if he wants Amare this badly.

If it's a three-way trade including both Haslem and O'Neal, and knowing Haslem was supposed to go to Charlotte, then that means that O'Neal would be dealt to Pheonix, or else that's 30M for the Bobcats to cancel out. So essentially, that would have been an O'Neal for Amare trade, anyway. O'Neal has a good 6M or 7M over Amare's contract, so I don't see who Charlotte could have given up for Pheonix to make it work without Pheonix giving up another one of their better players. The only players on their team to make more than just 2M is Grant Hill (3M), Barbosa (6.6M), J-Rich (13.3M), and Steve Nash (13M).

Well, if the Heat are keeping O'Neal, Beasley and getting Amare, there's not going to be much space for playing time for Diaw. The Heat have had PG problems, though. They could go after Augustin instead. No clue what's going to happen, ultimately, though. All I know is that Riles is pushing hard for a guy like Stoudemire and Jamison, and he's willing to throw anyone on the table that isn't named Dwyane Wade, and is very reluctant to add in Beasley as well.

Wow, Haslem would have fit very well in Charlotte. I wonder who they were asking for out of the Bobcats' roster?

We better see whole knew Chalmers today. I'm pretty sure he'll get some burn since his injury is about through. The Heat need a solid PG badly, and Alston's FG% is not favorable by any means despite his solid play defensively. Chalmers at least shoots a good percentage, and has proven to be a good defender in the past. He needs to find that motivation. And also.. Wright better [expletive]ing start, or at LEAST get 30+ minutes if Spoelstra really needs him with that second unit.

The Heat mascot is a red and orange dildo.

Exactly. Not to mention the lack of range with a backcourt of Rondo and Ellis, with the only 3 shooter in the starting line up being Pierce.