Nitro

He won't be fired, but I'm torn on whether he deserves to be fired...he really handled all the pressure that was placed on him very well throughout the season, and did get them to within 2 wins from an NBA championship. However, I think he is much more suited as an assistant as he simply has no idea how to coach an offense, and is often too late with making adjustments (and he was completely owned by Carslile after Carslile made a few great in-game adjustments that took Spo 1-2 games to react to). I'm really, really curious to see how a guy like Adelman, or even JVG would do with the Heat, but I don't know if you can reasonably fire someone for taking a completely reconstructed team to a near-title.

Completely different circumstances. Garnett was a far better rebounder and passer than McHale or Dirk ever were, has an MVP like Dirk (which McHale wasn't ever really close to), and has a DPOY which neither of those players have. Also, even though it's way overlooked in these debates, Garnett was probably the most versatile player in NBA history...could run an offense out of the post or at the top of the key (not extremely well for the latter, but he could still do it sufficiently), could score in face-ups or post-ups, was arguably the best rebounder in the league at one point, and could legitimately defend all 5 positions when he was in his prime. He wasn't a great 1st scoring option, but everything else he did much better than Dirk and McHale.

I agree, I am really curious to see how LeBron comes back next season. If he does the sensible thing and analyzes his weaknesses that were exposed against Dallas, I think he can come back better than ever. However, if he is content with how he performed in the Finals, then I'd be a little concerned...he can't fall into the trap of thinking he is good enough and won't continue to try to improve like he did each and every season before this year. I don't think the Heat will have much issue getting over what happened this year, however. Even though a lot of people expected them to win this season, a lot also didn't think they'd get past Boston. No team has ever literally been built from scratch like this team was, so getting to within 2 games of a championship and losing to a team that swept the reigning 2x champs is not a failure (even though it seemed that way). Once they have a little time to settle down and really evaluate how this season went (especially Spo who has the chance to seriously improve this team by making simple adjustments), I think they have a great chance to be significantly better next season, even with minimal personel upgrades.

My point was that if there is a hard cap, Miami will not be the only team screwed...Dallas is currently $25M over the cap (which the owners want to reduce to $45 million I believe), the Lakers are $32M over the cap, Chicago will be well over the cap once it's time to resign Rose, etc... Currently the Heat are only $8M over the cap, and they got all their main players on discount deals (Wade, Bron, Bosh, Haslem and Miller all came for cheap). So, if there is a hard cap put in place, they won't be as bad off as people are making it out to be because every other team will have the same problem....specifically teams with hugely overpaid role players like the Mavs have.

Dalembert offers size and rebounding, the two areas Anthony is completely awful in. Pittman I think can be a nice project as he is a very good finisher and has some good post moves, but he's nothing more than a raw project. All those times Miami was getting crushed on the boards against Dallas by Chandler (which is what caused all those loose ball fouls in the 4th quarter in the games at Dallas) would be greatly reduced with Dalembert in the middle.

THANK YOU!!! He made watching Knicks games throughout the '00's bearable...he's the [expletive]ing man. Shaq? Meh, I don't think he'd be a good in-game commentator. It took Mark Jackson years on YES before getting that ESPN gig, where he still sucked but not as much as before. I'd love to see Shaq on the Inside the NBA crew, where he has less of a workload, has more freedom to say what he wants and has other hilarious people to talk basketball with.

Eh, you can say that about the Mavs, Lakers, Knicks and Magic as well, among other teams.

Only trade I'd entertain is LeBron for Dwight. Otherwise, hell no would I trade LeBron...he's the best player in the league. It's only the first season of this project, and they will likely attract a few valuable FA's this summer/next year's tradeline (possibly the MLE and a few veteran contracts, maybe a trade or two). Also, if LeBron/Wade/Riley are as smart as I think they are, they will work on making LeBron expand his post and off-ball game, and install a real offense which can counter a simple zone (which is something every NBA team should be able to take advantage of). Hopefully they will also add more sets with Wade in the post, where he completely dominated in the Philly and Dallas series'. This team can work...they went 8-2 against Chicago and Boston, with Chicago having homecourt. LeBron and Wade have the abilities to play off each other, it's just a matter of getting them comfortable with doing that when the other is dominating the ball. My biggest issue with Spo all season long was his refusal to install a real offense in training camp and pre-season (which he admitted to), and then letting talent simply dominate throughout the season. He did a good job, especially on the defensive end, but he didn't maximize what he had.

There is no question that Dirk should be ahead of McHale IMO. McHale was a (much) better defender, but that's it. Dirk's a far better #1 option scorer, arguably a better rebounder, a better passer, much better clutch scorer, and he has more longevity and individual accolades. Also, Dirk's still going as strong as ever, so he will only continue to build on his career. I'd say BFT had it right...Duncan, Barkley, Malone and KG should be ahead of Dirk, but that's it.

Perfect sense? K-Mart is 33 with multiple micro-fracture surgeries and 70+ games played only once in the last 6 seasons. He's also in no way, shape or form a center, and the Heat already have arguably the best PF rotation in the league (Bosh/Haslem/James).

Quit bitching.

All depends on the new CBA. Assuming they have the same flexibility as the old CBA allowed, I'd resign Chalmers and Jones, ask Bibby to return for the minimum, sign Samuel Dalembert with the MLE, call up Dexter Pittman from the D-League, and fill in the blanks with minimum contracts... Chalmers/Bibby Wade/Jones LeBron/Miller Bosh/Haslem Dalembert/Anthony/Pittman Also, if Nash or Billups get bought out near the trade deadline, I'd jump on the opportunity to bring them in for the minimum.

LeBron is the best player on the team. He was the best during the regular season, in the Philly series, about even with Wade in the Boston series, and by far the best player in the Bulls series (when Wade was arguably as awful as LeBron was in the Mavs series). One series doesn't sway my opinion either way. It hurts his standing in the all-time rankings, but not who compares to him now...he was better than Wade throughout the year, better than Kobe who also had an awful series vs. these same Mavs in a sweep, better than Rose who was exposed by LeBron himself, etc...

Lmao that's amazing.

Well, up until now his legacy has been obliterated by the 2011 Finals. IMO he's still the best player in the NBA, but he has no business being in the discussion as one of the best ever until he makes up for it with 2-3 amazing Finals performances. This series was just awful...awful.

Simply put, the Heat over-rotated constantly on the Mavs' amazing ball movement, Carslile made all the right adjustments while Spo did not (along with Spo not installing a proper offense throughout the pre and regular seasons), and LeBron had the most disappointing series in NBA Finals history.

Congrats Mavs! Even though I really wanted to see Wade win another ring, I am really happy to see Kidd and Dirk finally win one. The Mavs were definitely the better team this series and really deserved to win.

Fun fact: LeBron and Wade both have played a little over 32min. Wade is a +1, and LeBron is a -26. Unbelievable.

& u think u kno alot about malt liquor but sry, u dont

Even though Spo has been thoroughly outcoached by Carslile this series, I've thought he's done a decent job...however, the one adjustment he has yet to make is to put Wade on Terry every minute he is one the court. House is plain awful defensively, Chalmers has a low bball IQ (especially in PnR situations), and LeBron is too flat-footed to keep up with him when Terry catched the ball off good team ball-movement. Wade has the size, athletcism and IQ to make life for Terry as difficult as possible, yet I constantly see House and Chalmers on Terry...that's unacceptable. Overall, once again a fantastic half of basketball in this series. The Heat are extremely lucky to be down by only 2pts with Dirk struggling so badly, and everyone knows that won't continue. They HAVE to slow Terry down if they are to have a chance.

Good idea, although I'm skeptical on how well it will work. Most drug addicts that spend a ton of money on drugs aren't blunt-heads, and drugs like coke and dope (heroin, oxy, etc...) are only in your system for 2-3 days tops. So, it won't be exactly difficult to beat those tests. Also, the testing does require a decent budget from the state, so there is a good chance they will be wasting a ton of money on testing people who aren't addicts while the addicts still find ways to slip through the cracks.

Just got back from the Cubs-Phillies game, had a lot of fun. The ballpark is amazing, although I don't know if I like it better than Yankee Stadium (although that may just be a bias). Game was good, with the Phillies winning 4-3 after trailing 3-0 after the top half of the first inning. The stadium was almost sold-out, and the fans in Philly are crazy. Also got a new, all black fitted Phillies cap which is sweet.

Wade and Dirk have a lot of bad blood (Dirk saying the refs handed the Heat a title and Wade coming back and saying Dirk choking was the reason Dallas lost, then them not shaking hands at the 2007 ASG), so it don't surprise me. However, they picked the worst possible time to do that in front of cameras.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4GRJgMXHo8 Seriously kid, why you so obssessed with me?

No he wasn't, Brand played 2 seasons with the Bulls as a 20/10 player before being traded for Chandler.