Nitro

In a nutshell, this is the difference. Dirk is a proven leader, one of the most clutch players in the league, a better passer, better defender and overall more efficient.

Yet the Heat have 4 more losses than the Celtics, and have been beaten TWICE by the Celtics. They have been beaten TWICE by the Mavs, including once a few nights ago. Those are the two teams, besides the Spurs, who have played the best basketball in the league so far this season. The Celtics have championship experience, a lot more depth than the Heat, a better halfcourt offense, and IMO a better defense. You can't convince me that the Heat will be able to beat them in a 7-game series RIGHT NOW. Maybe a few months from now, but right now the answer is no. The Celtics have won 14 of their last 15 as well, with 8 double digit victories. That is without Perkins, Jermaine O'Neal, Rondo (arguably their best player) for a few games, and Shaq for a few games (who some analysts have said should be an all-star). The Heat are NOT the best defensive team in the league. Unlike the Celtics, the Heat have GLARING defensive weaknesses. The Celtics do not. Most of the time, the Heat are able to counter this by lockin up the other positions on the floor by supreme help defense and talent. Against a team like Boston, this will be a lot harder because they have GREAT team passing, a PG who will get into the paint at will, and players who are able to move off-ball. The teams that the Heat have had trouble defending are teams that have PG's who can penetrate, and supporting players who move well off-ball and pass well such as Boston and Utah. Boston shot 46% and 54% against the Heat in their two meetings. Utah shot 48% and 51% in their two meetings. Wade and James, as great as they are defensively, get burned by players who can create offense by moving off-ball. Ray Allen absolutely smoked Wade their last few meetings because Allen has such a quick shot release that Wade can't recover as well as he does against most players when he gambles. Also, if the Heat are playing teams with big men that move well off-ball, then Z has fits, and Joel is too small to alter shots if they get the ball near the rim. No. Doc is a supreme motivator, has years of experience on Spoelstra, is a better X's and O's guy on offense, and unike Spo he makes adjustments on the fly. Spo's rotations and sets are robotic, and in close games he gets exposed...that has been seen multiple times this season. He also tends to favor certain players to the point where it KILLS the team...aka Joel starting for the first 10 games, Arroyo playing 20+ minutes, playing Bosh at Center in order to keep Haslem on the floor, etc...

Huh? I've watched all but maybe 5-6 of the Heat's games this season, and there is no way they should be regarded as a better team than the Celtics yet, who they WILL have to go through just to get to the Finals. The only time in the last 15 or so games that the Heat have faced an elite defense, their half court offense looked like it did to start the season...and that offense will NOT get it done in the post-season against the Celtics. The Celtics have an equally smothering defense, a lot less roster holes, a lot more depth, more experience, a better coach and a more efficient half-court offense. I am not saying the Heat won't get to the Finals, but the team right now would not beat the Celtics in a 7-game series.

There's no need for it, just like I feel there's no need for expansion. There is also no way the NBA will ever consider contraction since there is far too much money at stake, so if they do make significant changes, it will be via expansion. However, I do feel that contraction would certainly add to the quality of play throughout the league, just like a shortened season and post-season would.

That's plain stupid. Anthony is a midget who can't rebound or defend big post players, and Ilgauskas has virtually no defensive range. Dampier can rebound, defend big post players, and he has more speed than Z does to make proper help rotations. Howard and Magloire should get the axe. Howard is just an older version of Haslem, and Magloire serves no purpose with 3 other Centers who are all better players.

Hmm, the Heat can beat a good team...who woulda thunk?

It's always been like this, unfortunately...

Travel.

They've actually repeated it since 2007 I believe. But yeah, NBA on NBC was lightyears better than ABC's horrible broadcast.

I don't find a lot of those bad "young" teams fun to watch or progress along. I'd venture to guess 70% of those teams with potential have a ceiling of 7th/8th seed in the playoffs (like the Grizzlies), and the other 30% maybe make it to a 4th or 5th seed tops (Blazers, Thunder). Generally speaking, the most successful teams are those who actively pursue talent via trades and free agency as opposed to simply letting a roster loaded with "potential" try and come into their own. Either way, if you take off 3 teams from each conference, the level of talent for the remaining teams gets much, much better. Give teams like Milwaukee and Indiana guys like Griffin, Love, Evans and Wall, and teams like OKC and Chicago guys like Landry, Hinrich, etc...they will get leaps and bounds better. The benches will be deeper. The level of play and competitiveness WILL increase. It gets boring to me too...but we aren't talking about a 10 team league. 20-25 teams would still be a lot better than 30 teams. I agree to an extent, but you are looking at it wrong. Even though there will still be a hierarchy of great teams, the level of talent for the lower level teams will be significantly higher than it currently is. And as a 20-25 team league evolves, the upper level teams will also get stronger. As talent has gotten better over the last 5 years or so, the top level teams are a LOT stronger talent-wise than they were in the early-mid '00's. IMO, and I think as the ratings show, in most people's opinions, this is better for the league. That will only get more profound as the league evolves with 5-10 less teams. Also, with less teams, that means less guys that have to play like superstars. A ton of players who are currently #1 or #2 options that should be #3 or #4 options will get a chance to play that role. The product is fine...but it would get better under contraction.

Better game? Maybe. More interesting? Hell no. We've seen LA-Boston play many times over the last few seasons, and while Shaq's return to LA in green would have been interesting, it's nothing like the Heat's trio playing their first game in LA. You have the NBA's 3 biggest stars playing in the same game, 2 other all-stars, a few other fringe all-stars, etc... It's going to be fun :glasses:

What makes that so different from today's NBA? Every season there are between 2-5 teams with a legit shot at an NBA title, and the rest of the teams have no shot. IMO contraction would help those mid-level teams like the Bulls, Nuggets, and Knicks get to that next level and be able to compete with the elite teams. Contraction, if done correctly, would improve the quality of basketball for the half of the league that needs a boost. It would make the quality of games a lot better. But as I said in the first thread devoted to his quotes, it will never happen because financially it makes 0 sense for the NBA to consider it. It would also rip a number of cities' hearts apart, much like when the Sonics left Seattle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKTy7mSusek I lol'd when I saw this tonight.

Ugly game. Without Wade I lose most of my motivation to watch the Heat, although LeBron and Bosh are playing well tonight.

LeBron's a [expletive]ing beast. Sick dunk.

I agree that it would be awesome for everyone besides the fans of the teams they wipe off the map. The issue is money...there is simply too much money for the league to make via expansion. Sure, the league may generate more buzz and higher ratings with a few less teams, but they'd be losing a crazy amount of money by doing so. Still, it would be awesome if they cut off some of the league's dead weight, and the rich get richer (not Lakers/Celtics/Heat necessarily, but all those mid-level teams like the Bulls, Knicks, Thunder, etc...) It would lead to a better, more exciting product.

Great win for the Magic. The offensive flow was tremendous with everyone looking for the open man and the ball never sticking in a single player's hands for too long. I really, really think this team has great potential, although their chance to beat Boston/Miami in a 7-game series will hinge on Arenas' ability to be that lethal go-to scorer he was a few seasons ago.

I think that's what me and platoon are saying...Miller has the capabilities to do more than just shoot spot-up jumpers, and will give the Heat a huge upgrade over JJ. He SHOULD be primarily a jumpshooter, but the fact that he has the ability to create off the dribble for himself or others, and can rebound (an area JJ is very, very poor at) will make him a dangerous weapon against the great defensive teams. The problem with Jones is that unless he's hitting that open corner 3 pointer, he's otherwise pretty useless. Miller is a very good all-around basketball player who can create his own shot, and if that initial 3pt shot isn't there, he can create off the dribble and either finish or find an open teammate. Either way, it's a lot better for the offense than simply passing it out of the corner to a defended LBJ/Wade 30ft out, which is what happens when Jones doesn't have an open shot.

Melo's next if he doesn't sign the NJ extension. You don't [expletive] with Russians. R.I.P

He's in the best shape he's been in since 2004-2005, which was the season before he hit the weights hard and put on too much muscle, which flared up his back and didn't help with his knee issues. I do agree about the assertiveness, although I think he's really focusing on showing he can be a willing role player that plays within the confines of a system. I wish he'd be more assertive scoring the ball, but from what I've seen most Detroit fans think he's doing a tremendous job of running the 2nd string offense.

Out of curiousity, what were the maximum salary rules when Shaq signed that contract? I am not sure if there was a maximum salary restriction as MJ was making around $30M per season during the 2nd 3-peat. Yes, but he also went to a team that won 7 less games the prior season WITHOUT Shaq. It wasn't just the market attracting him, and I think the market is solely what is spurring these "Howard to LA" rumors. Read the last line of my post. The reason this rumor, if you can call it that, has any legs is because of Howard's personality and the MARKET in LA. This is still nearly 2 years away from happening, and the Magic just made some huge trades which Howard supposedly is very happy about, so I doubt he or any of his people are releasing the info that he "has his eyes on Los Angeles." IMO, it's people putting two and two together. He has a Hollywood type of personality, so for journalists it's an easy rumor to generate. It's a lot like the LeBron to NY/Brooklyn thing...they see him with Yankees caps, hanging out with Jay-Z and assume his ego would force him to take on the challenge of being the King of NY...obviously that didn't work out. Don't get me wrong, it wouldn't be a huge surprise if he ended up in LA. But these rumors bother me since there is no substance, nobody knows how half the league's rosters will look in 2012, and lastly...it's a year and a half away!! We had to deal with it for 2-3 years with the LeBron-to-NY rumors, and I really hope the Dwight-to-LA rumors don't get as crazy.

What does this have to do with anything? That contract was making him over $20M per year the last 3-4 seasons. I could have swore the Magic didn't go over $100M with their offer, but I guess I'm wrong. My bad. I don't think the Kobe hype had much influence on Shaq's decision. We are not talking about the hype LeBron received, where he was touted as the next Jordan in his Junior year and was the most obvious #1 selection in the last few decades. Kobe was taken at #13 in that draft, and while there was excitement around him, I don't think it swayed Shaq's decision. He went to a bigger market and team that won only 7 less games than the Magic did the previous season. As seen with NY throughout the last decade, I do think the whole "bigger market" factor is a bit overblown. Dwight's extension will run through his very best years, and I think he will go where he truly thinks he has the best shot at winning (unless Orlando wins a championship before 2012 or attracts another superstar to pair with Howard). That could very well be in LA, but I do think Howard's outgoing personality will give this rumor more legs than it deserves.

LINK Damn.

I believe Shaq was offered a contract worth about $20M more from LA than Orlando could offer. LA gutted their roster to get him. Dwight's situation will be a lot different than Shaq's was, although I am not quite sure what point you were trying to make here.

http://www.82games.com/1011/10MIA7.HTM This season, through 30 games James Jones has been assisted on all 69 of his FGM. Let that simmer. Mike Miller's return will be huge for this team.