'13 All things Heat thread

[Dee-Zy]

Originally Posted by Jace

Controversial conjecture coming down the pike...

Could our rotation be stronger with Harrellson instead of Haslem? Surely if UD doesn't make significant strides from last season. Will be interesting to see when and why Erik gives Jorts a try.

Not on Defence I think.

Jorts can't defend the PnR for shit.

[UD40]

Awkward.

[Smithian]

Originally Posted by Jace

Controversial conjecture coming down the pike...

Could our rotation be stronger with Harrellson instead of Haslem? Surely if UD doesn't make significant strides from last season. Will be interesting to see when and why Erik gives Jorts a try.

My personal disgust of Harrellson aside...

You know there is no way that is possible.

[Jace]

@celtics

Doc on Wade's "punk play" comment: "Don't forget about Rondo's elbow injury (in 2011 playoffs)…that was created by Dwyane Wade."

Doc's losing it. Wade was trying to post up Rondo, who flopped to try and get a call, ****ing up his elbow while trying to brace his fall. Rondo clotheslined him with two hands. Very different.

Say what you will about Spo, but he's clearly already more mature than Doc. Can't imagine Erik playing the "well he did this that other time" game.

EDIT: Wade's response

"Rondo pulled me and I pulled him and we both fell," Wade said on ESPN radio. "That's how I was falling because Rondo pulled me on that play. I apologized to Rondo for that because I don't ever want to see anyone get injured. Just like I didn't mean to injure Kobe (Bryant) in the All-Star Game but things happen. But it wasn't 18 seconds left where the game was decided. That's what I was talking about when I called it a punk play. There's 18 seconds left, why are you going for my neck? You can do that early in the game, in competition, let's go."

More quotes from Rondo and Doc in the link. So much unnecessary drama in this league. I get that it sells clicks, but I find it shameful reporters do the "did you hear what he said? What do you think about that?" back and forth thing. Its lame. I don't know why I'm even humoring it right now.

[Jace]

Knicks forward Marcus Camby talked on Thursday about how close he was to becoming a member of the Heat this offseason. The Heat plays the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Friday.

“I was going on the plane to Miami when Allan [Houston], Glen [Grunwald] and [Mike Woodson] came down to Houston,” Camby said. “That’s how close I was. I had a good talk with coach Riley on the phone. We talked for an extended period of time about them wanting me to come down there. In hindsight, I felt I was always a Knick at heart.”

Ironically, the Heat ended up with Josh Harrellson.

Read more: http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=11356#ixzz2B0wuBGd2

Feel like I should be upset about this, but I'm not. Surely Smithers is, since it was the move that led to Jorts in Miami.

He's definitely a Knick at heart, though, since they're assigning pacemakers to their big man rotation.

[Wade2Bosh]

Ray wasnt lying when he said after the game that a few moments after he checked in, he and KG exchanged a dap



Surprised TNT missed it

[Jace]

They didn't miss it, it just doesn't play into the preferred narrative. Good find.

Winderman from yesterday on Rio's game against Boston

The locker room still was packed. Dwyane Wade was finished speaking, LeBron James had just concluded his postgame session and now the media were waiting five deep by Ray Allen's locker.

On the opposite side of the Miami Heat locker room, Mario Chalmers sat alone.

On a night he had stood out.

To put Chalmers' 11 assists in Tuesday's season-opening 120-107 victory over the Boston Celtics into perspective, consider that Chalmers went all of last season without more than eight in a game.

Yet here was the fifth-year point guard finding Shane Battier for the tone-setting first basket of the season, a 3-pointer, as well as assisting on the Heat's final two baskets after the Celtics had trimmed a 19-point deficit to four.

Ultimately, the Heat's season opener was about Wade's 29 points in his return from offseason knee surgery, James' recurring leg cramps, Allen's performance against his former team.

But what Chalmers accomplished, the way he moved the ball when and where it needed to be moved, spoke volumes about the Heat's ultimate potential this season.

Particularly because of the way he finished last season, with strong closing efforts against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals.

"We know we've got a lot of weapons on the floor, so it's good to utilize everyone that's out there," Chalmers said. "I was just trying to pick my spots, find my teammates. They did a good job of knocking down shots."

The comments are pure Chalmers, basic, mundane, belying his uber confidence.

And yet the Chalmers on display Tuesday was similar to the Chalmers who helped push the Heat to last season's championship, when he began attacking the basket against the Thunder in those Finals. Tuesday was more than feeding the post; it was Chalmers getting into the paint, even if just to pass.

"I'm just going to keep going, keep trying to prove myself, keep trying to be the leader on this team," he said, the Heat now 4-0 over Chalmers' career when he records 10 or more assists.

In order for those rim assaults to draw defenders, Chalmers appreciates he has to show an ability to finish, with Tuesday's effort somewhat uneven in that respect.

"I've been working on that all summer, me and [assistant coach] Dan Craig," he said, "just working on my finishes, working on different things about the rim. It's paying off."

The greatest payoff this season, the reason some have forecast career assist totals for James, is the Heat's surfeit of shooters, from Allen to Battier to Rashard Lewis, who all connected from beyond the arc in the opener. As it was, two of Chalmers' Tuesday assists came on passes for James 3-pointers.

"We're putting them in a good position to get the ball, receive the ball, and they're doing a good job of finishing," Chalmers said. "So it goes hand in hand."

Chalmers said he won't be content until he is as respected for scoring in the lane as passing in the paint.

"I'm working on everything," he said, "using both hands, using my body to shut off the defense, working on the arc of my floater. Everything goes hand in hand.

"I try to pick and choose my moments. I don't want to force the game. I want to let it come to me, just play a solid game."

Tuesday, there was just that, a solid game. He might not have been the best point guard on the court, but this time there was no resounding advantage for Boston's Rajon Rondo, as typically had been the case in Heat-Celtics.

And yet after 11 assists and only one turnover, after a game-high three steals, there was Chalmers on Tuesday night, seated alone, not a camera, microphone or notepad turned in his direction.

"It doesn't bother me at all," he said. "I just go out there and play my game, don't worry about it. We've got four Hall of Famers on this team, so I'm just trying to leave my mark."

Didn't realize his season-high was 8 assists last year. Seeing him start out the season with 11 and only 1 turnover is extremely encouraging. He looked so in control, and seemed to get into the paint fairly easily, making smart dishes. If we can get steady play from him for a full season, finally, it makes the team way more dangerous. He was the cherry on top that hurt teams during last year's postseason.

[Jace]

Confirming what we already believed, but Wade basically says he wants to average around 33 mpg.

1. Wade, 30, might be ahead of schedule in his return from knee surgery, but the Heat must watch his minutes carefully and not overextend him. He logged 35 against the Celtics due to James missing time because of his leg cramps. Spoelstra said he will look to slightly lessen Wade's minutes from that. "I think last year playing around 33 was good for me," Wade said. Wade said that before the Heat had so much talent there were nights when he "had to play 42 miutes and maybe I should have only played 37 because five of those mintues I was out there tired."

From the same article, I know Smithi loves the Jorts quotes

(Talking about playing at MSG)

"I get a lot of love from the fans. They still tweet me and show me support. And so if I get in the game I think I'll get a good round of applause. I was a fan favorite, a lot of people liked me up there."

He does talk with a little more bravado than you'd think he should. At least this one isn't about "holding [his] own" against Dwight Howard.

[Dee-Zy]

Yeah, I'm a little surprised that he said that he was a fan favorite, whether he is/was or not isn't the issue, I'm surprised that he said it.

I thought he was more humbled and soft spoken than that...

[Wade2Bosh]

Well he was a fan favorite, just like all the big, goofy white guys at the end of the bench are

[Jace]

Helps he wasn't drafted over Brandon Jennings.

[Jace]

If you're into the X's and O's, Couper Moorhead has some great pieces already on heat.com. One is on the "Ray Allen Special," the play we beat Minny with last year, though now featuring Ray, who knows how to work the triggers much better. We ran it against NO at the end of the half. Though it resulted in a missed Lewis 3, it still got an open shot.

He then broke down the pace and space advantages this team now has after the Boston game. There's also a new one about Bosh in the early post that I haven't read yet.

Also, this guy will be doing film breakdowns throughout the season for different teams. Here's the one on the Celtics-Heat game.



One of the lazy defensive plays he calls Wade out for actually looked to be Rio's rotation. And he might want to ease up on the "Lee may be a Wade stopper" conjecture.

[Dee-Zy]

Nice! Good looking out, added to the watch later list!!!

[Dee-Zy]

Oh, it's bballbreakdown, I love that guy.

[Jace]

Forgot to share this from the pace and space article:

It sounds simple, but it will take a great deal of discipline for Miami so sustain that kind of attack all season. This is as good of a start as you can have, though, and it’s even more encouraging than the HEAT’s high-flying rout of the Dallas Mavericks in last season’s opener (another performance, as against Boston, with an offensive efficiency of 125).

In that game, the average HEAT possession through three quarters – before the benches were cleared – lasted 11.5 seconds, but Miami also enjoyed 28 fast-break points and 20 transition possessions (as logged by Synergy) over that span. That the HEAT managed an average possession of 13 seconds against Boston while only using 12 fast-breaks all game, with just 10 fast-break points, indicates that the team is coming into this season not just with good intentions, but with the habits, pace and consistent spacing to keep the sweet music going for awhile.

Great sign. So despite the fact that we had way lower fastbreak numbers all around than the opening Dallas game last year, we still maintained a low possession length, time-wise. This is a strong indication we'll keep up the pace longer/more consistently than we did last year.