A few Eastern Conference teams are red hot.
by Adam Figman | @afigman
Dwight Howard might be the wheels, rims, leather seats, carburetor, alternator, paint job, and some other car parts I’m forgetting, but—from the looks of it—Jameer Nelson is the engine that drives the Magic forward. Without him, they were lost last night, as the Hawks pushed ahead in the fourth quarter and took it home. Both teams shot terribly (Atlanta: 38.8 percent; Orlando: 37.8 percent), though the one percent difference was huge. (Yeah, probably not.) Josh Smith led the Hawks with 19 points (plus 13 boards), while Al Horford added 16. Dwight also had a decent 14 and 13 in his return to the court, but it wasn’t enough. Oh, and if you don’t think SVG’s guys were missing Nelson, check the box score—the entire team combined for 9 assists, and backup-made-starting point guard Chris Duhon had a meager 2.
Now let’s discuss some slightly warmer (read: fiery hot) East Coast squads.
I had a feeling the Knicks were getting thrown under the bus a little too soon early on, but I didn’t see a revitalization quite like this coming. Admit it: Neither did you. Amar’e Stoudemire’s (34 points, 5 boards) offensive onslaught continued, and though he was out-rebounded by Kevin Love (33 points, 15 rebounds), it was New York that jumped ahead with a strong third quarter and then hung on to get the W. The last time these two met, Love beasted with that 31-31 performance, so I guess D’Antoni’s crew will gladly settle for 33 and 15. Other noteworthy Knicks: Raymond Felton scored 18 and dished 11; Danilo Gallinari put in 17, and drained a clutch three that helped seal things up in the final minutes; and rookie Landry Fields scored only 2 but led the team on the glass with 10 boards. Michael Beasley scored 25 for the TWolves, who shot 53.2 percent and started off the contest with a ridiculous hot streak, hitting everything in sight and jumping out to an early lead—but it was eventually squandered quickly in the second half. NYK has now won 10 of 11 (five straight), and will try to extend that streak in Toronto on Wednesday.
Using the Knicks’ take-advantage-of-the-schedule-while-you-can strategy, the Heat have begun surging as well, winning five in a row in convincing fashion. The latest victim was Milwaukee, who shot only 34.6 percent and didn’t stand much of a chance. Dwyane Wade led the charge this time, dropping 25 points (plus 14 boards and 5 dimes) in the effort. LeBron James went for 17, 7 and 6, and Chris Bosh put up a mild 16 and 12 night. The Heat had a strong fourth piece though, with an efficient 18-point, 6-for-6 shooting performance from Carlos Arroyo. When the role players successfully complete their, um, roles, Miami is damn near untouchable. The Heat should have a tougher test on Wednesday, when they travel to Utah to play Deron Williams and friends.
While the media puts the two winners above front and center, nobody will be paying attention to the Pacers, who—though they’ve dropped a few the past week or so—have developed into a strong team with reborn playoff hopes. They handled the Raps easily last night, grabbing a 13-point lead after a quarter and only building on it from there. A well-balanced effort led the way, as all five Indiana starters plus Brandon Rush (26 points) scored in double figures. Shoot 55.3 percent (47-85) from the field and 50 percent (13-26) from three and you’ll be in good position to win against anybody in this League. The Pacers will now travel to Milwaukee to face the struggling Bucks tomorrow night.
In one that I’m sure will rile up this site’s commenters, the Bulls turned a small lead into a big lead in the third quarter and the Thunder simply couldn’t get back into it. The world wanted a Russell Westbrook vs. Derrick Rose showdown, but there was none to be had; Chicago was led by Carlos Boozer (29 points, 12 rebounds), while Kevin Durant (29 points, 14-14 from the line) took the forefront for Oklahoma City. In the point guard sector, DRose shot only 3 for 13 en route to 11 points (he added 9 assists), and Westbrook scored 15 points (with 7 dimes and 3 steals) in the loss. Quality defense, huh? I won’t get involved in the “who’s the best (or second best, or third best) pg in the League” debate, if only because something tells me you guys will take care of that one. Which I appreciate! I’ll be reading and will chime in on occasion. The Bulls are now 11-8, staying ahead of the Pacers—by just a game—for the time being.
Led by Deron (27 points, 8 dimes), the Jazz easily took care of the Grizz, who have now dropped four straight. CJ Miles added 20 off the bench (Sidebar: Who’s the Sixth Man of the Year so far? Anyone else think CJ is in the running?), while big man Al Jefferson went for 12 and 10. Remember that Paul Millsap hype? It died down fast, and his slump continued as he scored 7 on 3-11 from the floor. Zach Randolph (17 points, 14 boards) was a bright spot for the Grizz, who could really use a Knicks-like schedule (no shots!) to get back on track. Coming off the losses to Denver and Utah, they’ve now fallen to 8-14, and are in Phoenix for what should be another tough one Wednesday (#WesternConferenceProblems).
L.A. Clippers 98, Sacramento 91
The Clippers dominated the middle two quarters, and held off a late Sacramento run to hang on for the victory. The win is just their fifth, and came behind a great night from Eric Gordon, who scored 29 and distributed 5 dimes. Blake Griffin had a mild 13 and 11, while Kings swingman Omri Casspi went off, leading his crew with 21 points and 10 boards in 34 minutes. Sacto will move on to host Washington Wednesday, while the Clips have an All-L.A. Everything battle against the Lake Show scheduled for tomorrow night.
Performance of the Night: Call me crazy, but I thought the Bulls’ victory was the most impressive, so I’m giving this to Boozer. Chicago’s newest big man had 29 points, 12 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal.
Moment of the Night: It wasn’t exactly Griffin over Mozgov, but LBJ’s coast-to-coast in Milwaukee seems to represent the current state of the Miami Heat. Can’t stop, won’t…
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Sure he plays for Minnesota, but still. I like
Why do ANYTHING different?
Actually, that’s perfect— Howard has been getting around 17 minutes a game, Jones around 20…So having Haslem play 17-20 minutes and Miller play 20-25 would be perfect. Contouring in any other way would be a bad idea.
But at the end of the day, I think all those minutes need to be given to Miller. Miller is simply better. He brings more. He brings more defense, he brings better ball movement, and by god, he’ll hit those same ridiculously easy open shots that James Jones is hitting.
Splitting their minutes would be dumb because neither could get in rhythm. You don’t want to cut into Wade/Lebron’s minutes. It’s tough, but one of them needs to go.
Right now there is a rotation of Arroyo, Chalmers, Wade, Jones, Lebron, Bosh, Haslem, Big Z, Dampier/Anthony (one gets majority of minutes depending on defensive matchup). That’s a nine man rotation. Successful teams really don’t run ten-man rotations. Wade/Lebron/Bosh all need to get 35+ minutes a game to be a contender.
So at the end of the day, it’s either going to be Miller or Jones. Who knows, maybe Jones will prove just to be more valuable at the moment and keep his role. But splitting them would negatively effect the team.
Look, I got love for James Jones, he’s Phoenix alum. But I watched him a lot. He goes hot and cold randomly and without reason. It’s already happened— started hot, when abysmally cold, now he’s ridiculous again. But he’ll be cold again. That’s why The Heat need Miller to bring in the consistancy.
They’ve found a working rhythm. They’re just going to mess it up trying to impliment Miller and Jones together.
I don’t get it though. Amare played the four spot for Phoenix but was put in at the center spot every year. Yet, Gasol is actually PLAYING the five for the Lakers right now but they can’t put him as the five because Bynum needs to be there? Really? That’s just dumb.
But dude, I mean, Miller would NOT bring up the ball. Why would Miller bring up the ball? His handles aren’t that great. They’re mediocre. I don’t get that statement at all.
Bryan Crawford Posted: Dec.7 at 12:31 pm
Mike Miller CAN NOT run the point in Miami’s or any other offense. Making that claim is basically saying that anybody can be a PG as it’s nothing more than bringing the ball up and then passing it off. I’m not hating, but being a PG is a little bit more complicated than that. Bryan Crawford Posted: Dec.7 at 12:33 pm
Besides, that would make Mike Miller just a taller version of Arroyo and Chalmers because that’s all they do right now.
And I once again will state, Miller cannot play the point. Just because he can pass, doesn’t mean he can play the point. He doesn’t have the ball handling to bring it up the court consistantly before teams start running full-court presses. And I don’t know about Minny, but Miller didn’t really run any backup point duties for Washington. C’mon now.
That’s why Ron Harper was the point guard and Pippen was the small forward, even though Pippen ran the plays.
Nobody full court presses because NO TEAMS USE GUYS LIKE MIKE MILLER TO BRING UP THE BALL!!
Sorry for caps. That had to be said though.
And Ron Harper played a LOT of point in his career before going to the Bulls. Were you old enough to watch him, NBK?
@T-Money: Chalmers is a MUCH better dribble than Miller. That’s just false, dude. Very false.
NBK, you seem to be a huge fan of Miller. I’m not knocking the dude. He’s incredibly talented and I think he will help Miami a LOT, specifically against better teams because of his superior ball movement. But this notion that he should be treated like anything more than a role player is scary. It’s the same logic that will hurt the Heat if they treat Haslem the same way and move Bosh to the five.
@T-Money: I don’t expect him to play 10 minutes with Lebron and Wade. I expect him to play 10 minutes with Lebron, and ten minutes with Wade. It wont be at the same time unless it’s a very tight game and they need a three point shooter.
Diesel makes a great point I didn’t mention earlier: Miller was brought in for his three point shooting. If he brings up the ball and initiates offense, it takes away from one of those shooters spreading the floor for Lebron/Wade.
Arroyo has somehow found a way to make it work (he brings it up quickly, looks for a quick route to attack and passes it up. Miller doesn’t have the speed to do that).
When I said role player, I meant a minor player, who is playing beneath his abilities. The same way they need to play Haslem.
This is why the Celtics and Lakers are doing so well: they have players who could have far larger roles elsewhere taking their skills and dulling them down QUITE a bit. Yes, Miller could play some point guard duties. No, in this team, he should stay far away from that.
If Arroyo and Chalmers play the same way they did against these scrub teams to contenders… there really isn’t a point guard problem.
And Chalmers is a way better ball handler than Miller. Sorry, that’s not even funny.
@NBK:
nbk Posted: Dec.7 at 1:04 pm
… he’s smaller so mismatches (which is what the iso-nba relies on) won’t be as easy to come by.
Please explain what you meant by this.
Another team’s point would just plant themselves on Miller. Sure, he can shoot over them, but his role on the team would be to shoot when Wade/Lebron draw defenders away from him anyway. Good riddence.
It gets annoying and halts the play.
I’m sure Wade and Lebron would be THRILLED to take the ball from Miller on full court presses. Of course, if this is the case, why not just have Lebron and Wade dribble it down and forget about Miller in the first place? I mean, if Lebron and Wade are immune to full court presses and are better ball handlers than Miller, why is Miller the solution and Wade/Lebron not. This entire thing really makes no sense.
I listed the massive amount of problems moving MIller to the point would cause. At anytime during the game.
You’re going to have Chalmers and Arroyo divide up 90% of the point guard time, with Wade/Lebron dividing up the rest. You don’t want Miller anywhere near the point guard position.
And for that matter, Wade and Lebron are such GREAT passers, you really don’t want Miller controlling the tempo for anything more than ball movemenr and finding quick cutters. I’m sorry, but Miller’s talents are a bit redundant and forcing him at the point is just problematic.
I don’t THINK Miller should bring the ball up too much— after Arroyo/Wade/Lebron, why should Miller also bring it up?– But it’s far more reasonable than asking him to play point guard.
The full-court press argument is so entirely bogus that its embarrassing that you keep bringing it up. Sorry, but a team that full court presses immediately takes a help defender away from LeBron, Bosh and Wade. Plus opens themselves up to scrambling back on defense against a team that is more athletic then everyone else.
This comment was so stupid.
Chalmers is simply a far better defender, he is in there for his defensive abilities. Heck, with Chalmers in, I’d also want Miller in, to spread the floor better and create more ball movement. If anything, I want Chalmers and Miller playing together.
Co-sign Bryan Crawford’s 1:35 pm post. Co-sign it three times over.
As I said before, both dudes are playing some point effectively. Arroyo will go into this super quick PG mode where he runs up the court during a half-court set and sees if he can make something happen. If he can’t, he gives it back. He also will lead a lot of breaks so Lebron can go off the ball. That’s playing point.
Chalmers is in the point spot purely for defense, sure, but he’s also developed some drive-and-kick create opportunities for Bosh. Not sure that will stick, but it’s still being a point.
Anyway, I’m done with this. I don’t see why Miller needs to bring up the ball when you have two point guards, a SG, and a SF all with great ball handling and passing who can do it better than Miller can. It’s a bit mystifying. But I’m done. It’s pointless.
Later.
well have you actually watched heat games then? because for the umpteenth time, the heat are at their best without a PG on the court.
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This is the most blatant disregard for truth one can utter on this board. Let us not confuse— the Heat play without a TRADITIONAL point guard. That does not mean the Heat play without point guards. Arroyo, House, and Chalmers are all point guards, they play like points. The only time there is a point where there isn’t a one on the floor is when there is a Wade-Lebron-Jones lineup, and you have NOT seen this lineup for Miami’s entire five-game win streak, because Spolestra is now dividing up Lebron/Wade’s minutes and Jones isn’t in at the beginning/end when they play together.
So to say that the Heat play better without a point guard is just a blatant THRASHING of the truth.
I am not happy with that statement.
By everyone, I mean only NBK and T-Money. Because guys who normally disagree constantly (Bryan, myself, JTaylor) are all agreeing with this very simple concept.
Later.” Nuff said! I’m out to!! Lol
Except that the pairing you’re speaking about has not happened once during Miami’s 5-game win streak where they have looked amazing.
Here comes the fail train.
Yet he has these STATISTICS which I assume are +/- numbers which he found somewhere which show they are best together.
Utterly ridiculous.
I’m done for real this time. See you when the games start later tonight, guys.
Arroyo-Wade-James-Bosh-Anthony…. +45
Arroyo-Wade-James-Bosh-Ilgauskas.. +34
Wade-Jones-James-Haslem-Bosh…… +31
Uh ohhhhhh…. looks like two people I know need to STFU.
S-T-F-U.
Why would I look at everything for 40 minutes? There’s a reason Wade/Lebron/Jones don’t play 40-minutes. A big reason. Usually that lineup, as I said, comes in the closing or opening of the half. It’s when odd-ball players are in when mismatches can be best exploited. It’s never at the beginning of the game. It is RARELY at the closing of a game, unless three point shooting is needed. So STFU.
And I guarentee this Hollinger article you ‘can’t find’ was written before any of the five game win streak, when the rotation was hammered down and chemistry was at its best… wasn’t it? So STFU.
You don’t know what you’re talking about.
IE NBK really doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
1. Felton
2. Bledsoe
3. Dragic
4. Miller
5. The perception of Johnny Flynn
6. Nate Robinson
7. Rubio
8. T-Mac
9. Iverson
10. Felton again
comment section massacres…
BUT if Spo is going to do it, then moving Wade at the one and putting Miller at the two is probably the best way to do it, I guess.
I just don’t see why Miller has to bring down the ball when Wade and Lebron can do it faster and more effectively. Someone has to explain this to me. I mean, especially, -ESPECIALLY- if you believe that Jones/Wade/Lebron are best paired together, why should Miller dribble the ball down? I guarentee Jones wasn’t dribbling the ball down, so why should Miller dribble the ball if the Heat are -presumably- at their most effective when Wade/LEbron are doing it.
This entire argument just made no sense.:
FACT: The Heat are playing their best basketball. Yes, these are bad teams they are beating, but they are beating them soundly
FACT: During this stretch, either Arroyo or Chalmers played the point.
FACT: Lebron and Wade have been separated minute wise— they play less together, so each can play effectively and get in rhythm.
FACT: Lebron-Wade-Jones, to my knowledge, haven’t seen anything more than five minutes together on this road trip. And the chemistry has looked the best it has looked.
FACT: Miller is a better James Jones— better shooting, better passing, better defense. But he doesn’t really BRING anything else to the table outside of his passing. His dribbling isn’t that much better, his speed isn’t that much better… and James Jones utterly failed trying to play the point the way the Heat originally wanted him to. How would making Miller play point guard duties change things? If you want a Wade/Lebron/Miller lineup, fine, I say go for it. You will see that a lot when the Heat are in crunch time against a BIG team and they need the surefire three-point shooting. But during this time, Wade or Lebron will be playing the point. Miller will be playing the 3 spot.
And if Spo wants Wade/Lebron/Miller in every competative end game situation, he’s going to lose. Plain and simple.
I want this to be the end, but I know NBK or T-Money are going to say something which will tick me off again.
Okay, let’s get back to basics:
true or false questions:
TRUE/FALSE: During the last five games, Miami has looked their best chemistry wise
TRUE/FALSE: During the last five games, Miami has used a more traditional lineup, with either Arroyo/Chalmers running the point.
Take your time in your answer, NBK.
Chalmers-Wade-James-Bosh-Anthony 3 0 100
Wade-Jones-James-Haslem-Bosh 5 1 83.3
That fail chain keeps a-comin, it’s rollin’ round the bend..
This is just so dumb. I’m not using it as proof at all because you should go by +/- of floor time as effectiveness, augmented by when these guys are actually playing. I’ve watched every Heat game that didn’t coincide with a Phoenix game, and sometimes, I’ve ever went for the Heat game. I can tell you that Lebron-Wade-Jones rarely happened, has happened less as the season has gone on, and did not I repeat DID-NOT-HAPPEN during the Heat’s 5-game win streak, which they have finally looked the best.
But let’s just ignore all that.
But whatever, once again, I will repeat which you have not and cannot rebuttal
FACT: The chemistry behind the heat have looked BETTER in the last five games than they ever have been
FACT: Take a look at the minutes played…
MIL: Arroyo: 32, Chalmers: 16
ATL: Arroyo: 21, Chalmers: 27
CLV: Arroyo: 28, Chalmers: 20
DET: Arroyo: 27, Chalmers: 24
WAS: Arroyo: 25, Chalmers: 22
I don’t really know how you can keep arguing this.
Let’s hope Spolestra don’t mess it up.
This is the NBA where in the playoffs you need players playing to their strengths not trying to be something they are not. Arroyo/Chalmers are PGs (not great but the heat don’t need a great one) while Miller/Bron/Wade are scorers who can pass. The heat are a great team when you have Bron at SF attacking and finding open shooters, wade slashing and drawing fouls, arroyo/chalmers bringing the ball up court and spotting up, Bosh on the block and hitting shots off PnR. So you’d rather have arroyo and chalmers spotting up then Mike Miller. And lets not forget, we haven’t even brought up the fact that the heat struggle on the boards, and Mike Miller is notoriously a good rebounder. Also, with Mike Miller on defense the Heat will be able to switch on every single pick, and aspect of chicago’s defense during their second 3-peat that was rarely talked about. Its very hard to play a team that can interchange on defense at all three positions during any given offensive set. (I’m not saying anyone is a lock down defender, don’t go pulling stuff out of thin air)
__________________________________________________
and then I backed up my opinion with proof, the successful lineup, the use of ron harper in chicago (whether you agree or not, its still proof a non-pg can play the position).,
____________________________________________________
and then i used my 20 years of basketball experience (as a pg) to introduce the idea that an interchangeable group of wings that can all dribble, pass and score, that can switch on picks, and create gauranteed offensive mismatches is a better solution then a below average PG that is relegated to spot up shooting duties in the offense and is ultimately a two-way disadvantage (offensively and defensively)
_____________________________________________________ but he is top 3 help defending guard in the league IMO (Bryant, Kidd, Wade)
I didn’t bother reading all the comments from Slam’s most notorious know-it-alls in this TPU, but JT being civil was… different.
Ryne threaten his pet?
Russ put out a hit on his favorite teacher?
Did you sic Gervino on him?
Psychological warfare?
Look, situationally, of course Wade-Lebron-Miller will be used. This is during either non-starting lineups where defensive attacks wont be as big of a deal, or a crunch time situation where the Big 3 need more three-point shooting and iso plays instead of a lot of ball movement and cutting.
The problem is, I just don’t think T-Money and NBK know what a point guard does, how he operates.
I mean, when have the Lakers used their Kobe-Artest-Odom-Gasol-Bynum lineup? They haven’t. Why? Cause they NEED A POINT GUARD. Wade-Lebron-Miller will occassionally play together, but it wont happen a lot, simply because it puts either Wade or Lebron in an uncomfortable position. And forces Wade to guard Chris Paul/Deron Williams/Rose/Rondo/etc. Which, we’re realizing this year, he can’t.
But please, even though EVERYONE seems to agree with Bryan Crawford and myself, keep arguing.
Unbelievable.
I’ll try and explain my Lakers/Heat comment with minimum syllables. It was either you or NBK who said that “Miller is better than Chalmers and Arroyo so why not play your best players!!!!” So I responded that the Lakers do not play Kobe-Ron-Odom-Gasol-Bynum. Even though they are totally capable of doing so, since Kobe is able to bring the ball up and pass, and Kobe can defend point guards, Artest can guard the two, Odom the three just fine.
YET JACKSON NEVER DOES IT EXCEPT VERY FEW TIMES DURING CRUNCH!
Yes, it doesn’t COMPLETELY compare to the situation since Wade and Lebron are better passers than Kobe, but the triangle also takes away a lot of passing woes so it’s closer than you want to admit.
And once again, they said this on the record, unless you can cite something for me, before the season truly began, when everyone still though Lebron was going to be willing to play point. Which, you know, he’s not. He just wants to play point forward. That’s fine, but that means you have to move two players out of position instead of just one. It sucks.
I also want to differentiate that your argument isn’t as bad as NBKs: You want Miller to walk up the ball and give it to Lebron/Wade. NBK originally wanted Miller to play point before he changed it when he realized he was balls-off-wall wrong. I’m FINE with Miller bringing it up but… I just don’t GET it. Why? Lebron and Wade are better ball handlers and better creators. Miller is great at running into position and shooting. Why would you want Miller bringing the ball up? You haven’t really answered that, I want that explanation.
Chalmers and Arroyo can at least outspeed their opponents and create some mismatches by bringing it up. Miller really can’t, and will be exposed to presses in which case Lebron and Wade will have to bring it up anyway. Just so many issues with this. Everyone sees it but you.
I’m not saying Miller is a bad player, for chrissakes, I think he’s going to push the Heat into contender range.
I just don’t want him to be used more than 20-25 minutes so that this chemistry the Heat have isn’t messed up. I don’t want him in during crunch time if Miami needs a faster lineup, or a lineup that can break defenders off the dribble. He needs to be used situationally. That’s all.
Perhaps Miller, as a two-three, should have chosen a team which didn’t have two future HOF two/threes on the team already if he wanted a bigger role.
nbk Posted: Dec.7 at 12:24 pm
He can run the “1″ in Miami’s offense, which is actually pass and run to the corner, or pass and create a shooting angle from a superstar double team. Defensively LeBron can guard PG’s, that’s not wher his issue wit the position lies (according to reports)
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So much fail. You either phrased what you wanted to say wrong or you withdrew what you meant once you realized how dumb you sounded, I’ve seen you do both.
It’s all about playing position. You have this strange idea that positions no longer exist in the NBA, which is absurd. They don’t exist in rec league play, but they still exist in organized games. The Bulls played one guy SORT of out of position— they played a combo guard at the one spot. That’s fine. When the Heat play Wade-Lebron-Miller, unless Lebron goes to the one… WHICH HE HAS SAID HE WONT… they are playing two players out of position. Wade, who is a natural slashing two, going to the one spot… And Miller, who is a three, going to the two spot. That’s two out of player positions. I’m sure once Haslem comes back, Bosh slides to the five.
This is the lineup that is 1-7 against teams with winning records.
If the Heat beat Utah tomorrow, I suspect that Spoelstra will see this and try to not drastically alter the Heat lineup the way you keep saying he said he would do a month and a half ago. You keep talking about the five games as if they mean nothing but those five games have been the most dominant the Heat have looked for a stretch all season. Why ALTER that?
Once again, I’m not saying there wont be crunch time situations when Wade/Lebron/Miller will be in… there will be. But without Lebron going to the one, they shouldn’t start off with this (they need the fire power off the bench anyway) and they shouldn’t play this lineup in crunch time everytime ANYWAY because there are just some situations where having Arroyo being able to break his defender or having Chalmers for iso defense is just more valuable.
Sorry you disagree, but using stats that I’ve refuted several times and using a quote from longer than a month ago and ignoring a five game stretch where the Heat have looked their best just isn’t going to cut it.
Kobe is more than a scorer. Kobe actually played more point in his career than Wade and Miller have. You were around for Kobe’s first few seasons, right? He wasn’t a GREAT point, but I’d say he’d be a better point than Mike f’ing Miller.
Goodness me.
Chalmers would be far better against elite points than Wade would. That’s not even a question. Wade is a help defender, but isolation D has been pretty disappointing this season. Mike Miller is a great player, a great shooter, but that’s what he is, a shooter. If Arroyo is hot, I’d let Arroyo stay in. If Chalmers is locking stuff down, I’d let Chalmers stay in.
Hell, if James Jones is 5-5 from three and Mike Miller is 2-5 from the field, are you really going to have Mike Miller in the game over Jones at crunch?
This is exactly how the Miami Heat are going to lose— by not treating its players, outside of Wade/Lebron/Bosh, as role player pieces who will play set minutes UNTIL crunch time, in which case they will be randomly chosen to step up. The Lakers do that. Lord knows the Bulls were in it, ask Kukoc and Rodman how many times each were benched and upset during key possessions.
Treating Haslem as more than a low-minute role player already hurt the Heat enough. Unless Miller comes in obliterating teams (and I mean going beyond hitting spot up shots, I mean taking it inside and hitting Lebron/Wade for wide opens), he needs to be treated as he is.
Your statements about Miller CLEARLY show you like the player and you’re letting your objectivity interfere with rational thought.
So…. Spoelstra opted for a true point instead of a Two-Three-Three lineup during crunch time. Interesting. And telling. Glad you brought that up.
Also, that Jordan thing was bull sh*t.
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