HEAT 2011/2012 Media Thread

[3gbrrrfkyt]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlebIlSFYEc&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

[This IsMy House]

Great read.
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7770269/the-mistrial-lebron-james-espn-magazine

[lolcat]

Damn, never realized this

The lights dim, giant flames erupt from torches during player introductions and James launches into the pregame routine he made famous in Cleveland. He dumps chalk into his right hand, tosses it in the air and preens to the sky like a conquering warrior king.

Early in his career, he would linger in this moment -- arms extended, cloud of chalk floating above him as he soaked up Cleveland's frenzied energy. In Miami today, the gesture seems perfunctory, toss and pose lasting barely a second. Heat fans fidget in the aisles and order fish tacos. It's like watching a man read his original wedding vows to his second wife while she files her nails and fiddles with her cellphone.

[3gbrrrfkyt]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb8oWq5CMUs&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

[lolcat]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBuDG5WNsdY[/youtube]

[Kerosene]

Hope UD's jumper is reliable throughout the playoffs, we need offense from our role players; especially during those scoring droughts the 2nd units go through.

[RhapidKid]

How do the Heat's Big Three see themselves before they head to Chicago? We asked them.

Whether it's on or off the court, there never seems to be a shortage of controversy and criticism surrounding LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

Considering their sporadic play over the past month, the microscope is focused even sharper on the Heat as they enter Thursday's game in Chicago having lost five of its last 10 games. The standings reveal Miami (40-16) sits three games behind the Bulls (44-14) with 10 games remaining in the race for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

But what do the Heat see when they look at themselves lately?

How much do they care about securing the best record? Are they concerned about their recent mediocre play since the All-Star break? Do they believe they can simply turn it on once the playoffs arrive after overcoming similar regular-season issues last season to get to the NBA Finals?

In their own words, James, Wade and Bosh addressed those questions – and more – as they prepared for the Heat's showdown in Chi-town.

LeBron James
How important to you is getting the No. 1 seed in the playoffs?

“I think you guys make more of it than we do. As far as seeding, seeding can take care of itself. We just want to play well. We want to continue to get better and not take a step backwards. That's what we're all about, man. Honestly, personally, I don't get involved in the seeding too much. I don't know what everybody else thinks about it. I was the No. 1 seed for two years straight in Cleveland – I keep telling you guys – and we didn't win. We were the No. 2 seed last year and we got to the Finals, and we still didn't win it last year. I don't care about seeding too much. I just want to play well going into the playoffs. That's just me. That's my personal approach to it all. I've been the fourth seed. I've been the third seed. I've been the second seed. I've been the first seed. I just want to win.”

Are you surprised how well the Bulls have played without Derrick Rose?

“Nope. They've got a great defense and they've got a really good team that shares the ball. You take Rose off that team and they're still better than a lot of other teams in the NBA, without Rose. And when you add him in there, they're a very special team. So I'm not surprised.”

Is it dangerous to think a team can turn it on or turn it up when the playoff starts, regardless of how you're playing at the end of the regular season?

“We're not a team that's saying that. I don't think there's that many teams that say that. We're not a team that says, 'Let's cruise' or, 'Let's not take these games and go hard.' We're playing to win each game. I've never been a player that's said 'Let's turn it up in the playoffs.' I've always gauged the regular season, especially the last three weeks going into the postseason, as getting ready for the playoffs. That's just my approach. Being a leader of this team, I feel that we are all doing the same thing. We're not a team that says, 'OK, we can cruise these last couple of weeks, and then we can turn it up in the playoffs.' You build your habits in the regular season. I know that.”


Dwyane Wade
How much stock do you place on Thursday's game against the Bulls?

“You play the regular season for seeding. You can't always get the No. 1 seed. So you just try to … that's what you go through the regular season for. You're playing to get continuity. You're playing for positioning. But if you're a good team, you don't worry about how you didn't get No. 1 or didn't get No. 2. You go into the playoffs feeling like you can beat anybody.”

As confident as you guys are, is a big win on the road needed just for your psyche?

“It'll be nice. Real nice. We're going to go up there with a free mind, go up there and play, try to get one. We know when we play the Bulls, no matter what's going on in the game, it's always a grind-out moment. A team can pull away or a team can come back. So we're going to go up there and try to be mentally strong. As we get down this stretch, as coach has been playing different guys, hopefully guys continue to get comfortable because we have to start tightening up our rotation soon to get ready for the playoffs.”

How much do you draw from last season, when the Heat struggled with teams like Boston and Chicago in the regular season, but got past everyone in the East in five games during the playoffs?

“You can't look back and say, 'Well, that's going to happen again.' We're a very confident team. We know how good we can be, how good we are. The regular season is all about dealing with the ups and downs of a regular season. So no matter what we're going through, or what people are saying we're going through, we're not that bad. We're 40-16 right? It's not that bad at all. So, in these last couple of games, we're going to continue to try to get our rhythm, continue to learn our game and what we're trying to do. And no matter what seed we are going into the playoffs, we're going in very confident.”

Chris Bosh
Has it been easier to get over tough losses quickly, considering the pace of this 66-game season?

“Yeah. I mean, we're finding ourselves having to get over a lot of losses (recently). It really doesn't bother me too much. We have to find a way to get it going. And that's what it is. We're at a point now where, just like Big Z (Zydrunas Ilgauskas) told me last year in the playoffs, you can't get too high and you can't get too low. This is a good test for us. We just have to stay even, do what we're supposed to and get back on track.”

Coach Erik Spoelstra said it's probably a good thing the team is feeling a bit uncomfortable right now. How do you process that discomfort and move forward from here?

“You have to be uncomfortable. Things are going to be uncomfortable. We're not going to be comfortable until that final buzzer ends. That's the nature of it. Everybody wants to just go through everything nice and relaxed and (have) everything going well. But that's unrealistic. We're in a position now where we have to figure this out. As long as we stay together, we'll be fine.”

What's been missing since that streak in January and February when you were playing so well?

“Wins. Guys are picking us apart. We need to anticipate things a lot better. We need to just put it together. I don't think we're playing bad on offense. I don't think there's a lack of trust. We all trust each other. We just have to put it together and get it done. No science to it. I just take it one day at a time, man. I don't say, 'Oh, we'll be fine. We made the Finals last year.' You kind of get in trouble doing that. I just think we have to continue to have urgency, think about what we need to do, where we need to get better and work on it the next game. Win or lose, move on to the next one.”
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/miamih ... -for-bulls

[LMAC]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l08G6-v2 ... ture=inbox

[RhapidKid]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjKUk5YozFA&feature=relmfu[/youtube]

[RhapidKid]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCTMSINc7uA&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

[Mars]

[RhapidKid]

^Got the video for that?

[Vertical Limit]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7Kql5qQMvE[/youtube]

[Vertical Limit]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvfGMle7idQ[/youtube]

[RhapidKid]

Lucky kid!

[RapsGirl]

Lucky kid!

he's even luckier to be Beyonce's nephew. lol. what a life.

[3gbrrrfkyt]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_azdhVnK9s&lc=r73YMZLTFgrCLFvxiiBz3O6tODgRzX67LsEey5J6t6k&feature=inbox[/youtube]

[lolcat]

i promised myself i wont go on realgm until playoffs but had to post this gif

GIFSoup

swaggg

[lolcat]

OG vid: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJDszTA2uLY[/youtube]

maybe someone can do a better job than me lol gifsoup ftl

[RhapidKid]

OG vid: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJDszTA2uLY[/youtube]

maybe someone can do a better job than me lol gifsoup ftl

Awesome video! Added it to my favorites straight away.