Game 2: MIA vs CHA 4/20 @ 7:00PM NBATV

[3ballbomber]

Q: I wasn't surprised Hassan Whiteside didn't get Defensive Player of the Year. Yes, he can block shots and rebound. He has the angles but defending an opponent straight up, I don't think he's that good. Al Jefferson was schooling him in Game 1 and that's why Shaquille O'Neal said don't fall for the fake, just wait until he goes up and meet him at the rim. What do you think? -- Carl, Kapaa, Hawaii.

A: First, this notion of Hassan somehow being snubbed is absurd. He finished third, ahead of all centers, which bodes well for getting the notice he seeks when the All-Defensive teams are named. Like Defensive Player of the Year, the All-Defensive teams are voted upon by the media (although not all voters for the two honors are the same). As for Jefferson, don't understate Al as a post scorer. He is one of the best in the league. I still believe Steve Clifford should start Jefferson in a bid to get Whiteside into early foul trouble. That said, except for those two fouls against Al, Whiteside more than held his own in that matchup in Game 1. The concern here is that Hassan allows the Defensive Player vote to impact his play in Game 2 and starts going to block every shot, biting on the very pump fakes that Shaq cited.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-heat/heat-blog/sfl-miami-heat-ask-ira-hassan-whiteside-s041916-story.html

It will be interesting how Hassan chooses to handle his obvious agitation.

Wade has been overshadowed, overlooked & underrated his whole career......what did he do? Take his Heat to the NBA finals in 06 & took out the Mavs. Then in 09 season came out angry because of the very doubters that drove him to want to prove everybody wrong. He scorched the entire league & won league scoring champ. He should have been league mvp too. Whiteside needs to do the same. Button up his lips & go destroy the league w/ that same motivation derived from that anger that drove Wade. You know what's better than individual accolades? an NBA CHAMPIONSHIP!

I posted this in the Hassan Road to the Max thread before the Playoffs begin:


Dear Hassan,

Do you want to be an All-Star or do you want to be a legend? There are 30+ All-Stars every year, many we forget about. But legends we never forget. This is your time to cement yourself in history and in memories forever. Be a LEGEND.

Good luck in the Playoffs, we are all rooting for you.

Heat Nation


In 05 D-Wade became a legend by winning a ring, it's Hassan's time. I am so excited about the future.

If we make it to the finals and Hassan wins MVP, thats better than a DPY!

I've never been a fan of players who put individual accolades above everything else. I'm glad our coaching staff are doing all they can to help guide Hassan & make him realize the bigger picture for the team is what's most important over any individual achievements.

[orphicwhip]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BEZc01lCAgQ/?taken-by=iamjustise

[eddieheatfan]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BEZc01lCAgQ/?taken-by=iamjustise

and here i thought he was practicing/training on his hyper-baric chamber

Spoiler:

who is the girl in the back,sister?

[Rapaz]

If the Hornets wear their purple jerseys tonight, they will lose.

[Heat3]

love amin elhassan on the heat bandwagon. he spreading the word on espn radio i give him props for being on the bandwagon all year and giving us homers hope lol

[xStanton27]

UGH NBATV

Hate living on campus with only cable

[Dragon2Wade]

NBA TV WTF?

We're the Miami Heat ffs...

Any other way to watch this if we don't have NBA TV?

[jereseja]

NBA TV WTF?

We're the Miami Heat ffs...

Any other way to watch this if we don't have NBA TV?

Here is HD acestream

Spoiler:

acestream://62623d8609e3d9e19ed08e3a4b018d8603e16ae5

HD net

Spoiler:

http://ducking.xyz/pond/

I could give 3 VLC dreambox links HD or HQ but not here on PM (1 link-1 user)

[QUIZ]

NBA TV WTF?

We're the Miami Heat ffs...

Any other way to watch this if we don't have NBA TV?

Sun Sports is airing it as well. They always air the first round.

[dancing2thabeet]

NBA TV WTF?

We're the Miami Heat ffs...

Any other way to watch this if we don't have NBA TV?

I'll hook you up before tipoff, check this thread.

[3ballbomber]

A good read!

Dragic, Wade up for grind-out Game 2


MIAMI — The Heat have spent the second half of this season raving about how much fun the new run-and-gun offense is and they grinned all night as they opened the playoffs with a startling 123 points.

That tempo might be hard to maintain as Charlotte, and potential future opponents, tries to drag them into a more stilted pace. While the team hopes to continue running, it wouldn’t be deflated by a return to the constraints of a half-court attack if that approach becomes necessary.

“No, hell no,” human gas pedal Goran Dragic said after Tuesday’s practice. “I want to be a part of any playoff game, however it’s going to be. Some games are gonna be like that and they’ll get back on defense and you can’t take advantage of it, but just try to be aggressive and enjoy the moment.”

If Dragic can get on board with downshifting, anybody can. While the Hornets aren’t exactly a grind-it-out team by nature, forcing Miami into that mode is an option as they try to even the series in Game 2 on Wednesday (7 p.m., NBA TV and Fox Sports Sun).

The Heat don’t want that, but they’re versed in it from the way they played the first three-plus months of the season. Not only do they have flexibility in personnel in what turned out to be a surprisingly good blend of uptempo and methodical players, they possess the collective versatility to run either system.


Dwyane Wade and Joe Johnson have doctoral degrees in half-court sets, and Hassan Whiteside’s apparent mismatch inside lends itself to that as well. Dragic and Luol Deng are less suited for it, but can make it work. Josh McRoberts, who has fallen out of the rotation lately, is a huge asset in that type of game because of his uncommonly great passing ability.

“If we can only win one way, we’re not gonna do a whole lot of damage,” coach Erik Spoelstra said.

It’s weird to think that the droning offense Miami played early in the season, one that was neither effective nor entertaining, laid crucial groundwork for the predictable slowdown of the playoffs. And more than any other individual, Dragic benefitted from that prolonged struggle.

Operating that kind of offense was a nightly battle for a guy whose semi-stardom sprung from sprinting up and down the court with Phoenix. It was a dark time for Dragic after signing an $85 million contract in the summer and feeling like he was nowhere near living up to it, but it wasn’t all bad.

He averaged 11.1 points and 5.3 assists over the first 27 games before upping his scoring to 13.8 and raising his shooting accuracy from 43.5 to 51.8 percent over the next 17. Nothing dramatic, but clearly a sign of deciphering it.

“Those three months were very important for Goran to learn how to run a half-court offense for when it inevitably slows down at times in the playoffs,” Spoelstra said. “Now we don’t want that to happen, but you never know what’s expected.”

If the Heat revisit the old offense, it’ll look more like what they did in January than November. One of the subtle tweaks Spoelstra made during a two-day brainstorming session on a road trip to Chicago was insisting that the team hurry to half-court to allow ample time to cycle through the layers of its offense.

“If you’ve still got 20 seconds on the shot clock, it’s much easier to run the offense,” Dragic said.

The faster pace is still Plan A, as it should be. Miami’s points per 100 possessions rose from 101.4 before the break to 109 (sixth in the NBA) in the second half. Impressively, the Heat slightly reduced their turnovers despite the heightened pace.

Their 123-91 win in Game 1 on Sunday night was the epitome of what they want to be. They took a 19-point lead after holding the Hornets to 36 percent shooting in the first quarter and kept them at 43 percent for the game. At the other end, Miami hit 58 percent of its shots and was near-pristine with six turnovers. About 4 percent of NBA games this season featured a performance that clean turnover-wise.

Miami’s preference to keep running hinges firstly on its defense. Fast breaks and transition baskets are primarily a product of causing turnovers and turning rebounds into quick outlet passes. Every time the Hornets score, they buy themselves time to hustle back and set their defense. If that happens, the Heat still like their chances.

“It was the game we were playing all year, so I think we’ll be suited for it when it comes,” Wade said. “We don’t want to shift back into that style, but if the other team is scoring and you’re not getting out and they’re playing great defense, you have to be able to execute in the half-court.”

http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/sports/basketball/2016-heat-playoffs-goran-dragic-dwayne-wade-up-for/nq7yW/?icmp=pbp_internallink_referralbox_free-to-premium-referral

From another article i read about Hornets focus on defense, it looks like a potential low scoring, slug fest.

Wade w/ only 16pts in the opener, W/ Deng now getting Hornets attention, as well as Hassan.....this could open up the game for Wade to do his thing in a half court grind it out game. JJ also. I predict some good numbers for both.


I really like this spot for the Heat.

BURN EVERYTHING!

[Heat_Fan_87]

LETS GO!!! 48min of maximum effort.

[Rapaz]

LETS GO!!! 48min of maximum effort.

I'm looking for 43 minutes of maximum effort and 5 minutes of Dorell Wright draining garbage time 3s.

[BaDaBo]

LETS GO!!! 48min of maximum effort.

Spoiler:

[QUIZ]

Steve Clifford on Spo:

"He has done -- and I said this before -- an amazing job of taking advantage of their personnel and getting them to play to their strengths while making up for the fact that they don't have a lot of range shooting," Clifford said before the Hornets practiced at the University of Miami. "So they play guys down along the baseline, which is pretty conventional in our league. But they do it with perimeter guys, post guys, which is not done a lot. They do it randomly. So it's not always at the start of a possession where you can be organized whereas it becomes a read. It totally changes your pick and roll coverages. They're unique in that way. There's not another team in the NBA that does it. They've done it on the fly here. It makes things different. To me a lot of guys have done great jobs with their teams. But I said this before he has on the fly without [Chris] Bosh brought in Joe Johnson and they play to the strengths of their best players as well as any team in our league. They've done an unbelievable job."

Wade on Spo:

“We’ve played one way on defense for 12 years, and now in my 13th year, we completely switched up how we do things,” Wade said. “Just him being more open to where the game is going when it comes to three-point shooters. The one thing we did a lot was the low guy would chuck the big and have to rotate. That’s a killer in this game today. You have to pull so many triggers with guys who can shoot the ball. So it was a big change, and it took some time to adjust, but it’s been good.”

Really good quotes.

[heat4life]

A good read!

Dragic, Wade up for grind-out Game 2


MIAMI — The Heat have spent the second half of this season raving about how much fun the new run-and-gun offense is and they grinned all night as they opened the playoffs with a startling 123 points.

That tempo might be hard to maintain as Charlotte, and potential future opponents, tries to drag them into a more stilted pace. While the team hopes to continue running, it wouldn’t be deflated by a return to the constraints of a half-court attack if that approach becomes necessary.

“No, hell no,” human gas pedal Goran Dragic said after Tuesday’s practice. “I want to be a part of any playoff game, however it’s going to be. Some games are gonna be like that and they’ll get back on defense and you can’t take advantage of it, but just try to be aggressive and enjoy the moment.”

If Dragic can get on board with downshifting, anybody can. While the Hornets aren’t exactly a grind-it-out team by nature, forcing Miami into that mode is an option as they try to even the series in Game 2 on Wednesday (7 p.m., NBA TV and Fox Sports Sun).

The Heat don’t want that, but they’re versed in it from the way they played the first three-plus months of the season. Not only do they have flexibility in personnel in what turned out to be a surprisingly good blend of uptempo and methodical players, they possess the collective versatility to run either system.


Dwyane Wade and Joe Johnson have doctoral degrees in half-court sets, and Hassan Whiteside’s apparent mismatch inside lends itself to that as well. Dragic and Luol Deng are less suited for it, but can make it work. Josh McRoberts, who has fallen out of the rotation lately, is a huge asset in that type of game because of his uncommonly great passing ability.

“If we can only win one way, we’re not gonna do a whole lot of damage,” coach Erik Spoelstra said.

It’s weird to think that the droning offense Miami played early in the season, one that was neither effective nor entertaining, laid crucial groundwork for the predictable slowdown of the playoffs. And more than any other individual, Dragic benefitted from that prolonged struggle.

Operating that kind of offense was a nightly battle for a guy whose semi-stardom sprung from sprinting up and down the court with Phoenix. It was a dark time for Dragic after signing an $85 million contract in the summer and feeling like he was nowhere near living up to it, but it wasn’t all bad.

He averaged 11.1 points and 5.3 assists over the first 27 games before upping his scoring to 13.8 and raising his shooting accuracy from 43.5 to 51.8 percent over the next 17. Nothing dramatic, but clearly a sign of deciphering it.

“Those three months were very important for Goran to learn how to run a half-court offense for when it inevitably slows down at times in the playoffs,” Spoelstra said. “Now we don’t want that to happen, but you never know what’s expected.”

If the Heat revisit the old offense, it’ll look more like what they did in January than November. One of the subtle tweaks Spoelstra made during a two-day brainstorming session on a road trip to Chicago was insisting that the team hurry to half-court to allow ample time to cycle through the layers of its offense.

“If you’ve still got 20 seconds on the shot clock, it’s much easier to run the offense,” Dragic said.

The faster pace is still Plan A, as it should be. Miami’s points per 100 possessions rose from 101.4 before the break to 109 (sixth in the NBA) in the second half. Impressively, the Heat slightly reduced their turnovers despite the heightened pace.

Their 123-91 win in Game 1 on Sunday night was the epitome of what they want to be. They took a 19-point lead after holding the Hornets to 36 percent shooting in the first quarter and kept them at 43 percent for the game. At the other end, Miami hit 58 percent of its shots and was near-pristine with six turnovers. About 4 percent of NBA games this season featured a performance that clean turnover-wise.

Miami’s preference to keep running hinges firstly on its defense. Fast breaks and transition baskets are primarily a product of causing turnovers and turning rebounds into quick outlet passes. Every time the Hornets score, they buy themselves time to hustle back and set their defense. If that happens, the Heat still like their chances.

“It was the game we were playing all year, so I think we’ll be suited for it when it comes,” Wade said. “We don’t want to shift back into that style, but if the other team is scoring and you’re not getting out and they’re playing great defense, you have to be able to execute in the half-court.”

http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/sports/basketball/2016-heat-playoffs-goran-dragic-dwayne-wade-up-for/nq7yW/?icmp=pbp_internallink_referralbox_free-to-premium-referral

From another article i read about Hornets focus on defense, it looks like a potential low scoring, slug fest.

Wade w/ only 16pts in the opener, W/ Deng now getting Hornets attention, as well as Hassan.....this could open up the game for Wade to do his thing in a half court grind it out game. JJ also. I predict some good numbers for both.


I really like this spot for the Heat.

BURN EVERYTHING!

Yeah and in a half court type of game is when the Heat are going to miss Chris Bosh the most. His mid-post game was money.

[Sign5]

Quite salty that we play on NBATV, Wade and Whiteside not a big Nat TV draw NBA?

[heat4life]

Quite salty that we play on NBATV, Wade and Whiteside not a big Nat TV draw NBA?

Well, to be fair, it conflicts with the Detroit vs Cleveland game. LeBron is a bigger draw in ratings and Michigan is also a bigger market than North Carolina. It was a no brainer from TNT's perspective IMO.

[QUIZ]

Quite salty that we play on NBATV, Wade and Whiteside not a big Nat TV draw NBA?

Well, to be fair, it conflicts with the Detroit vs Cleveland game. LeBron is a bigger draw in ratings and Michigan is also a bigger market than North Carolina. It was a no brainer from TNT's perspective IMO.

Man they put Memphis/San Antonio on TNT

Thats like the worst series of the past decade.

It's basically the NBA selling casual fans on the potential contenders. We might care about the Heat/Hornets game but the rest the country only cares about GS and the Cavs with the Spurs sprinkled in as the NBA desperately tries to convince casuals that they're entertaining to watch when we all know they aren't.

If we make it to the next round every game will be televised on ESPN or TNT.

[Dragon2Wade]

Thanks for the links guys, y'all are great. Let's get it tonight!