1/13 - Heat @

[DWadeno3]

@

YOUR MIAMI HEAT:









AGAINST THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS:



Since she brought us luck the last time, we're gonna stay old school:



Is this it?

A strong 48-minute performance has brought hope back to Heat nation. This could be the start of a turnaround for a team that's underperforming, but hope won't rise yet, as we've seen this script before. Wins against the Mavericks, Wizards, Raptors and Clippers have been overshadowed by losses to the Jazz, Magic and Sixers amongst others. The Lakers could be just the team to finally win a 2nd game in a row against before going into a tough matchup with the Golden State Warriors, but not only have the Lakers been dangerously close to wins against the strong Portland TrailBlazers, they also seem to be just the team to remind us of how bi-polar our own squad is.

After good cameos by the likes of James Ennis and Shabazz Napier, hope for good young talent was rising, only to be crushed by those players being demoted after poor performances. Hassan Whiteside has been playing well in recent weeks, topping it off with the best performance of his NBA career against the Los Angeles Clippers. If he can establish himself as a consistent factor in the rotation of the Heat and potentially even start, he could be just the spark Miami needed.

Either way, this game will be an important indicator whether the Clippers win was just another fluke or whether this team is truly improving. Just like I wasn't ready to quit on this squad, I believe we can finally develop some consistency and reach the levels this team has the potential to reach.

[BFRESH44]

Let's Whiteside.

[Bourne85]

Starting Whiteside is basically a given at this point.

Or is spo gonna wait til we are down 8-12 points before he realizes Whiteside is the key. I'm betting on the latter

[Rich2Hassan]

Whiteside isn't starting, heard it here first.

[theFRANCHISE]

I might be attending this game also, hopefully the let's go heat chants can drown out the lakers fan.

[MettaWorldPanda]

Hassan starting with Birdman's energy off the bench is going to be our optimal lineup going forward. I have a good feeling he starts tomorrow.

[Bourne85]

Whiteside isn't starting, heard it here first.

Idk I usually am very hard on spo, and while it did take us hitting basically Rock bottom before he FINALLY adjusted, he DID adjust.

Still playing granger Haslem and Colemers too much in my book. But hasan is undeniable at this point. Not starting him and continuing to lose looks much worse than starting this incredibly gifted player and living with the results. There is no "decision" here. Whiteside is starter quality on THIS team. Birdman is best suited off the bench. This is too easy of a choice for even spo to mess it up.

[DWadeno3]

Whiteside isn't starting, heard it here first.

Idk I usually am very hard on spo, and while it did take us hitting basically Rock bottom before he FINALLY adjusted, he DID adjust.

Still playing granger Haslem and Colemers too much in my book. But hasan is undeniable at this point. Not starting him and continuing to lose looks much worse than starting this incredibly gifted player and living with the results. There is no "decision" here. Whiteside is starter quality on THIS team. Birdman is best suited off the bench. This is too easy of a choice for even spo to mess it up.

Rock bottom? This is not rock bottom, I can guarantee you this much.

Prior to last night's game, Haslem has been collecting DNP's and the only reason he's actually sitting at 14.4 MPG and 25 GP is due to Bosh and McRoberts missing several games at the same time while Birdman and Hamilton were out somewhere in there as well. Where exactly has Spoelstra been playing Haslem too much?

[IggieCC]

Remember Hassan, Byron said no too. Stick to em! lol

He should really dominate against Lakers assortment of PF at bests. 20 rebounds.

[dancing2thabeet]

Let's Whiteside!

Lucky charm:

Spoiler:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whQiYkhW8Fc[/youtube]

[insfo]

Whiteside isn't starting, heard it here first.

Idk I usually am very hard on spo, and while it did take us hitting basically Rock bottom before he FINALLY adjusted, he DID adjust.

Still playing granger Haslem and Colemers too much in my book. But hasan is undeniable at this point. Not starting him and continuing to lose looks much worse than starting this incredibly gifted player and living with the results. There is no "decision" here. Whiteside is starter quality on THIS team. Birdman is best suited off the bench. This is too easy of a choice for even spo to mess it up.

Rock bottom? This is not rock bottom, I can guarantee you this much.

Prior to last night's game, Haslem has been collecting DNP's and the only reason he's actually sitting at 14.4 MPG and 25 GP is due to Bosh and McRoberts missing several games at the same time while Birdman and Hamilton were out somewhere in there as well. Where exactly has Spoelstra been playing Haslem too much?

In the world where he is still blocking Beasley's path to stardom

[BallinGid3]

I always enjoy Wade v Kobe match ups.

[dr3am]

Would love nothing more than a win & for Wade to son Kobe again

[DefenseWins]

I'm hoping Tarik Black doesn't go Hassan Whiteside on us

we could have picked him up tbh but we probably didn't want another project, could have helped with PF

hmmmmm I dont know what Heat we'll see, or Bosh we'll see, or Wade. Lakers are like us who either **** the bed or get a surprise win. They also have chuckers on their team which can change this game lol, SWAGGY P!

Boozer vs Bosh I believe, Bosh usually does well against Boozer

we need this win tho, cause we have GSW

can't go to GSW THE NEXT DAY after a loss, we'd take some steps back...

[Bourne85]

Whiteside isn't starting, heard it here first.

Idk I usually am very hard on spo, and while it did take us hitting basically Rock bottom before he FINALLY adjusted, he DID adjust.

Still playing granger Haslem and Colemers too much in my book. But hasan is undeniable at this point. Not starting him and continuing to lose looks much worse than starting this incredibly gifted player and living with the results. There is no "decision" here. Whiteside is starter quality on THIS team. Birdman is best suited off the bench. This is too easy of a choice for even spo to mess it up.

Rock bottom? This is not rock bottom, I can guarantee you this much.

Prior to last night's game, Haslem has been collecting DNP's and the only reason he's actually sitting at 14.4 MPG and 25 GP is due to Bosh and McRoberts missing several games at the same time while Birdman and Hamilton were out somewhere in there as well. Where exactly has Spoelstra been playing Haslem too much?

Haslem stepping foot on the court is too many minutes imo. He needs to wear a suit.

[HEAT111]

how many of you guys want to look at my whiteside?

[DefenseWins]

Haslem looked so painful yesterday good grief

when he was in a rhythm he was rebounding very well for us. He actually looked alive for awhile, then got buried on the bench cause of Granger

but yesterday he looked in pain to even be playing basketball

yelling when he's about to try to lay it in or dunk and he couldnt do it, falling around

it was so bad.... man.... I thought to myself, someone take UD out to the back ...

[IggieCC]

This is a MUST win game by the way. If we lose this, we might be facing a 4 game skid. Then we are all doom and gloom.
@GSW, @SAC, vs OKC, @CHA
SAC and CHA are winnable games though.. hopefully we can avoid losing 2 games in a row while we are under .500 to keep our spirits up

[Slot Machine]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/PBPjasonlieser/status/554748963660648449[/tweet]

[DefenseWins]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/PBPjasonlieser/status/554748963660648449[/tweet]

I dont mind, but we better not get in a deficit before he comes in

just give Hassan the bulk of the minutes and let Birdman have his spurts off the bench after Hassan comes in