Heat vs Sixers Round 1 Game 1 Fight ! 4/14 Sat. 8PM EST

[Bishop45]

For money/age/potential, I like Dion as our best Aldi signing just because of my affinity for wings and the fact that I'm not sure where you can start Olynyk as a great fit but he is much more consistent on record. I would give Justise the keys to a team, knowing they would likely be terrible, no doubt, would do still do

I don't like Dion. He did make a miracle happen when he came back and made us all love him for half a season. That's his career highlight and likely always will be. He's just not smart enough. Bad decision maker. When they go in, it's great, but not sustainable.

That's understandable, hope he can become a 40/40 3&D spot-up shooter/playmaker but that's asking much out of a small sample sz. He's certainly changed tho

[LordRiley]

You guys gotta stop trying to blame everything on White. Heat were down 6 when he subbed out, and after that the lead grew to 30. Not his fault. And to everyone saying he should’ve did this and that, did you not see him in the first quarter? 2 blocks, good screens, couple of boards, then after that Spoelstra matched down to Philly. I know the popular thing is to blame Hassan, but coaching and guard play were the reasons this game was lost. IMO, this has nothing to do with Hassan or the other bigs. This is on Spo, The guardplay, and JJ who dissapeared in the 2nd half. If they lose game 2, its a wrap.

[eddieheatfan]

You guys gotta stop trying to blame everything on White. Heat were down 6 when he subbed out, and after that the lead grew to 30. Not his fault. And to everyone saying he should’ve did this and that, did you not see him in the first quarter? 2 blocks, good screens, couple of boards, then after that Spoelstra matched down to Philly. I know the popular thing is to blame Hassan, but coaching and guard play were the reasons this game was lost. IMO, this has nothing to do with Hassan or the other bigs. This is on Spo, The guardplay, and JJ who dissapeared in the 2nd half. If they lose game 2, its a wrap.

yup his rotations are suspect at best.coaching or lack thereof was the culprit.he also didnt inspire his players to do better plus the refs were horrible as well.

[DayofMourning]

You guys gotta stop trying to blame everything on White. Heat were down 6 when he subbed out, and after that the lead grew to 30. Not his fault. And to everyone saying he should’ve did this and that, did you not see him in the first quarter? 2 blocks, good screens, couple of boards, then after that Spoelstra matched down to Philly. I know the popular thing is to blame Hassan, but coaching and guard play were the reasons this game was lost. IMO, this has nothing to do with Hassan or the other bigs. This is on Spo, The guardplay, and JJ who dissapeared in the 2nd half. If they lose game 2, its a wrap.

Hassan played like crap last night. The Heat were ahead by five or so, then he left and they were down by 6. That swing kick started the turd quarter. That gave Philly a bunch of momentum. Basketball is a game of runs and that gave Philly exactly what they needed to get their confidence going.

There are plenty of other players who could've done better, JRich being a huge example. Its not all on White, but he threw us out of our rhythm and contributed to theirs. He was a big part of that.

[LordRiley]

You guys gotta stop trying to blame everything on White. Heat were down 6 when he subbed out, and after that the lead grew to 30. Not his fault. And to everyone saying he should’ve did this and that, did you not see him in the first quarter? 2 blocks, good screens, couple of boards, then after that Spoelstra matched down to Philly. I know the popular thing is to blame Hassan, but coaching and guard play were the reasons this game was lost. IMO, this has nothing to do with Hassan or the other bigs. This is on Spo, The guardplay, and JJ who dissapeared in the 2nd half. If they lose game 2, its a wrap.

yup his rotations are suspect at best.coaching or lack thereof was the culprit.he also didnt inspire his players to do better plus the refs were horrible as well.

Interesting point you’ve made. I believe that is getting over looked with the hassan scapegoating, spo isn’t a inspirational coach at all. He’s kind of bland. Yes, he was outcoached by Brett Brown, that’s for sure. I was expecting Spo to win that match up easily.

[KingDavid]

You guys gotta stop trying to blame everything on White. Heat were down 6 when he subbed out, and after that the lead grew to 30. Not his fault. And to everyone saying he should’ve did this and that, did you not see him in the first quarter? 2 blocks, good screens, couple of boards, then after that Spoelstra matched down to Philly. I know the popular thing is to blame Hassan, but coaching and guard play were the reasons this game was lost. IMO, this has nothing to do with Hassan or the other bigs. This is on Spo, The guardplay, and JJ who dissapeared in the 2nd half. If they lose game 2, its a wrap.

Hassan played like crap last night. The Heat were ahead by five or so, then he left and they were down by 6. That swing kick started the turd quarter. That gave Philly a bunch of momentum. Basketball is a game of runs and that gave Philly exactly what they needed to get their confidence going.

There are plenty of other players who could've done better, JRich being a huge example. Its not all on White, but he threw us out of our rhythm and contributed to theirs. He was a big part of that.

Did he play like crap or was he stuck guarding Ilyasova from 3 instead of Amir, rendering him useless inside?

Genuine question because I didn't see the game. I have it here, recorded...but I don't know if I want to make my heart break...:/

[DayofMourning]

Did he play like crap or was he stuck guarding Ilyasova from 3 instead of Amir, rendering him useless inside?

Genuine question because I didn't see the game. I have it here, recorded...but I don't know if I want to make my heart break...:/

That could be part of it truthfully. The Sixers started taking threes left and right, and that's a quick way to run Hassan off the floor. He's not mobile enough to switch quick or stay with perimeter guys. He didn't contribute much, either way.

[Umbooki]

If you wanna fix the problem, Marco Bellinelli has to disappear. He made 2013 Finals Danny Green look human.

[KingDavid]

Did he play like crap or was he stuck guarding Ilyasova from 3 instead of Amir, rendering him useless inside?

Genuine question because I didn't see the game. I have it here, recorded...but I don't know if I want to make my heart break...:/

That could be part of it truthfully. The Sixers started taking threes left and right, and that's a quick way to run Hassan off the floor. He's not mobile enough to switch quick or stay with perimeter guys. He didn't contribute much, either way.

But then why didn't we make Hassan grind down Ersan on offense? Take the legs out of a shooter and they're useless. I don't think Ersan is a good post defender, either.

[DayofMourning]

But then why didn't we make Hassan grind down Ersan on offense? Take the legs out of a shooter and they're useless. I don't think Ersan is a good post defender, either.

Neither is Saric. We didn't recognize how to utilize those mismatches on defense. It was just a poor effort mentally from our guys as a whole in the 2nd half. That spurred the already heating up 76ers to a nice run to finish.

[___Rand___]

Raptors guy here. So please explain to me, WHAT HAPPENED to Heat defense? Reddick and Bellinelli are not great defenders why were you not able to take advantage of them when they were on the court? Did you use the same defense you used against them in the regular season? I didn't see your games against Sixers in regular season obviously but you did enough to stop them. Did the defensive scheme change?

They definitely had a 3-point hot game that we couldn't sustain. But more importantly, our to top guys in Whiteside/Dragic were pretty much non-existent. We let Simmons really dictate the game early on and he just felt comfortable through-out the whole sequence of the game. Our post presence was abysmal too with Whiteside being a non-factor. (Played 12 mins due to poor performance) He seems to be better when challenged/motivated with Embiid in the game.

Yeah I saw that Whiteside was trash - he was getting outplayed by a shorter, older, and physically challenged Amir Johnson. Spo or Riley needs to talk to him. I don't think this was as big an issue, bec. Sixers had a faster lineup, and Whiteside would not have helped defending IMO - either in half court or transition where Sixers killed you. I mean you had to know Sixers love transition offense. Stop them make them play half court you take away half their points. Even when its not transition because of their running they try and catch defenders out of position and take advantage that way.

I don't know why Dragic disappeared, I know they had a bigger guy on him (covington?) but I can't recall any big effort to free him of his man with screens, etc.

Speaking of screens, WHY were you guys having so much trouble handling Sixers screens for their three point shooters? I saw guys chasing Bellinelli and Reddick mindlessly all over the court being 2 steps behind them. You couldn't have played them like that in prior games no.

Sixers without Embiid aren't that different from Cavs. Switch Simmons with Lebron and you have the same kind of team.

[___Rand___]

Whiteside's getting paid 27 M's next year I believe, not much else to say about his performance

Ouch. NBA's changed so much in the short span of time between his contract signing and now. Wow I guess Heat are going to be cap challenged till his and Bosh's contracts are off the books.

[TasteThePainbow]

I just watched the game.

Obviously the second half just sucked, but I still think the first was rather good. Some small thoughts:

- Whiteside sucked but the most depressing part for me was his body language and agressiveness. He just didn't seem like he really wanted. High time he's gone.
- Just awful performances from JRich and Dragic although i'm sure they'll do better next game.
- KO was really solid. Like what i'm seeing from him.
- Ersan en Marco are just huge problems. Our bigs aside from Bam are too slow to defend them.

Btw: I don't get the hate for Winslow. Sure he still can't shoot but if you look at the complete picture he's a very solid basketball player who's still awfully young. Take his numbers and compare them to guys his age. I'm still convinced that Justise is a slow developing stud.

[Bishop45]

Whiteside's getting paid 27 M's next year I believe, not much else to say about his performance

Ouch. NBA's changed so much in the short span of time between his contract signing and now. Wow I guess Heat are going to be cap challenged till his and Bosh's contracts are off the books.

Hope Wiggins averages .2 pts and .4 rebounds in the Playoffs and Wolves realize us as the only team that would take on that contract(Probably not true)

[___Rand___]

Btw: I don't get the hate for Winslow. Sure he still can't shoot but if you look at the complete picture he's a very solid basketball player who's still awfully young. Take his numbers and compare them to guys his age. I'm still convinced that Justise is a slow developing stud.

I agree. I thought Winslow played pretty well last night even if he didn't score. You guys looked WAY BETTER when he was on the court. He was doing some of the ball handling wasn't he.

[___Rand___]

Whiteside's getting paid 27 M's next year I believe, not much else to say about his performance

Ouch. NBA's changed so much in the short span of time between his contract signing and now. Wow I guess Heat are going to be cap challenged till his and Bosh's contracts are off the books.

Hope Wiggins averages .2 pts and .4 rebounds in the Playoffs and Wolves realize us as the only team that would take on that contract(Probably not true)

LOL the owner loves Wiggins so that's not going to happen. Besides they already have KAT. Have to say the Era of slow footed Bigs are over. There is only one team who might take on that contract - Cavs, if they 1) get Lebron this off season, and 2) are afraid of Embiid dominating them in post season.

[DayofMourning]

I just watched the game.

Obviously the second half just sucked, but I still think the first was rather good. Some small thoughts:

- Whiteside sucked but the most depressing part for me was his body language and agressiveness. He just didn't seem like he really wanted. High time he's gone.
- Just awful performances from JRich and Dragic although i'm sure they'll do better next game.
- KO was really solid. Like what i'm seeing from him.
- Ersan en Marco are just huge problems. Our bigs aside from Bam are too slow to defend them.

Btw: I don't get the hate for Winslow. Sure he still can't shoot but if you look at the complete picture he's a very solid basketball player who's still awfully young. Take his numbers and compare them to guys his age. I'm still convinced that Justise is a slow developing stud.

Their role players can all shoot. When they tasted blood, they went all in on us. Got everybody's game up.

I feel good about game 2 though. We just have to settle it to some rotations, and not go on 5 minute long stretches of zero offense. Somebody is going to have to step up and become a leader for us. Hopefully that will happen before we go into a 2-0 hole.

Btw, welcome, and post more.

[___Rand___]

Still chasing shooters instead of switching

Well THIS. THIS is what I don't get. Do Heat guys know how to switch? How did you guys defend them when you played them before?

[Cmon_Son-_-]

Still chasing shooters instead of switching

Well THIS. THIS is what I don't get. Do Heat guys know how to switch? How did you guys defend them when you played them before?

It might've been a match up issue. Wayne, TJ and Dragic were pretty much responsible for almost all of Reddick and Belinelli's points and it was because they were a step slow and couldn't fight thru screens. Imo we should've had Jrich and Winslow on the floor together more and have one cover the hot shooter they'd be able to get thru most of those screens a lot easier or switch when Ben simmons is setting the screen

[DayofMourning]

In my eyes, the point paucity from our guys was the reason for their huge offensive spurt. We couldn't get anything done. We'd miss baskets so quickly, and so poorly that they'd be fast breaking and hitting guys in stride. Guys were getting to their spots and taking advantage. We have to be better on O to limit their O. Make them inbound the ball with our defense set in a situation where we've just come off points. That's the game right there. That third quarter was horrific offensively.