Heat are 48-4 with Birdman

[colts18]

He has to be one of the top 10 free agent signings of this year. Did you know that Birdman's 32 PER, .397 WS/48, and 83 FG% leads the playoffs? I'm surprised that Spoelstra only plays him 14 MPG while allowing Haslem to play more minutes than Birdman.

[fast-break]

Andersen has been big for the HEAT. I knew he looked good in the regular season but I wasn't sure of his impact once the post season rolled around but man it's been big. Major pickup.

About his minutes, theres a theory he gets winded pretty easily which may explain his lack of minutes. Birdman is a total energy guy and is probably at his best in spurts...wouldn't mind seeing more of him on the floor though.

[torotoe]

I told yall that he would be a quality 15 minute contributor to a contender.

[Slava]

He kept them in the game yesterday. Its amazing how good a big can be next to Lebron if he can just catch a pass and drunk in traffic.

[The Rebel]

Andersen has been big for the HEAT. I knew he looked good in the regular season but I wasn't sure of his impact once the post season rolled around but man it's been big. Major pickup.

About his minutes, theres a theory he gets winded pretty easily which may explain his lack of minutes. Birdman is a total energy guy and is probably at his best in spurts...wouldn't mind seeing more of him on the floor though.

Birdman has always been best in limited minutes, his problems on the court in Denver always came when he tried to play more minutes. He is great as a guy sent out to rebound and cause havoc for 15 mpg, once past that he slows down quickly, and even worse then that other teams take advantage of him in the post where he does not have the strength to stop most bigs.

[BurningBridges]

He kept them in the game yesterday. Its amazing how good a big can be next to Lebron if he can just catch a pass and drunk in traffic.

Exactly, Anderson would not be getting all these open layups if it wasn't for LeBron or Wade driving to the rim and getting double teamed.

Anyone can make wide open layups. Anderson has no offensive game otherwise. His jump shot is horrendous and he has no hook shot either.

LeBron made Anderson Varejao look like a top 15 power forward. How's Varajao doing now?

[Chosen01]

Chris Anderson has played a huge role in the Heat's success, it also shows you how much Joel sucks. Tbh, you put most bigs next to Wade and Lebron and they SHOULD thrive. I mean as an NBA big you're supposed to be able to catch the ball, dunk, rebound, block shots and occasional up and under moves. Something that Joel just isn't capable of doing (outside of block shots and good PnR defense).

You can say he's had a bigger impact than Allen, but to be fair Miami is void at the front-court position after Bosh and Heat have Lebron, Wade, Battier, Miller who can all replicate Allen's production one way or the other.

[HotRocks34]

He kept them in the game yesterday. Its amazing how good a big can be next to Lebron if he can just catch a pass and drunk in traffic.

Exactly, Anderson would not be getting all these open layups if it wasn't for LeBron or Wade driving to the rim and getting double teamed.

Anyone can make wide open layups.

That may be true, but there are guys who can't catch the ball or elevate enough to finish once they have the ball in their hands. I am thinking of these two players in particular:





Birdman is perfect for Miami. High-energy, athletic, knows how to get in position for easy hoops. And he has the right personality for the team, too.

[Goldtop]

The Birdman Dynasty begins!

[BurningBridges]

He kept them in the game yesterday. Its amazing how good a big can be next to Lebron if he can just catch a pass and drunk in traffic.

Exactly, Anderson would not be getting all these open layups if it wasn't for LeBron or Wade driving to the rim and getting double teamed.

Anyone can make wide open layups.

That may be true, but there are guys who can't catch the ball or elevate enough to finish once they have the ball in their hands. I am thinking of these two players in particular:





Birdman is perfect for Miami. High-energy, athletic, knows how to get in position for easy hoops. And he has the right personality for the team, too.

Fair enough. But the OP seems to be hyping Birdman up too much. If the Pacers stop double teaming whoever drives into the paint Birdman would stop scoring in a heartbeat.

Almost all of Miami's points depend on a double team allowing an open layup or open 3. Their offense is so predictable but the problem is that they get away with a lot of moving screens which force defensive switches and double teams.

Yesterday the refs did a decent job of calling Haslem and Bosh for moving screens though

[ARISE_CHICKEN]

He kept them in the game yesterday. Its amazing how good a big can be next to Lebron if he can just catch a pass and drunk in traffic.

Exactly, Anderson would not be getting all these open layups if it wasn't for LeBron or Wade driving to the rim and getting double teamed.

Anyone can make wide open layups.

That may be true, but there are guys who can't catch the ball or elevate enough to finish once they have the ball in their hands. I am thinking of these two players in particular:





Birdman is perfect for Miami. High-energy, athletic, knows how to get in position for easy hoops. And he has the right personality for the team, too.

You forgot Udonis Haslem's picture. The guy is a walking turnover under the basket because all his layups get blocked or come up short.

[Spicy P]

He kept them in the game yesterday. Its amazing how good a big can be next to Lebron if he can just catch a pass and drunk in traffic.

LeBron made Anderson Varejao look like a top 15 power forward. How's Varajao doing now?

He's doing pretty well actually and was having a career year before he got injured.

[HotRocks34]

Fair enough. But the OP seems to be hyping Birdman up too much. If the Pacers stop double teaming whoever drives into the paint Birdman would stop scoring in a heartbeat.

That's the essence of basketball, though. Drive, draw and dish is one of the core principles of offensive basketball. You either allow LeBron to drive to the hoop 1-on-1 or else Bird is throwing it down if you double-team LeBron and Bird's man leaves him.

It is simple, but hard to stop.

Joel Anthony is a great athlete but he can't catch a pass. Neither can Asik a lot of time. This is why Birdman is useful, and he can get up and dunk as well.

Birdman isn't the second coming of Olajuwon, of course. But he's a good fit for Miami.

He is 34, though. So he's not going to be a long-term solution for the Heat.

[Maluco Beleza]

he does bring hustle, energy, defense and easy buckets

and fules the crowd and team with his play

[granger05]

My friends and I got some ten packs of tickets to the Nuggets back when they drafedt Melo and I think I saw one of the first games Anderson ever played in (I just went and looked on basketball reference and that's way off, he played two seasons, sparingly, before Melo arrived). At that time, he had no tattoos and was really clean cut. He actually reminded me of a buddy of mine that was in the air force at the time. He stood out as soon as they put him on the floor because of how lanky and springy he was. He just looked like a puppy running on ice. At one point, he caught a pass at the top of the key and took a dribble into the lane and then pulled up for a really awkward looking jumper with plenty of time on the shot clock. But, at the very peak of his jump, you could tell that he realized he was doing something he wasn't supposed to do and he sort of panicked in mid-air, bobbled the ball and then managed to flip a pass to another player. While play was still going on, he ran over toward the bench with his hands up pleading with the coach like he'd remember next time never to shoot. It was hilarious and kind of endearing. I've always rooted for the birdman and I'm glad he's kicked the drug issues (hopefully) and found success. I am terrified that my 6 year old watching the game with me says things like "that guy looks kind of cool." Yikes.

[HotRocks34]

You forgot Udonis Haslem's picture. The guy is a walking turnover under the basket because all his layups get blocked or come up short.

True, true. Man, he really isn't what he used to be. Sad to see. They need a replacement for him next year. Actually, they need 2 decent bigs and I cant see anyone stopping them.

At least Haslem can still do that basic dive to the hoop down the middle, catch the pass and dunk. Anthony and Asik may have trouble completing that play.

[granger05]

Oh, and in this series it seems like the Heat noticed something in how the Pacers rotate their defense toward the rim and Anderson took full advantage of that in game 1. I expect that this is one of the adjustments Indy makes in game 2 and Anderson stops getting 7 dunks. That's not where he impacts the game typically anyway but he is a nice finisher playing with guys like LeBron and Wade who will make a lob pass or even a simple one where he just has to catch it and immediately dunk it. That was one of the things I liked in watching him with the Nugs was that he basically just dunked and blocked shots and he did both of those things as though he were trying to injure the basketball and the rim.

[Stone]

Smart move by Reilly.....got to give credit where its due.

You can see he's hungry to win a title and know he's got good chance. Those are the kind of guys you to have.

[Antrim]

Oh, and in this series it seems like the Heat noticed something in how the Pacers rotate their defense toward the rim and Anderson took full advantage of that in game 1. I expect that this is one of the adjustments Indy makes in game 2 and Anderson stops getting 7 dunks. That's not where he impacts the game typically anyway but he is a nice finisher playing with guys like LeBron and Wade who will make a lob pass or even a simple one where he just has to catch it and immediately dunk it. That was one of the things I liked in watching him with the Nugs was that he basically just dunked and blocked shots and he did both of those things as though he were trying to injure the basketball and the rim.

Huh...I think the Heat will be happy with any adjustment related to guarding Birdman and not helping against LeBron, Wade or Bosh. It's not really rocket science the Heat just figured, it's just that Birdman can actually catch and dunk the ball unlike any other center they've had in the past three years.

[mopper8]

Smart move by Reilly.....got to give credit where its due.

You can see he's hungry to win a title and know he's got good chance. Those are the kind of guys you to have.

Worth noting that Riley said Spo was texting him everyday for weeks telling him to sign Birdman.