Heat Interested in Dooling

[HeatSince88]

Man, I have to cringe when I see guys advocating for the same approach as last year.

- "Let's skip out on proven veteran defenders, let's lean on Cook to fill a big role for us ..."

- "Let's not add a proven veteran shooter, let's lean on Dorell to fill a big role for us ..."

- "Kwame may have been a disinterested, unproductive malcontent his first 7 season and 4 teams, but he's cheap and somewhat young so let's give him a spot [Smush reference] ..."

- "Zo is nowhere near healthy and may never be again, but I'm gonna keep listing him a starter in all my fantasy trade lineups [like JWill last year] ..."

What I'm saying is we leaned on very young guys last year who'd proven NOTHING up to that point, and they failed. When they did, we had no real veteran depth to assume the role, with EJ, Posey, and Kapono all gone. We leaned on aging guys to play big minutes who we KNEW were going to hobble up and down the court all year due to injury, and they failed. We took someone else's loser HEADCASE last year and gave him a role, and he failed, turning out to be a loser headcase.

And now we want to re-live it? Lean on Cook with no tough vet competing for the role? Lean on Dorell with no tough vet competing for the role? Lean on Zo to play big minutes when he can't even walk straight yet? Sign Kwame Brown and give him a role?

I have to think Riley and Wade don't wanna re-live that nightmare. Riley knows who "his type of player" is, and realizes he sold out last year to fan/media pressure to get younger and more athletic, rather than going with tough-minded veteran warriors he normally rolls with. I think Riley will target vets with specific skillsets (yes, including Dooling) rather than say "but Cook is young/athletic, so I'll just give the role to him". We will see a project signing at some point (perhaps Patrick O'Bryant, Telfair, etc) but it won't be to hand him a role he didn't earn. It'll be to increase competition across the board.

[Lane1974]

it's just that it's easier said than done with the restrictions this team has, self imposed and cap-wise... not many factors going for it when trying to recruit players for less $ and years

[CB4MiamiHeat]

Other than PG/C..i think backup SF is as big a worry...id rather have a scorer/shooter there.....someone like James Jones or Ryan Gomes would be nice.

Dorrel Wright playing behind Shawn Marion is redundant.

[Lane1974]

Other than PG/C..i think backup SF is as big a worry...id rather have a scorer/shooter there.....someone like James Jones or Ryan Gomes would be nice.

Dorrel Wright playing behind Shawn Marion is redundant.

don't forget Beasley could get minutes at SF as well

[BFRESH44]

Complelty agree. Dorell at this point is whatever. James Jones would be absolutely awesome, but there's no way he's taking a two year deal. And that's all this organization is settling for, right now(which is why we probably won't end up with much via FA). He opted out of a guranteed 3 million for a reason. He's looking to get PAID. Like he wants a Kapono type deal.

[HeatSince88]

it's just that it's easier said than done with the restrictions this team has, self imposed and cap-wise... not many factors going for it when trying to recruit players for less $ and years

What I'm saying though is if you have a CHANCE to add a veteran SF who can shoot and defend like a James Jones, let's not say "No thanks, I prefer Dorell..." Sign the guy, and let Dorell compete with him.

Or if you have a CHANCE to add a guy who's a top-notch defender at PG/SG and fits our contract parameters like a Keyon Dooling, let's not say "No thanks, I wanna see what Cook can do..." Sign the guy, and let Cook compete for minutes.

We should not be frowning upon adding vets with specific skills that our 15-67 team desperately needs ... shooting, defense, bball IQ ... just to grant guys like Cook minutes unencumbered. Let's add proven skills, depth, and competition as much as we possibly can within the parameters we have. Thankfully, that's what Riley appears to be doing.

[Miami's Finest]

We should not be frowning upon adding vets with specific skills that our 15-67 team desperately needs ... shooting, defense, bball IQ ... just to grant guys like Cook minutes unencumbered. Let's add proven skills, depth, and competition as much as we possibly can within the parameters we have. Thankfully, that's what Riley appears to be doing.

So the Smush signing and the Ricky/Blount offseason all over again? We really aren't in a good position to go out and get whoever we want. There's slim pickings and with what we want to pay and # of years we will offer the quality won't be that superior to anything we added last year and the worst thing would be to get desperate again just to add vets that supposedly fill a skill set.

[HeatSince88]

So the Smush signing and the Ricky/Blount offseason all over again? We really aren't in a good position to go out and get whoever we want. There's slim pickings and with what we want to pay and # of years we will offer the quality won't be that superior to anything we added last year and the worst thing would be to get desperate again just to add vets that supposedly fill a skill set.

You're totally missing what I'm saying.

I realize we have contract limitations. And there are slim pickings. Obviously. I read all the same stuff you read. That all has nothing to do with the point.

What I'm saying is if we DO have a chance to sign a James Jones type for a portion of the MLE, we should do so. We should not say "No thanks Mr. Jones, we already have Dorell" which is an attitude that persists on this board.

Or if we DO have a chance of signing a Keyon Dooling type for a portion of the MLE, we should do so. We should NOT say "No thanks man Mr Dooling, we already have Quinn and Cook."

What I'm railing against is that half this board seems to turn up their noses at veteran guys like Dooling who have proven they can defend, and instead would prefer to hand out jobs to dumb youngsters who've proven nothing like we did last year. I say IF you have a chance to bring in competition and depth at various positions, you should. That's my point - feel free to agree or disagree with that, rather than taking it out of context or otherwise confusing things.

In terms of the Smush/Ricky thing, if you read my previous post I was saying let's NOT get those types of guys again. They are bonehead losers. Everyone knew that coming in, but we ignored it because we were obsessed with getting younger and more athletic on the cheap. I'm advocating that we get guys who hustle, play defense, and know their roles. That is NOT Smush or Ricky types. That's your James Jones type or Keyon Dooling type or even Ty Lue type . And thankfully, that's who Riley's targeting.

Man, I feel like I have to repeat the same stuff over and over, then someone's gonna ask "So you wanna sign Smush again?" or "We can't just go sign whoever we want" - LOL, has nothing to do with the point.

[CoolD]

Dools can defend PG and SG. Also Dools has energy, yes he might dribble a bit, but he has attitude, something this team needs.

Dools would be a descent signing. He is no Smush, am not agaisnt Dools.

People could cry about his overdribbling, but with Dools we were seconds from the Finals. Was a good team guy.

If we don't get him, I wouldn't it sweat it, but am not agaisnt Dools, for defensive purposes, and spark of the bench. Energy.

[Miami's Finest]

What I'm railing against is that half this board seems to turn up their noses at veteran guys like Dooling who have proven they can defend, and instead would prefer to hand out jobs to dumb youngsters who've proven nothing like we did last year. I say IF you have a chance to bring in competition and depth at various positions, you should. That's my point - feel free to agree or disagree with that, rather than taking it out of context or otherwise confusing things.

I think you're forgetting last year we went and got veterans so those youngsters wouldn't have to play and to add competition/ depth etc. Thats the whole Smush and Ricky/Blount thing, which is what we agree we don't want to do this year.

I don't understand what you're getting so excited for.. obviously everyone agrees quality veterans better than what we have at the right price would be great. All I'm saying is being realistic with the plan Riley supposedly has it's not going to be that easy and if nothing works out with those players let's avoid the same mistakes we made last year and add vets out of desperation just b/c they have defined skill sets like Ricky and Smush and are veterans. So of course anybody would take James Jones if he would come for what it appears Riley is willing to offer (portion of the MLE for 2 years) but that's not happening he has said he wants a long term deal, that's just reality.

[Wade-GOAT]

I'm more interested in Pietrus than Dooling if we're talking about FAs. I'm assuming Marion is out of here once the right deal presents itself so he'd be a nice backup SF.

If we're talking about needing a guy who can defend the PG and SG, whats wrong with Chalmers? He's got a 6'8 wingspan and we already know he takes defense personally. No need to repeat ourselves as far as our roster goes. And if we've learned anything from the past 2 years its that we need to play our young guys and get them developed rather than throw them out there when its obvious our season has gone to sheeeeeit. We need vets but we shouldn't be thinking to get vets just for the sake of getting vets. They gotta be worth it. And if no vets out there are worth it don't sign any of them and go with the young guys.

[CoolD]

I'm more interested in Pietrus than Dooling if we're talking about FAs. I'm assuming Marion is out of here once the right deal presents itself so he'd be a nice backup SF.

If we're talking about needing a guy who can defend the PG and SG, whats wrong with Chalmers? He's got a 6'8 wingspan and we already know he takes defense personally. No need to repeat ourselves as far as our roster goes. And if we've learned anything from the past 2 years its that we need to play our young guys and get them developed rather than throw them out there when its obvious our season has gone to sheeeeeit. We need vets but we shouldn't be thinking to get vets just for the sake of getting vets. They gotta be worth it. And if no vets out there are worth it don't sign any of them and go with the young guys.

Chalmers might be a good defender, but I think Dools can also defend SG.

Cook is pretty bad.

So you can even play Dooling as back up SG when called upon.

Dooling also brings energy, and he seem to be a good fit as the locker room presense in his stay in Miami.

Dooling would be a good player to have, chasing a guy like Rip Hamilton. He has the speed to and size to defend this type of athletes. Chalmers most likely will be guarding points.

[salqaddoumi]

Eww, why the hell our we going after this guy again?

I've never seen such a selfish ball hog, this guy dribbles the ball so much that i'm surprised it's not deflated by the time the possession is over. His defense is overrated, his shot is streaky, and he's not a real PG. I'd much rather run the trio of Banks/Chalmers/Quinn then acquire this guy. LETS GO AFTER A FREAKIING CENTER.

[DayofMourning]

If Lue is in Wade's fave five then I'm seriously reconsidering Wade's intelligence.

[Hoops23]

Dooling or whoever the Heat add at PG through the MLE, Banks should be traded to free up more cap room in 2010.

[HIF]

I don't see dooling as an upgrade just more of the same.

I'd rather stick with Banks and bring Chalmers on. I think they will more than suffice with Quinn covering for banks when more of an outside shot is required.

[BigDaddyPR]

Great, Riley going after another scrub.. what ekse is new....

[Heat11114]

I don't understand the interest in Dooling at all. He's roughly the same size as Banks (1" taller and 2" longer wingspan) but 15 pounds lighter. We might as well just use Banks at minutes at the 2 and cover our depth there. Wade's gonna play big minutes anyway, we have much bigger concerns than backup SG and another PG who's on roughly the same level as Banks and Chalmers.

[Flash3]

^Right on.

Banks can play and guard the 1 and 2 positions effectively. And, he can be a perfect back-up to Wade @ the 2, when Wade needs a breather....

I don't like Dooling, at all. -- He's a ball hog, as much as they come.

[richboy]

Watching Dooling in Orlando I don't think he does any over dribbling anymore. He was pretty much weakside spot ups, a once in a while drive kind of player now.