Miami Heat @ Portland Trailblazers- 4/2, 10 PM ET(Let's just tape the Phukka and watch it on Sunday?)

[goodboy]

new opie no new getee

[Chalm Down]

new opie no new getee

New opie was pretty drink last night. Must still be recovering at the Pokemon Center.

[Rich2Hassan]

Just to think, we could be 0-3 for this road trip. Smh, we are toast in the first round.

[ElDoggo]

This was a **** show. What went wrong? was it the defense? Probably.

[ElDoggo]

Turned it off. Time to find something on Netflix.

Deadpool 1080p is out on torrents

overrated movie.

is it bad? no
is it entertaining? yes
is it good? not really

it's okay.

[Wildlinger]

we get killed on pick and rolls every game, even by bad teams. i think Hassan has alot of improvement to be done on that part of his game. And i dont know Spo, maybe you should consider switching every now and then. Players are getting open shots all the damn time after a pick. Still doesnt excuse Dragics play, he's been terrible lately.

we dont want to give up threes but what do we do instead. we allow the pg to penetrate and if that player is atleast decent he can force Hassan to commit to him before passing to his man and getting an open layup or jumpshot

Thats on the guard, they have to fight and get over screens. It's not the job of traditional bigs like Hassan to show on PnR's and contest midrange J's.

You think Shaq was coming out and contesting those? lol

Hassan has enough to worry about when it comes to defending his man while also protecting the rim and rebounding.

An opposing guard getting J Rich or Goran on his back and stepping into an open FT line J is not Hassan's fault.

In today’s league that's exactly what bigs have to do when they’re defending pick and roll unless they wanna be exploited the whole game long. I’m talking about the big who’s involved in the pick and roll of course. I’m not talking about help defense.

That’s what good defensive teams do. That’s how last time Spurs beat the Warriors. They switched on everything. Hell, I even saw old man Duncan switching on Steph and do a damn good job at it a couple of times.

That’s why the Warriors on the other hand are so good on the defensive end as well, with Draymond guarding bigs down low and then switching on screens and doing a great job on the perimeter players. You don’t have to show on every guy. You're not gonna show on Rubio, but you sure as hell have to do that on CP3. That's how DeAndre gets all those lobs, with guys helping on the pick and roll. You’re forced to pick your poison. And on the other side of the floor DeAndre does a great job switching and his positioning is usually spot on.

Everybody gets caught on a at least a few screens a game. The best perimeter defenders in the league get caught. Tony Allen gets caught. Sure, you have to fight through them and the best defenders do that more often than not, but the point of a proper pick is to stop the defending player and every coach’s gonna get in the face of a bad screener and teach him to set a proper one or that guy won’t be playing for long. Bad screens are part of the reason why Anthony Bennett is no longer in the league three years after being drafted #1. Proper (and sometimes moving) screens are part of the reason why Warriors are the best team in league. Sure, having 2 of the best shooters alive helps, but as we all saw when they played in Miami, sometimes the screener is just as important as the shooter.

Setting a good screen is one of the basics for bigs. And 90% of screens set in this league are gonna give the ball handler at least half a step. And with the shooters nowadays, that’s more than enough. And to bring this back to Hassan, on the defensive end not showing on time can also be connected to Hassan's troubles guarding stretch fours or fives. This is a much different league even from the times of Shaqster. East has been a little slow adapting to it while in the west they've been playing this way for years already.

I’m sure SportVU data shows that Dragic or JRich aren’t below average in the ratio between the number of screens they fight through and the number of screens they get caught on. Miami allows the 3rd least 3 pointers attempted per game so perimeter defenders seem to be doing something right. In fact latest advanced analytics show that the 2nd player defending the pick and roll is much more important than the player who’s getting the screen set on.

EDIT: Forgot to mention. Pick and roll defense is where the team is missing Bosh tremendously. His pick and roll D was absolutely superb. Bosh is a huge part of the reason why Heat's defense was so good before the AS break and why it's considerably worse after he went down.

[goodboy]

Turned it off. Time to find something on Netflix.

Deadpool 1080p is out on torrents

overrated movie.

is it bad? no
is it entertaining? yes
is it good? not really

it's okay.

I have it downloaded but haven't seen it yet. Will soon, I mean so far seemed like it did pretty well.

[Wildlinger]

Everybody sucked this game. Warios all around.

Gotta look beyond the box score. Even Hassan let freakin Plumlee score on him all night long. Hassan hasn't been doing a good job against bigs in the low post lately. Hell, even Hibbert who scored in double figures only twice in the last 3 months had one of his best games this season against Hassan.

Hassan's pick and roll defense can also sometimes be quite underwhelming. Some people seem to think that pick and roll defense is all about the perimeter guy and therefore Dragic gets so much completely unsubstantiated blame on this board that it's almost comical. The other pick and roll defender is just as important if the priority of the perimeter defender is to stop the 3 point shot and always go over the screen. It seems like some posters here completely disregard that fact. 2nd pick and roll defender (usually a big) is just as important and STAT lacks lateral quickness while Hassan likes to hang back and wait for blocks. His positioning is often completely wrong.

Looking at the player of the game thread I was wondering, is there an unwritten rule where players like Green or maybe rooks can't get a wario? Miami got killed by McCollum this game who was mostly defended by Green and JRich. McCollum shot 6-6 from three, had the most points and assists on the team while Plumlee did much more damage to Miami than Lillard and Dragic still gets blamed for his defense? Portland shot 62.4% on threes while Lillard didn't make a single shot from beyond the arc. Lillard was like a 5th or maybe 6th best player on the Blazers and Dragic is the wario? Really? Neither numbers nor the eye test support that claim. That's just a fact.

JJ's really slowing down on his 3 pointers and only shooting 3-22 in his last 7? That doesn't get a mention? I'm new, so I'm just kinda puzzled by the Dragic hate on this board. Especially with the way he's been playing after the AS break, putting up 17.1 pts, 7.1 ast, 4.4 reb on 47.5 FG% in a changed role and pretty much being the catalyst for Miami's improved faster moving offense. If Riley really wanted to trade Dragic this summer he wouldn't have any problems doing it. He's the perfect PG for the type of offense majority of the league is running now or wants to run.

The team is/was missing 2 of its highest paid players on a 2nd night of a back to back with a short rotation. Spo only uses 8 players and these kind of games are where that shows the most. But yeah, Dragic coming of a bad week where he was apparently sick cost the team this game. Sure

You're new here. No one is above criticism and everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Gold, silver, bronze, and Wario is a night by night vote. You could be our best player one night and our worst the next. Has happened to wade quite a bit. Dragic has the third most gold awards behind Wade and bosh. There's no real Dragic hate. He's had a bad couple of games. He had the highest usage last night as a starting point guard and ended up with one assist. He didn't do his primary job. No, we don't expect our rookies to outplay other players on a nightly basis. So they're not generally voted for warios. We expect our vets, our most expensive ones at that, to play to their averages while outplaying the competition whenever they can. If they dont, they get wario'd.

He might play great against the Pistons and end up with gold and everyone will praise how he's out of his slump and gets gold all around. That's just how it works.

We almost renamed the award to the Gerald Green award.

Yeah, useful info. I was just a little perplexed after the game against the Kings when Dragic got multiple warrios on a win and after putting up 18/7/2 with a couple of key defensive plays down the stretch. That's what made me think there might be some unsubstantiated and exaggerated Dragic hate going on here. You're probably right though. Most of it is likely just a result of a couple bellow average games this week.

And just a small correction, Dragic didn't have the highest usage rate last night, he was 4th on the team (well 3rd actually) after UD (obviously doesn't count), Hassan and McBob. I also don't think that the low number of Dragic assists last night was anything more than an anomaly since he made pretty much the same number of passes he averages on the season. He also made a couple of assists which resulted in free throws, but 1 measly assist is definitely not enough. I won't argue that point.

[IggieCC]

new opie no new getee

New opie was pretty drink last night. Must still be recovering at the Pokemon Center.

I wonder if he even remembers agreeing to make one

oh well game is on Tuesday we got time fire up those GTs Opie

[3ballbomber]

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

She sounds like she just wants to go home, snuggle in her favorite sleep gown & curl up in bed w/ a nice rose & chamomile herbal tea until she can gain some of her inner feminine strength back.

[TroubleS0me]

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

She sounds like she just wants to go home, snuggle in her favorite sleep gown & curl up in bed w/ a nice rose & chamomile herbal tea until she can gain some of her inner feminine strength back.

..wow

[HIF]

No Wade, No Leader, No chance.

[HIF]

And Can I add that when Whiteside is the only player playing well and he's lined up against someone 6 inches (or more) smaller can Goran try passing the ball to him at least once?

[Legend Of Chim]

we get killed on pick and rolls every game, even by bad teams. i think Hassan has alot of improvement to be done on that part of his game. And i dont know Spo, maybe you should consider switching every now and then. Players are getting open shots all the damn time after a pick. Still doesnt excuse Dragics play, he's been terrible lately.

we dont want to give up threes but what do we do instead. we allow the pg to penetrate and if that player is atleast decent he can force Hassan to commit to him before passing to his man and getting an open layup or jumpshot

Thats on the guard, they have to fight and get over screens. It's not the job of traditional bigs like Hassan to show on PnR's and contest midrange J's.

You think Shaq was coming out and contesting those? lol

Hassan has enough to worry about when it comes to defending his man while also protecting the rim and rebounding.

An opposing guard getting J Rich or Goran on his back and stepping into an open FT line J is not Hassan's fault.

In today’s league that's exactly what bigs have to do when they’re defending pick and roll unless they wanna be exploited the whole game long. I’m talking about the big who’s involved in the pick and roll of course. I’m not talking about help defense.

That’s what good defensive teams do. That’s how last time Spurs beat the Warriors. They switched on everything. Hell, I even saw old man Duncan switching on Steph and do a damn good job at it a couple of times.

That’s why the Warriors on the other hand are so good on the defensive end as well, with Draymond guarding bigs down low and then switching on screens and doing a great job on the perimeter players. You don’t have to show on every guy. You're not gonna show on Rubio, but you sure as hell have to do that on CP3. That's how DeAndre gets all those lobs, with guys helping on the pick and roll. You’re forced to pick your poison. And on the other side of the floor DeAndre does a great job switching and his positioning is usually spot on.

Everybody gets caught on a at least a few screens a game. The best perimeter defenders in the league get caught. Tony Allen gets caught. Sure, you have to fight through them and the best defenders do that more often than not, but the point of a proper pick is to stop the defending player and every coach’s gonna get in the face of a bad screener and teach him to set a proper one or that guy won’t be playing for long. Bad screens are part of the reason why Anthony Bennett is no longer in the league three years after being drafted #1. Proper (and sometimes moving) screens are part of the reason why Warriors are the best team in league. Sure, having 2 of the best shooters alive helps, but as we all saw when they played in Miami, sometimes the screener is just as important as the shooter.

Setting a good screen is one of the basics for bigs. And 90% of screens set in this league are gonna give the ball handler at least half a step. And with the shooters nowadays, that’s more than enough. And to bring this back to Hassan, on the defensive end not showing on time can also be connected to Hassan's troubles guarding stretch fours or fives. This is a much different league even from the times of Shaqster. East has been a little slow adapting to it while in the west they've been playing this way for years already.

I’m sure SportVU data shows that Dragic or JRich aren’t below average in the ratio between the number of screens they fight through and the number of screens they get caught on. Miami allows the 3rd least 3 pointers attempted per game so perimeter defenders seem to be doing something right. In fact latest advanced analytics show that the 2nd player defending the pick and roll is much more important than the player who’s getting the screen set on.

EDIT: Forgot to mention. Pick and roll defense is where the team is missing Bosh tremendously. His pick and roll D was absolutely superb. Bosh is a huge part of the reason why Heat's defense was so good before the AS break and why it's considerably worse after he went down.

i wonder if the reason why we dont switch or Hassan doesnt show as often as he should is because we only have one reliable big on our roster right now. Hassan is already playing big minutes and i think the team is more concerned with conserving his energy while he's on the court. i mean, he does have atleast some semblance of ability to do it. i remember near the end of the LOL game seeing him guard Jordan Clarkson out on the perimeter and he almost got a steal.

Also Hassan is are only good rebounder. it seems we always get outrebounded when he's on the bench. that might play a role in it too.

[cyclix]

What do the Goran fanboys have to say now after posting all those useless +/- stats, while using the same +/- to devalue Wade?

[QUIZ]

What do the Goran fanboys have to say now after posting all those useless +/- stats, while using the same +/- to devalue Wade?

Goran's had 3 really awful games since coming back from the game that he missed, its not a coincidence that he's shot 40% from the field since. He's obviously not feeling right.

In the 19 games prior to the one that he missed he was averaging 17.5ppg 7.4apg 4.7rpg 48.6FG%

3 games since missing time: 14.7ppg 5.7apg 2.3rpg 40FG%

Huge drop in efficiency, assists, increase in turnovers per game. The huge drop in rebounds shows how much his activeness on the court has decreased.

Clearly something is physically wrong with him, I just hope he'll return to form heading home. I don't need much just run the offense.

[HIF]

What do the Goran fanboys have to say now after posting all those useless +/- stats, while using the same +/- to devalue Wade?

Goran's had 3 really awful games since coming back from the game that he missed, its not a coincidence that he's shot 40% from the field since. He's obviously not feeling right.

In the 19 games prior to the one that he missed he was averaging 17.5ppg 7.4apg 4.7rpg 48.6FG%

3 games since missing time: 14.7ppg 5.7apg 2.3rpg 40FG%

Huge drop in efficiency, assists, increase in turnovers per game. The huge drop in rebounds shows how much his activeness on the court has decreased.

Clearly something is physically wrong with him, I just hope he'll return to form heading home. I don't need much just run the offense.

Or maybe it's that he doesn't have Wade to bail him out.

Was it a physical injury? I thought it was flu or something?

[Wildlinger]

Spoiler:

Thats on the guard, they have to fight and get over screens. It's not the job of traditional bigs like Hassan to show on PnR's and contest midrange J's.

You think Shaq was coming out and contesting those? lol

Hassan has enough to worry about when it comes to defending his man while also protecting the rim and rebounding.

An opposing guard getting J Rich or Goran on his back and stepping into an open FT line J is not Hassan's fault.

In today’s league that's exactly what bigs have to do when they’re defending pick and roll unless they wanna be exploited the whole game long. I’m talking about the big who’s involved in the pick and roll of course. I’m not talking about help defense.

That’s what good defensive teams do. That’s how last time Spurs beat the Warriors. They switched on everything. Hell, I even saw old man Duncan switching on Steph and do a damn good job at it a couple of times.

That’s why the Warriors on the other hand are so good on the defensive end as well, with Draymond guarding bigs down low and then switching on screens and doing a great job on the perimeter players. You don’t have to show on every guy. You're not gonna show on Rubio, but you sure as hell have to do that on CP3. That's how DeAndre gets all those lobs, with guys helping on the pick and roll. You’re forced to pick your poison. And on the other side of the floor DeAndre does a great job switching and his positioning is usually spot on.

Everybody gets caught on a at least a few screens a game. The best perimeter defenders in the league get caught. Tony Allen gets caught. Sure, you have to fight through them and the best defenders do that more often than not, but the point of a proper pick is to stop the defending player and every coach’s gonna get in the face of a bad screener and teach him to set a proper one or that guy won’t be playing for long. Bad screens are part of the reason why Anthony Bennett is no longer in the league three years after being drafted #1. Proper (and sometimes moving) screens are part of the reason why Warriors are the best team in league. Sure, having 2 of the best shooters alive helps, but as we all saw when they played in Miami, sometimes the screener is just as important as the shooter.

Setting a good screen is one of the basics for bigs. And 90% of screens set in this league are gonna give the ball handler at least half a step. And with the shooters nowadays, that’s more than enough. And to bring this back to Hassan, on the defensive end not showing on time can also be connected to Hassan's troubles guarding stretch fours or fives. This is a much different league even from the times of Shaqster. East has been a little slow adapting to it while in the west they've been playing this way for years already.

I’m sure SportVU data shows that Dragic or JRich aren’t below average in the ratio between the number of screens they fight through and the number of screens they get caught on. Miami allows the 3rd least 3 pointers attempted per game so perimeter defenders seem to be doing something right. In fact latest advanced analytics show that the 2nd player defending the pick and roll is much more important than the player who’s getting the screen set on.

EDIT: Forgot to mention. Pick and roll defense is where the team is missing Bosh tremendously. His pick and roll D was absolutely superb. Bosh is a huge part of the reason why Heat's defense was so good before the AS break and why it's considerably worse after he went down.

i wonder if the reason why we dont switch or Hassan doesnt show as often as he should is because we only have one reliable big on our roster right now. Hassan is already playing big minutes and i think the team is more concerned with conserving his energy while he's on the court. i mean, he does have atleast some semblance of ability to do it. i remember near the end of the LOL game seeing him guard Jordan Clarkson out on the perimeter and he almost got a steal.

Also Hassan is are only good rebounder. it seems we always get outrebounded when he's on the bench. that might play a role in it too.

There's absolutely no doubt that Hassan has the ability to do it. Your point about conserving his energy and maybe even actively trying not to get into foul trouble is definitely valid. That's another area where shortened rotation and injuries are beginning to effect this team.

I also think that some of his struggles are just a part of the learning process. He's gonna be 27 soon, but from the NBA experience standpoint, he might as well be 21 or 22. He's shown a great ability to learn, adapt and change his game, even within this season. I feel pretty confident he'll improve as a system defender as well. He will have to. In the meantime, Heat's pick and roll defense might get exploited a few more times.