***Official 2010-2011 Miami Heat Thread***

[nyjunc]

thats true...if you got a dominant center you are well on your way...but if you'll recall i tried to tell you that prior to this last draft bigs are premium thus demarcus cousins of kentucky would have been a great pick for your 6ers and you weren't biting then...yeah the kids got some maturity issues and all but he's got plus feet and a soft touch around the rim and those guys aren't found very often in the nba

and now the 6ers are looking for center help all over the place and so are you according to what i've read in your posts...

but i don't agree that dwight howard is a better player than lebron...you force howard to catch outside of 10 feet and he's a marginal offensive player...you force him to catch around the free throw line and he doesn't have the touch or arsenal to exploit you...you let him catch within condor wingspan of the rim and your in trouble

Since 1980 4 dominant Centers have won championships- Kareem, Shaq, Robinson and Hakeem. It is MUCH more important to have an unstoppable force like lebron than it is to have a dominant Center. Kareem was towards the end of his career when he was winning in LA and wasn't really dominant the last few titles, Robinson leaned more on Duncan and Hakeem doesn't geta title w/o Micahel stepping aside.

 

[Ferretsquig]

Bro this is not just some regular situation..Miami has 3 all star caliber players on the team....2 top 5 players on the team... They lost 3 games up until the Mavs series..Yea that was great... But he could not adjust to what the Mavs were doing......Why do you think they lost game 2? Cause the Mavs are that much better? You dont lose a 15 point lead in that game..Inexcusable..Spoesltra was out coached this whole series...Lebron got frustrated and lost focus he was not even playing defense? Why?

I agree that he was outcoached this series. And I think he outcoached Doc and Thibs in the previous two series. Do I want every move the man makes to work to perfection? Of course, but I'm also quite aware that everything isn't always going to go as planned no matter how well it sounds in theory.

I don't know why Lebron was playing passive, or why Wade looked dead against Chicago or Bosh periodically throughout the playoffs. However unlike you I don't expect a coach to be able to massage every ego and manage every personality to perfection. I don't expect it with Jackson and Kobe, Sloan and Williams, SVG and Howard, or even Ricky and Dirk. These guys don't get where they are by being motivated by some stupid speech about the band of brothers or messages on the blackboard.

 

[nyjunc]

Learn to read. I never said Dirk or Gasol were defensive anchors, I said they were great post scorers. Now Tyson Chandler, Brendan Haywood, and Erick Dampier were defensive anchors for the Mavs finals teams, and Bynum is a defensive anchor for the Gasol Finals teams. And if you honestly think KG and Duncan aren't known for defense, that tells me all I need to know. Tim Duncan is a 13x defensive 1st/2nd teamer and KG an 11x defensive 1st/2nd teamer and former DPOY.

And LOL if you think Phil wins all those championships without Pippen.

Learn to write and get a thought out. You are all over the place.

Those are great honors but neither is known for their defense, they are considered great players b/c of their offensive capablities.

Jordan would ahve won those titles w/o Scottie. Scottie is a vastly overrated player thanks to Michael and Phil is an underrated coach thanks to people like you who think he just lucked into it w/ great players. All great coaches win w/ talent, nothing is guaranteed yet this man had THREE 3-peats and won 11 championships in only 20 years as a HC.

 

[Clipse]

thats true...if you got a dominant center you are well on your way...but if you'll recall i tried to tell you that prior to this last draft bigs are premium thus demarcus cousins of kentucky would have been a great pick for your 6ers and you weren't biting then...yeah the kids got some maturity issues and all but he's got plus feet and a soft touch around the rim and those guys aren't found very often in the nba...bigs are premium when one comes in your wheelhouse that has plus tools you take a chance

and now the 6ers are looking for center help all over the place and so are you according to what i've read in your posts...

but i don't agree that dwight howard is a better player than lebron...you force howard to catch outside of 10 feet and he's a marginal offensive player...you force him to catch around the free throw line and he doesn't have the touch or arsenal to exploit you...you let him catch within condor wingspan of the rim and your in trouble

I don't think Cousins is that good, and not sure if he ever will be. He might become a good scorer eventually, but he's terrible defensively, and that's just not going to cut it at center for me. Besides, I think he started more games at PF last year than Center. I'm not sure if he ever reaches his potential. Certainly seems uncoachable to me the way he was getting into confrontations with coaches on several occasions last year.

As for LeBron, you're right about him being a better NBA player than Dwight, but when you consider the importance of having a dominant Center, I'd rather have Howard if given a choice. Forcing Dwight to catch the ball away from a "condor wingspan of the rim" as you put it, is much easier said than done. He's as good as any at getting in position, and his work with Ewing is paying off because that guy is becoming a lethal scorer in the post. He's not missing too many of those hook shots anymore.

 

[hoops]

tim duncan may well be the best pf of all time...his use of the glass in his offensive game has been nothing short of masterful...tim duncan was the man

 

[Clipse]

Since 1980 4 dominant Centers have won championships- Kareem, Shaq, Robinson and Hakeem. It is MUCH more important to have an unstoppable force like lebron than it is to have a dominant Center. Kareem was towards the end of his career when he was winning in LA and wasn't really dominant the last few titles, Robinson leaned more on Duncan and Hakeem doesn't geta title w/o Micahel stepping aside.

That's because dominant centers are much rarer occurence than dominant wings/guards, especially nowadays where dominant bigs are seemingly going extinct.

---------- Post added at 10:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:17 AM ----------

tim duncan may well be the best pf of all time...his use of the glass in his offensive game has been nothing short of masterful...tim duncan was the man

It's a toss up between him and KG for me. Tim Duncan is easily the most fundamentally sound player to ever play the game though imo.

 

[hoops]

I don't think Cousins is that good, and not sure if he ever will be. He might become a good scorer eventually, but he's terrible defensively, and that's just not going to cut it at center for me. Besides, I think he started more games at PF last year than Center. I'm not sure if he ever reaches his potential. Certainly seems uncoachable to me the way he was getting into confrontations with coaches on several occasions last year.

As for LeBron, you're right about him being a better NBA player than Dwight, but when you consider the importance of having a dominant Center, I'd rather have Howard if given a choice. Forcing Dwight to catch the ball away from a "condor wingspan of the rim" as you put it, is much easier said than done. He's as good as any at getting in position, and his work with Ewing is paying off because that guy is becoming a lethal scorer in the post. He's not missing too many of those hook shots anymore.

alright i understand that about cousins...but imo the only thing keeping him from becoming a year in 20/10 guy is himself...as for dwight that running half hook of his isn't enough of a post game for me...his footwork with his back to the basket just isn't there...he's stiff...if he had olajuwons feet or even ewings feet and touch i'd agree with you he'd be more valuable than lebron but howards too limited offensively for my taste to ever consider him in hakeem territory...dwight howard breaks the damn backboard with his shot too much...i'd love to have him no doubt cause the nba loaded with crap bigs but depending on him to give me playoff buckets in the post other than dunks is dicey...always has been

 

[Clipse]

Learn to write and get a thought out. You are all over the place.

Those are great honors but neither is known for their defense, they are considered great players b/c of their offensive capablities.

Jordan would ahve won those titles w/o Scottie. Scottie is a vastly overrated player thanks to Michael and Phil is an underrated coach thanks to people like you who think he just lucked into it w/ great players. All great coaches win w/ talent, nothing is guaranteed yet this man had THREE 3-peats and won 11 championships in only 20 years as a HC.

How am I all over the place? I specifically said you need a great defensive anchor at Center to make the finals. I also specifically said having a go-to guy in the post, like a Dirk, or Gasol, to compliment a wing, is much better than having 2 wings.

 

[Clipse]

alright i understand that about cousins...but imo the only thing keeping him from becoming a year in 20/10 guy is himself...as for dwight that running half hook of his isn't enough of a post game for me...his footwork with his back to the basket just isn't there...he's stiff...if he had olajuwons feet or even ewings feet and touch i'd agree with you he'd be more valuable than lebron but howards too limited offensively for my taste to ever consider him in hakeem territory...dwight howard breaks the damn backboard with his shot too much...i'd love to have him no doubt cause the nba loaded with crap bigs but depending on him to give me playoff buckets in the post other than dunks is dicey...always has been

I dunno. 23 PPG at a .593 clip doesn't seem too limited to me. His post game has looked better each year. Like I said, stopping him from getting close to the rim is much easier said than done. He's just a menace in the paint.

 

[hoops]

why is d wade considered a wing??? he looks to me like a shooting guard who's most effective when he's going to the rim...i don't think he plays a wing game...

 

[hoops]

I dunno. 23 PPG at a .593 clip doesn't seem too limited to me. His post game has looked better each year. Like I said, stopping him from getting close to the rim is much easier said than done. He's just a menace in the paint.

what do his postseason numbers look like when the cupcakes aren't there???

 

[nyjunc]

How am I all over the place? I specifically said you need a great defensive anchor at Center to make the finals. I also specifically said having a go-to guy in the post, like a Dirk, or Gasol, to compliment a wing, is much better than having 2 wings.

Where are the examples of the defensive anchors at C? Miami doesn't have one of those and they made the Finals so that invalidates the statement right there. Miami has more than enough to win, I am so sick of the excuses for lebron. They lost b/c Lebron came up small not b/c they didn't have a go to guy in the post or a defensive anchor in the post.

 

[hoops]

the key to stopping dwight howard today is what its always been and probably always will be...first and foremost you have to somewhat be able to match his physicality...if you can't he'll catch where he wants to and overpower you...your toast...if you can force him off the spot you limit him tremendously...kendrick perkins does both those things and gives howard fits...and perks not known for his footwork...howards post repertoire and footwork still sucks...he doesn't have a catch and face 10-15 foot jumper...he's got a running half hook and brute force and phenomenal athleticism

 

[Tunaphish429]

Where are the examples of the defensive anchors at C? Miami doesn't have one of those and they made the Finals so that invalidates the statement right there. Miami has more than enough to win, I am so sick of the excuses for lebron. They lost b/c Lebron came up small not b/c they didn't have a go to guy in the post or a defensive anchor in the post.

I agree..Miami does have a decent post player in Bosh..Tho he is not gonna beat you with power like shaq he is more than capable in the post area..Miami went away from it...Chandler did have the upper hand in that matchup tho...Having a big time center is a luxury to me..If you a good a good backcourt you can do almost anything..You can find tall guys to man the painted area..Just look at the league MVP's....Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant Derek Rose..Its a guards game..Dwight Howard will never one a championship unless he has a backcourt to compliment him..How many championships did Mutumbo win? Mourning? Shaq is maybe the exception to the rule but he is just one of the most dominant players to date kinda like Wilt..But even he could not do it without Kobe/Wade.

 

[Blitz]

Dirk is a dewfensive anchor at Center? Duncan was? KG? Gasol? These are PF's and none are known for their defense.

Even last year, KG was still very well known for his defensive prowess on the glass. KG is arguably a better defensive than offensive player these days. But I agree on the other points.