HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – After watching the Miami Heat steamroll the Atlanta Hawks in person, I wondered if it had the same impact for those watching it at home. Did it look as lopsided as it did from Philips Arena? Could you tell how little regard the Heat had for the Hawks, a Southeast Division rival that defeated the Heat on their home floor Jan. 2?
The Heat flipped the switch last night and flicked the Hawks away with ease on their way to a stunning blowout 107-87 win over a team they claimed to have the utmost respect for. If this is how the Heat treats teams they respect … witnessing the Heat rise to the occasion of beating back a team they consider a challenge spoke volumes about what this Heat team is capable of when they are focused. (The scoreboard said it was a 20-point demolition but it felt twice as bad in living color.)
Sure, they had a willing accomplice — the Hawks were outrebounded 31-13 in the first half, trailed by 25 at one point and surrendered 63 points to a team that shot just 21-for-45 (.467) from the floor — and comfy environment, there were more Heat jerseys in the stands Sunday night than there were Hawks jerseys.
But it’s stunning to see just how unstoppable this Heat team can be when it plays its game and up to the magnitude of the moment, which has been something of an issue (as much as it can be for a 21-7 team) this season.
“This was as close as we’ve gotten to our identities at both ends of the floor,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said afterwards. “There was a real focus and commitment to play towards our true identity.”
That it took 28 games for a crew that brought back its major parts — LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Mario Chalmers, Udonis Haslem, Mike Miller and Joel Anthony — intact, with only Shane Battier and Norris Cole as significant additions, seems a bit odd.
Yet Spoelstra made clear that the Heat has wrestled with this identity crisis basically all season. For a team whose season will be defined in June, this time isn’t supposed to be as crucial to who and what they are. Still, that need to establish some sort of consistent identity is on their minds as they continue on their most treacherous stretch of the regular season journey.
They’re in Milwaukee tonight to face a team that’s already defeated them twice this season and then move on to Indiana Tuesday night in their dreaded back-to-back-to-back scenario. If they operate the way they did against the Hawks, the Bucks better prepare for the storm.
“We took care of business,” James said. “We played Heat basketball.”
If the blueprint of “Heat basketball” includes bullying an opponent into submission and snatching their pride and will to compete, then this refocused Heat team is going to be interesting to watch in the coming days and weeks.
Perhaps even more salient, as one astute observer pointed out in the middle of the Heat’s beatdown of the Hawks, is that “we need to see them do this in June. Then we should be impressed.”
There’s no doubt about that. Can they do this when the season itself is one the line? We all want to know that. No one will dispute that Heat’s regular season performances, no matter how impressive, must be capped off with an equally compelling postseason effort in order to validate their season.
That’s why Wade’s dismissal of this one win or any cosmic stretch of the regular season being anything more than a blip on the Heat’s timeline is the proper approach.
“I don’t know, I guess you never know your breakthrough game until you look back on it,” Wade said. “In the middle of it, you don’t now. I think for us, this is a good step in the right direction. But it starts all over again [today in Milwaukee]. We’ve got a very tough team in Milwaukee that’s beaten us twice this year. So for us, we just worry about playing and getting to our game on both ends of the floor. We’ll let coach point out what he game he thinks was the breakthrough later in April or somewhere else down the line.”
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Miami just simply disrespects the Hawks.. seems like no other team can stand with them if they play like the way they burn the Hawks. I really feel sorry for Atlanta, they´ve been treated like trash and half of the game are played by Miami´s bench.. can´t wait to see how the Bulls react to this and disrespect also teams like the weakening Lakers and aging Boston or even the slumping Dallas…
as usual prix ur comments are priceless
and i mean they are priceless because they are worth nothing…
i’m a heat fan, and im telling u the hawks can play….
yea they had a bad game that game but every team is gonna have some bad games.
come playoff time, when the hawks mean business every1 will know to respect them. even if they do lose in the second round to the heat or bulls, which isnt a sure fire thing.
“come playoff time, when the hawks mean business”
Do you mean like last year, when the Hawks meant business by losing every playoff game by 20+ points?
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I don’t know why this article is so biased, and asks for sympathy for the Hawks. If it were the Bucks beating them everyone would be praising the Bucks, but because its the Heat and the hate that they have garnered for themselves, this article has turned into a sympathy zone for the Hawks.
The Hawks played worse and they got beat. If the Heat’s bench can beat them, then they really need to rethink their strategy. There should be no bias against the Heat, Celtics, Clippers or any other team comprised of superstars. Everyone should play ball, and if they can’t play it correctly its their fault. Where did this whole notion of the Heat disrespecting their opponents come from?
Worthless article.
I AGREE WITH YOU 100% WHERE THIS DISRESPECT CAME FROM? . ATLANTA HAD A REAL BAD GAME . I WILL BE MORE CONCERN ABOUT THE LAKERS . KOBE HAVE TO PLAY 40 MINUTES AND WIN BY 2 POINTS TO THE RAPTORS . ( REALLY? ) WOW.!!!!!!!!
DARN RIGHT MY FRIEND. IT’S REALLY A ONE-SIDED ARTICLE.
i BET SEKOU’S NEXT ARTICLE IS THE MIAMI “CRASHING” THE BUCKS TODAY. IT’S THE WIN OF THE CENTURY, WHOOO, LET’S PRAISE THE KING ALMIGHTY. HE’S THE BIGGEST THING ON THE UNIVERSE!!!…OH WOW, HE DIDN’T WROTE ABOUT HOW THE HEAT WAS BEATEN TWICE BY THE BUCKS(with how many superstars? one/close to none).
If it wasn’t for D.Wade’s first Q out burst, the lead would have been minimal. And yet again, the “SCAVENGER” takes all the spotlight. But if HEAT lose He doesn’t want to be blamed. What a so called MVP – Most Virtual Player.
Miami and Chicago at their best are unstoppable. There’s no way it won’t be a rematch for the ECF, but I’m still pulling for the Heat to take it all and hopefully face off agianst OKC for the finals. That would be sick.
its not impressive when a team with 3 all stars wins games
2 Allstars, and 1 reserve…. But most great teams have two Allstars, .thats usually the basic DNA of most NBA championship Teams….Kobe and Shaq, Kobe and Pau, Kobe and Bynum? Wade and Shaq? Tim Ducan and David Robinson? Duncan, Robinson, and Parker? Duncan Ginobli, and Park? Billups, RIp, and the Wallaces? Dirk and Jason Kidd? Jordan Pippen Rodman? Karl Malone and John Stockton even though they didnt win. I mean, to have a team where Two Stars can run a whole team by themselves but click together without ego is amazing
uhh…chris bosh is averaging some great numbers this year, he is an all star…just because he is a reserve that doesnt mean he’s not an all-star. and im not hating, the heat are a great team, it just doesnt impress me when they beat teams like atlanta.
ill correct you both… 2 Superstars and 1 all star.
@arron
No one is saying that Bosh is not an all-star. But I think it is eaqually impressive if a 3 star team like Miami or a 1 star team like Chicago beats another team with momentum so lopsided.
You have got to be kidding when you say Kobe and Bynum are an all-star duo.Where is the second all-star
Umm.. last time I checked, just because you don’t make the “all-star” team.. doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not an all-star. Would you say Billups right now wasn’t an all-star if he was not injured? Rondo? Josh Smith? etc etc etc..
There’s only room for so many people at the all-star game. So just because they’re not included in the game, does not mean they are ‘not’ allstars.
Oh, p.s. Kobe hasn’t won a title without Fisher.. maybe he should be included in the “Kobe/Shaq” “Kobe/Pau” talk.. as long as Fisher doesn’t do well, the Lakers will not do well. (Look up most consecutive games played.. you’ll see what I mean)
@Renato
Um… do you not know that Bynum is an all-star starter this year? Most people consider him the best center in the West and the second best center in the league. He’s averaging 17 points and 13 rebounds a game this year, stat’s comparable to Dwight’s.
So yeah. All-Star.
haters will be haters!!!! HAHAHAHAHA
I don’t see the Celtics winning games and they have 4 All stars.
I made a mistake, I ment to say 1 instead of 4.
LOL! A year after and there’s still hate for the BIG 3? C’mon now.
Put your shoes on those 3. After years of playing against each other, you came across the chance to be together and win some games and probably have a higher chance for the championship. Wouldn’t you have done the same?
No one player can make a team into a championship contender. For f’s sake, even MJ needed Pippen for his rings!
Sorry buddy,but Jordan had only one guy to help on those titles and he wasn´t nearly as good as Wade (and did not take clutch shots for him).
AARON WAS IT IMPRESSIVE WHEN THE CELTICS WON WITH BIRD, MCHALE, AND PARISH, 3 HALL OF FAMERS.? WAS IT IMPRESSIVE WHEN THE LAKERS WON WITH MAGIC, KAREEM, AND WORTHY? PEOPLE NEED TO STOP HATING ON LEBRON. IF YOU SAW HIS STATS, AND DIDN’T KNOW WHO THEY BELONGED TO, EVERYONE WOULD AGREE THAT HE HAS TO BE ONE OF THE BEST EVER.
100% BEST THING I’VE EVER READ “IF his name was not on the stats, people would say that they’re the best stats ever” You see Lebrons name and people say “how many rings he have”?
@aaron
Yeah, I agree with you aaron. I’ll only be impressed if a bad team like the Charlotte Bobcats win the championship this year. If any of these other teams win, what with all the all-stars and good players and good coaching and team chemistry and wins? Big deal.
I challenge you to find one team since the NBA-ABA merger that has won the nba championship that had less than two hall-of-fame players or all-stars. You’ll find that many of them had three.
HOUSTON’S FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP ONLY ONE HALL OF FAMER AND IT WAS HAKEEM “CLUTCH CITY FOR LIFE BABY”
@aaron But its impressive when teams with three hall of famers win games right? Also every win for the Celtics must have been abysmal last year when they had 4 all-stars too…..you are an idiot stop posting on this site
ok let me just clarify…what i am saying is that its not impressive when a team with 1 all star and 2 superstars beat a team like the hawks….now what they did to dallas on opening night was impressive, and if they gave this kind of beatdown to teams like OKC or the Bulls, that would be impressive…but to write an article about a team that just lost to Orlando a couple nights ago and then beat the Hawks is stupid….all i said was that it was not impressive for this team to win a game against ATL…it would be the same comment regardless of the team…ANY team, whether its the Heat or the bulls in the 90s or celtics/lakers in the 80′s winning against pretty good teams is NOT impressive…when they beat great teams though it is impressive…this is not hating on the Heat, im just making an observation…
If anyone know the Hawks they are a up & down team. They have all the potential to be a legitimate contender but they seem to lack energy and drive night in and out. They have the talent to beat any team in the NBA but they don’t put in the effort every night. Joe Johnson is a great player but seems to disappear in crucial games or moments. I’m disappointed that the Hawks let Miami beat them so badly. I’m not a ATL or MIA fan but 20 points C’mon your supposed to play to win. I gotta give credit to Miami for destroying the hawks but you have to look at hom terrible ATL played as well. Really Miami rising? How about Hawks laying down and gettin walked on.
So they destroyed the hawks… now their unstoppable? lol lets just hope they avoid a sweep against the bucks…
Talking about Heat and Bucks. Why worry about a non-play off team like Bucks when you bigger fish to fry? If anything we should be praising Lebron Bosh and DWade for being smart enough to know not to get injured over non-sense games with pretender teams!!!
didn’t Hawks beat them twice in this season already?
lol no…Hawks won once, second game was when Wade and Lebron were both out, and Bosh and the role players beat em in triple over time…
It doesn’t really matter what the Heat do during the season. They will falter in the playoffs, maybe the second round, conference finals, or even finals. But one thing’s for sure; they will fail, and LeBrick…err, I mean, LeBron, will choke. I expect the Lakers to pull off something similar to the Celtics of 2010; not a great season record, but making it deep into the playoffs, hopefully a championship.
Damn Laker fans are truly delusional. You’re hatred of LeBron and the Heat has left you without a shred of logic or common sense.
You do remember that the Celtics had a lot of injuerd players during the regular season. KG was out. Pierce was out for few games. During the post season is when they all regrouped.
The Lakers have a full team. No one is injured. They are just playing terrible. No offensive flow whatsoever.
hey, we’re in 2012.. the Lakers doesn’t have Phil anymore (yes, the Kobe needs Phil to win), doesn’t have a solid forward (the Odom mess was their fault!), and they’re just relying to Kobe waaaay to much.
im betting that the farther they can go this year is through the first round of playoffs.. accept that
I’m not saying the Lakers are going to necessarily win the championship. I’m hopeful that they will. But unless Lebron gets a clutch gene, the Heat, at some point, will falter, just like last year. The Heat definitely have the most talent, but they have no inside presence (and please don’t tell me Bosh or Anthony are legit inside presences, Bosh is a jump shooter and Anthony is a downgrade of Kendrick Perkins). The Mavericks played the right way, as a team, and that led to them denying Lebron’s chance at grabbing that elusive ring. Lebron will for sure get a ring at some point, but not as long the Heat are built this way.
The Heat can win the championship.The only condition is that Wade be healthy for the Finals.If not,they dont have a guy to knock down clutch shots and they´ll fail like last year.
PS:I dont think the lakers will get the title this year.They need a small forward,a point guard,and more consistency from Gasol.Only the last one is possible for this season.
@mark
Yea Lebrons not clutch. He didnt single handedly CLOSE out BOTH the Celtics AND the BULLS in consecutive playoff series or anything. No not at all. In YOUR fantasy world that is.
Can I borrow your time machine? I need to see if I’m a world-famous rock star in ten years.
I love how no one even acknowledges that Horford is out.
Believe it or not, he is a big part of the Hawks’ success, and without him, the Hawks just aren’t that good.
Of course the Hawks will get out-rebounded with their All-Star caliber center out for the season.
As far as I’m concerned, this is not a win over a good team. This is a win over the Bucks or the Nets
Actually, the Bucks are 2-0 against Miami this season. Js
Hmmm…should I acknowledge the fact in the last meeting between Hawks and Heats, Horford was playing, and Lebron and Wade was out? Guess who won still? Saying stuff like this is pointless, every team gets injuries.
The 2 best players on the nba are on the same team with a superstar pf avereging 20pts 10rebds..
Zaza pachulia? plaese
Whats the surprise here realy?
I WANT NEW YORK STEP BY STEP. IN FINALS OR IN FIRST ROUND.
KNICKS FANS AND LIN FANS WILL KNOW WHAT A REALLY INFERNO IS.
HEAT FANS DONT FORGET WEAR BLACK T-SHIRTS IN THE FINALS.
didn’t see an article like this when the bulls kept beating down teams including a road 40 point beat down, not mentioning they have been dealing with so much injuries than the heat and are still sitting with the same record.. the nba has become so biased, they want so badly for leBron to be great
Thats because Lebron IS the best player. Sorry bout it.
“We’ll see how they do when it matters , the playoffs”
“What they do in the season won’t impress, let’s see how they do in the playoffs”
“they lost once to the Hawks and beat them back but it doesn’t matter in the normal season”
should we just skip the damn games during the season and just start with playoffs? Every writer here and there talks like the season is meaningless.
we’ll see what happens when the pace slows down. lebron is averaging the most Fast Break PPG in the regular season so far but struggles scoring in a half court sets especially at the end of games. And for some reason the whole world always seems to forget that and that’s what playoff basketball is, half court sets. and wade is going to have to chase richard hamilton around all game off screens and will get tired in a 7 game series. And then they have to worry about guarding deng, and then obviously you have derrick rose. the bulls play just as good defense if not better, and will out rebound the heat. I think the bulls have their number this year.
You must have forgotten that the Heat nearly swept the Bulls last year…
They only added a aging Richard Hamilton..Sure he is a good role player but he is nowhere as good as he once use to be.
4-1 but games were close all within 5 points or less except for one game at chicago where Chicago blew the heat out by 15 points. To say heat almost swept the series would be greatest overstatement. It could easily have been 7 game series. The record was what it was, but with few buckets, it could just have been Chicago vs. Dallas last year.
But guess what tmac it WASNT was it? Yea thats what i thought. By your logic the Heat fans can easily say too they could’ve eASILY have won the Finals if Dallas wouldnt have just gotten so hot from the 3, and thats it. Sorry bout it.
I am a HUGE heat fan – but I have to give a major part of yesterdays beatdown to the absence of Horford. Even if he isn’t doing damage down low – he ALWAYS grabs those rebounds and he’s a big body with quick feet who clogs up the paint.
There is just no way that josh smith and joe jhonson are going to out-rebound lebron james n co w/o their all-star caliber PF/C
Did you notice the rebound difference? That is all Horford
So even though the win was impressive (most impressive aspect being that the heat FINALLY HELD a comfortable lead for the entire game without lapses) – it is less impressive due to horford being out.
Big/tough guys scare me. Did you see the 27 year old rookie (forget his name, “the cruel”) just bully bosh in the previous game? Bosh was terrified of that dude lol
Miami is undoubtedly the best team right now. The winner of Miami-Chicago Conference Final will also become the World Champions.
http://www.divedu.com
I think labeling this as a breakthrough game is pointless. The heat will continue to have games like this, and games where they lose to lesser teams (like their games against the bucks and warriors). So far, it seems like they have no problem playing well against the best teams in the league, but they need some extra motivation against weaker opponents. I think players like chalmers, haslem, cole, and battier (you can throw bosh in there too) need to up their games against teams that are not in the elite. The team relies too much on LBJ and Wade game in and game out. Maybe spoelstra should even consider benching either Lebron or wade against easier opponents… just a thought.
Sekou – What basketball does your “astute observer watch” ??? “lets see them do this in june”?? Then you say “lets see what they do when the season is on the line”?? The BIASED questions and comments are the worst! Miami coming together after being together for 1 year (and that a 1 year with Haslem & mike miller playing less than half the time). to beat Phili in 5 then the 2 teams which owned Miami in the regular season , Boston and Chicago (Chigaco with home court) They Beat Bothh of 2 of the top teams in 5 GAMES!!…. 5 GAMES!! THOSE SERIES WERENT BIG?? Yall didnt Watch those games huh? (look’m up) Then they go to the finals (playing a great veteran team thats been together forever) They were on their way to demolishing Dallas when Rick Carlisle (great coach) slapped that “i cant contain these guys any other way ZONE” on them (great strategey) to come back in multiple games and hold on to win. But in NO way should yall bring up how We need to See what Miami does in the playoffs because WE’VE SEEN!! they didnt win it all but I dont hear nobody talking bout… lets see what OKC does in the playoffs or lets see if Chicago can come through! So then whats next if Miami wins it?…. “Lets see if they can do it twice”?? At some point people need to get off Miami’s……. uh lets say Back. get off their back!
@The Aggressive Napkin, it sounds good in your head but, its not gona happend. u think that richard hamilton is gona make a difference but he is not. maimi is a better team pound for pound n i think they already proof it
well…… im a heat fan but sometimes people has to consider that every night there is always someones night, and its not the hawks night that time, Hawks can play Joe Johnson and fellow Josh Smith can lead the team, and besides Al Horford is injured an important piece for defense
Ok the fouls in the first half were 15(hawks) to 3(heat). The heat shot 22 free throws and the hawks shot 5. HMMM how about instead of the refs watching the games, they start reffing them? How about we call Lebron every time to HAS to push off to get separation because hes not really all that good. Does D-ROSE(last years MVP) push off? No he just shakes people. Let take a look at why the heat won. Because there a media sensation NOT because they are a good team.
MAGIC 2012!
Your crazy. People BOUNCE off LBJ sometimes because hes so big and strong, he doesnt push sorry about it. Waht about your boy D Rose CONSTANTLY PALMING the ball pretty much every single dribble? Yea, that creates a BIIIG advantage there, that goes without saying, and he creates bumps aloooot. So sorry bout it. LBJ better than Rose all day.
Oh please go to Miami, Dwight Howard, they showed that they need defensive rebounding, and only a top tier player like you deserve to play along side Lebron, D-Wade, and Chris Bosh.
Let´s talk about basketball Lin is Overrated.Don´t speak. let me Blind.
I want to face Knicks in playoffs or whereever…….I don´t like Knicks Lakers Okc and Chicago and Boston……GET OUT OF HERE!
I mean it u guys are losers
You have to win games in the regular season to get into the playoffs, let’s not forget that. If this were just a playoff league with no regular season then we would be talking in another manner, but you do have to win games to get there. Secondly, Miami made it to the Finals last year, so what is this about how they will choke in the playoffs? If they choke like they did last year, then why don’t other teams have the same success with supposed bad play? Also, even with Lebron not showing up in the 4th quarter, they STILL have been winning games. Let’s not get hypocritical here, either your upset with their winning due to their superstar talent, or you’re ragging on them for losing to inferior teams because they’re superstars are overrated. You don’t get both. Btw, I’m an Orlando fan, so this an biased opinion.
@Ben
as michael jackson song…..
you are a simple hater….
All of you no miami fans are haters…..including that overrated chinese player. I m not ethnic phobic but rather I really good basketball
BEN: HATER.
GET REAL BEN.
How well you do in the regular season reaps no rewards if in the playoffs you tank everything you’ve worked for: to win a championship. If Tyson Chandler and Deshawn Stevenson were still in Dallas, I think we could all sit back and realize: Dallas smashed the Heat last year, they could do it again. Unfortunately though, Dallas let key players leave and got Odom for a replacement (which is not full compensation, especially considering he holds remorse for leaving the Lakers).
I’m excited for the playoffs this year. Nothing has changed for Chicago–other than experience–that should help them beat Miami. If they want to beat Miami come playoff time, they’re going to have to work hard. Same as every other team in the east conference. Boston could be a strong competitor–and I mean that honestly, not with bias–though if they want to win, they’re going to need some big games from Rondo and their bench. And Philly is good, but let’s be honest, they can’t beat Chicago or Miami in a 7 game series. Indiana and Orlando are the teams to watch for an upset–Indiana is good, you have to give them credit, and if Orlando gathered themselves, made a couple well-placed trades, they could seriously contend if Rose’s back continues to be an issue. Don’t count out Howard if he feels like he has the capacity to win in Orlando.
For the west, it’s obvious that OKC, Lakers, or Dallas will come out on top: OKC because of their star power and experience in the playoffs, and their youth; Lakers because, well, they have Kobe, Pau, and Bynum + experience; and Dallas cause they’re the champions. Don’t count out Dirk, Terry, and Kidd yet. The Clippers will falter, especially without Billups. Paul and Griffin aren’t enough to do any significant damage in the playoffs YET.
Can anyone tell me what does LeBron say to D-Wade in the post game?
All you Heat haters you just cant accept the fact that the Heat went to the NBA Finals last season and your team didn’t. Accept the fact that the Heat team, when on sync is an unstoppable team. Your not a true basketball fan if u dont appreciate how the HEAT team is playing. Remember the season when the Lakers signed MALONE and PAYTON with Kobe and a strong Shaq? Did any of you Haters said anything? Come on! This is a sport we all love so dont make stupid comments based on your stupid understanding of the game.
This is a sport played by a team, and any team in any sport would do all their best to acquire the best players available. Thats he reason why NBA has a salary cap rules, and the cap rules allowed what the Heat franchise did. It just so happend that Heat has the money that the other 29 teams didnt thats why Bosh and James is with them. Im sure u all haters are disappointed because LBJ didnt went to your teams. LBJ is a great player, probobly better than Kobe. Kobe needs reinforcements, SUPERSTARS.. Remember LBJ’s success with the CAvs. doing everything with out superstar teamates.
For those who are saying that the Heat will be more impressive if they win without 3 stars, then the same goes for the 80s Lakers, Pistons and Celtics, 90s Bulls, 2000s Lakers, Pistons, Spurs, and the current Celtics. No one can win a championship ALONE. Even if Jordan is considered the greatest of all time, he won’t have 6 rings without his teammates like Pippen, Rodman, Harper, Kukoc and Kerr. Magic won’t be anywhere if he didn’t have Worthy and Abdul-Jabbarr. Same goes for Bird without Parish and McHale.
I’m not a huge heat fan but i do like them. And I believe they will easily march their way back to the finals this year. Nobody in the East can offer a challenge (sorry but Rose is just one player, your going to need more then that). If anything the heat are better then they were last year. Everyone is healthy, players are fitting into their roles alot better, and they have a great full bench. shane battier was an amazing veteran pick up. in the West its either going to be the Clippers or Thunder and I really dont think either of them can compete in a seven game series with this Heat team. Miami Heat 2012 NBA Champions, ive got money waiting on it. Do you ??
This heat team has some really special no wonder they’re the no.1 in the league today and will be winning 2012 chip + the MVP, am working in a rural part of Africa but thanks to tech I have connection with +6 time difference I have to always wake up all night long to check live updates on NBA.com for all heat games but they’re worth it, great respect to all the members of that team no wonder they’re living up to the hype the trend of the this year’s preview before the tip off, God see you through guys, thanks
Don’t hate on the article. It’s a good article and you will see more. If you want to see articles about another team don’t post on a Miami Heat article go post on your favorite and then you might get more articles on them. There is no other team in the NBA as exciting as the heat so for now we are going to ride it until the wheels fall off. I like other teams, especially the Bulls but they are not as exciting as the heat. The Heat is good for the NBA. More specifically, Lebron is the attraction. He is good and great to watch. A lot of people should start paying him to make them relavant. Write about Lebron and they will read. Talk about Lebron and they will listen. I don’t even sit through a complete Dallas game and they were the Champs last year. Go figure!
Not Sekou´s finest moment writing this article but understandable.The Heat is doing a very good season so far and i believe it can claim the top seed in the east.They´ll easily get to the conference finals unless injuries get in their way.And we´ll see from that point on.
iL tell you guys why sekou wrote this article. its just because the heat are popular. come to think of it, whats the most discussed team in the nba? the heat right? ahaahahh whether it is a positive or negative article regarding the heat, fans like i do surely will be curious about it. Try this: whenever you go to nba.com try to compare the views and comments of the heat video or discussion to other teams. surely you’ll find out that miami has many followers! as in followers, whether they are fans or haters. here’s an example. at the lower right section of nba.com, there is fan night poll right? choose a game every tuesday, and guess what? miami had been always the people’s choice to watch. everytime miami had a game at tuesday, they top the voting in polls by around 70%. there’s one week where the poll did not involve miami, it was a 6 games on tuesday and they didn’t put miami because its automatically miami will be a fan vote. Bottom line is, the heat are so popular that any nba writer wrote about these team will surely be discussed/viewed/commented by nba fans. it can be bos fans, lal fans, bulls fans, okc fans, dallas fans, as in all nba fans. that’s how popular the heat are.
Not only that, if by chance they do post a comment on their favorite they are comparing them to the Heat. When looking at articles and post about other NBA teams, you have to keep going back to see who the article is about because all of the comments include the Heat or Lebron. I understand the Heat may not be your favorite but at least make sure your gripe is legitimate. Sekou did a article a little back called “Lebron On The Big Stage” and in that article he said, “It’s okay to enjoy this brute strength ballet from the most nimble, 6-foot-8, 260-pound freight train most of us have ever seen”. It’s true. I don’t care who takes the spot light, it’s only temporary. I got caught up in the Lin-Sanity and I am very happy for him. Can’t wait until they meet the Heat. Blake’s dunk was awesome but the thunder has died down already. It’s the Heat’s, baby!
Sekou be killing with his titles. Extra, extra read all about it, ” WITNESSING THE HEAT RISING”.
and also, what was this allegation about: the heat bench played alot against atlanta and thats why they treat atlanta disrespectful? this just resembles that the miami heat started to handle a major problem from last season: a weak bench which cannot play itself. if the game goes well then why shoudlnt the bench also play alot? i think the heat deserve credit for that because its no longer just the big three winning the game for the team. i dont see any disrespect for other teams.
and additionally the big three (esspecially wade) got problems with unjuries so why should they play the whole game during the season if they did their job well and could just recover from injuries and strains.
just my opinion and i agree with “heatkingofeast” these articles are only written to entertain and to be discussed by fans or haters – trying to make it more interesting.
and in my opinion in miami its no longe about how many stars/allstars/the big three are in one team to win the game. its the whole team getting it done offensively but also defensively!!! because above someone said it was nothing special if a team with 3 stars wins games.
For all you Lebron haters – wake up – lakers & celtics are done
AYAYAYAYA HATE ALL U WANT BUT THA HEAT IS TAKING THIS ISHHHH HOME 2012-?
NOT 1 NOT 2 NOT 3 NOT 4 NOT 5 NOT 9 SUKKAAAAAAHHHHHH
I am sooo proud of the Heat !!!!
Go guys !!!
Love you all.
MsBevBlack
In cricket there’s a phrase used for batsmen who when the conditions are nice and easy, take bowlers to pieces but who tend to crumble when conditions are less easy. We call them flat track bullies.
The heat are the flat track bullies of the NBA. Especially James.