Saturday, November 01, 2008

NBA BLOG Halloween Edition:
  • I have no idea what to think about Dwyane Wade this season.  In game 1 against the Knicks he acted like Kobe Bryant of three years ago.  He shot constantly, was ornery with teammates, showed no chemistry with the young guys and refused to pass the ball to anyone other than Udonis Haslem.  That combined with his lifelong refusal to guard three point shooters when he is off the ball made for a maddening game against a Knicks team that has a fair amount of offensive talent.  The thing that has always separated Wade at his best from LeBron and Kobe has been Wade's security on the offensive floor.  Both Kobe and LeBron seem to make up their mind about who is finishing a play with 20 seconds left on the shot clock.  Wade, at his best, is like Steve Nash - able to hold on to the ball until the last  moment and find open guys or finish at the hoop.  Wade's 20 point 8 assist performance against the Kings was Wade at his best - his 29 and 9 against the Knicks was him at his worst.
  • One more note about the Heat, Michael Beasley is an ambidextrous freak of nature.  He can finish with either hand from 8 feet in.  Oddly, the HEAT, so far are not running him many plays at all, making him mainly a spot up shooter.  If they want to save Wade's legs and free up Marion near the boards, Beasley has to be able to make plays.
  • The Kings are going to be the worst team in the league.  Kevin Martin is the only legitimate starter on that team.  And, he's a shooting guard who average 2 assists per game last year.  He's a scorer, not a playmaker - like super Jeff Hornacek.  Everyone else on that team blows.
  • I refuse to acknowledge that I picked Orlando to make the finals.  They are not a very good team.  Jameer Nelson needs to be on a bench somewhere and there is no way Turkoglu is as good as he was last season.  I hate to take the Celtics, but they look the best so far and are as good as they were last season.  I hate the Cavs, because I'm still not convinced LeBron really cares all that much; Miami doesn't have a post scorer....  I'll get back to you.