Sunday, November 06, 2005
Heat off to a slow start
I must admit I didn't watch most of the Bucks-Heat game last night. Partly because I expected the Heat to win easily, but who could take their eyes away from the Virginia Tech-Miami football game?
I was quite shocked to see the Heat squander a six point lead late in the fourth quarter to the Bucks who got huge games from new addition Bobby Simmons and the starting back court of Ford and Redd. What I noticed though was that Zo wasn't in the game as the Bucks made their way back into the game at that time, with an 11-2 run. It is common knowledge that when you sustain a close lead nearing the end of the game, it's time to lock up on defense. Why was Zo not in the game as the Bucks made this comeback?
It's for this reason that I'm calling for Van-Gundy to be removed as the head coach. He doesn't know how to coach effectively and I've been saying this since his first year when he took Wade out at the end of the Heat's sixth play-off game against the Pacers, with two minutes left. How can a coach remove the best player on the floor at such a key time? And refused to bring him in as an option for the desperation three point attempt to tie the game, choosing to let Rafer Alston, who was 0-5 at the time, take the shot. He missed.
I've always questioned Van-Gundy's ability to coach a group of talented and championship worthy players with only three years experience as a coach. Last year, the heat got elimininated by the Pistons in game seven of the Eastern Conference finals, when he refused to get the ball to Shaq in the post, with Wade being seiously injured.
Now, fast forward to this season. Shaq is out for two-four weeks, but we have a backup bench that could be starting on many teams, so I wonder why we are losing to the Bucks in a game we clearly should have won. By the all-star break, if Miami doesn't stand at the top three positions in the east, then I think it's time for Riley to take control of the team he has put together and continue with his no-nonsense attitude. At least, we know this way that Walker wouldn't be hoisting up irrelevant and unmakeable threes and J. Williams would not be allowed to go 1-9 from the field without playing defense, when we have Payton as his backup.
I was quite shocked to see the Heat squander a six point lead late in the fourth quarter to the Bucks who got huge games from new addition Bobby Simmons and the starting back court of Ford and Redd. What I noticed though was that Zo wasn't in the game as the Bucks made their way back into the game at that time, with an 11-2 run. It is common knowledge that when you sustain a close lead nearing the end of the game, it's time to lock up on defense. Why was Zo not in the game as the Bucks made this comeback?
It's for this reason that I'm calling for Van-Gundy to be removed as the head coach. He doesn't know how to coach effectively and I've been saying this since his first year when he took Wade out at the end of the Heat's sixth play-off game against the Pacers, with two minutes left. How can a coach remove the best player on the floor at such a key time? And refused to bring him in as an option for the desperation three point attempt to tie the game, choosing to let Rafer Alston, who was 0-5 at the time, take the shot. He missed.
I've always questioned Van-Gundy's ability to coach a group of talented and championship worthy players with only three years experience as a coach. Last year, the heat got elimininated by the Pistons in game seven of the Eastern Conference finals, when he refused to get the ball to Shaq in the post, with Wade being seiously injured.
Now, fast forward to this season. Shaq is out for two-four weeks, but we have a backup bench that could be starting on many teams, so I wonder why we are losing to the Bucks in a game we clearly should have won. By the all-star break, if Miami doesn't stand at the top three positions in the east, then I think it's time for Riley to take control of the team he has put together and continue with his no-nonsense attitude. At least, we know this way that Walker wouldn't be hoisting up irrelevant and unmakeable threes and J. Williams would not be allowed to go 1-9 from the field without playing defense, when we have Payton as his backup.
Canes end Hokies hopes of national championship
The Miami Hurricanes were 4-0 in games played as underdogs since coach Coker took over the job, going into saturday's primetime game. So there should have been some indication that the 'Canes could pull off another upset, yet the Hokies garnered more attention than they deserved-thanks to Quarterback Marcus Vick.
I must admit I'm a little biased, being a 'Canes fan, but I never thought that the Hokies stood a chance against the Miami defense. I couldn't imagine Vick gaining a lot of yards against the Miami defense, with the likes of Meriweather, Phillips, Mcintosh, Nanton and both Williames( Leon and Willie.) Finally Coker played Willie on defense in parts of the game and the redshirt freshman proved what I'd been expecting of him as the predator. Infact, everyone required to play well in the game, did so. More plays were called for Senorice Moss and Greg Olsen, the best receivers on the team, and they didn't disappoint. Even Kirby Freeman who I think may be a better quarterback, with his ability to run the ball and throw effortlessly, filled in nicely for Wright, who was knocked out in the second quarter.
The only disappointments for 'Canes are the losses of running back Tyrone Moss who had been having a career year until he sustained a sprained knee(it looked much worse than that) and punt returner/receiver/running back Devin Hester whose constant nagging injury seems to have aggravated.
I did notice that the ESPN analysts were a little biased toward the Hokies and didn't want to accept that Miami was totally dominating the Hokies. I mean, even after sacking and stripping the ball from Vick-who finished the game with six turnovers- one of the analysts(and I'm not sure who it was exactly) said at the beginning of the fourth quarter that the real Marcus Vick was about to emerge; as if he had been sleeping through the first three quarters. I should point out that, he threw for his second interception of the night, few minutes after the comment.
The Hokies' defense, which was supposed to be compared to that of the 'Canes could hardly contain the Miami offense. Give credit to Freeman and back up tailback Charlie Jones who filled in nicely for the injured players. Darnell Jenkins did not fill in as nicely for Hester, but he was consistent throughout the game, including as a receiver scoring a nine yard touchdown in the third quarter, and did not cough up the ball at any time. Infact, besides the lone interception by Wright in the fourth quarter( which receiver Moore could have prevented,) the 'Canes did not have any turnovers.
It wasn't until the end of the game that credit was fully given to the 'Canes for rendering Vick his worst game of his career (8-22 passes for 90 yards.) Not to put all the blame on the junior quarterback, he hardly had any open receiver to throw to the whole night as Miami's defense locked each of them down, one-on-one. At the end of the game, I wondered who should be giving the player of the game and maybe the game ball and I couldn't figure out one player on that team who wasn't deserving of both.
I must admit I'm a little biased, being a 'Canes fan, but I never thought that the Hokies stood a chance against the Miami defense. I couldn't imagine Vick gaining a lot of yards against the Miami defense, with the likes of Meriweather, Phillips, Mcintosh, Nanton and both Williames( Leon and Willie.) Finally Coker played Willie on defense in parts of the game and the redshirt freshman proved what I'd been expecting of him as the predator. Infact, everyone required to play well in the game, did so. More plays were called for Senorice Moss and Greg Olsen, the best receivers on the team, and they didn't disappoint. Even Kirby Freeman who I think may be a better quarterback, with his ability to run the ball and throw effortlessly, filled in nicely for Wright, who was knocked out in the second quarter.
The only disappointments for 'Canes are the losses of running back Tyrone Moss who had been having a career year until he sustained a sprained knee(it looked much worse than that) and punt returner/receiver/running back Devin Hester whose constant nagging injury seems to have aggravated.
I did notice that the ESPN analysts were a little biased toward the Hokies and didn't want to accept that Miami was totally dominating the Hokies. I mean, even after sacking and stripping the ball from Vick-who finished the game with six turnovers- one of the analysts(and I'm not sure who it was exactly) said at the beginning of the fourth quarter that the real Marcus Vick was about to emerge; as if he had been sleeping through the first three quarters. I should point out that, he threw for his second interception of the night, few minutes after the comment.
The Hokies' defense, which was supposed to be compared to that of the 'Canes could hardly contain the Miami offense. Give credit to Freeman and back up tailback Charlie Jones who filled in nicely for the injured players. Darnell Jenkins did not fill in as nicely for Hester, but he was consistent throughout the game, including as a receiver scoring a nine yard touchdown in the third quarter, and did not cough up the ball at any time. Infact, besides the lone interception by Wright in the fourth quarter( which receiver Moore could have prevented,) the 'Canes did not have any turnovers.
It wasn't until the end of the game that credit was fully given to the 'Canes for rendering Vick his worst game of his career (8-22 passes for 90 yards.) Not to put all the blame on the junior quarterback, he hardly had any open receiver to throw to the whole night as Miami's defense locked each of them down, one-on-one. At the end of the game, I wondered who should be giving the player of the game and maybe the game ball and I couldn't figure out one player on that team who wasn't deserving of both.
Friday, November 04, 2005
Back From Hiatus-2
Ok, so the first attempt to return failed, but, hey like Grant Hill, I'm making another comeback attempt. This time I intend to succeed, especially since the NBA is one of my main areas of expertise.
Yesterday, I watched my team, the Miami Heat, lose a heartbreaker against the Indiana Pacers. It came down to a missed three point attempt by Dwayne Wade, which rolled in and then out. However, it may have been a different ball game if the Heat had converted on their absymal free-throw shooting percentage. The Heat went 27-42 from the free-throw line. That's hardly gonna cut it for any team. We expect Shaq to struggle from the line (even he went 6-8,) but Walker (1-4) and Zo (4-10,) have to work on their accuracy from the line.
The team falls to 1-1 for the year, but are more worried about Shaq's injury sustained in the fourth quarter, when he stepped on Artest's foot, rolling his ankle. The Heat cannot afford to lose Shaq for a long period and so early in the season.
In other news, the Lakers lost to the Suns in a game that exposed the Lakers mediocrity at many positions. The team lacks a strong defense and doesn't have a consistent offense besides Kobe and surprisingly Smush Parker. Odom has been tagged to handle the ball and create the offense, but he needs to score more for this team to even have a chance at the play-offs. Right now, I'm wondering the genius behind the Lakers draft selections.. Von-Wafer is in the developmental league and Bynum looks like a guy who's just learning how to play ball. I was also skeptical about the trade for Kwame Brown, who everyone has all but given up on, and the Lakers (and Brown) are proving my skepticism right.
My early prediction to meet in the Finals: Spurs and Heat.
Yesterday, I watched my team, the Miami Heat, lose a heartbreaker against the Indiana Pacers. It came down to a missed three point attempt by Dwayne Wade, which rolled in and then out. However, it may have been a different ball game if the Heat had converted on their absymal free-throw shooting percentage. The Heat went 27-42 from the free-throw line. That's hardly gonna cut it for any team. We expect Shaq to struggle from the line (even he went 6-8,) but Walker (1-4) and Zo (4-10,) have to work on their accuracy from the line.
The team falls to 1-1 for the year, but are more worried about Shaq's injury sustained in the fourth quarter, when he stepped on Artest's foot, rolling his ankle. The Heat cannot afford to lose Shaq for a long period and so early in the season.
In other news, the Lakers lost to the Suns in a game that exposed the Lakers mediocrity at many positions. The team lacks a strong defense and doesn't have a consistent offense besides Kobe and surprisingly Smush Parker. Odom has been tagged to handle the ball and create the offense, but he needs to score more for this team to even have a chance at the play-offs. Right now, I'm wondering the genius behind the Lakers draft selections.. Von-Wafer is in the developmental league and Bynum looks like a guy who's just learning how to play ball. I was also skeptical about the trade for Kwame Brown, who everyone has all but given up on, and the Lakers (and Brown) are proving my skepticism right.
My early prediction to meet in the Finals: Spurs and Heat.
