Saturday, March 11, 2006
Walk-a-less Heat!
It's become painfully obvious to anyone with eyes that the Heat are better off without Antoine Walker. What I don't understand is why Hall-of-fame coach Riley can't seem to notice it. Is there some incentive to keep playing Walker that we are not aware of? yesterday's loss to Golden state shows that the Heat are in no way ready to be championship contenders. J-Rich's 44 points, exposed their flawed defense and gave the Heat a rude awakening--you can't possibly expect to rally back repeatedly in the fourth quarter against teams, contenders or not.
As poorly as the team's defense was, it was painfully obvious that Walker made the difference in the game. He played only 16 minutes, but managed to cost the Heat the game in that amount of time. Every time he was in the game, the Heat turned the ball over more and averaged a -nine in point differential (or so it seemed.) It's time for Riley to reassess Walker's sole on the team(none) and think about playing rookie Wayne Simien more. Simien reminds me of Udonis Haslem a couple of years ago. Although he hasn't played much(thanks to Walker's useless contributions,) he's impressed me with his hustle mentality in the few games and garbage minutes he has. Riley also needs to consider starting any of the Anderson's-- Derrick or Shannon-- over Posey, since Posey has lacked consistency all year.
If the Heat want to have any chance of hoisting a championship banner and hosting a championship parade, two things have become painfully clear: step up your defense and bench Walker.
As poorly as the team's defense was, it was painfully obvious that Walker made the difference in the game. He played only 16 minutes, but managed to cost the Heat the game in that amount of time. Every time he was in the game, the Heat turned the ball over more and averaged a -nine in point differential (or so it seemed.) It's time for Riley to reassess Walker's sole on the team(none) and think about playing rookie Wayne Simien more. Simien reminds me of Udonis Haslem a couple of years ago. Although he hasn't played much(thanks to Walker's useless contributions,) he's impressed me with his hustle mentality in the few games and garbage minutes he has. Riley also needs to consider starting any of the Anderson's-- Derrick or Shannon-- over Posey, since Posey has lacked consistency all year.
If the Heat want to have any chance of hoisting a championship banner and hosting a championship parade, two things have become painfully clear: step up your defense and bench Walker.
