who cares about the big names heat are looking like a good team pistons r still a good team they'll meet in the conference finals again no doubt who will win? i don kno Regardless of the heat adding big names i think its a fair matchup all i really want is heat fans to man up and say that we were the better team this year <font size="1"><font color="Red">- Please use proper punctuation next time, thank you. ~ Banks</font></font>
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting N4S:</div><div class="quote_post">Hey man. News is news. Right? When ever I find it no matter what team I try and be the 1st who posts it. I've been doing it for over a year now. If Finely signs with the Heat, Suns, etc. I will try and post that too. If Rasheed gets injured or gets bad mouthed by the media in an article, I post that as well.</div> No thanks
Heat's problem is the fact that the guys they have brought in apart from Posey need the ball to be effective. They bring nothing to the table unless they have the ball in their hands. Which makes me wonder If the Heat will be better or worse than last year. The good thing about the Heat last year was everyone knew who the man two guys were and everyone else knew their roles and filled them well. They also had other guys who could defend. Now the Heat add J-will and Tonie two horrible defenders who aren't spot up shooters. They are both considered chuckers who need the ball to be effective. Basically when you look at Tonie in Dallas. he took shots away from Dirk, Nash and Finley when he could still create his own shot. That proved to be a bad thing and by mid-season every Dallas fan hated Walker's guts. It won't be long until that is the case in Miami. The Heat have also lost Kenyon Dooling a decent enough back-up, Eddie Jones a good shooter and their best defender and Damon Jones one of the guys who was the key behind the Heat's success and the main guy who knew exactly what his role on the Heat truely was. So yes the Heat added TALENT but they also lost some key pieces from last years team.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting playmaker14:</div><div class="quote_post">a lil rat? lol u make me laugh man. Yea the mods shud warn u for dissin the heat every chance u get. it was good cuz it dised the heat right? u shud be sorry for posting an article like that.</div> Hey i bet if this article was about the Pistons, N4S would post it too. You just have a problem that an article is talking negative about the Heat. I know you don't like it because the writer is saying negative things about your favorite team. It's not like N4S wrote it, so you shouldn't attack him. He is just posting news. If you have problems with the article you should talk to the writer, Sean Deveney.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Skriptz:</div><div class="quote_post">who cares about the big names heat are looking like a good team pistons r still a good team they'll meet in the conference finals again no doubt who will win? i don kno Regardless of the heat adding big names i think its a fair matchup all i really want is heat fans to man up and say that we were the better team this year <font size="1"><font color="Red">- Please use proper punctuation next time, thank you. ~ Banks</font></font></div> You weren't the better team, you were the healthier team. And you know that. If Wade didnt get hurt in game five, your team would not of made the Finals.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting pb1300:</div><div class="quote_post">You weren't the better team, you were the healthier team. And you know that. If Wade didnt get hurt in game five, your team would not of made the Finals.</div> Having a quailty team is all about keeping yourself from getting hurt and keeping yourself in the best possible shape. Pistons had the guys who aren't injury prone. It's all part of the game. Players are always hurt come playoff time and through play It. Last time I checked Wade scored 20 in game 7, Shaq didn't do badly either. You act as If they didn't suit up. Bringing up the injury excuse is weak. Every team in the NBA can blame It on injures but the fact is these guys are pro's and It's up to them to prevent themselves from being in a situation of getting hurt. The team'/s who stay healthy are the ones who normally win the title. Difference in last years playoffs was the Pistons were the more experienced and tougher team. The Heat needed heartbreak before they can make that next step. Wether they win this year is another matter. Having experience in the playoffs is key. I don't remember a team without It winning a title straight away.
Injuries are part of the game. I mean, you can always keep on going on about "what if Minnesota had a healthy Cassell and Hudson last last year" or "what if Karl Malone was healthy in the finals", etc. Then nothing would be valid. The fact is, it is part of the game. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> Pistons had the guys who aren't injury prone.</div> Are you implying that GMs choose by how injury prone people are? Certainly in some cases yes, but a lot of times it isn't that obvious how injury prone someone is. Well, Karl Malone CERTAINLY wasn't INJURY PRONE until last last year though, huh? Yes, there was age, but I bet the Lakers weren't think Karl Malone was in a risk of getting injuries when making that decision. Oh, and McDyess? Wasn't he an injury MACHINE? Why did the Pistons sign this oft-injured guy? See that logic doesn't always work. You never really know when injuries could happen. Anyhow, I have no idea how this experiment will turn out, but I have faith in Shaq and that he will make them better. (As for Ric Bucher's argument that Shaq has lost his leadership skills, he writes Yao's book, and then right after writing that Stan Van Gundy article he writes a rumor about Yao's upper body strength improving...jeesh, I can clearly see the bias here. Plus, the Lakers were torn with leadership, I don't think the Heat are.)
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AllNet:</div><div class="quote_post">Having a quailty team is all about keeping yourself from getting hurt and keeping yourself in the best possible shape. Pistons had the guys who aren't injury prone. It's all part of the game. Players are always hurt come playoff time and through play It. Last time I checked Wade scored 20 in game 7, Shaq didn't do badly either. You act as If they didn't suit up. Bringing up the injury excuse is weak. Every team in the NBA can blame It on injures but the fact is these guys are pro's and It's up to them to prevent themselves from being in a situation of getting hurt. The team'/s who stay healthy are the ones who normally win the title. Difference in last years playoffs was the Pistons were the more experienced and tougher team. The Heat needed heartbreak before they can make that next step. Wether they win this year is another matter. Having experience in the playoffs is key. I don't remember a team without It winning a title straight away.</div> Accidents happen without knowing. Noone wants to get hurt. Otherwise, my dictionary would have had a different definition for "accident" like "something that hurt people but you can always stop it when it happens"
Obviously no one want to get hurt but guys who have a history of getting hurt they normally do. Mainly Wade due to the way he plays. His mind set is attack, attack, attack which is certainly not a bad thing but It can cause injury problems as his first two years proved. He won't change the way he plays so him getting hurt is always possible. Bottom line is this, what happened last year is over. As far as I'm concerned the only team who have anything to brag about are the NBA champions. Which is the Spurs. Everyone is back from that team that won it all and a recently added Oberto. On paper the Heat look very strong but on paper doesn't win championships. Chemistry, team-work and defense does. There are 3 legit contenders in the eastern conference, so I don't see predicting the east winner to be very easy at all. In fact I expect this to be the most unpredictable season for the east for quite a long time.
OK OK OK...Enough Pistons Bashing Heat fans already. I'm a Laker fan lol, so I really don't care either way. Personally I have no idea how the heat are going to be this season...I think if they mesh well and play team ball they will be unstoppable, they have both offense and Defense...If they share the ball and play team defense they will shoot, slash, slam there way to a championship. The flipside however- Antoine "Ima heave it from 40" Walker can't seem to understand he's not the go-to-guy on any team, and this could cause problems for the heat. Once he starts complaining, Jason Williams will start complaining, Shaq will start calling people out because of the complaining while not so subtly saying HE should have the ball more. Dwayne wade is the only guy in this bunch that is classy enough to keep his mouth shut. Basically, we've seen this storyboard before...only on larger proportions. Lakers 03-04 were STACKED with 4 Hall of famers, that at one point in their careers had been in the top 3 at their position of All time. At the Center (no pun intended) of all that was your BELOVED Shaquille O'Neal. We all know how that one played out as they fell to your HATED Pistons in 5. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Once again I'm a Lakers fan and really don't like the Pistons or the Heat. Just some food for thought...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Dob05:</div><div class="quote_post">pistons fans are shook</div> Pistons fans should be shaking. They're the most classless fans it the history of sports. In fact the city has no class either. That's why a fire was started there after they lost to the Spurs. It's their fault the brawl started, not Ron Artest's. You just don't repeatedly gang up on somebody like that. After that November 19th episode, they should have had their rings taken away from them and given to people with more class like Payton and Malone. Also, couldn't they have waited until the 2004 offseason to recruit that POS Rasheed Wallace? He was gonna be a free agent; he wouldn't have remained in Atlanta!!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting PlaTsanity:</div><div class="quote_post">maaaan lol dont hate cuz the Heat are gonna sweep ur team what are the pistons nyways? lol </div> They are only back to back eastern conference champions and a team that won the title two years ago and were very close from repeating this past season. So yeah nothing speical
injuries <div class="quote_poster">Quoting AllNet:</div><div class="quote_post">They are only back to back eastern conference champions and a team that won the title two years ago and were very close from repeating this past season. So yeah nothing speical </div> The last two years Detroit has taken advantage of injuries (Wade and Malone). They scored points in 2004 that they wouldn't have scored if Malone were healthy, and in Games 6 and 7 in June they got countless stops that they wouldn't have gotten if Wade had been healthy. Now they don't even have Larry Brown to get them out of rough situations they'll come across in games. One of their starters is gonna get hurt this year at a crucial time, and then those punks will see how it feels when a better team like Miami takes advantage of them missing an important piece. The Knicks and Pistons will both lose in the Eastern Semis in May; New York because they have Larry Brown, Detroit because they don't!! Great decision Mr. "Executive of the Year" Dumars.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Payton</div> He talks trash 24/7. Yea he really does have a lot of class.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting NbaBaller:</div><div class="quote_post">He talks trash 24/7. Yea he really does have a lot of class.</div> Gary Payton could possibly join the Heat as the main backup guard. We could use him as a defender against Tony Parker next June (and against anyone else J-Will might have trouble guarding). I wish Malone had signed with the Spurs instead of retiring; He would have gotten his ring. But Gary Payton has 3-4 years left as a reserve, and I hope he wins one. He's had a stellar career and DESERVES it!!
What I was wondering was why the article mentioned Cleveland. Lebron is nice and all, but they have a lot to prove before people start saying Miami has to worry about getting past Cleveland. I think New Jersey even though they didn't get Shareef will be better than Cleveland, they have a great player in Kidd, a guy that can be a great player when he wants in Carter, and a very good player in Jefferson. They also added some pieces, have a rookie that is improving, and had 2 guys and scrubs carry them to the playoffs last season. I'm not sold on Detroit anymore with Brown gone. Flip likes scoring PG's, which means Billups will become more of a scorer on the team, and I just don't see them being the same team this coming season. Indiana are the ones I think anyone and everyone should be afraid of. Reggie was a bigger part of their success than people realized, but they added a lot of good pieces. Javisevikius, Granger, the return of Artest, and also a healthy Tinsley will be huge for them. They will likely be the best team in the regular season, and possibly in the Finals. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Mainly Wade due to the way he plays. His mind set is attack, attack, attack which is certainly not a bad thing but It can cause injury problems as his first two years proved. He won't change the way he plays so him getting hurt is always possible.</div> While Wade did miss a lot of games as a rookie, he played 77 games in the regular season, and missed only 5 games, that's not too bad for him always being on attack mode. I think he will be fine, the only guy anyone should be afriad of getting injured is Shaq, but the team will rest him through most of the season anyways. Miami has the talent to do well in the regular season anyways, so it's how they perform in the playoffs that will really matter. Jason Williams IMO will not be a problem, he's a playmaker, and he doesn't need the ball in his hands as a scorer, he's a setup guy, he's just been know for erratic play before, and has a little attitude. Antione Walker is still a guy I'm not high on, but on Dallas, he only took 13.8 shots a game in 34.6 MPG. and last season on the Celtics, 15.2 shots a game in 34.6 MPG. In Miami he should get about 12-13 shots a game in 30 MPG, which won't intefere with the main guys on the team, that's only 2-3 more shots per game than EJ was taking. If he can tone down his shots, play hard, and put up defensive effort for the Celtics, I think he can do the same for the Heat. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Heat have also lost Kenyon Dooling a decent enough back-up, Eddie Jones a good shooter and their best defender and Damon Jones one of the guys who was the key behind the Heat's success and the main guy who knew exactly what his role on the Heat truely was.</div> I don't think Dooling is much of a loss. His outside shot wasn't on for the Heat most of the year [though it came back in the playoffs], and he took too long to set up the offense, and was too erratic. He was also not much of a playmaker, which he hasn't been his whole career anyways. The Heat can get a replacement for him, a guy the caliber of a Rick Brunson can give them similar production at the backup PG spot.
true <div class="quote_poster">Quoting og15:</div><div class="quote_post">What I was wondering was why the article mentioned Cleveland. Lebron is nice and all, but they have a lot to prove before people start saying Miami has to worry about getting past Cleveland. I think New Jersey even though they didn't get Shareef will be better than Cleveland, they have a great player in Kidd, a guy that can be a great player when he wants in Carter, and a very good player in Jefferson. They also added some pieces, have a rookie that is improving, and had 2 guys and scrubs carry them to the playoffs last season. I'm not sold on Detroit anymore with Brown gone. Flip likes scoring PG's, which means Billups will become more of a scorer on the team, and I just don't see them being the same team this coming season. Indiana are the ones I think anyone and everyone should be afraid of. Reggie was a bigger part of their success than people realized, but they added a lot of good pieces. Javisevikius, Granger, the return of Artest, and also a healthy Tinsley will be huge for them. They will likely be the best team in the regular season, and possibly in the Finals. While Wade did miss a lot of games as a rookie, he played 77 games in the regular season, and missed only 5 games, that's not too bad for him always being on attack mode. I think he will be fine, the only guy anyone should be afriad of getting injured is Shaq, but the team will rest him through most of the season anyways. Miami has the talent to do well in the regular season anyways, so it's how they perform in the playoffs that will really matter. Jason Williams IMO will not be a problem, he's a playmaker, and he doesn't need the ball in his hands as a scorer, he's a setup guy, he's just been know for erratic play before, and has a little attitude. Antione Walker is still a guy I'm not high on, but on Dallas, he only took 13.8 shots a game in 34.6 MPG. and last season on the Celtics, 15.2 shots a game in 34.6 MPG. In Miami he should get about 12-13 shots a game in 30 MPG, which won't intefere with the main guys on the team, that's only 2-3 more shots per game than EJ was taking. If he can tone down his shots, play hard, and put up defensive effort for the Celtics, I think he can do the same for the Heat. </div> I agree with everything you're saying, except one. The Pacers may be in the ECF against Miami, but they won't have Reggie to win close games in the series. Because of that they will ultimately lose to the Heat.
