Miami Heat sucxors

[Stewburtx8 67]

Let's correct some things here:

1. Bird retired because his body broke down. He could not do it anymore. Larry Bird would have taken 4 other schmucks off the street and still thought that he could beat the Lakers. That was his personality.

 

 

 

Very true. Bird would of played until he was 45 probably if his body held up. He would of probably reinvented himself as a super role player that makes 3's and makes all the right passes.

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

Certainly his body was a large part of it. But he also didn't like traveling to cities with horrible teams and trying to get pumped up to play what was essentially a minor league team. Was it the only factor? Of course not. It was a contributing factor, hence the reason I said it was ONE of the reasons he retired.

 

And look, I love Bird. He and Magic are my two all time favorite players. Sitting behind me in my office is a limited edition print signed by both Magic and Bird. It's the only piece of sports memorabilia I own. So I know how good Bird was.

 

The second part of my comment was directed by some people at large not you.

 

Bird retired because of his back. That was it. Larry Bird did not have a hard time getting "pumped up" at all when he was healthy. He would have bets with the ballboy during warmups. The team lost when he didn't play because of his back the year before and he thought about coming back to play one more year, but he couldn't do it. Even on the Olympic (Dream) team, he could not even practice. Where exactly are you getting this information from?

 

He always hated traveling, regardless of who they were playing.

[Strike 4,051]

The second part of my comment was directed by some people at large not you.

 

Bird retired because of his back. That was it. Larry Bird did not have a hard time getting "pumped up" at all when he was healthy. He would have bets with the ballboy during warmups. The team lost when he didn't play because of his back the year before and he thought about coming back to play one more year, but he couldn't do it. Even on the Olympic (Dream) team, he could not even practice. Where exactly are you getting this information from?

 

He always hated traveling, regardless of who they were playing.

 

It's from memory. I read it in some articles back in like 1990 or whenever the fock he retired. Unfortunately, you can't find stuff that old on the 'net or I'd link it for you. But is it really worth arguing over?

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

It's from memory. I read it in some articles back in like 1990 or whenever the fock he retired. Unfortunately, you can't find stuff that old on the 'net or I'd link it for you. But is it really worth arguing over?

 

I am not arguing. I was wondering where you were getting your info from. If it is from your memory, then I have my answer.

[cyclone24 1,819]

The douchebaggery of comments on this thread is epic.

[Mike Honcho 4,089]

It's from memory. I read it in some articles back in like 1990 or whenever the fock he retired. Unfortunately, you can't find stuff that old on the 'net or I'd link it for you. But is it really worth arguing over?

 

Yeah, that's the reason, cause it's not been archived..not cause it's something YOU COULD POSSIBLY BE MISTAKEN ABOUT....

[Strike 4,051]

Yeah, that's the reason, cause it's not been archived..not cause it's something YOU COULD POSSIBLY BE MISTAKEN ABOUT....

 

Who the fock are you? But, as usual, I'm not wrong:

 

Larry Bird always plays hard, but unfortunately, he won`t be playing much longer. His plan is to retire after a couple more seasons at age 33, and not because it isn`t fun anymore or because he isn`t making opponents miserable. It`s because the former Hoosier hick from French Lick has seen the big picture, and here again, he`s on top of the world while backed into a corner. ``Ain`t the game itself that I want to leave,`` Bird said. ``That`s what it`s all about, those 48 minutes. It`s the other stuff, the politics, the players who don`t play hard every night. That`s why I like to play the Lakers. The challenge, because you know they`re gonna be out there every night to win. I love the league, but it`s gotten so huge, and it`s gonna get worse with the expansion. You`ll see more players who don`t want to give everything every night, more players who can`t.

 

``More teams wanting to just go to the free throw line all night. More owners wanting the playoffs to go longer and longer. I love the commissioner

 

(David Stern). I think he`s done a great job for the league. Look where we are compared with where we were 10 years ago. But his hands are tied. There are more owners wanting to fill their pockets, not that I don`t side with them sometimes. There are also more players who make the big check but don`t always play hard. I`m sure it goes on in other sports, but I can`t see it as well. I`m not in other sports. There`s nights our intensity level isn`t what it could be, and I hope our guys know who`s gonna let `em know about it.``

 

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-01-14/sports/8803220312_1_basket-practice-boston-garden

[IGotWorms 3,387]

The douchebaggery of comments on this thread is epic.

 

Strike has that effect on every thread he posts in

[Strike 4,051]

Strike has that effect on every thread he posts in

 

You just hate getting abused over and over don't you?

 

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

Who the fock are you? But, as usual, I'm not wrong:

 

 

 

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-01-14/sports/8803220312_1_basket-practice-boston-garden

 

That article was from 5 years BEFORE Bird retired (1988).

[Strike 4,051]

That article was from 5 years BEFORE Bird retired (1988).

 

Four. I looked through 17 pages of links to find that one. I'm done with that. But I remember Bird saying it over and over as he approached retirement. Not that it was THE reason, but certainly it was a factor. And that article shows it was something he thought about. But whatever.

[NewbieJr 541]

Four. I looked through 17 pages of links to find that one. I'm done with that. But I remember Bird saying it over and over as he approached retirement. Not that it was THE reason, but certainly it was a factor. And that article shows it was something he thought about. But whatever.

You're not faring so well here, son.

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

Four. I looked through 17 pages of links to find that one. I'm done with that. But I remember Bird saying it over and over as he approached retirement. Not that it was THE reason, but certainly it was a factor. And that article shows it was something he thought about. But whatever.

 

So, he mentions that players were not really playing 4 years before he hangs it up due to a bad back (the guy had trouble walking) and you think that it is contributory. Gotcha.

[Mike Honcho 4,089]

That article was from 5 years BEFORE Bird retired (1988).

 

Four. I looked through 17 pages of links to find that one. I'm done with that. But I remember Bird saying it over and over as he approached retirement. Not that it was THE reason, but certainly it was a factor. And that article shows it was something he thought about. But whatever.

 

Talk about fetching....

 

 

So, he mentions that players were not really playing 4 years before he hangs it up due to a bad back (the guy had trouble walking) and you think that it is contributory. Gotcha.

 

 

Larry's retirement press conference: @4:40 "I would of liked to play a little bit longer, maybe a year or two more, but there was no way possible I was going to be able to do that"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98wnDbYI3yg

 

[Strike 4,051]

So, he mentions that players were not really playing 4 years before he hangs it up due to a bad back (the guy had trouble walking) and you think that it is contributory. Gotcha.

 

You know, you were never one of the people around here who I thought either purposely mischaracterized a post or had a reading comprehension problem. Maybe I was wrong. Still not sure but clearly you aren't referring to my previous post with this response.

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

You know, you were never one of the people around here who I thought either purposely mischaracterized a post or had a reading comprehension problem. Maybe I was wrong. Still not sure but clearly you aren't referring to my previous post with this response.

 

I am not sure who you are confusing me with, but if I think that you are full of shiot on a subject, I am going to say it.

 

On this one, I think that you are full of shiot.

[Mike Honcho 4,089]

Who the fock are you? But, as usual, I'm not wrong: I've convinced myself I'm right.

 

 

 

http://articles.chic...e-boston-garden

 

Whatever floats your boat, chief.

[Stewburtx8 67]

Dwyane Wade has been a top 5 player in the NBA since about 2005 (except for the one year he missed about 30 games). If people want to say he wasn't a top 5 player this season because he missed 17 games, that's understandable. But in the 49 games he did play, I can't think of 5 guys I'd take over Wade, and that has nothing to do with him finally showing up yesterday. To me, he's the best 2 guard in the NBA, and one of the best two way players in the NBA in general.

 

 

What this guy said. But on a more serious note, Lebron and Wade are playing at a ridiculously high level right now. But they need Chris Bosh back to have ANY shot against the Spurs or Thunder. I hope the Thunder find a way to win it all because I've been a Kevin Durant fan since he was at Texas. But beating the Spurs right now is going to be very difficult for any team.

[KSB2424 3,086]

bump

[drobeski 3,061]

Wwfba

[cbfalcon 824]

bump

 

I haven't needed to watch a basketball game since seeing my happiest sports memory occurred on Sunday, June 12, 2011. Since then, the motto has been "Got Championship. Beat Evil. Don't care"

 

[Mike Honcho 4,089]

Overrated

[cbfalcon 824]

I was rooting for them bigtime. I always want to see historic greatness. That was about as tense as I've been watching a non Mavericks game in many years. As a sports fan, it was a lot of fun.

 

In general, they've been good for sports overall. Normally I could care less about non-Mavs basketball. But I had fun rooting for Ok City in the Finals last season, rooting for this streak, and I will be rooting my ass off for The Thunder or Spurs to beat them in the Finals this year. Whereas otherwise I may not actively watch.

[KSB2424 3,086]

Overrated

[KSB2424 3,086]

I was rooting for them bigtime. I always want to see historic greatness. That was about as tense as I've been watching a non Mavericks game in many years. As a sports fan, it was a lot of fun.

 

In general, they've been good for sports overall. Normally I could care less about non-Mavs basketball. But I had fun rooting for Ok City in the Finals last season, rooting for this streak, and I will be rooting my ass off for The Thunder or Spurs to beat them in the Finals this year. Whereas otherwise I may not actively watch.

The Heat's win streak really made the last month or so fun to pay attention to the NBA, when it could've been rather dull. Plus it is always cool to see historic greatness happen in real time. And the game last night had a playoff feel to it, pretty cool for a NBA game in March.

 

If I'm a big time Miami Heat fan though, I'm sort of happy the streak is over. The ultimate goal is another Championship and now the added pressure night in and night out is gone. I actually think that's a good thing. Now they can get back to focusing on the playoffs and getting healthy and ready for that.

[cbfalcon 824]

The Heat's win streak really made the last month or so fun to pay attention to the NBA, when it could've been rather dull. Plus it is always cool to see historic greatness happen in real time. And the game last night had a playoff feel to it, pretty cool for a NBA game in March.

 

If I'm a big time Miami Heat fan though, I'm sort of happy the streak is over. The ultimate goal is another Championship and now the added pressure night in and night out is gone. I actually think that's a good thing. Now they can get back to focusing on the playoffs and getting healthy and ready for that.

 

Nope. It's not a good thing at all.

 

Win back to back titles, and you are one of the top 25 teams in NBA history. Win 3-5 titles and you are top 10. But mix in a record like the winning streak with 2-3 titles, and you are legendary. This was there chance to go down in history with the all time greats....Sure they can still do it, but now it'll take 4-5 more titles, which is highly unlikely in this salary cap era as they may be broken up after next season, as oppose to simply winning 7 more games and the title this year.

[Mungwater 588]

If the heat don't learn to rebound, it's going to be difficult to beat teams with big men who can score and rebound. Fortunately for them, there aren't many of those in the league

[cbfalcon 824]

If the heat don't learn to rebound, it's going to be difficult to beat teams with big men who can score and rebound. Fortunately for them, there aren't many of those in the league

 

I think they'll be just fine. I'd be completely shocked if they don't win this title. If they could do something like fo-fo-fo-fo, it would put them in the conversation amongst the legends. I wouldn't be shocked at all with something like a 16-3 playoff run.

[KSB2424 3,086]

Nope. It's not a good thing at all.

Obviously I was pulling for them to win last night; I'm merely pointing out the silver lining.

[KSB2424 3,086]

If the heat don't learn to rebound, it's going to be difficult to beat teams with big men who can score and rebound. Fortunately for them, there aren't many of those in the league

This begats a larger question. What in the world happended to the Center postion in not only the NBA, but all of basketball (college too)?

 

There are only like a handful of legit centers in the whole world it seems.

[cbfalcon 824]

I'll edit my previous post to say that they can win a title this year and it'll be a top 15 run. But had they mixed in the win streak record, it would have put them in the conversation amongst the most legendary teams of all time.

 

And considering the cheating/collusion/wussing out to form this superteam, the bar is higher.

[Mungwater 588]

This begats a larger question. What in the world happended to the Center postion in not only the NBA, but all of basketball (college too)?

 

There are only like a handful of legit centers in the whole world it seems.

 

I don't know, maybe being a center isn't "sexy" to the younger kids playing now, they all want to be a dirk or something.

 

That's why even broke down Greg oden is probably going to get a contract with somebody next year

[Bishop82 61]

DAAAAA BULLS!

 

 

:Polish Sausage:

:Ditka:

[Cruzer 1,993]

Thank gawd da Bulls put a stop to this ass clown circus.

 

 

[KSB2424 3,086]

Thank gawd da Bulls put a stop to this ass clown circus.

[Cruzer 1,993]

[The Moz 69]

Thank gawd da Bulls put a stop to this ass clown circus.

 

 

Rose just needs to announce he is sitting out the rest of the year like the pvssy he is.

[KSB2424 3,086]

Thank gawd da Bulls put a stop to this ass clown circus.

Exactly which team was putting on a clown show?

 

Before the game, Bulls Coach Tom Thibodeau predicted a "cage match."

 

Physicality, in other words, would be Chicago's solution to Miami's big, strong and super-quick LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, who tend to make layup after layup. Good solid defense doesn't cut it against those two. The recipe? When they get a step on their defenders, when layups and dunks look likely ... tackle them, hit them, bring them down out of the sky.

 

It started a few minutes into the game, when an eager Kirk Hinrich, despite having perfect defensive position, crashed into an open-court James rather than attempt to strip the ball, draw the charge or contest at the rim. Minutes later Hinrich was directly in James' path, in position to draw a charge or try to poke the ball away. His move? A bear hug that ended with his own head whacking the floor hard.

 

Moments later, James was zeroing in on a reverse layup or dunk, and the Bulls' Taj Gibson -- in no position to touch the ball -- swung hard and connected with his hand directly to James' head. Instead of dunking, James ended up on the floor, checking his teeth. And that was just the first quarter.

 

Why, again, is this fun to watch?

 

Although the Heat have sent the league video of hard fouls on James and Wade, with particular emphasis on hits to the head, players like James seldom admit such things affect them -- even as a growing body of data suggests the best players put off driving when they don't feel they have to.

 

Two weeks ago James denied hard fouls affected his thinking, saying after a win in Philadelphia: "I'm a football player. I'm good. I can't worry about what may happen. I live in the moment. I'm an attack guy. I'm an attack player. I don't really make my mark on the perimeter."

 

But after the loss to the Bulls, James was more frank, telling ESPN.com's Michael Wallace: "A lot of my fouls are not basketball plays. First of all, Kirk Hinrich in the first quarter basically grabbed me with two hands and brought me to the ground. The last one, Taj Gibson was able to collar me around my shoulder and bring me to the ground. Those are not defensive ... those are not basketball plays."

 

In an era when the NBA is watching closely to reduce concussions and head injuries, James was obviously hit hard in the head by Gibson twice, and also endured an open-court collaring that was initially ruled a flagrant. James' head also was struck once by a driving Nate Robinson, and for good measure, again as a parting gift from a Bulls fan as James made his way, after the loss, to the locker room. Wade also was sent sprawling to the floor spectacularly and regularly.

 

On ESPN, Bill Simmons called Wednesday night's Bulls win over the Heat the most important regular-season game since the 1990s. The winning strategy was from the 1990s, too. It's called Tackle Basketball.

 

It's not an accident. It's strategy that works because of a loophole in the NBA's rules.

 

Stu Jackson is the NBA vice president of basketball operations, the man responsible for keeping those rules dialed in correctly. He's frank that he hates how the famously rough Knicks played back in the day, and touts rule changes as having made the game much more pleasing, and about artistry. Jackson says "that what keeps us up at night" in his department is the fear that the game would return to the artless way it was played in the 1990s.

 

I wonder how Jackson and crew slept last night.

 

This is not about babying James or anybody else. This is about the league encouraging the best possible version of the game, the one that works best for players and fans. Would you rather see James dunk, or get hit in the head? Would you rather see Hinrich meet James in the air, or in a bear hug?

 

This is ultimately about answering this question: What is basketball, and is tackling part of it?

 

The walls of my office are covered in hoops books. Some are of the “how to play” variety. I just took a stack of them -- by everyone from Walt Frazier to John Wooden -- over to a comfortable seat and spent an hour reading up on how the experts say good defense ought to be played.

 

They talk about footwork and brains. They talk about keeping your torso between your man and the basket, staying on the balls of your feet, knees bent, hands up and mind alert. They talk about staying on the ground for fakes and talking to teammates. They also talk about many layers of thought: tracking both the ball and your man, memorizing the tendencies of every player on the court, knowing who likes to go left, who telegraphs passes, who never passes, whom you should never leave open.

 

It’s the art and science of basketball, in a shape-shifting formula of movement, work ethic, preparation, smarts, muscle and know-how, all working toward the common goal: Making sure you don’t get beat.

 

But in the NBA in 2013, even if you do get beat ... defenses have one move left, and it’s not described in books.

 

The move goes like this: That guy with the ball? Clobber him. The harder the better.

 

It happens in every game, every night.

 

We tell ourselves fouls are mistakes, a surplus of effort or grit from players going a bit too hard trying to play the kind of defense described in those books. And some fouls are like that.

 

Other times it’s a lot less nuanced. Other times it has nothing to do with basketball. Instead, it’s the opposite of sportsmanship.

 

Many of the players doing this are among the nicest in sports. They are neither imbalanced, deranged nor in need of help.

 

So why would generally even-keeled men endanger their colleagues by making what should be the game’s prettiest plays -- flashy finishes at the rim -- into the ugly kind of basketball that is proven to turn off casual fans?

 

They’re doing it because it works. The fact of the matter is that, because of a flaw in the NBA rulebook that’s only truly becoming clear, it’s almost always better for NBA teams to foul really hard than give up a layup or dunk. The cost of the hard foul is a pittance compared to the benefits. They don't just stop fantastic baskets, they also make potent scorers think twice about driving at all. Everyone on the court knows a couple of free throws is a bargain for all that.

 

That’s why these days very hard foulers are getting high-fives from teammates and pats on the backs from coaches; they are helping their team win on a technicality.

 

And it’s going to keep happening until the league does something about it

 

My link

[Cruzer 1,993]

LaFraud whining about not getting calls? The same LaFraud who along with his sidekick Doosh Wade were mocking and making fun of Dirk when he was sick? Oh I'm so sorry your majesty, let me cry you a river.

[KSB2424 3,086]

LaFraud whining about not getting calls? The same LaFraud who along with his sidekick Doosh Wade were mocking and making fun of Dirk when he was sick? Oh I'm so sorry your majesty, let me cry you a river.

LeBron didn't write that article an NBA reporter did.

 

Actually if you read it you would've seen where it says that LeBron, even after being asked constantly about hard fouls, rarely talks about it and normally brushes the questions off.