Manns Medium

An article from and Unknown Author and Publication reports that “LeBron James is opting out of his contract in part to threaten Pat Riley and the Miami Heat — “you need to upgrade this roster or else.  But that’s the thing about a threat; you can’t make it unless you are willing to follow through. You have to mean the “or else” part.  Does LeBron really mean it?  Maybe. Starting July 1 he is a free agent and you can bet 30 teams will make some kind of move to see if there is interest, but only a few have a real chance.”   It further reports that in order to get that upgrade “LeBron was threatening Pat Riley to upgrade but there is another key thing LeBron knows — Pat Riley couldn't upgrade unless he, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh all opted out and made a financial sacrifice. For example, if LeBron and Bosh take $17-$18 million a year and Pat Riley can convince the aging Wade that he will get more money long term if he signs ...

Firm yet fair, has anyone else ever heard of this?   How about, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander?   Nothing fuels hostilities more than officials being seen as favoring one team over another.   Many will point to several instances where the Miami Heat has gotten some pretty favorable calls in their history but that is not the whole story. According to The Sports Xchange in their article titled Heat's Haslem suspended for 1 game, Pittman for 3 it is reported that “the NBA has suspended Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem for one game and Heat forward Dexter Pittman for three games for their retaliatory flagrant fouls in Tuesday's Game 5 of their series against the Indiana Pacers.    Haslem hit Hansbrough across the face and shoulder with both arms in the second quarter of the Heat's 115-83 victory and the 6-11 Pittman leveled Pacers guard Lance Stephenson with an elbow in the final minute of the game.”    But the one thing that was qu...

It became apparent in Game 5 that the Miami Heat was lacking something.   It was not the “killer instinct” that many experts talked about nor was it impressive scoring from LeBron James in the 4 th quarter that everyone else likes to point the finger at.   What the Miami Heat was lacking was the reserve tank required to win an NBA Championship.   The Dallas Mavericks did not have it when they first attempted to win the title but this series, it was on total display. You heard the Heat players and some of the coaches always referenced how they played during the regular season and that in itself was the problem.   How a team performs during the regular season is not how they should perform during the playoffs.   Each playoff game needs to show something different in a team, a bench guy who suddenly comes to age but doesn’t start the next game.   An aging player coming off the bench who has not seen much game time but is only needed for a few minutes at t...

It’s time to face facts, the Miami Heat has been playing lately like they did during the season and while it may have served them well during that time, but this is no longer the regular season.  The difference between regular season games and the playoffs is the players, coaches and staff needs to up their game.  The last five games against the Dallas Mavericks have made that abundantly clear.  Dallas has raised theirs but Miami hasn’t.  As a strong Miami Heat fan, it pains me to say this but maybe Rome was not built in a day and the Miami Heat needs to go all the way only to lose this series.  It is my wish that they win the final two games in Miami but last night made me see some things I had never seen before.  I am by no means an expert in the field of basketball but I am also not blind. The Heat lost Game 4 not because of them not having heart or wanting that game as much as the Mavericks but because of two simple things.  The first was not bein...

After watching the first two games of this series, I often had to check myself to make sure that I was watching the same two teams yesterday.   Miami stepped on the floor and as soon after tipoff became a team of novice 1 st year players mired in mud.   Their shot selection and even fear of taking the shot was so evident.   Chris Bosch was more a uniformed players running up and down the court with one-eye than he was relevant.   They played like they had been paid by the National Basketball Association (NBA) to lose the game in order for them to make bigger revenue on extending the series than a team looking to advance. The article by Jimmy Golen of the Associated Press titled Rondo returns and helps Celtics beat Heat 97-81 puts it best “Miami led 46-44 at the half, but the Celtics scored nine of the first 10 points, capped by Rondo's first basket of the game, a driving layup with 3 minutes gone in the third that gave Boston a 53-47 lead. In all, the Celtics s...

While I am a big fan of LeBron James, I can still not accept sloppy play.   The game is a full four quarters and if players wish to cruse then they should make sure that they are thirty plus points ahead with less than two minutes left in the game. On TNT tonight it was the first of two games featuring the Miami Heat against the Orlando magic in Orlando.   When the game started it looked as if both teams were still getting to the arena long after the game had started.   It was a rough going for all of them except LeBron.   I was quite happy to see him get hot and stay hot until he got his points before he started to really get the others involved.   The Magic was no joke tonight as well but they still had a hard time finding their three pointers and short range jumpers until after the first half. Miami took the lead at the beginning of the game and never relinquished it.   This was something to watch until time winded down past the two minute mark in the ...