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 ...

2014 NBA Championship Poem Now the stage is set And the time draws near, The NBA Championship Is almost here. The San Antonio Spurs Are going for five, And since they been here before, Expect their crowd to be live. But mistake free ball Is what they must play Otherwise the Miami Heat Will end their day. They have planned all year King James and the crew To taking the crown This is not new. So we gather together, One and all To watch this great battle Knowing one must fall. The Spurs or the Heat So who will it be? We’ll just have to take our seats And wait to see. Ronnie Manns 6/1/14

When I was discharged from the Marines and moved to Illinois, I wasn’t really following basketball.   Then I began to see the Chicago Bulls with Michael Jordan, Scotty Pippen and Dennis Rodman play that game in such a way that made it hard to turn away.   I began to learn more and more about this game and see things that I did not pay attention to earlier.   I discovered that Phil Jackson was more of a guru than anyone had ever thought. The Chicago Bulls is not as entertaining as they once were and I have found myself searching for that one inspiring team that would hold my attention as the Bulls once did.   I thought I had found it in the Miami Heat with LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh but I can see very clearly that they are missing one very important ingredient and it is not a player on the floor.   It’s another Phil Jackson. I, like most sport fans, tend to get overly involved with the game and try to coach from the couch.   I had alwa...

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...

As a Heat fan, you can bet there were several times that my television came very close to being seriously damaged.   My children probably heard daddy say some things that they had never heard before but what happened at the end brought tears to my eyes. High points of my night was captured best in an article by Dan Devine titled Video: Dwayne Wade remains good at ludicrous no-look flip shots .   In it he mentioned “Wade was unstoppable in the first half.”   “Miami took over late, limiting Boston to just 14 fourth-quarter points and holding Doc Rivers' team scoreless for the final 4:28 of the game.”   But the low points were the defensive miscues and the turnovers that plagued my TV set last night.   There were several instances where you could feel that someone was going to break out and my hope was that it would be the Heat instead of the Celtics but the best part of the entire game came at the very end. Even though I did not care too much for nearly the ...

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...

From the tip-off of game 4 between the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers, it was like seeing a well rehearsed play falling apart scene by scene.   For dire-hard Heat supporters like me, it was very painful to watch and the only solace was when Dwayne Wade and LeBron James finally decided to take over the game.   That feeling soon died and even though they had the lead, it never again felt like the Heat was in control. Dan Gelston, AP Sports Writer said it best in his article titled 76ers rally to beat Heat 86-82 in Game 4 , “The sweep for the Heat was 95 seconds away. Miami held a six-point lead, had The Big Three on the court and a bevy of clutch plays behind them.   All the 76ers had was their unwavering belief.   When they told Doug Collins in the huddle late in the game, “We’re going back to Miami,” his reply was a simple one.   “I’ll be there with you,” said Collins, the Sixers coach.”   The Heat appeared to be mired in mud and completely disorientated...

LeBron James is my man and I love to watch him play that game of basketball but I also like to see his team win.   He went to Miami hoping to finally capture that elusive Championship Ring and I believe that between there and Chicago, he has the best chance to do that.   That was until I watched a few recent games where they lost their lead in the final minutes of the game at a time when he, Dewayne Wade and Chris Bosch had always demonstrated an ability to finish.   It became my mission to try and determine why that was. I was grateful to read and article by the Associated Press Sports Writer Tim Reynolds titled Riley gives Spoelstra vote of confidence because after looking at the possibility of it being the coach’s fault, I came up with nothing.   I watch him send in plays and I watch each player acknowledge and set up.    This tells me that this coach is very much aware of what he wants to see and what works.   Reading in the article where “Rile...