I think it's Time

Summer 2010 is going to be a make or break time for the Heat. The rest of 2009/10 is only about getting there and putting the team in the best situation to capitalise on the talent available. The Heat are not going to win a championship this year, realistically the best we can expect is a first round exit. So why not make a little trade?

James Jones has disappeared from the Heat lineup and his contract, though small, has guarantees for the next couple of seasons. Daequan Cook has almost disappeared from existence since he won the 3pt competition at the 09 all star festival but he's young, shown that he can shoot and play defense - someone must want him. UD is a warrior, normally the type of guy who should be Miami for life and longer but we have to let him go at the end of the season in order to get the max stars we want.

So why not look for a little to deal to get us out of the JJ contract before the transfer deadline? Perhaps a little deal that nets us a veteran PG, one who can pass and defend. PG is the biggest need the Heat have, as long as Wade declines to play there. JO can easily see out the season at C, Wade is the man at SG, QRich has fit in perfectly at SF and Beasley should be allowed to flower and blossom at PF without UD replacing him and finishing games. The departure of UD would help us all make up our minds about Beas - do we really need Boozer or Bosh at PF? The departure of JJ and Cook would free up more salary and allow DW1 the chance to finally show his potential backing up the SG/SF spots. The arrival of a vet PG will allow Chalmers to slide over to backup and Chris Quinn to disappear into the ether.

The only question now is which PG are we going to take?

Next up: Spurs

The last game of the decade sees the Heat take on the San Antonio Spurs in Texas. The Spurs are the team with the most regular season wins during the decade (573) and have to be favoured to add one more to that total. They are on a 9:2 run and have beaten the Heat in 20 of the 22 all time meetings in San Antonio.

Things don't look too promising.

Tim Duncan is still a fantastic player and TP is another all star, but I fancy the Heat to bounce back and surprise the NBA with a New Year's eve celebration victory.

Heat 101 Spurs 95.

Heat at Hornets - It stings.

What a sickener! Before the game I didn't really expect a win. The Hornets are a good team, Paul, West, Okafor are a decent core and the Hornets play well at home.

We started badly, they started well but then we dug in and hung around without really threatening to take a lead. The type of game I hate most of all. The type of game where my stomach can never really relax with the hope of a comeback always just around the corner. A couple of nice 3's by Q put us in touch but Paul scored a ridiculous 3 point circus shot basket at the end of the 24 second clock to keep the hornets safe.

Then the 4th Quarter, 14 down going in we actually took the lead with a minute to play, only to cruelly collapse and lose by 4. 91-95. I hate games like that!

Our Defense wasn't at the very high level it has been recently, but overall it can't be blamed - Two 19 point offensive quarters are unacceptable. For once though I'd critisize Spo. I think he's a great young coach and the right man for the job at Miami. I think he gets a lot of wrong criticism from the fans but I think this lot can be put at his backdoor.

We were hurt inside, JO getting big minutes I like - but he doesn't rebound that well, we needed more Joel and more DWright on the court. UD is Spo's closer and I can understand that, but no final quarter minutes for Beas, Beas who can rebound and can score, is just wrong. Beasley should have played the first 7 or 8 minutes of the 4th and UD should have sat. But worse than any of that was Spo's decision to give Daequan Cook extended 4th Q minutes - the guy has been horrendous this season, thankfully we've seen very little of him recently and then 18 minutes (and was it the whole of the 4th?) He shot 2 of 6 (1 three) and got 2 rebounds. I guess he was there because his defense is better than Mario's (pull your finger out MC) but he shouldn't have been. This was DWright's time - he's as much of a threat at 3 point range, he works really hard on D and his length causes all types of problems and he's a rebound magnet. What did he get? 9 Minutes? I'd have like to have seen Wade, Q, DW1 (the three amigos) on the court at the end and for most of the 4th. I think we could have won this then. Still we ended up with what I expected an L and we can't hope for anymore tonight against San Antonio.

A Brief Introduction

Another Miami Heat fan blog! Blame this one on ILPBB. I get to see every Miami Heat game now (for the second season) and it's time I aired my views without any chance of being banned from sites. I've followed the Heat loosely since their inception. I was a big Dan Marino/ Fin fan and happened to be over in Miami to watch them when the Heat started, so I adopted them too. In the last 10 years basketball has become a larger part of my life and thanks to International League Pass I can now watch every Heat game. And I'm opinionated, so here I am. Welcome to 2010.