Promoting My Website

During this post, I would like to take the time to promote my website.  My website differs from this blog in the sense that it is more about basketball in a general.  My experiences and insight are in my website articles more so than they are in my blog posts.  Right now, my website is a bit underdeveloped, but if you are an aspiring basketball player, I would suggest that you take a look at the pillar articles that I have posted.  I have posted a few how to articles that will help anyone getting started in the game of basketball.  I will be posting a bit more about the Miami Heat once I get into the later stages of the website, but right now, I just want to be able to share my insight in the form of a website.  I feel as if my insights are a conglomeration of the best information that I have ever received from all my coaches, and I like having the opportunity of conveying that information to the readers.  Currently, I have three how to articles.  In one, I describe how to shoot free throws, and I believe that free throws are the most essential part of the game.  I have been a consistent free throw shooter my whole life, and I shot about 88% in high school.  I give all the credit to the information my coach provided to me, and I have posted all this information in my how to article.  However, practice is always key, and no matter how much information that I post on my website, you must put that information into practice over and over again.  Here is a link to my website, http://miamiheatwave.webs.com/, check it out!

Mavs vs. Heat

I almost don’t even count this game as a win.  I don’t care about a Miami Heat win until they get one on the road against a playoff caliber opponent.  NBA teams are supposed to take care of business on their home court, and the Heat usually do that, just as they did tonight.  However, all of these road losses are a serious reason to be concerned.  The playoffs are won on the road.  A popular saying is that a series doesn’t really start until someone wins a road game.  If the Heat can’t win a road game, then they will not be able to win series later in the playoffs because they won’t have home court advantage against a team like the Bulls.  Also, Chris Bosh is playing like a scared high school student on the boards.  He is the center of the team, and he is 7 feet tall.  He needs to pull down more than 9 rebounds per game.  I’ve blogged about the importance of rebounds to the Heat before, and at the center of that discussion is Chris Bosh.  If he rebounds the ball effectively, then he won’t even need to score 20 or more per game.  15 points and 15 rebounds would be amazing numbers for him to have, and I feel as if they are very within reach.  Rebounding takes a little work, and it isn’t always recognized.  It takes a strong work ethic, and the player has to be a little gritty.  I don’t know if Chris Bosh has it in him, but hopefully he shows some improvement.

Kentucky vs. The NBA

Lately, there has been a lot of talk about the Kentucky Wildcats and just how good they actually are.  They are easily the best team in college basketball, but there has been some debate that they could potentially beat some of the lower tier NBA teams.  This is absurd, and it comes up every year when a team in college is playing great basketball.  The reality of it is, the NBA is a completely different game.  All the players in the NBA are former college standouts, and they have worked hard to get where they are.  They play against the best in the world night in and night out.  College teams play against some pretty bad teams sometimes, and they get beat because they physically are not ready to play.  The physical ability of the players of the NBA is much greater than that of the college players.  Even if Kentucky played Charlotte or Washington, they would get beat by 20 points.  They would get outmuscled, outhustled, and beat in every single way that they possibly could.  The defensive pressure that the NBA players can put on them would frustrate them in a way that they have never seen before.  They are just in greater physical shape than what most of the Kentucky players could handle.  Also, the game would be longer, and there would be more chances for the NBA team to take advantage of mismatches against Kentucky.  I just don’t see any situation where any college team could ever defeat a professional team.

Active Ankle Power Lacer Brace

Ever since I can remember, I have had extremely weak ankles, but it never became a problem until I started playing high school basketball. I would always turn my ankles, but I had never sprained an ankle. Senior year, I sprained my ankle badly, and I was sidelined for about four weeks. I taped it up and returned, and during my first game back, I re-sprained it. It was at this point that I knew I needed an ankle brace. I purchased an Active Ankle Power Lace Brace, and it has been an amazing brace. It provided extreme support for my ankle, and it wasn’t too bulky like some braces can be. I’ve been using it since 2008, and it’s still holding up. I’ve washed it multiple times, and the Velcro still works, so you if you decide to buy this brace, you will be able to use it for an extremely long time. I also believe that this brace has strengthened my ankle. I have played multiple times without the brace since I started wearing it, and my ankle doesn’t even roll anymore. I have no reservations playing full speed without my brace, and I have even played in low tops a few times, and that was definitely something I never would have done before wearing this brace. The brace can be a little pricey in stores, retailing at about $55, but online you can purchase it for much less. It is very well worth the price though, and you will not be disappointed in purchasing this Active Ankle Power Brace

Heat vs. Pacers

Back to back double digit losses for the Miami Heat is unbelievable. Usually, the way a team responds to a loss is an indication of the strength, fight, and will of that team. If this is how the Heat are going to respond, I am beginning to seriously question their ability to win games in the post season. The Oklahoma City Thunder are the best team in the league, but the Indiana Pacers are not even close to the best team, even in the Eastern Conference. This is a serious problem, and Pat Riley might need to step in quickly because what Coach Spoelstra is doing isn’t working. His locker room speeches aren’t motivating this team to step up, and the way he is preparing his team. The Heat were outrebounded by 16, and I guarantee that rebounding will be the straw that breaks their back. When they are outrebounded by that margin, it means a couple things. They could have given up a ton of offensive rebounds, and that stat is huge. Offensive rebounds kill the moral of a team, and they also swing momentum in favor of the team that got the rebound. A higher rebound total could also mean that the Pacers grabbed a lot of defensive rebounds. If they did this, then the Heat missed enough shots for the Pacers to have a high number of defensive rebounds. If they don’t make shots, then they don’t score points. If they don’t score points, then they can’t win the game.

OKC vs Miami

Kevin Durant is unstoppable. I wish I could see him play in person because I can’t even imagine what that is like. A 7 footer that moves like that and shoots as efficiently from outside the arc as he does is insane. I’ve never even played with someone over 6 foot 8, but all the taller people I have played with have been a bit slow and clumsy. Durant is so fluid with everything he does. I guess that’s just what the NBA is about though. LeBron is 6 foot 8, and he does everything that he does. Back to the topic though, the Oklahoma City Thunder absolutely dominated the Heat. The Big 3 played alright, and the rest of the team played terrible. 14 free throws in a game will not win you any games. This is a telling stat from the night. Free throws mean that you were able to get into the lane and draw enough contact to get to the free throw line. Once you get into the lane, the defense collapses, and you get open shots from the outside. Since the free throw count was low, the defense was able to stay out and contest all the outside shots that the Heat get complacent and take. I predicted 4 losses for the rest of the season, and that was a bad prediction. I don’t even have a backup because the Heat are going to continue losing. They don’t play with any enthusiasm, and that will come back to bite them when they try to just turn it on in the playoffs.

Let's talk NCAA

On Thursday, my bracket was busted. Going into Thursday, I was in the top 7.6% of the nation. I haven’t been this disappointed in a while. I lost four elite 8 teams and two final four teams in one night. That was the worst case scenario, and it happened. Wisconsin squandered there last possession something terrible. Dribbling around the outside of a zone is not the best way to beat it, especially when the clock is down, and it’s the last possession. Everyone knows where the shot will come from, and it will be contested just as it was. I still have a feeling that Kentucky will win the entire tournament, so my bracket isn’t completely busted yet, but it’s very close. Kentucky will have to do something very wrong in order for anyone to be able to beat them. They are better than everyone at every facet of the game. If they get rolling, then there is no way that they can be stopped. Anthony Davis’ unibrow is something that will go down in NCAA history because everyone loves it for some reason. Even his mom is wearing a mask with a fake unibrow on it. That is just crazy. Unibrows are not something to be proud of, but this guy rocks it like he wouldn’t have it any other way…and he might actually not have it any other way. I guess that it’s one way to stand out, and no one is going to tell him to do anything otherwise. Maybe it’s a lucky unibrow, but it’s still an ugly caterpillar.

Heat vs. Bulls

Well, Derrick Rose didn’t even play, and the Heat still couldn’t pull out a victory. I watched the game with quite a few Bulls fans, and I can’t even begin to describe the hard time I got from them. John Lucas III played out of his mind. Ever since last year’s playoff series with the Bulls, I have touted LeBron James’ ability to guard anyone in the league. In tonight’s game, LeBron switched to guard John Lucas at the end of the game, and Lucas put a nice little fade away jump shot right in his face. Apparently confidence is key to beating the best team in the league. Confidence and pounding them on the boards are both the best ways to beat the Heat. The Heat are weak in the paint area. Bosh is too soft. Last year in the playoffs against the Bulls, Bosh played out of his mind and ended up being an X-factor. In this game, he played like garbage. He shot 3 for 15 from the field. When I was in school, the forwards and centers were expected to shoot about 75% from the field because they do not take outside shots. 3 for 15 is atrocious, especially when no one on the Bulls has the ability to stop him. Carlos Boozer cannot play defense, and Joakim Noah rebounds the ball great, but he can’t stop Bosh. Bosh scored 12 points, and he should have put up about 25-30 points. The Heat seriously need to get their play in tune with each other before the number one seed is out of reach.

Heat vs. Bulls Preview

The Eastern Conference classic is upon us. The Miami Heat will be playing the Chicago Bulls in just a few days, and it really shouldn’t be a close game. Derrick Rose probably won’t be playing, so that alone will give the Heat a huge advantage. The Bulls’ defense will still make it tough for the Heat to score, and the game is at Chicago, so the crowd will keep them in it. I do expect this game to be close because the Bulls are so good at home, but talent wise, the Miami Heat have at least double the talent of the Bulls on the court at any time. Look for LeBron to score about 30 points, and the big three combined should have about 70 with around 20 from Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. Bosh could explode for more points than 20 just as he did in the playoffs though. His finesse game can go either way with the Bulls’ defense. If they have good rotation and challenge all of his outside shots, then he will get frustrated and start missing them. I hate relying on Bosh. Actually, I don’t like relying on anyone other than Wade and James, but I know they’ll put up numbers. The rest of the team worries me in this game because the Bulls will be physical from the start. James and Wade always put their bodies on the line, and they play physical, but the rest of the team isn’t the same way.

All-Star Weekend Repercussions

During the All-Star Game, Dwayne Wade fouled Kobe Bryant hard for today’s NBA standards.  It turns out that Kobe fractured his nose and suffered a mild concussion from the foul, and the Heat may pay the repercussions for that this Sunday.  This Sunday at 2:30, the Heat player the Lakers, and this will certainly be a game to watch.  Kobe Bryant doesn’t just let things go, he gets even.  Kobe always looks to score, but he will be even more active against the Heat.  He never plays down to his competition, and he is always elevating his play in big games.  If the Lakers are able to beat the Heat, then they will strike up conversation amongst the league on the topic of their chance at title contention.  Kobe knows this, and he will be doing everything that he can to prove that the L.A. Lakers are still on the top of their game.  This is motivation enough for Kobe to perform at a freakish level, but add on the fractured nose and concussion, and Kobe will be in assassin mode.  In the press conference yesterday, he said that everything is good between the two of them and that Wade apologized, but you could tell that something was bothering him.  The hard foul was one of the only defensive plays throughout the entirety of the All-Star Game, and it came at Kobe’s expense.  Players normally don’t get concussions or fractures noses in post season play, but Kobe got one in a meaningless All-Star game.  He is angry, and the Heat will have to be playing their best defensive basketball to contain him.

First Half Blowout

Remember when the Heat were blowing huge leads late in the fourth quarter?  Well, it’s halftime of their game against Portland right now, and they’re up 18.  If you’ve been watching for the past couple weeks, you can agree with me when I say that they’re not going to give this lead up.  The score right now is 60-42, and the Heat are on pace to have their reserves playing substantial minutes by the fourth quarter.  I’m glad I decided to watch this game and blog at the same time because it has been a fun one to watch.  The whole team is playing lights out, and they’re playing excellent on both ends of the floor.  Even Mike Miller is hitting shots.  Last year during the playoffs, I always yelled at Mike Miller when he would make a shot because I was so surprised every time one went in.  Now I’m starting to expect them to go in, but I better not get my hopes up before the post season starts.  If the Heat win tonight, they’ll have won 19 of their last 21 games and 9 in a row.  If they can keep this kind of play up, they’ll definitely make my second half predictions for the season come true.  At the half, LeBron has 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists.  He could easily attain a triple-double in this game by playing the way he likes to play.  He has said that he is more comfortable distributing the ball, so if LeBron focuses on getting the ball to his teammates in the second half, then we’ll see a triple-double performance tonight