Analyze a Top Blog

For my E-Business class, I was given the task of analyzing a top blog for the niche market that I am posting about. Obviously, the niche market that I am in is NBA fans specifically Miami Heat fans. There are many blogs about the Miami Heat, and most of those are more successful than mine as it stands right now. One of the most successful blogs about the Miami Heat is Hot Hot Hoops, www.hothothoops.com. This blog is successful because it analyzes not only things affecting on the court life, but it also analyzes and reports things that are affecting Miami Heat players off the court lives. People are always interested to hear about off the court issues because generally, they are just more interesting than what goes on during the games for the most part. Also, people like to point fingers at players off the court lives and say that what they do off the court has an effect of how they perform on the court. The design of the blog is very impressive, as well. The colors are vibrant, and every post has a picture, video, or some other form of graphic to accompany the text. This is one thing that my blog is missing. I could utilize some of the design forms that this blog has to offer for my own. My blog is very dark, so readers may not be attracted or want to stay on my page for very long. Also, I don’t have many pictures, so it doesn’t capture attention very well.

Promote A Blog

Today I’ll be promoting a blog. The blog that I’d like to promote is along the same lines as the blog that I am currently posting on from time to time, but they are more timely and are more informative than I am. Here is a link to this blog, http://www.heatnetmix.com/. The Heat Net Mix provides readers with rumors, news, and personal opinions through blog form. Where my blog is generally just my views from games and happenings within the past few days in the month, the Heat Net Mix will provide readers with things that could happen in the future through rumors, things currently happening through news, and things that happened within the past few days through the personal opinion blog section. I recommend this to all fans of the Miami Heat because the views that they have are unbiased toward any particular team in the NBA. Having an unbiased opinion is important in the sports world because you will be presented with facts that won’t lead you to places you don’t want to be in an argument about sports with one of your friends. If you only hear statistics that are favoring one team, then you won’t be well informed. Heat Net Mix will give you both sides of the story, so you will be well informed. You will be able to talk about the Miami Heat freely with everyone that wishes to engage in conversation with you about NBA basketball, and you can school Chicago Bulls fans that have recently hopped on the bandwagon.

Heat vs Contenders

Earlier this month, the Miami Heat played both the Boston Celtics and the Chicago Bulls. The Boston Celtics are a very old team, and the Miami Heat should run them off the floor, but they didn’t. The Chicago Bulls are playing without Derrick Rose, so the Miami Heat should run them off the floor, as well, but just as with the Celtics, they played down to their competition. The Heat have enough talent on the team to run circles around a team without Derrick Rose, but they keep playing at a level that is well below their own. In high school, I was on a team that was victim to this phenomenon, too. But in high school, it’s a lot harder for kids to turn the switch when it comes times to play in the post season. I’m not worried about the Heat in the post season, but I just hope they don’t get set in their ways of playing down to the competition. They are almost guaranteed to have a 1 or 2 seed in the playoffs, so they’ll be playing one of the lower caliber teams in the Eastern Conference. If they play down to their competition, then they could be beat by one of these lower caliber teams, and that would be embarrassing. That is the last thing that LeBron James needs. LeBron needs to start leading this team when they play the lower caliber teams. The role players need to get up for these games just as they do for the bigger games.

Heat vs Thunder

This was a classic matchup of arguably the two best teams in the NBA. Some would argue that the Bulls are the best team in the league, but I just find that hard to believe because Derrick Rose isn’t playing. How can a team be the best in the league without their best player? Back to the main point though. The Thunder and the Heat played tonight in a matchup that we might see again in the NBA Finals. The Heat came out on top, but the game was at home, so I don’t put much weight into the fact that the Miami Heat won this game. I really hope we see this matchup in the NBA Finals. Westbrook is one of my favorite players, and LeBron James is my favorite player. Also, the matchup between Kevin Durant and LeBron James will be one for the ages. LeBron James is probably the best defensive player in the league, and Kevin Durant is probably going to be the scoring champ. If LeBron is able to shut down KD, then the Heat would easily win this series, but when a guy is 7 feet tall, it is very hard to stop him from the perimeter or anywhere on the floor for that matter. If anyone can do it, that person is LeBron James. I feel like LeBron will elevate his game to a level that no one has ever seen before. Everyone keeps doubting him, and I think this will be fueling his fire.

Heat vs. Celtics

Was this some kind of April Fool’s Day joke?  I would have said it was if I hadn’t been watching the Heat play during this entire past month.  Another road game, another loss, and I’m not surprised.  The Heat shot 35% from the field and missed 10 free throws.  Free throws are free points, but they wouldn’t have mattered in this game.  The Heat are just getting outplayed on the road every single game.  It doesn’t matter who they play now, they just need to get a road win.  The playoffs are coming up, and they are going to be receiving more scrutiny than any other team in NBA history.  At the center of that scrutiny will be LeBron James.  LeBron is playing decent basketball right now, but he needs to inspire his team.  He needs to get his teammates involved like he used to during the stretch of games where they were winning easily by double digits.  Against the Celtics, LeBron had 0 assists.  He has continually been on record saying that getting his teammates involved is his favorite part of the game of basketball, and last night he didn’t do that at all.  I believe the confidence of this team is failing them, and their “swagger” has always been what they’re all about.  Without the confidence to be able to win on the road, they won’t ever actually win on the road.  They are embarrassingly bad away from South Beach.  The playoffs are looming on the horizon, and I feel like LeBron is really feeling the pressure.

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.