# Conf. Finals Game 1 (05/15/11), Bulls vs Heat



## bullsger (Jan 14, 2003)

* vs *









*
EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS – GAME ONE, HOME GAME ONE
SUNDAY, MAY 15, 2011 – 7:00 P.M. CDT
UNITED CENTER
TNT / ESPN 1000 AM
*

Game 1: Miami @ Chicago – Sunday, May 15, 7:00 p.m. (CDT) – TNT / ESPN Radio / ESPN 1000 AM 
Game 2: Miami @ Chicago – Wednesday, May 18, 7:30 p.m. (CDT) – TNT/ ESPN Radio / ESPN 1000 AM 
Game 3: Chicago @ Miami – Sunday, May 22, 7:30 p.m. (CDT) – TNT / ESPN Radio / ESPN 1000 AM 
Game 4: Chicago @ Miami – Tuesday, May 24, 7:30 p.m. (CDT) – TNT / ESPN Radio / ESPN 1000 AM 
Game 5: Miami @ Chicago – Thursday, May 26, 7:30 p.m. (CDT) – TNT / ESPN Radio / ESPN 1000 AM 
Game 6: Chicago @ Miami – Saturday, May 28, 7:30 p.m. (CDT) – TNT / ESPN Radio / ESPN 1000 AM
Game 7: Miami @ Chicago – Monday, May 30, 7:30 p.m. (CDT) – TNT / ESPN Radio / ESPN 1000 AM

Bulls' playoff history vs Miami
2011 EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
2007 EASTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND (BULLS WON 4-0)
2006 EASTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND (HEAT WON 4-2)
1997 EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS (BULLS WON 4-1)
1996 EASTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND (BULLS WON 3-0)
1992 EASTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND (BULLS WON 3-0)

VS. HAWKS ALL-TIME IN PLAYOFFS
ALL-TIME ............... BULLS lead 16-5
BULLS CURRENT STREAK .. 4 Wins
BULLS HOME STREAK .........2 Wins
BULLS ROAD STREAK ..............2 Wins
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
BULLS VS. HEAT ALL-TIME
ALL-TIME ................... Bulls Lead 47-37
BULLS CURRENT STREAK ..... 3 Wins
BULLS HOME STREAK ............ 2 Wins
BULLS ROAD STREAK ............... 1 Win

BULLS VS. HEAT THIS SEASON
Jan. 15 @ Chicago – BULLS WON 99-96
Feb. 24 @ Chicago – BULLS WON 93-89
Mar. 06 @ Miami – BULLS WON 87-86


Game Notes










*Chicago Bulls (62-20)*

Playoffs (8-3)
Homen 5-1
Road 3-2

Regular Seaon
Home 36-5
Road 26-15
Div 15-1
EConf 39-13
WConf 23-7

*Bulls Averages:*
PPG: 94.9 (Opp: 87.7)
RPG: 43.9 (Opp: 37.0)
APG: 21.0 (Opp: 17.2)
SPG: 7.18 (Opp: 7.18)
BPG: 7.09 (Opp: 5.91)
TO: 13.9 (Opp: 13.4)
FG%: .437 (Opp: .427)
FT%: .805 (Opp: .755)
3p%: .337 (Opp: .322)

*Probable Bulls starters*





































Derrick Rose - PG - 28.8 pts, 4.5 reb, 8.2 ast
Keith Bogans- SG - 5.4 pts, 1.4 reb, 0.7 ast
Luol Deng - SF - 16.7 pts, 6.5 reb, 3.0 ast
Carlos Boozer - PF - 11.8 pts, 9.5 reb, 1.8 ast
Joakim Noah - C - 9.9 pts, 10.4 reb, 2.2 blk

*Bulls Stats Leaders*
Points: Rose 28.8, Deng 16.7
Rebounds: Noah 10.4, Boozer 9.5
Assists: Rose 8.2, Deng 3.0
Steals: Rose 1.55, Deng 1.36
Blocks: Noah 2.18, Gibson 1.55

FG%: Thomas .615, Gibson .588
FT%: Rose .833, Boozer .828
3FG%: Bogans .487, Korver 0.474

For a full report and the latest on Bulls' injuries, check out the AthletiCo Injury Report.










*Miami Heat (58-24)*

Playoffs (8-2)
Home 6-0
Road 2-2

Regular Seaon
Home 30-11
Road 28-13
EConf 38-14
WConf 20-10

*Probable Heat starters*
Mike Bibby - PG
Dwayne Wade - SG
LeBron James - SF
Chris Bosh - PF
Joel Anthony - C

*Injury report*
Udonis Haslem Left Foot Injury


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## narek (Jul 29, 2005)

Carlos Boozer hasn't lost a game to Chris Bosh since 2004. 

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110514/sports/705149792/


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## Bulls96 (Jun 25, 2003)

Bulls 92 – Heat 85


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## throttle217 (Nov 25, 2004)

I'm throwing all the stats out the window this series. It's going to be a series of will. Who can look themselves in the mirror and meet the challenge. Bulls in six baby!!!!


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## HotSauce (May 15, 2011)

narek said:


> Carlos Boozer hasn't lost a game to Chris Bosh since 2004.
> 
> http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110514/sports/705149792/


That stat is pretty skewed since Boozer played for a playoff team in Utah every year and Bosh played for a lottery team almost every year in Toronto. Either way, if Boozer plays as big as he can, he should pretty much dominate Bosh.


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## narek (Jul 29, 2005)

HotSauce said:


> That stat is pretty skewed since Boozer played for a playoff team in Utah every year and Bosh played for a lottery team almost every year in Toronto. Either way, if Boozer plays as big as he can, he should pretty much dominate Bosh.


Yeah, it'skewed but it would be cool if it continued.


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## BenDengGo (Feb 1, 2004)

HotSauce said:


> That stat is pretty skewed since Boozer played for a playoff team in Utah every year and Bosh played for a lottery team almost every year in Toronto. Either way, if Boozer plays as big as he can, he should pretty much dominate Bosh.


welcome to the board. and thats an awesome avatar right there. all of stacey kings quotes are getting shirt printed


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## jnrjr79 (Apr 18, 2003)

Let's do this.


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## Marcus13 (Jul 17, 2002)

Tough start ; LeBron is the best defender in the league IMO


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

Good finish to the quarter. Bulls shoot 8/23 but are only down by 3. I'll be rooting for you guys throughout the series.


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## garnett (May 13, 2003)

Eight fast break points for Miami which is the difference in this game. Keep them out of transition and we should be right.


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

Taj Gibson!!


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## DunkMaster (Mar 1, 2011)

Bench coming up big so far.


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## garnett (May 13, 2003)

So why didn't shoot a FT when they had 6 on the court? Useless refs.


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## thebizkit69u (Feb 12, 2003)

Good half by the Bull's, they let Chris Bosh hurt us a bit but one thing we can't let them win is the FT battle.


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## DunkMaster (Mar 1, 2011)

Rose can't seem to get inside, hopefully that changes. Looks like this will be a very close series.


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## throttle217 (Nov 25, 2004)

They will lock down Christina Bosh in the second half!


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## throttle217 (Nov 25, 2004)

Spacing in the first half wasn't that great.


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## thebizkit69u (Feb 12, 2003)

Yeah the Heat play the passing lanes so well that spacing has to be really perfect if we are going to take advantage on pick and roll's etc. I like that Rose is money with his mid range game, now I would like to see him attack the Heat bigs and try to get them in foul trouble.


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## taco_daddy (Jun 13, 2004)

The spirit of Michael Jordan is in the building! YES!!!

My only concern is, will we be able to have a scoring night like tonight again on Wednesday? This was an extremely fun game to watch!


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

Good job with the Game 1 victory. Awesome stuff.


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## King Joseus (May 26, 2003)

Great game. Three more, can't let up. Heat are going to come out firing in Game 2, you've gotta think.


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## thebizkit69u (Feb 12, 2003)

I said it before and I will say it again, Lebron James is a completely different player when his team is behind and not making shots, he starts to slowly disappear late in games. 

I wish I had the effort and time to actually look it up but Derrick Rose and Luol Deng played some great defense. I don't know what is about guarding good players but Rose just played fantastic defense on Wade and has shown the ability to just shut down great players, remember what he did to Deron Williams. 

Derrick, Luol and Taj just took the life out of the Heat.. Bravo!


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## BeeGee (Jul 9, 2010)

Helluva game for the Bulls. They wore Miami out. The bench and the size up front was too much. Taj Gibson was ready. On the Heat side, it was good to see U40 on the court, even if it was garbage time.


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## thebizkit69u (Feb 12, 2003)

Gotta Love Thibs, this guy gave Luol some praise but still said we got room for improvement in guarding Lebron. He's gonna keep our guys motivated because he knows the Heat will come back on Wednesday on FIRE, they will try to run us out of the court early but if we continue to play like this I like our chances.


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## TwinkieTowers (Jul 16, 2002)

Holy crap, the Bulls' defense just keeps getting better and better. Game 5 against the Hawks was the turning point for the team, and Thibodeau is probably going to stick with the Clinch Mob to open every fourth quarter until the end of the playoffs.

If there are a few things to worry about, it's that the three point shooting may not be there next time, and whenever LeBron played Chris Paul-like it led to a lot of good looks for Bosh.


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## DunkMaster (Mar 1, 2011)

What a great game, although I don't see a blowout in game 2, James and Wade will play better. They won't go off for 60 combined though, and the Bulls just look too deep at the frontcourt. Go Bulls!


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## HotSauce (May 15, 2011)

The Bulls played one of the best games, if not the best, I have seen all year. Our defense was literally smothering LeBron and Wade and our bench line-up with Deng outplayed the Heat's starters. Great start to a great series. 

By the way, WHO IS TAJ GIBSON???


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## jnrjr79 (Apr 18, 2003)

That was fun.


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## narek (Jul 29, 2005)

jnrjr79 said:


> That was fun.


Fun is an understatement. It was exhilarating.


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## throttle217 (Nov 25, 2004)

OMG!!!! Taj Gibson!!! Two of the best dunks i've seen in the league this year!!! Who knew?


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## taco_daddy (Jun 13, 2004)

narek said:


> Fun is an understatement. It was exhilarating.


Funny, I was thinking the exact same thing!


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## giusd (Apr 17, 2003)

Just got back to my hotel from the game and fly home on the am. You can not believe how loud the fans were and you could barely hear yourself think or chat with the person sitting next too you at the game. But totally in control the whole 2nd half. 

Really it seemed like the whole team just played great. Rose was super. Deng was in my opinion the player of the game. The boz and JN totally controled the glass in the 2nd half and the bench had 28 pts and each and everyone of the 5 bench players made great plays. And when Omir and Taj were in it seemed like Miami really had a hard time scoring. Taj through played super D and had the two dunks of the game. Finally, the Bulls just seemed to exacute better the whole game than Miami.

Flying home early in the am after one great bball weekend.


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## TwinkieTowers (Jul 16, 2002)

That really was Reggie and Steve yelling after Taj's dunk!


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## caseyrh (Jun 10, 2003)

A couple thoughts on this awesome game:

1.) I hope this broke the myth that the heat have an amazing offense. Because they don't... remove the names of 3 players and you got a team that struggles to score in the halfcourt. Especcially since we have deng, Bogans, Brewer on D all the time against Lebron and Wade.

2.) We won't always shoot this good from 3 (even though most of our 3pt looks were wide open). And the heat will make a few more layups.

3,) Boozer should guard Bosh, NOT Noah. Noah helps all the time, which is great for team D, but awful for guarding a good scorer. If you put him on any other Miami big then Noah can do exactly that and help off of him. Boozer on the other hand sticks to his man off the ball like white on rice. Normally that kills us but it would be fine for guarding bosh. 

4.) I love how we murdered them again on the boards! Big boy basketball.... Why did we win this one? Because we had 19 more fga. Ridiculous!


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## thebizkit69u (Feb 12, 2003)

caseyrh said:


> A couple thoughts on this awesome game:
> 
> 1.) I hope this broke the myth that the heat have an amazing offense. Because they don't... remove the names of 3 players and you got a team that struggles to score in the halfcourt. Especcially since we have deng, Bogans, Brewer on D all the time against Lebron and Wade.
> 
> ...


While they don't have a great half court game they absolutely have an amazing fast break and transition game, they are almost unstoppable when they get running. I honestly have never seen a team this good on transition, ever. 

They still have a great defense, I think getting beat by the 3 by the Bulls is something they will risk every game as long as they keep Rose out of the paint.

Our Pick and Roll defense is bad... it really is. I don't know if all the moving parts of our defense makes playing the p and r harder to defend but they had good success running it and the Pacers and Hawks also had hurt us. Rose and Noah for whatever reason just don't play it all that well. 

Those are a couple things that I will still worry about but Rebounding is not one of them. They will continue to get killed by our bigs on the boards, if we keep it up we can make life hell for them. Derrick Rose had his mid range game back which was great, Deng played shut down D, Brewer played some great D, Taj continues to play WAY better than he did during the season and Boozer even looks a step quicker. I great win, I could not be any happier.


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## Job (Feb 28, 2011)

Wow! This was a game to protect on the DVR. I hope there's not a let down in game two.


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## yodurk (Sep 4, 2002)

That was a great game...just a ton of fun. 

A couple notes heading into Game 2. First, this was the first time since Dec 1st that both Lebron and Wade were held under 20 pts. I won't expect that to happen again this series. Wade just looked bad all game, and Lebron clearly couldn't get it going. Major credit to Deng for his D, however we all know Lebron is dangerous regardless of the D thrown at him. He was 10 pts below his game average. So just be careful, you know he'll get it going eventually. 

Second, Bulls shot 50% (10-20) from 3-pt land. That is well above our average.

Third, Bulls only had 8 turnovers. I said before the game that turning the ball over against Miami is suicide b/c they are so lethal in the open court. So that was just huge. I do think we'll win the series if we keep the turnovers down below 12 a game, though was concerned about it given what I saw in the Indy and Atlanta series.

Lastly, we just killed them on the offensive boards. 

Out of those 4 things, I fully expect Wade/Lebron to play better; they really cannot play any worse then this, so be ready. And we won't shoot the 3-ball like that very often, and honestly we will probably turn the ball over more than 8 times. The fourth one, offensive rebounding, I think we can maintain the advantage. 

So I think Game 2 will be much closer...and if Miami wins Game 2, then it's almost like this blowout never happened since they'd have HCA. In any case, go Bulls!


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## narek (Jul 29, 2005)

> Rose had no problem taking responsibility earlier in the night. At halftime of the team's Eastern Conference finals opener, the Bulls had a locker room chat about the team's eight turnovers, four of which belonged to Rose.
> 
> "He took it personally," Ronnie Brewer said.
> 
> ...


http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nba/columns/story?columnist=greenberg_jon&id=6555116

I think the turnovers may stay low this series.


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## yodurk (Sep 4, 2002)

I guess a 5th thing worth mentioning is free throws. We discussed it here briefly before Game 1 that the refs could have a serious impact on this series. And yet Miami only shot 15 free throws. On many nights, Wade or Lebron will shoot that many by themselves. Bulls did a great job getting clean blocks and strips I thought, but with how aggressive the D was I wouldn't have been surprised to see the refs give Miami the benefit of the doubt. Even just 2-3 calls their way could've altered the tone of the game.

I loved that the refs just let everyone play (only 35 FTs combined between both teams), it was a much better game to watch knowing Wade or Lebron weren't getting bailed out by superstar calls. And I don't think it's a coincidence they scored so little on a night they didn't draw fouls.

Question is, will there be another game this series where Wade/Lebron only get 8 FTs between the two of them?


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## Good Hope (Nov 27, 2002)

yodurk said:


> I guess a 5th thing worth mentioning is free throws. We discussed it here briefly before Game 1 that the refs could have a serious impact on this series. And yet Miami only shot 15 free throws. On many nights, Wade or Lebron will shoot that many by themselves. Bulls did a great job getting clean blocks and strips I thought, but with how aggressive the D was I wouldn't have been surprised to see the refs give Miami the benefit of the doubt. Even just 2-3 calls their way could've altered the tone of the game.
> 
> I loved that the refs just let everyone play (only 35 FTs combined between both teams), it was a much better game to watch knowing Wade or Lebron weren't getting bailed out by superstar calls. And I don't think it's a coincidence they scored so little on a night they didn't draw fouls.
> 
> Question is, will there be another game this series where Wade/Lebron only get 8 FTs between the two of them?


Question of the night, Yodurk!

To me, the most important thing the Bulls have to do is convince the Heat's stars that Thibodeau is a better coach than Spoelstra (Which won't be that hard, I guess). Once that happens, and they start trying to "star" themselves to victory, this series is ours. That's why this win was so important. If they lose trust in the team (which we know is shaky), we can beat them through disciplined play. 

We might win in four. (Did I say that?)


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## taco_daddy (Jun 13, 2004)

Good Hope said:


> We might win in four.


That's not good hope, that's insane hope.  I'll be happy if we win in 7. But realistically, I think if we win, it will be in 6.


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## SWIFTSLICK (Aug 22, 2009)

Amazing awe inducing win. But, let's not get too crazy about it. It's one game in a best of seven. Miami will show up eventually. Hopefully it's too late by then but still...don't think they'll just lay down and die. 

That being said, the Bulls need to stay focused on the task at hand. Which is winning 3 more games in this series.


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## thebizkit69u (Feb 12, 2003)

Miami will probably play more bigs in game 2. Ilgauskas might actually start or play more, thats fine with me since Joel Anthony will probably get more bench time. The Heat are statistically MUCH better when Anthony is on the court with Lebron, Wade and Bosh. I'm pretty confident that we can still out rebound them even if they play the big 7 foot zombie but obviously it will help them on the offensive boards. 

A bright spot for the Heat is that Lebron and Wade have not had their OMG games yet BUT Derrick Rose is also going to have one of those F you games and go for like 35-40 so if we can keep home court advantage I LOVE our chances of winning the series. Game 2 is a MUST WIN.


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## taco_daddy (Jun 13, 2004)

thebizkit69u said:


> *Game 2 is a MUST WIN.*


Amen to that!


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## Job (Feb 28, 2011)

Game 2 is a MUST WIN

Bulls win game two they should win the series.


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## Good Hope (Nov 27, 2002)

taco_daddy said:


> That's not good hope, that's insane hope.  I'll be happy if we win in 7. But realistically, I think if we win, it will be in 6.


Still giddy and insane. We're going to do it, in four maybe five. Taco, have I led you astray?


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## taco_daddy (Jun 13, 2004)

Good Hope said:


> Still giddy and insane. We're going to do it, in four maybe five. Taco, have I led you astray?


You, Casey, and Yodurk have been among the most optimistic Bulls fans on this board all season. Nonetheless, the Bulls have exceeded even the predictions of you guys. Who knows? Maybe they could sweep!?! Nah, that would be too good to be true. I'd wake up everyday pinching myself. However, let's take it one game at a time and hopefully we eek out a win for Game 2.

This has been the most exciting Bulls season since Jordan left. There is life after Jordan. Ha! And most certainly this is the most exciting post season since '98. Oh, and we do have a history of sweeping Miami in the playoffs. 

Now, all we need is dsouljah and Wynn (the Bull win never lose again) to make cameo appearances to make this thread complete.


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## Good Hope (Nov 27, 2002)

taco_daddy said:


> You, Casey, and Yodurk have been among the most optimistic Bulls fans on this board all season. Nonetheless, the Bulls have exceeded even the predictions of you guys. Who knows? Maybe they could sweep!?! Nah, that would be too good to be true. I'd wake up everyday pinching myself. However, let's take it one game at a time and hopefully we eek out a win for Game 2.
> 
> This has been the most exciting Bulls season since Jordan left. There is life after Jordan. Ha! And most certainly this is the most exciting post season since '98. Oh, and we do have a history of sweeping Miami in the playoffs.
> 
> Now, all we need is dsouljah and Wynn (the Bull win never lose again) to make cameo appearances to make this thread complete.


Yeah, this has really been a dream season. I'm no authority. I'm not the analyst that Yodurk or Casey are, but I believe that this team is STRONG enough to win it all, and I think that Miami is not capable, at this point, of making the adjustments necessary to change the game enough to win. They are going to be dismissed.


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