# Miami Heat Preseason Games Thread



## Wade2Bosh

No need for a game thread for all the preseason games since none are on TV and I doubt many would post in them anyway. So we'll just use this thread for all of them.

Here's our preseason schedule


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## Wade County

Should be fun - im really looking forward to getting the ball rolling again.

Obviously Beas's SF shift will be the primary topic, he's facing up against some solid opposition:

Game 1 vs Det: Tayshaun Prince
Game 2 vs Orl: Rashard Lewis
Game 3 vs SA : Richard Jefferson
Game 4 vs OKC: Kevin Durant (this could be bad...)
Game 5 vs NO : Peja Stojokavic
Game 6 vs Mem: Rudy Gay

That should give us a pretty good indication on where he's at.


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## Jace

Yes, the test-run should be an interesting thing to keep an eye on. It seems he'll be fine on offense, but on defense we may find ourselves often frustrated with his mistakes, at least at first.

Can't believe we have a game tmrw already. GO HEAT!!


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## Wade2Bosh

According to the Directv guide, the game tonight vs the Pistons is on FSN Detroit. Hopefully it isnt blacked out down here.


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## Ben

Of course that'll be the main topic of pre-season. Some good opposition for him, if he can hold his own against them now, I'll be fairly confident throughout the season. If he doesn't do well against these though, there may be cause for concern.


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## PoetLaureate

Is there a stream? Please say yes


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## Wade County

Man, why am I so excited for preseason :laugh: - we barely even made any moves!

Go Heat!


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## Wade2Bosh

Beasley is starting tonight, per Ira.


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## Wade2Bosh

Just like I suspected, the game is blacked out 


I guess its the radio call only tonight.


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## Wade County

Dorell playing?


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## Wade2Bosh

They just said he's available to play tonight.

Starting lineups

Mario
Wade
Mike
UD
JO

Stuckey
Rip
Prince
Ben Wallace
Kwame


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## Wade County

Ben Wallace and Kwame Brown?

Wow....might as well start Joel and Jamaal and let them go to work....


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## Wade County

JO with the hook


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## Adam

MB30 said:


> JO with the hook


Did it start already?


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## Wade2Bosh

Yup, 7-3 Miami at the moment.


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## Adam

PoetLaureate said:


> Is there a stream? Please say yes


If there is one I don't have it


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## Wade County

Jermaine very aggressive, if not efficient by the looks of it.

Khouba first reserve off bench.


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## Wade2Bosh

JO just picked up his 2nd foul. UD also with two fouls early on.


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## Wade County

2 steals for Mario early.


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## Wade County

Defensive rebounding still sucks :laugh:


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## Adam

Are you guys listening on radio as well? How hardcore (pathetic) are we? Radio streaming a preseason game. :lol:


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## PoetLaureate

Listening to the radio for sure, the Detroit feed at that


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## Adam

Cook is the sub for Wade, not The Back Panther.

Jor-El first center off the bench and not Magloire.


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## Wade County

At work, so box scoring it


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## Adam

Stern, the tennis fan, and his new review process just let the refs take a 5 min look at an out of bounds tip? WTF?! That's not gonna last...


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## Wade County

8 fouls to 1 in favour of Det also...replacement refs FTL


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## Wade County

Go Quinn...


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## Wade County

17-24 Pistons end of 1st.


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## PoetLaureate

10 fouls called on Miami in the first quarter. Amazingly, Beasley plays all 12 minutes and still has 0 fouls.


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## BG7

Is there really no link for this? Lame. NBA needs to get Leaguepass going for pre-season games.


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## Wade County

PoetLaureate said:


> 10 fouls called on Miami in the first quarter. Amazingly, Beasley plays all 12 minutes and still has 0 fouls.


He's getting sympathy from the refs  sweeet


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## PoetLaureate

Dorell in!


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## Wade County

Dwright sighting


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## PoetLaureate

Udonis picks up a tech lol


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## Adam

PoetLaureate said:


> Udonis picks up a tech lol


These refs need time and study before they learn that Udonis leads the league in Warrior Rtg.


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## Wade County

UD T'd up :laugh:


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## Adam

Still no Back Panther sighting. Somebody in the twitter game get a hold of Jeff Corwin for an update.


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## Wade2Bosh

Wade and Beasley back in.


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## Wade2Bosh

Just looked at the boxscore. Khouba with 10 minutes played and 0 stats across the line. Nothing's changed :laugh:


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## Adam

Wade2Bease said:


> Just looked at the boxscore. Khouba with 10 minutes played and 0 stats across the line. Nothing's changed :laugh:


:clown:

I wish I still had that sig of the French fan's critique. It was perfectly accurate (as we soon found out).

Why no back panther?


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## Wade2Bosh

No JJ either. Looks like they'll rotate the SF either by games or by half. khouba and dorell now and Q-Rich and JJ either in the 2nd half or the next game.


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## Adam

These new refs aren't biased by star power and are actually giving Beasley FT's. This could be something.


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## Adam

Wade2Bease said:


> Just looked at the boxscore. Khouba with 10 minutes played and 0 stats across the line. Nothing's changed :laugh:


Ugh, check Wright's line right now. It's even worse than Khouba's! On top of that, coming into camp looking anorexic once again. I think this guy is done.


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## Wade2Bosh

Wade with back to back steals and and1's 

He's still good


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## Wade2Bosh

47-41 Detroit at the half


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## 4putt

found stream pm if you want


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## Wade County

PM me man


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## Wade2Bosh

pm sent, 4putt


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## DemonaL

stream plz


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## Wade County

Access code?


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## Wade2Bosh

This is getting ugly.


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## PoetLaureate

Detroit shooting pretty well now 

Beasley looks quicker on defense, but it seems like he puts his head down and charges to the basket too much.


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## Wade2Bosh

Chris Wilcox seems to be another guy that for some reason, always does well against us.


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## PoetLaureate

DQ looks more involved in the offense. Noticing a lot more ball handling from him than usual.

edit: On that note, the offense is pretty pathetic today


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## Wade2Bosh

^That was the plan this off-season for DQ. 

68-57 Detroit after 3

Wade has 5 steals tonight.


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## PoetLaureate

There is a lid on the rim for Miami tonight


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## Wade2Bosh

Maxiell, Wilcox and even Kwame have owned the inside against us. The 3 are a combined 13-16 for 28pts


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## PoetLaureate

Feels like everyone handling the ball is a walking turnover right now


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## Wade2Bosh

Big kat in another scramble on the floor and just smacked that Piston player in the face :laugh:

big kat is ejected as well as Jerebko from the Pistons.


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## Wade2Bosh

Heat lose 87-83

Not many positives in this one.


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## Wade2Bosh

*Pistons 87, Heat 83*


> Observations from Monday's 87-83 exhibition loss to the Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills:
> 
> # Coach Erik Spoelstra said the lineup with Michael Beasley at small forward has been utilized in practice since the start of camp. "We've been working with that all week," he said.
> 
> # Beasley's debut as a starting small forward lasted fewer than four minutes at the outset, with Udonis Haslem's second foul moving Beasley to power forward with 8:01 left in the opening period. Yakhouba Diawara was inserted in place of Haslem. The problem is there aren't enough legitimate power forwards in camp, so Beasley had to move to the four.
> 
> # Beasley actually wound up victimized defensively more at the four than the three.
> 
> # Haslem then quickly was called for a third foul upon re-entering in the second quarter, tossing the ball in disgust for a technical foul.
> 
> # Considering the numbers on the referees' jerseys (Nos. 120, 148 and 159), it was clear replacements were working the game in place of the locked-out regulars, who remain without a contract. The game began with Heat center Jermaine O'Neal being whistled for stealing the opening tip.
> 
> # Haslem returned to the bench after his third foul muttering, "I'm about to get thrown out of a preseason game." He didn’t.
> 
> # When Beasley entered in the second quarter, it was in place of Haslem, again casting him at power forward.
> 
> # Daequan Cook was the next reserve off the bench, entering for Dwyane Wade, with Joel Anthony also entering. They were followed by Chris Quinn at point guard.
> 
> # Quinn's inability to break down his man off the dribble again was apparent. And, still, no veteran point guard in camp. Quinn also had three fouls in his first four minutes.
> 
> # Starting point guard Mario Chalmers also was less than inspiring, unable to contain Will Bynum.
> 
> # John Lucas III entered when Chalmers went to the bench in the third quarter, but, by then, Wade had assumed much of the ballhandling.
> 
> # Spoelstra doused talk of Cook, because of his improved ballhandling, being ready for minutes at point guard. "I don't know about playing him as a backup point guard," Spoelstra said. "But you can see it. His confidence level, handling the ball, is totally different than it was the last two years."
> 
> # Well, there always is Wade, who was his hard-charging self with consecutive 3-point plays late in the second quarter. He had 18 points in 26 minutes on 6-of-13 shooting.
> 
> # The Heat's first three shots went to O'Neal, and not by accident. He made the first of the three, then missed two more for a 1-of-5 first quarter, closing 2 of 8.
> 
> # But a lingering concern remains: O'Neal had one rebound in 21 minutes, 22 seconds of action, and that came on an opening sequence. Anthony was far more active in the middle.
> 
> # Spoelstra said he will alternate players in the rotation through the early stages of the preseason, which continues Wednesday in Orlando. "I was frank with the guys today in the shootaround," he said. "I'm not a math guy, but I don't know if I can get 18 in. To be fair, I don't want to put guys in for two or three minutes that can't even get a sweat, can't even get a rhythm, and then yank 'em, put somebody else it."
> 
> # Heat forward James Jones missed the morning shootaround with a migraine but was in uniform Monday night. He did not play.
> 
> # The Pistons were without offseason free-agent acquisition Charlie Villanueva (hamstring).
> 
> # Dorell Wright (knee) entered for the Heat in the second quarter, missing all three of his first-half shots.
> 
> # Heat center Jamaal Magloire again got himself in the middle of a scrum, with his battle for a rebound leading to a fourth-quarter double-ejection with Detroit's Jonas Jerebko. The replacement referees utilized replay to confirm what they determined to be a fight.


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## Wade County

Not much to be made out of this really, how many games will DWade shoot 13 shots and get 26 minutes?

While our rebounding sucked, John Lucas III was our most productive player at +14...that wont be the case opening night.

Dorell and Jermaine are a little troubling though...


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## Jace

Missed the game at work. Highlights/boxscore look like this game was played two days after the last Hawks game. 

So much for Jermaine's talk. Did he look any more explosive to anyone that watched the feed? In the highlights Im seeing he looks just as heavy footed, just with more of an even gait.

I feel like Beasley shouldve grabbed more boards in 30 mins, too, especially considering he mostly played at PF.

And Chalmers...Chalmers...

Cook is still the three-point-specialist that cant shoot. Yippee!!

Ok, its one game.


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## Ben

Not many times Wade will shoot so little, that's the only positive I can take from this game, shouldn't take too much from it.


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## PoetLaureate

Only one game, but defense and rebounding were the obvious issues again. They finished at 47% shooting, but for the meaningful part of the game the Pistons were well above 50%. The offense is clearly a work in progress and they shot something stupid like 36% anyway, so they get a pass for now.


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## -33-

Magloire is awesome


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## Wade County

Working out the rust, nothing to much to be concerned about...besides the replacement refs...


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## Ben

DQ for 3 said:


> Magloire is awesome


:laugh:

His only contribution in the game


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## Wade County

Thats why Jamaal is awesome though - he pisses people off :laugh:

Doesnt look like JoREL has improved his offense any, I saw us post him up seriously like 10 times...it hurt my brain. I think he got all board on a hook shot :O.


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## Smithian

I could care less about preseason games and judging anything from them. Only coaches can decipher that stuff. I've never seen a preseason game in the NBA or NFL where I was like, "Wow! We'll be good!"


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## Wade County

It doesnt take much to decipher a 7 foot hook shot that gets all board, stinks.

But yeah, preseason is pretty meaningless - ill start caring about results come 28 October.


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## Dee-Zy

So besides that horrible hook shot, how did Joel fare against Kwame? That should be a good test for him and allow us to gage if he has a future in the NBA? 

How was he on offense? It's not like Detroit's big are top notch defenders (I doubt big ben is anymore)
How was he on D?


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## Smithian

Joel isn't here for offense... He is here for defense, rebounding, and hustle, which is what he got good marks for against Detroit.


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## Wade2Bosh

DQ is out for tonight's game. He hurt his thumb yesterday in practice.

JO sat out this morning's shootaround.

Link


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## Ben

I really hope JO is okay, the worst thing that could happen would be a bigman down.


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## Wade County

Yeah, not good to here he is icing his knees already...sigh...

I guess its a good thing we retained Anthony and Magloire, just in case.

DQ was probably out tonight any way - we need to give JJ and QRich a run.


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## Wade2Bosh

Ira tweeted that JO is out tonight with a bruised foot. Nothing major acording to JO.

Joel gets the start at C tonight.


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## -33-

Wade2Bease said:


> Ira tweeted that JO is out tonight with a bruised foot. Nothing major acording to JO.
> 
> Joel gets the start at C tonight.


The over/under on rebounds by our starting center just jumped up from 1.5 to 4.5


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## Dee-Zy

Smithian said:


> Joel isn't here for offense... He is here for defense, rebounding, and hustle, which is what he got good marks for against Detroit.


True but in a pre-season game, it would be nice to see if he can have any flashes of offensive effectiveness.

UD is not there for Offense but he has that midrange jumper. It would be nice to see Joel develop _something_.


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## Wade County

Joel will eat Dwight alive


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## Wade County

Beas picks up his 2nd foul


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## Adam

Whoa, I didn't even know this was happening. Pleasant surprise. I'm more lost than Jamal Mashburn on a last second play.


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## Wade2Bosh

19-16 Orlando

Man, the differences in depth between these two teams is insane. And Rashard aint even playing.


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## Adam

Just posted on NBA.com from the game, Dwight block on Beasley


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## Wade2Bosh

Q-Rich with 3 fouls in 3 minutes


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## PoetLaureate

Is there a radio link somewhere?


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## Wade2Bosh

29-23 Orlando after 1


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## Wade County

I chuckled on the Mashburn call, 93.

Beas get served did he?


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## Wade2Bosh

UD now with 3 fouls at the beginning of the 2nd.

Miami again shooting poorly from the field at under 35% for the game.

And UD just got his 4th foul in the 1st half. Wow :laugh:

Mike back in.


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## Adam

MB30 said:


> I chuckled on the Mashburn call, 93.
> 
> Beas get served did he?


He looked really good beating the defender but he didn't go in strong for the jam which is what he should have improved from season 1. We'll see how it goes.


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## Wade2Bosh

Looking at the box scores these last couple of games is pretty depressing when you see what we have on the bench compared to our opponent.


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## Wade County

Haslem picks up his 4th!


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## PoetLaureate

I just want us to shoot 40% for this game. That's all.


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## Adam

The starting SF position just looks like a figurehead role for Beasley so far in these two games. His true position looks to be backup PF. The extra first quarter minutes at SF are what will put him over 30 minutes per game. Remains to be seen what unit closes games.


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## Wade2Bosh

Bease with a sweet turn around fade away.

Orlando is raining the 3's in now.


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## PoetLaureate

Alternatively, I'll accept the other team shooting below 50%


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## Wade2Bosh

Bease doubled and kicks it out to JJ for the 3.


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## Wade County

Magic have some shooters...dayum...


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## Wade2Bosh

And yet they're missing their top shooter tonight 

Meanwhile we have Wade passing it off to Joel Anthony for jumpers...


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## Adam

Wade2Bease said:


> And yet they're missing their top shooter tonight
> 
> Meanwhile we have Wade passing it off to Joel Anthony for jumpers...


Smithian probably had an orgasm on that play :cabbagepatch:


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## Wade County

Does there seem to be a lot more foul calls with these new refs?


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## Adam

MB30 said:


> Does there seem to be a lot more foul calls with these new refs?


I'm following the boxscore and the variety seems different but not the quantity. The composition of the ref's calls looks like it could be better than the plantation era born refs'.


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## Wade2Bosh

Joel with 5 fouls now in the 1st half :laugh:


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## Wade2Bosh

55-47 Orlando at the half

Offense is struggling and we're getting eaten up inside. Nothing's changed from the last game although it was to be expected tonight against Dwight.

Mario also not doing anything once again. Yeah, its only preseason, but when you're all we got at PG then its a little troubling.


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## Adam

Wade2Bease said:


> 55-47 Orlando at the half
> 
> Offense is struggling and we're getting eaten up inside. Nothing's changed from the last game although it was to be expected tonight against Dwight.
> 
> Mario also not doing anything once again. Yeah, its only preseason, but when you're all we got at PG then its a little troubling.


I'm getting a little worried that he just went home to Alaska and didn't improve his game at all this summer.


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## Adam

Back Panther with 3 fouls in 2.5 minutes. :laugh:


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## Wade2Bosh

The '93 Heat said:


> Back Panther with 3 fouls in 2.5 minutes. :laugh:


I can see that you wont stop until that is his official nickname :laugh:


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## Adam

Wade2Bease said:


> I can see that you wont stop until that is his official nickname :laugh:


:clown:

The movement needs your support.


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## Wade County

Back Panther, hey - works for me


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## Adam

MB30 said:


> Back Panther, hey - works for me


:cheers:


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## Wade County

Anyone got a link?


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## Wade2Bosh

^I'm listening on the radio but dont have a link.

Wade now 3-11 and Mike is 3-10.


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## PoetLaureate

I really want to see the quality of shots we have been getting, the shooting is just horrendous.


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## Wade County

Yeah, we are brick city at the moment.


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## Wade County

Outscored 4-14 this quarter...ugllllly...thank god its only preseason


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## Wade County

34% from the field for the game...ewwww


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## Wade2Bosh

Joel fouls out in only 18 minutes of play. So he's out, UD has 5 fouls and Jamaal has 4.


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## PoetLaureate

Joel fouls out in 18 minutes lol


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## Wade2Bosh

Q-Rich can shoot the 3. No doubt about that. Hopefully he can do more though and not just stand out there like he did while with the Knicks.


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## Wade County

Beas on Dwight? Ro-roh!

QRich already more of a marksman than Daequan the last 9 months.


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## Wade2Bosh

74-63 Orlando after 3


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## PoetLaureate

Q is sniping


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## Wade County

aaaaaaaand there goes UD :laugh:

Back Panther strokin it atleast.


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## Wade County

Love the All-Scrubs team we have on at the mo:

Lucas
QRich
Wright
Tolliver
Randolph


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## PoetLaureate

Our 1st string is ok, 2nd string sucks, and 3rd string is apparently amazing. Way to keep the score respectable!


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## Wade2Bosh

JJ and Q-Rich shot the ball well tonight.

Shavlik with 4 rebounds in 7 minutes. For this team, that is impressive.


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## Wade2Bosh

Orlando wins 90-86

JJ and Q-Rich were a combined 6-6 from 3. That is great to see. Dorell on the other hand, didnt play well once again. 

Wade and Mike were off with their shot tonight.

As a whole, we were awful once again on offense.

Shavlik Randolph showing some great hustle once again. 6 rebounds in 9 minutes.

Only 2 games and its just pre-season, but Mario and Quinny have not played well at all.


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## PoetLaureate

Are we even running the offense through Wade or trying other sets? Its probably inevitable that Wade will be one of the highest usage players in the NBA again this year.


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## Wade2Bosh

*Magic 90, Heat 86*


> Observations from Wednesday's 90-86 exhibition loss to the Magic at Amway Arena:
> 
> * With Udonis Haslem again in quick foul trouble, Michael Beasley got plenty of time at power forward, after again starting at small forward. Haslem fouled out with 10:16 to play, after playing just 15 minutes.
> 
> * Beasley quickly showed why he is much more efficient at power forward, with his quickness advantage. At small forward, Beasley tends to float on the perimeter. By rule, Heat small forwards generally are instructed to cover the backcourt on shots, rather than pursue offensive rebounds.
> 
> * Overall, it was not the best of nights for Beasley, as he struggled with his offense, shooting 3 of 13, with four rebounds in 30 minutes.
> 
> * After missing Monday's exhibition loss in Detroit due to a migraine, James Jones returned and flowed well in the offense, with as true a stroke as any Heat player offered. He closed 5 of 7 from the field, for 16 points.
> 
> * Given the opportunity to go against the ancient Anthony Johnson, Chris Quinn had his moments at point guard, consistently hitting teammates at optimal scoring spots. Shooting was another matter, with Quinn going 1 of 7.
> 
> * Mario Chalmers, by contrast, had a difficult time with containment against Jameer Nelson. Quick opposing guards remain a major concern. Chalmers' confidence in his shot also appears to be an issue. It was, at best, another shaky performance, with a 1-of-6 showing from the field, and no assists compared to three turnovers.
> 
> * The best Heat point guard arguably again was John Lucas, who helped the Heat rally from what was an 18-point deficit, shooting 3 of 5.
> 
> * With Daequan Cook sidelined by a sprained right thumb, Quentin Richardson made his Heat debut, a debut nearly short-circuited by early foul trouble.
> 
> * Richardson's lone first-half basket was a banked-in 3-pointer at the shot-clock buzzer after he nearly fumbled the ball away. He showed a truer 3-point stroke in the second half.
> 
> * Richardson is wearing No. 5 instead of his normal No. 23, with the Heat having retired that number in honor of Michael Jordan.
> 
> * Jermaine O'Neal insisted his injury absence was a product of getting kicked in the foot last week by teammate Joel Anthony. He said it had nothing to do with the knees he spent the summer rehabbing in Chicago.
> 
> * Anthony, who started at center in place of Howard, was called for his fifth foul with 1:52 remaining in the second quarter. The Heat eventually envisions Anthony being able to take minutes at power forward. Clearly, defending anyone but Dwight Howard would be preferable.
> 
> * To his credit, Anthony was aggressive at the rim before fouling out with 2:15 to play in the third quarter.
> 
> * Jamaal Magloire started the second half at center in place of Anthony.
> 
> * Dorell Wright continued to struggle with his offense, shooting 0 for 3 after shooting 0 for 4 against Detroit.
> 
> * Dwyane Wade opened 1 of 6 from the field, with the Magic having little else to focus on in the absence of O'Neal. He finished with 17 points on 6-of-18 shooting, exiting at the start of the fourth quarter.
> 
> ** The foul trouble reached the point that after the Magic's Vince Carter was called for his fourth with 52.4 seconds to play in the second quarter, becoming the fourth player with as many, he blared to one of the replacement referees, "You're messing up a good game."*
> 
> ** The officiating by the replacements was so atrocious that fill-in official Robbie Robinson could become the first referee to ever be fired twice by the NBA.
> 
> * The officiating lockout is beginning to wear on nerves, with Heat coach Erik Spoelstra exhorting at one stage "Pay attention!", after a goaltending call was changed to offensive interference.*
> 
> * Orlando opted to hold out Rashard Lewis to feature other forwards, having added Brandon Bass, Ryan Anderson and Matt Barnes in an active offseason.


Damn, this ref lockout needs to end soon.


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## -33-




----------



## Dee-Zy

DQ for 3 said:


>



I think I just got a boner.

Why is ESPN scoreboard displaying Diawara as starting and 0 minutes of play?

Joel did have 5 rbd in 18 minutes and shot 50% from the floor though


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## Ben

Joel is a beast. Double his points and double his rebounds, and then he's got a double-double.

On a serious note, poor from us, but I still refuse to look into it too much, I don't care for pre-season.


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## Wade2Bosh

*Heat's Wade will not be playing on Sunday*


> Add another set of injuries to the Heat’s rapidly expanding list of preseason medical concerns.
> 
> Heat guard Dwyane Wade will miss Sunday’s home preseason game against San Antonio with a strained muscle in his left rib cage. Wade sustained the injury in the second half of Wednesday’s loss at Orlando.
> 
> Although Wade finished that game and did not mention being hurt, he said Saturday that the region on the left side of his ribs was sore. An MRI test taken on Wade’s ribs Friday revealed no major damage, but he was diagnosed with a left intercostal strain is listed day to day.
> 
> “I’ve got a long season ahead of me. I’m not trying to be a hero right now,” Wade said after watching practice Saturday. “I don’t think I got hit or anything. But you never know. You just want to make sure you don’t want to make it worse (by playing), not knowing what it is.”
> 
> Wade also dealt with a muscle injury near his ribs during the 2004-05 season, when he missed two regular season games and was limited by a rib contusion during the playoffs.
> 
> Wade said his current ailment has not reached the point where it has been hard for him to breath. He said he would play through the pain if it were the regular season, which opens Oct. 28 at home against New York.
> 
> “It’s never ideal to have anyone hurt and out, especially when you need all your guys,” Wade said. “If I have to deal with it now instead of later, I’d rather deal with it now. We’ve got five preseason games left.”
> 
> Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said the team would take a precautionary approach with Wade. But injuries are beginning to decimate the backcourt.
> 
> Backup point guard Chris Quinn is expected to miss at least a week with a sprained right foot, an injury he sustained when forward Michael Beasley fell on his foot during Friday’s practice. Quinn, one of only two point guards on the roster with a guaranteed contract, was in a walking boot Saturday.
> 
> With starter Mario Chalmers and training camp long shot John Lucas as the only available point guards, the Heat will likely make a move to bring in help at the position.
> 
> Heat president Pat Riley, who watched Saturday’s practice while sitting beside owner Micky Arison, had said he would only bring in another point guard if it were absolutely necessary. Riley cited restraint because the team is already nearly $3 million over the league’s punitive luxury tax on excessive payrolls above $69.9 million.
> 
> Several veteran point guards remain available on the free agent market, including Bobby Jackson, Jamaal Tinsley, Ty Lue and Stephon Marbury. Miami would more likely pursue a trade for point guard help to avoid taking on more player salary.
> 
> The Heat has 16 players on its training camp roster, four fewer than the league preseason maximum. But the team has only 13 players under guaranteed contract, two below the league’s regular season limit.
> 
> With reserve shooting guard Quentin Richardson also nursing a gimpy left ankle, Spoelstra said the team might have to consider finding help.
> 
> “We might,” he said. “Especially once we found out that Quinn might be out more than a week. It might give us an opportunity to take a look at somebody.”
> 
> In addition to Wade being out, Spoelstra said center Jermaine O’Neal will miss his second consecutive game with a bone bruise on his left foot. Shooting guard Daequan Cook, who practiced Saturday with a splint on his sprained right thumb, is questionable for Sunday’s game. Simply finding enough healthy bodies to fill out a lineup could be a challenge Sunday.
> 
> The Heat was hoping to build chemistry and improve after two sluggish performances in preseason losses to Detroit and Orlando. Now, the objective is to get healthy.
> 
> “It’s a little bit of a hold up,” forward Udonis Haslem said of having to adjust to the injuries. “The main focus is to have those guys healthy by the first game. You want to put those small fires out before they become something big.”


----------



## Ben

Hopefully that'll just blow over with a bit of rest, can't see it keeping Dwyane out for long unless there's more to it than just that.


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Starting lineups tonight

Parker
Mason
Finley
Bonner
Mahinmi

Mario
khouba
JJ
Mike
Joel

No Timmy or Manu for the Spurs. Wade, Quinny, and JO are out tonight. DQ and Q-Rich are in uniform but may not play. Yikes..


----------



## Wade County

Love our starting lineup tonight...

Chalmers
JJ
Diarrhoea
Beas
JoREL


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Bease scores inside to begin the game.


----------



## Ben

Stream?


----------



## Wade2Bosh

^hearing it on the radio :whoknows:

20-16 Miami after 1


----------



## Wade2Bosh

UD with 8pts on 4-5 shooting

Lucas has been our best PG of the preseason. Not good.


----------



## Wade2Bosh

DQ shooting well tonight.


----------



## Wade2Bosh

45-41 Miami at the half


----------



## Wade2Bosh

DeJuan Blair is good.


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Blair with 26pts on 10-12, and has just taken the 4th quarter over. The Heat were up 13 at one point then he went off. He's done this against Randolph and Tolliver but still, what a steal he is.


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Heat lose 95-93

Heat were up 13 in the 4th. Then DeJuan Blair took the game over. He finished with 28pts on 11-13, and scored 15pts in the 4th 

Nice games from DQ, Joel, Mario, and Mike.

Lucas is definitely making the Heat think twice about him.


----------



## Wade County

Wish we drafted Blair  - ah well, tis preseason after all.

Nice games from DQ, Mario and Beas - and thats what we needed to see.


----------



## Wade County

Some pics from the game:









Captain providing the tangible intangibles









A rare Beasley block


----------



## Jace

Well, I went to the game and just almost finished up writing a long synopsis, but not before accidentally pressing some key and backspace, sending my browser to the previous page and erasing the post. When Im motivated Ill try again. Ill just say quickly Cook and Lucas looked particularly good, and Beasley and Chalmers seem pretty improved as well, while I believe both are still shaking off funks.


----------



## Wade County

Yeah, I think offensively guys are still rusty.

How did Beasley look Jace? game wise, confidence wise and body wise (no ****).


----------



## Jace

*Game-wise* - I missed the first half of the first quarter, so I didnt see his initial offensive burst. When he came back in he immediately hoisted a jumper upon first touch, no dribble, no pumpfake. He was quite trigger-happy from the perimeter, probably because Wade was out. When he drove, he often had success, though he still seems uneasy scoring around the rim. He went hard at the rim for a dunk, but had it blocked (I thought there was a lot of contact, Chalmers and UD got mugged a few times with no call too.) He did hit a nice pull-up three that hit no rim though.
*
Confidence-wise* - as the first part indicates, he appears more offensively comfortable in general. He's handling the ball more often, and more confidently; looking like the HS Michael Beasley who played SF and brought the ball up a lot. Beasley brought the ball up on several occasions, whether after a rebound or if there was no near guard to hand it to. On one occasion he got a little over confident and took the ball up the floor, only to try a few fancy dribbles and launch a 22-footer that barely got rim. He's still putting it together. 

*Body-wise* - He looks thicker yet more toned than he did last year, though I only saw him in person at the open practice before the season started.

I want to add that Dorell played a point-forward role almost the whole time he was on the floor. Even when Chalmers was in the line-up, Dorell was bringing the ball up and running the offense from the top of the key.


----------



## Jace

HEAT @ Thunder bout to tip off. Its televised. Anyone have a link?


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Miami starts off 5-5

Bease is 3-3

14-8 Miami


----------



## Jace

O'neal hits step-back j

20-12 Heat


----------



## Jace

O'Neal called for questionable blocking foul, his 2nd. Cook in.


----------



## Jace

Cook hits a long 3

Beasley hits layup at the end of 1st. 10 for him.

28-22 HEAT


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Good start for the Heat. Especially Mike. Hope he can improve now on his rebounding numbers.


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Arroyo is in.


----------



## Jace

Ya, JO is doubling him!

Jones, Arroyo, Randolph in

Cook drives and lays it up off the Beasley drive. We need more of that from him

Beasley steal...

reverse layup and in!


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Bease hits again. 12 on 5-6 for him.


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Mike hits again!

14pts now. Heat up 11. Time out Thunder.


----------



## Jace

Beasley is dominating, and its mostly drives. I like it.

He's +18 right now


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Yup, most of these are inside the paint which is great to see.


----------



## Jace

JJ for 3

HEAT by 14


----------



## Jace

Arroyo fastbreak pull up 3...miss

Hello J-Will


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Durant picks up his 4th foul of the 1st half.

Gotta love these replacement refs. Seems like every game, someone new nearly fouls out in a half of play :laugh:


----------



## Jace

Scratch that Arroyo pull-up, must've been someone else

I knew he wouldnt try one of those the first game


----------



## Jace

Beasley called for 3rd travel of the half


----------



## Wade2Bosh

47-41 Miami at the half


----------



## Jace

UD and Rio back-to-back layups 

timeout Thunder


----------



## MiamiHeat03

is this game on NBATV?


----------



## Jace

no. doesnt seem to be streaming either. ive found every other game


----------



## Wade County

ne stream?


----------



## Jace

Another long 3 for Cook

Beas with 5 TOs, but 20 pts...gotta protect those balls better


----------



## Jace

6 TOs for Beas. All but one travels.


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Damn, another turnover by Beasley.


----------



## Jace

Arroyo tries to get going and airballs a tough shot


----------



## Jace

Arroyo behind the back to Beas for a jumper

Good to see Arroyo keep his head up after a couple misses and a turnover


----------



## Jace

24 for Beasley on the jumper on 9-12


----------



## Wade County

Mario to JOREL


----------



## Jace

This game's getting good.

Chalmers with the tear drop

81-79 HEAT


----------



## Jace

Cookie big 3


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Green and Durant have scored 45 of the Thunder's 79 points.

DQ for 3333


----------



## Wade2Bosh

15 for Durant in the 4th quarter. Blair killed us in the 4th in the last game and now Durant is.


----------



## Jace

Inglis is going crazy on the officiating

I saw some BS block calls, and even non-calls on charges in the game I went to


----------



## Wade2Bosh

The Thunder have taken 15 free throws in this 4th quarter. Miami has taken none.


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Turnover number 7 for Mike.


----------



## Jace

7 TOs for Beas. Bad.


----------



## PoetLaureate

I am pretty sure we are the worst preseason team of all time. We have gone 2-5, 0-7, 2-5 in the past 3 years and are on track to go 0-7 again the way this is going.


----------



## Wade County

7 TO's for Beas, yikes. He's dirtying up a good game by him.


----------



## Jace

Wade2Bease said:


> The Thunder have taken 15 free throws in this 4th quarter. Miami has taken none.


Yea, that's absurd.


----------



## Jace

Oh my...lol

We're getting Punk'd or something

EDIT: HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!


----------



## PoetLaureate

I think every time I have seen M. Chalmers on the box score it has been a turnover or a foul


----------



## Wade2Bosh

DQ now 4-6 from 3. 1-7 on everything else. How is it that he is so much better from deep? :laugh:


----------



## Jace

Q-Rich swished his first three-pointer, and has missed 6 since

34 pts this qrtr for the Thunder, mostly on FTs. Ridiculous.


----------



## Wade2Bosh

22-2 free throw disparity in this 4th quarter. That is insane.


----------



## Jace

Thunder have taken 11x as many free throws as the HEAT right now


----------



## PoetLaureate

What has Beasley been doing, besides traveling? Only 4 rebounds?


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Heat lose 96-91

Led throughout then Durant and the refs took over. 

Nice shooting game for Bease. Too many turnovers though. And I'd like better rebounding numbers from him this preseason.


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Just saw highlights of this game on ESPN. It was on TV in Oklahoma. Too bad we couldnt find a damn stream.

Durant had a facial right on Joel.


----------



## Wade County

Hopefully Wade can go tomorrow, then we can see how we really click.

I know its just preseason, but id like a win!


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Nice praise from Ira for Mike. He must have looked pretty good.


> - Michael Beasley was terrific, arguably as good as he's looked in a Heat uniform. He opened 6 of 7 from the field and had 20 points within the opening minutes of the third quarter. He scored on everything from a feathery jumper to an alley-oop from Mario Chalmers to several slashing assaults on the rim.
> 
> - Beasley started at small forward alongside Udonis Haslem, then moved to power forward. At one point he was part of a small lineup that featured Haslem at center, Beasley at power forward, Quentin Richardson at small forward, Daequan Cook at shooting guard and Chalmers at point guard.
> 
> - Small forward should prove workable for Beasley against rangy types, such as Wednesday's cover, former AAU teammate Kevin Durant, although the Thunder forwards eventually took control. Beasley finished the game at power forward, not against Durant.


*LINK*


----------



## Smithian

How did Beasley look against Durant defensively? If Beasley can even make a guy like Durant work, then he'll be fine defensively.


----------



## Wade2Bosh

He didnt play much at the 3 in this game. Plus, Kevin was in foul trouble throughout the 1st 3 quarters, and when he took the game over in the 4th, Mike was at the 4.


----------



## Adam

17

That's the number of times Durant had 5 or more turnovers in a game in his rookie season. I sometimes wonder how fed up with this Riley regime I would be if we never won that championship. They need to let the players play because that's the only way they will get better. You have to let them fail, forward, fast like Cam Cameron would say.


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Damn, quoting Cam Cameron?


----------



## Jace

Seriously, guys like Beasley and Wright get such a short leash, even in low-expectation and/or losing situations. It boggles my mind. Beasley was hot in the first half, even some in the third quarter. In the fourth he was on the floor but it was like he was invisible (at least from the radio broadcast.) He couldn't have taken more than two shots in the fourth, and there aren't many other offensive options out there sans Wade. Maybe Spo wanted to test out other guys, but why not see if Beas can keep it going and carry a team to victory?

You look at guys who improve quickly and to high levels (Wade, James, Rose, Durant, Jordan, Iverson, etc.) and you see that they were given the opportunity to mess up, get heavy minutes, and play free, to a degree, while not worrying about getting the quick hook.


----------



## Wade County

^ This is what is strange to me. Wade got given the keys as a rookie, played over 30 minutes a night. Yes, he played well but he turned the ball over a lot also.

If Dwyane is the best player this franchise has ever groomed (and he is) - why cant we replicate that with Mike? Yeah he'll make some mistakes, but if means he progresses and becomes a better, smarter player for it - rather than looking over his shoulder waiting for the wooden spoon to smack his *** - I really dont see the downside.

Hopefully Mike gets 32+ minutes this year. And I want to see him better utilised if he's to play the 3. 

Consider why we have always been looking for a good three-man...is it the players, or the system?


----------



## Wade2Bosh

According to Ira, UD is out tonight and Wade warmed up and looks like he'll play tonight.


----------



## Wade County

Starters are:

Chalmers
Wade
QRich
Beas
JO

Interesting...veeery interesting...


----------



## Wade County

Oh, now that UD is out not so interesting.


----------



## Wade County

Any streams?


----------



## Wade2Bosh

^nope. it isnt on TV anywhere.

Wade for 333


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Marcus Thornton, who the Heat drafted then traded to the Hornets, has 4 for the Hornets so far.


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Beasley with the and1


----------



## Wade County

Getting killed on the glass early.


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Joel with back to back baskets off Wade passes


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Joel again. Its an offensive explosion by JoRel! :laugh:


----------



## Wade County

Who is this man and what have they done with JOREL?


----------



## Adam

There's no radio stream either?


----------



## Wade County

The Barron vs JoREL

LETS GET READY TO RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMBLLLLLLLLLLLLE!!!!


----------



## Adam

Did you guys see what Michael Wallace wrote about a funny exchange between Beas and Diarrhea the other day:



> Beasley, if nothing else, is still providing the comic relief. Before Sunday’s game against San Antonio, Beasley and Yakhouba Diawara had a hilarious exchange. Beasley picked on Diawara because of his deep French accent. Diawara, a Pepperdine grad, shot back: “I’m an educated man. Put Pepperdine against wherever you went, college dropout. Did you even stay long enough to major?”
> 
> 
> 
> Beasley, who spent one season at Kansas State before leaving to become the No. 2 overall pick in the 2008 draft, didn’t hesitate. “Yeah, I had a major. My major was Bucketology. You don’t know about that. I mastered in getting buckets.”


Link


----------



## Wade County

:laugh:

Well, he is right.


----------



## Adam

All hope of winning this game is lost. The legend, Earl Barron, has descended from heaven to grace us mortals with his godly basketball powers.


----------



## Adam

^I like how David West is squinting against The Pearl's brilliance and Kevin Durant is rightly cowering in fear. Barron would pick his teeth with you Flacco.


----------



## Wade2Bosh

6 rebounds for Mike so far in this 1st half. Good to see.


----------



## Wade County

My eardrums just burst from that picture of Earl screaming :laugh:


----------



## Wade County

Wade2Bease said:


> 6 rebounds for Mike so far in this 1st half. Good to see.


It is good to know he can hit the glass on occasion :laugh:

Mike is looking like Carmelo at the moment. Melo didnt become a solid rebounder for many years, hopefully Mike is getting 7-8 a game this season. He should expect no less.


----------



## PoetLaureate

Maybe it's because he's playing PF


----------



## Adam

MB30 said:


> My eardrums just burst from that picture of Earl screaming :laugh:


:laugh:

I just realized, Arroyo is going to be great for Mike. Remember last year how Quinn was freezing out Beasley all year? I don't know if he was under orders from the coaches or not, but I don't think Beas is sad to see him gone. He dissed him in the paper pretty bad the other day.


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Hope we didnt make a mistake with this Thornton trade. He's played pretty well this preseason and is playing pretty good tonight.


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Q-Rich for 3333

He's shot the 3 very good this preseason.


----------



## Wade County

^ was just thinking that.

Ill reserve judgement for a few years though, once PBev is here.


----------



## Wade County

Beas having trouble with West?


----------



## Wade2Bosh

^Nope, just 2 late foul calls on him late in the 2nd.

JoRel again 

West back to the free throw line again. Damn.


----------



## Wade2Bosh

55-38 Miami at the half

3 good 1st halfs in a row for the heat in the preseason. So that's one small positive even thought they've lost the previous 2 games.


----------



## Wade County

55-38 at the half, nice.

No players in double figures - but Wade and JoREL!!! dominating


----------



## Jace

The '93 Heat said:


> ^I like how David West is squinting against The Pearl's brilliance and Kevin Durant is rightly cowering in fear. Barron would pick his teeth with you Flacco.


Ahahahaha


----------



## Jace

So Joel became Hakeem over night? He should teach Beasley a little offense.



MB30 said:


> ^ was just thinking that.
> 
> Ill reserve judgement for a few years though, once PBev is here.


Yeah, that's been scaring me a little too, but I have faith in P-Def.



Wade2Bease said:


> Q-Rich for 3333
> 
> He's shot the 3 very good this preseason.


Not the last game...1/7 after hitting his first.


----------



## Wade County

Be honest Jace...you creamed a little in your pants at JoREL's offensive brilliance.

I think I read on the play by play he rocked a reverse dunk :laugh:


----------



## Jace

Yes, Joel has summoned my seed. No visual stimulation even required. The sound of Mike Inglis' voice explaining JORell's mastery was a near-divine experience.

Wait til the Barron gets going. My oh my, KC has never seen such a display.


----------



## Jace

7 boards for Beas

Chalmers nice drive and dish for the left-hander for Jermaine


----------



## Jace

Man, Thornton's sounding like a pretty nice player. I can see why we didnt keep him though. We definitely dont need another SG.

Speaking of, SLAM FOR FLASH!!!

From Q-Rich

Wade and Chalmers are running the team nicely...11 assists total, Hornets have 6 total.


----------



## Jace

Khouba three hits the side of the backboard. Please, stop playing him.


----------



## Jace

Wayne Simien in the house. Two Heat PF rejects in the building.


----------



## Wade County

Wouldnt Dorell provide what Khouba does? I dont get it.


----------



## Wade2Bosh

^Between Q-Rich, JJ, and Bease, I dont think khouba will see much playing time.


----------



## Jace

I guess they're just giving him preseason burn. He should be last on the depth chart at SF.


----------



## Wade County

73-51 Heat after 3.

We've had big leads going into the last in our last few games, lets see if we can finally get a win.

Mario looks like hes having a great game, 'Super' - if you will


----------



## Jace

Cook is breaking out this year. He looked real nice in the Spurs game I went to, and from the highlights Ive seen from the other games, I've been most impressed with his improvement. I could see him turning into that 6th-man, ball-handling scorer we've been looking for to relieve Wade off-the-bench. In other words, what we've always hoped for out of Cook.

Between Beasley's and Chalmers' 2nd-year development and JO's hopeful return to health/form, few people are considering what Cook can do with these 'tangibly' improved ball-handling skills and improved consistency. It would be a real nice thing to happen, no question.

And...he gets called for a charge.


----------



## Jace

JJ with one of his patented 4-point plays


----------



## Wade County

JJ 4pt play!

LOL :laugh: - patented


----------



## Jace

Weird line-up:

-Arroyo
-Cook
-Jones
-Yak Diarrhea
-JORell


----------



## Wade County

Weird, and horrible.

10-4 Hornets run to start the 4th. Spo's eyes bleed as he calls a timeout.


----------



## Jace

Any word on Wright tonight? He didn't play last night either.

Anthony swattin' them flies


----------



## Jace

Beasley is putting up UD's stats from last night. His offense just isn't working, but at least he's boarding.

Lead down to 14, Beas hits the j after a fumble to make it 16 again


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Bease with 9 rebounds now.

Arroyo hits the J


----------



## Jace

Yes! Arroyo hits pull-up 18-footer and Hornets take a TO


----------



## Wade County

Beas should double double from here.

Liking Arroyo running our 2nd unit.


----------



## Wade County

What happened to Peja Stojokavic's corpse?


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Peja hasnt been the same in the last 2 years. His stat line tonight is just ugly.

Bease 1 rebound away from a double double.


----------



## Jace

Cook quick 3, 12 for him


----------



## Jace

MB30 said:


> Liking Arroyo running our 2nd unit.


Oh yea, his addition is bigger than he is as a player.

Interesting sequence here with a Beasley airball, rebound and reset, another miss, another off. rebound, followed by Jones being fouled on a three.

Misses first


----------



## Wade2Bosh

JJ is a master at drawing fouls while shooting


----------



## Wade2Bosh

11pts/11rbs for Mike now

JJ for 3333


----------



## Jace

11 and 11 for Beas

JONES FOR 33333333


----------



## Jace

lol W2B, ditto


----------



## Jace

Cook is sizzzlin


----------



## Adam

Jace has been in love with Arroyo ever since they shared a lettuce wrap and kisses on South Beach.


----------



## Wade2Bosh

We'll be alright off the bench this season if we can get at least 1 of DQ, JJ and Q-Rich hitting these 3's every game. Obviously, if two of them are on then it would be even better.


----------



## Adam

I wonder if Shavlik Randolph makes the team. Crunching the numbers, it looks like with Beasley and UD starting and Beasley shifting to the 4 we would need a 3rd PF in case both those guys get in foul trouble or if one is resting while the other gets in foul trouble. Unless Joel plays PF in that situation.


----------



## Wade2Bosh

If guaranteed money wasnt a factor, would Lucas have beaten out Quinny for a roster spot after this preseason?


----------



## Wade2Bosh

The '93 Heat said:


> I wonder if Shavlik Randolph makes the team. Crunching the numbers, it looks like with Beasley and UD starting and Beasley shifting to the 4 we would need a 3rd PF in case both those guys get in foul trouble or if one is resting while the other gets in foul trouble. Unless Joel plays PF in that situation.


Joel will supposedly play more PF this season.


----------



## Wade County

Heat win.

Cel-e-brate good times c'mown!


----------



## Adam

Wade2Bease said:


> If guaranteed money wasnt a factor, would Lucas have beaten out Quinny this preseason?


Nah, I watched Lucas a ton on the Rockets and I honestly think Quinn is better. Poor guy would be a player in this league if he just had the physical gifts. He's a hard worker and a heck of a player but he doesn't have an assist:turnover playmaking game that you need at that size. Sucks to see guys with the physical tools waste it when he works so hard.


----------



## Jace

The '93 Heat said:


> Jace has been in love with Arroyo ever since they shared a lettuce wrap and kisses on South Beach.


What can I say, he has such smooth skin. And that accent...



Wade2Bease said:


> If guaranteed money wasnt a factor, would Lucas have beaten out Quinny for a roster spot after this preseason?


My belief was yes, based off of what I saw at the Spurs game, and his stats/highlights from the first two games. But its a small sample size, in preseason, against 2nd-, 3rd- and beyond- stringers. I'll take '93's word, though its possible he's improved, I suppose.

Anyone know what happened to Wade's leg?


----------



## Wade2Bosh

^From Ira


> There was a nervous moment when Wade tripped on a breakaway layup in the third quarter. He grabbed his left knee when heading to the bench during the next time out, limping off. He returned for a few minutes before leaving for good and being attended to by team physician Harlan Selesnick.


*Link*


----------



## Adam

Jace said:


> Anyone know what happened to Wade's leg?


Uh oh...


----------



## Wade County

Apparently just a calf bruise:

_Wade returned after missing two games with a strained muscle in his ribcage. However, after scoring 14 points and passing for six assists, he left in the third quarter after tripping while completing a breakaway layup.

Wade was diagnosed with a bruised left calf, with additional tests to follow.

"I hope it's just a bruise," he said. "It's sore right now."

His ribs also remain tender.

"It felt all right," he said. "It was a little bit stiff, but it was no pain."_

Some good segments here for Beas also:

_Returning close to his college roots, Miami Heat forward Michael Beasley spoke before Thursday night's 97-81 exhibition victory over the New Orleans Hornets about maturity and opportunities lost.

*Asked by those who covered him during his lone college season at Kansas State whether he might have been better off staying on campus for at least one additional year, Beasley did not necessarily disagree.

"Now that I look back on it," he said, "maybe that would have helped. But I can't look back."*
A year removed from an uneven start to his pro career, Beasley said he is comfortable where he is in his second season with the Heat.

"I'm just living my life right now, letting everything fall into place, not trying to rush anything on or off the court, just taking it day by day," he said.

The timing of Thursday's arrival could not have been better for Beasley, who scored 24 points in 38 minutes in Wednesday night's 96-91 exhibition loss to the Thunder in Tulsa, one of his best performances as a pro.

"This time last year, he would have been staggering off the court with a 38-minute game," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the No. 2 overall pick in the 200 NBA Draft. "It just would have been too many minutes for him. He would have been exhausted. Mentally, he would have been way too fatigued. *I think he'll be able to play 35, 36 minutes as long as he doesn't get in foul trouble."*

Endurance wasn't an issue Thursday, with Beasley called for his fourth foul early in the third quarter. He still managed to close with 11 points and 11 rebounds in 28 minutes.

*Beasley used the collegiate homecoming to stress how took a year to get grounded with the NBA lifestyle.

"The lifestyle off the court is going to hit you hard if you're not ready, not prepared for it," he said. "It's going to knock you back."*

For Beasley, that contributed to a lengthy stay this offseason at a Houston substance-abuse facility, which Spoelstra said Thursday lasted seven weeks.

*"I've seen a big difference in Michael on the court, already," Spoelstra said. "It is early, but compared to where he was last year at this time, there's a big difference in him as a player, his versatility and his focus and his ability to play two positions and his stamina and conditioning."*

With Udonis Haslem given the night off due to back pain, Beasley shifted to power forward.

Asked about Beasley appearing more at ease these days, Spoelstra brushed aside the question.

*"I don't really care if he's happy around our facility," he said. "But he understands the responsibility. We need him to play well. We need him to progress and his game needs to evolve, and it's happening.

"I think he understands for us to take the next step as a team, in our development, he needs to take the natural progression for a number-two pick."*

Spoelstra said he sees his team making gains.

*"We're encouraged by this last week," he said. "I thought we made a real improvement moving the ball, with 23 assists and 10 turnovers. As a whole, the guys were very unselfish."[/*_


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Wade will play tonight, but Beasley will not.


----------



## Wade County

Bummer bout Beas, but glad to have Dwizzade back.


----------



## Dee-Zy

What happened to Bease?


----------



## Wade County

Hurt his thumb and shoulder in practice a few days ago. Nothing serious, he apparently wanted to train today but was held out.

He'll likely be back tomorrow, id say.


----------



## Wade County

QRich gets the start at SF in Beas' place.

Chalmers
Wade
QRich
Haslem
JO

good to see UD and JO back also, along with Wade. Now, get Beas back tomorrow and we can run our projected lineup for once!


----------



## PoetLaureate

JO 4 rebounds in 9:18 O_O


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## Wade County

How about DoRELL contributing in limited mins.

How are we back in this game? DWade is how


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## Wade County

Heat win 99-93.

Dwade went off, 35 points.

He's ready!


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## Wade2Bosh

Yup, looks like he's ready to go 

*Heat 99, Grizzlies 93*


> * Michael Beasley was held out due to a bruised left shoulder. There is a chance he plays Thursday in Jacksonville against the Hawks, in the Heat's exhibition finale.
> 
> * Without Beasley, it essentially was all-or-nothing early with Dwyane Wade (pictured below), who returned after sitting out weekend practices with a bruised left calf. Of the Heat's first 20 points, Wade had 14, with Udonis Haslem (four) and Jermaine O'Neal (two) accounting for the rest. Wade had 19 in 17 first-half minutes.Dwyane Wade Grizzlies He finished with 35 on 13-of-23 shooting.
> 
> * It apparently is safe to now start the regular season.
> 
> * Even amid his scoring, Wade kept a running dialogue with the replacement officials, a somewhat odd approach considering the regular referees are expected to ratify their new labor agreement in time to return for next week's start of the regular season.
> 
> * The Heat was pummeled on the boards early. But, to his credit, O'Neal did have four rebounds in his nine first-quarter minutes. The Heat still ended the period at an 18-8 deficit and was down 30-18 at halftime, when it trailed 57-53.
> 
> * O'Neal was active, creating hope for a solid start to the regular season. He aggressively hit the boards.
> 
> * The Heat opened with its sixth different starting lineup in as many exhibitions, this time with Quentin Richardson at small forward. Two fouls had Richardson on the bench before the midpoint of the second quarter, with Wade shifted to small forward and Daequan Cook inserted.
> 
> * The Heat drew back within striking range on 3-pointers from Cook, Dorell Wright and Yakhouba Diawara. Trouble was it missed its other seven 3-pointers in the first half.
> 
> * Wright ran the floor well and again teased with his athleticism, hitting his first three shots. Can there finally be trust?
> 
> * Carlos Arroyo was the Heat's best point guard, his playmaking and creativity sparking the team upon his entrance. Mario Chalmers struggled in 21 scoreless minutes. At the end, though, it was Wade at point guard.
> 
> * Haslem was very effective in his minutes, as arguably the Heat's best defender on the floor. His scoring didn't hurt, either. He also had a huge rebound in the final seconds.
> 
> * Thursday at 6 p.m. is the deadline for teams to waive players with non-guaranteed contracts to avoid having to pay part of their 2009-10 salaries. While Monday is the NBA's official cutdown date, players must clear the 48-hour waiver period, which does not include weekends, in order to be considered released. That probably is the reason John Lucas III and Shavlik Randolph did not play Wednesday.
> 
> * Guard Chris Quinn, who has been sidelined since early in camp with a sprained right ankle, said he remains hopeful of a return by Wednesday's regular-season opener against the visiting Knicks.
> 
> * Guard Allen Iverson, who expressed interest in signing with the Heat in the offseason, did not travel with the Grizzlies due to a partially torn left hamstring.
> 
> * Heat coach Erik Spoelstra warned not to make too much of his lineups in these final two exhibitions. "I have a pretty good idea of which direction I'm going," he said of his lineup and rotation. "I don't know if that will really be noticeable or revealed in the next couple of games, but I have a pretty good idea."
> 
> * It does not appear Spoelstra is even considering James Jones as his starting small forward, with that role apparently going to Beasley.
> 
> * Beasley believes he has shown enough to be considered for a starting position, after spending most of last season as a reserve. "I played my minutes hard," he said. "I played every game hard. I think I'm ready."


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## Wade County

Looks like Wade and Haslem had good games. DQ and DWright solid also, same with Jermaine.


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## Wade2Bosh

Mario has not had a good preseason at all. Sucks since all we heard from the team was how well he had been doing throughout the summer.


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## Wade County

Yeah Mario stunk it up hard today.

We'll see what happens, Riles told him to not let me trade for an upgrade...hopefully Mario proves he doesnt need to.

Arroyo was actually pretty good too tonight.


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## sknydave

I'm telling you, Arroyo will be the Heat's starting point guard


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## Wade2Bosh

I wont go that far, but it'll be interesting to see who gets the minutes at PG late in the game as the season goes on.

This obviously goes for when Wade isnt the one playing PG late in the game, as he was tonight.


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## Smithian

Mario will turn it around. It's preseason. Have faith.


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## Jace

I went to the game. Definitely a crazy one. It seemed a sure loss quite early on. The defense looked like it was going through walk-throughs. My only guess is the team is forced to think too much defensively with all the schemes. Considering all of the hammering they do on that end, you'd expect them to be a lot sharper there than they were, at least to start off. Later on the defense was more in sync. Rebounding was embarrassing at times throughout, unable to keep guys like Stephen Hunter, Rudy Gay, and Zach Randolph from getting multiple offensive rebounds at a time. Spoelstra had to burn a few timeouts due to the defense and rebounding. Thank god for Dwyane Wade. Oh yeah, the officiating was god awful. At one point, I believe it was Wade who bumped into a rebounding JO, who dropped the board out of bounds. The trailing ref turned around, and called a fairly-distant-from-the-play Rudy Gay for a foul right in front of the Grizz's bench. Needless to say they went wild. All kinds of phantom and uncalled fouls on both sides, but many that drove the HEAT-house nuts.

By the player:

*Chalmers *- Did not look as bad as stats indicate. Had that nice pick and push up the court followed by the alley-oop to Dwyane early on. He spent more time trying to get other guys involved than shoot (took two shots), and it's not like he turned it over a lot (2), but the team wasn't hitting shots early on. I'm not sure it was necessarily his fault. He looks a lot more solid and quicker with his handle than last year. He made some nice passes that didn't result in assists for him. He gambled less on defense, but still at times had difficulty with Conley.

*Wade *- I'm amazed that I was disappointed with him early on and thought he'd have a horrible game, continuing an underwhelming preseason. To his credit, it did seem as though he as trying some new things offensively. His warm-ups seemed to foreshadow a struggle, as he bricked most of his jumpers. He quickly turned it around, though, and started slashing to the rim, getting strong layups between, over, and around Memphis bigs. He's just so unstoppable going to the rim, except when replacement refs (and regular refs sometimes too) forget to call fouls. When they did though, it would've been nice if Wade hadn't missed 5 FT's. Later on his jumper came on, showing off the full package. 

*Richardson *- Unlike Wade, Q looked fantastic in warm-ups. I maybe saw him miss once, maybe. Everything was swishing in, whether it were three, after three, after three, or pull-ups, or turnarounds. He also threw down a nice dunk in a little slam-off he had with Dorell, who threw down a couple nasties. Once I saw that his name was up in the starting line-up, and Beasley was more concerned with socializing and throwing up rainbow three-pointers (meaning he wasn't playing), I thought he was in for a big game. Boy was I wrong. Tough one for Q. He never really looked comfortable in any of the shots he took. The only one he did, I believe, was a three that came off a nice no-look from Arroyo. He also had an aggressive offensive rebound and putback where he looked like he could play with the big boys. He did also struggle defensively a little against Gay, picking up two quick fouls and forcing Wade to move to him, who controlled him a little more.

*Haslem *- I may have been starting to take for granted what an asset UD is for this team. The gap is at least closing between Beasley and he as far as best PF on this team, but UD is clearly the better overall player, until Beas can put it all together, and consistently. He's still over-matched in certain situations, rebounding in a pack for example, but he still grabs a good amount of boards in his minutes. He simply locked Randolph up every time they faced off, it was impressive. Offensively, the jump shot is automatic. A lot of his points were assists from a penetrating guard, but he did also show he can create a basket on an occasion or two. This was a very nice showing for Haslem. Don't discount this being a contract year for the Udominator, too.

*O'Neal* - First off, physically, he looks AMAZING, the best he's looked since well before he left Indiana. He had a very quiet first half. While he looked fluid and moved his feet, he got scored over by both guards and bigs on several occasions, while only affecting a couple of shots early on. He also only took one shot in the first half. He did board though, throughout the game, even. In the second half he got more aggressive and involved with the offense. There were some nice double and triple pass sequences involving him from a post area, usually with UD as the beneficiary. His spin and dunk looked vintage J.O. When he spun I'd hoped he would dunk it but didn't think it would happen. That was real nice. He forced a couple of drives and even got blocked by Stephen Hunter on one occasion. His jumper was on point in the second half though.

*Cook *- Came in quickly for Q, and carried over his frostiness from the field. DQ bricked a couple jumpers before driving and making a nice left-handed bounce pass to an open J-Ant under the rim. From there he went coast-to-coast for a floater, followed by that jab-step three in the highlights. In the second half he had a nice angle floater off glass after a quick drive. Not a great shooting night, but he's shown he now knows how to do other things when his three is not falling to score the basketball, and not only for himself, he had a lot of good looks for teammates. It appears he's finally learning how to use that athleticism as he grabbed some really difficult, challenged rebounds.

*Wright *- The line-ups with Chalmers/Arroyo, Wade/Cook, and Wright gave us a great look throughout this game. All of those guys now have the trust of Spoelstra to take the ball-up the court, initiate the offense, get guys in position, and penetrate. While Arroyo and Cook emerged as scoring threats off-the-dribble, Wright and Chalmers almost solely looked to pass when driving. Dorell had some nice looking rebounds, and Posey-like scrappy plays. His athleticism was showing itself, and he looked pretty good defensively. That corner three he hit falling down was nasty. Solid, unspectacular game for him. I just want to see him not make mistakes and contribute steadily while getting better and better. 

*Arroyo *- Creates an element Wade has never had in the NBA, a back-up PG who can legitimately create and score. Carlos looked in regular season mode once he got aggressive. His first shot was an awkward leaning short jumper, but it swished in. He later created a few jumpers in very impressive fashion. His passes were stellar throughout. He threw a great behind-the-back to, I believe, Richardson, that he clunked. I can see he and Cook developing quite the relationship, which Spoelstra seems to be trying to initiate. Defensively, he competes, and is a clear upgrade to Quinn. The team seems to already really respect the way he runs the offense. He was part of the final line-up until Wade took over PG in the closing minutes (Arroyo/Wade/Wright/Haslem/O'Neal).

*Anthony *- Not a lot to talk about here. Had a nice block, and two dunks created by nice passes from Cook.

*Diawarra *- This guy is really garbage. He shot the ball every time he touched it, regardless of how open he was or how much time was on the clock or who was on the floor. He didn't provide anything to make up for this. He must know he has no spot in the rotation already. He only played because we needed a backup PF, and Randolph is about to be waived.

I was disappointed I didn't get to see JJ play. He looked really good in warm ups, hitting all kinds of shots. I think the Heat will do their best to squeeze him into the line-up though.

Was a fun game to go to, very emotional and I got to see Wade go crazy. I'm definitely looking forward to complaining about real refs once the season starts, that's for sure. It'll be interesting to see what the rotation winds up being with this team (JJ in? Dorell out? Anthony/Arroyo heavy or light minutes? Does DQ totally eclipse Q-Rich?). I'm hoping J.O. has just been pacing himself this preseason, as this game seemed to indicate. If so, and with Beasley thrown in, this team can be really dangerous with the element an Arroyo, developed Cook, and healthy Wright can add to that. Wade could have a lot more weapons this year.
*
Collection of highlights*


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## Wade2Bosh

Nice writeup, Jace. Good to hear that Mario wasnt as bad as the stats and Ira indicated.

Good to hear about Arroyo too.

I definitely think JJ will be part of the regular season rotation. 

Mario/Arroyo
Wade/DQ
Mike/JJ
UD/Mike
JO/Joel

I think these 9 will definitely play heavy minutes with Q-Rich being the next in line if Spo goes to a 10th man and I could see Jamaal playing over Joel against the bigger front courts in the league.

With Randolph and Lucas looking like they wont make the roster, it looks like we'll go with 14 players for the season. Who will be the only inactive? khouba, Dorell or Quinn?


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## Wade2Bosh

Just looked at the Heat roster on the team website. Looks like they're going with the GQ look this season. Last year they were all in tuxes.

*HEAT: Heat Roster*

Anyway, as always, Chris Quinn is the star of these pics 









:lol:


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## Jace

I think last year was more of a slick, Men in Black-type look than a tuxedo look. This GQ one is funny though. I like JORell's shot, and JJ's is funny too. No doubt Quinn's takes the cake and eats it too, though.

Regarding the rotation, its unfortunate Wright won't be able to crack it unless there's an injury. He looks like he can really contribute this season.

I have to say its really amazing how different just about everyone's body looks this season. Dorell looks trimmer and more toned, along with Richardson obviously. You can tell Chalmers has worked on his lower-body and overall strength. Magloire looks trimmer. These guys all look like they're in mid-season conditioning.


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## Ben

Fear Miami.


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## PoetLaureate

Sweet write up, thanks!



Jace said:


> I'm hoping J.O. has just been pacing himself this preseason, as this game seemed to indicate.


:gopray:


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## Wade2Bosh

Final preseason game tonight.

Mike wont play once again and Wade is 50/50 according to Ira.


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## Jace

Sucks about Beasley. I guess it'll be baptism by fire at SF.


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## Jace

D-Wade in, though


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## Jace

Good start so far. I like that this is a "home" game, with Mike B. and our HEAT dancers (who looked quite amazing last night)


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## Wade2Bosh

Miami's 1-8 to start this game.


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## Wade2Bosh

1-11 now. Just a dreadful start.


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## Jace

Yeah I dont know where I got "good start" from. I was casually listening and it sounded like the action was good.

Where's JJ?

COOK IS IN THE KITCHEN33333


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## Jace

And that doubled our FGs


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## Jace

There goes that HEAT killer


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## Jace

Wade misses a pair. Are we throwing this game?


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## Wade2Bosh

5 shots in 4 minutes for Crawford. Guy must think he's still with the Warriors.


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## Jace

There's Jones


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## Jace

Joel is going to be very nice on that pick and roll this season. Its good to see him develop something consistently offensively.


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## Jace

Cook is our Wade right now


----------



## Wade County

Say what you will about DWright, but he can rebound.

Interesting lineup:

Arroyo
Cook
Jones
Wright
JoREL!

Loving Jorel at the moment though, guys hands must be softening up.


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## Jace

lovin' Cook's new game


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## Jace

Jj For 3!!!!!

From Arroyo


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## Jace

Real ugly game so far for us, somehow we're only down 7

Chalmers just can't put it together this preseason. He talked himself up so much on Twitter. Let's see if he can put it together in the regular season.

JO's looking good again tonight. 9 and 6 so far.


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## Jace

Our SF situations is hilarious. Its like a deep septic tank. Jones cant even hit open threes. Wright can't score, but at least he's rebounding.

Wouldn't recently-waived Ime Udoka beat all of these guys out?


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## Jace

The Cookie's on fire!


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## Jace

Magloire with 7 boards in under 10 minutes


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## Jace

Ugh...I dont know how we stayed in that one. Hopefully in the regular season our guys pull their heads out of their butts (excluding Cook, as far as tonight).


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## PoetLaureate

I am excited about Beasley and Cook helping D-Wade out this year on offense


----------



## Wade County

Cook has had a great preseason. Really, he seems to have improved a lot. He could be huge for us this year.

Wade sucked and Beasley didnt play and we only lost by 6 or so. Thats not so bad - we'll do better with our full side out there.

We shot nearly 20% worse from the floor than they did.

Im troubled by Mario though. Was expecting more from him so far...I know its only preseason, but Arroyo must be licking his chops about taking Mario's minutes. We need him to respond.


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## PoetLaureate

I'm not worried about Mario either, its probably just a shooting slump (it happens) that is extending to the rest of his game. The shots will go in eventually, especially if they are decent looks which we unfortunately cant see since its not televised.


----------



## Wade2Bosh

Mario, JJ and JO are 3 guys we heard a lot of good things about this summer. All 3 were pretty underwhelming, at least stats wise, this preseason. Thankfully, its only preseason though.

On the other hand, DQ got a lot of praise over the summer and showed his improvement in these games. Hope it continues.

Just 6 days until the opener :woot:


----------



## Adam

It's not fair that Cook isn't starting at the 3. He deserves it. He earned it last year too but instead we started Diawara who came out of nowhere many times over him when Cook had already been with us and paid his dues.


----------



## Wade County

If Cook started at the 3, he'd be too short - he doesnt rebound enough for that position. He'd go against guys too big and strong for him. I think hes in the perfect role, assassin off the bench getting 20-30 minutes a night backing up the best player in the world.


----------



## Adam

MB30 said:


> If Cook started at the 3, he'd be too short - he doesnt rebound enough for that position. He'd go against guys too big and strong for him. I think hes in the perfect role, assassin off the bench getting 20-30 minutes a night backing up the best player in the world.


He was our 2nd best player for the majority of last season. SF is his position. The stats show that he plays more minutes there and he plays better there than at SG. We hear all this talk about starting our best players. Well, Cook is our best SF then start him. He also defended LeBron last year very well in a win and he looks larger after working out during the summer.


----------



## Wade County

I hear you, and understand that Cook would space the floor etc...but his scoring is too valuable to that 2nd unit. Defensively, your probably right in that I dont think he could do any worse than Beas or JJ or whoever - but im just not sold on him starting at the 3. Beas is already a slightly undersized 4, and Wade is an undersized 2...


----------



## Dee-Zy

Wade, as much as he is an undersized 2, is not a problem because he makes it up in athleticism and I think his wingspan is decent. It's not like there are a lot of 2s that can shoot over him.

I'm confused though... I know Cook played a lot of 3 but I always thought it was for lack of better option. Isn't he like 6'3" or 6'4"???


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## Jace

Decent? Wade has one of the most freaky wingspans in the game. He's +7 on his wingspan.

Cook could play the three if he had more length. He's the same height as Dwyane, with a smaller wingspan, and less girth. When we play them together with a PG, Im pretty sure they generally consider Wade the SF, probably depending on who they'd like them to guard. Cook can rebound though. I saw him use his athleticism to grab some nice ones in the Grizz game. I do prefer Cook off-the-bench, though, especially now that he has playmaking capabilities.


----------



## Wade2Bosh

I found this funny on twitter earlier. Mario tweeted this:


> @mister6clutch: I need suggestions to do with my free time right now folks. Wats up?


1st thing I thought was to go to the gym and get his shot right. A few minutes later, Wade tweets him this:


> Go to the gym and get some shots up


:laugh:


----------



## Jace

Haha, that's the second time pretty much that exact convo has played out, too. Only, last time it was during the offseason, when there was no actual proof that 'Rio needs to work on his jumper.


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## Rather Unique

DWade PWNED Mario right there, gotdamn :laugh:


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