Attention K-Mart shoppers

Posted on February 3, 2012 by jimberrysports

Attention NBA K-Mart shoppers. K Mart is now available. Forward Kenyon Martin has been granted basketball freedom by FIBA…the governing body for international hoops.

K Mart ran off to China for a payday when the lockout hit, and thought he would be stranded over there for a while longer. But now, Martin is a free agent ready to latch on with an NBA team…and the Heat’s Pat Riley is dangling a contract offer.

Riley has also offered a deal to Joel Pryzbilla…a seven foot lug who last played in Portland.  I doubt Martin’s ego will allow him to settle for being fourth fiddle  on a Heat team with three big stars. My guess is he signs with the LA Clippers.

What I am more intrigued by is the Heat admitting what other teams around the league undoubtedly know…the Heat is still lean up front.

Chris Bosh has plenty of skill, but he’s not a banger. Udonis Haslem bangs, but is undersized. Eddie Curry is still a work in progress.  Did Dexter Pittman MAKE any progress ?

That leaves only Joel Anthony..a hard working guy other teams are not afraid to leave open to double team Heat stars.  To become truly unbeatable, the Heat need a big man who can catch it and dunk it. Period !

K Mart is not what he was from his alley oop days with Jason Kidd, but I would take the chance.  The Heat must pull out all the stops this season, because if they don’t win it all this year…..I don’t EVEN want to talk about it.

They SHOULD be K Mart shoppers..even if means overpaying a little bit for the merchandise.

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Will the REAL Dwyane Wade…??

Posted on January 30, 2012 by jimberrysports

The young Dwyane Wade was one of the most exciting players in the NBA. The aging D-Wade..one of the most unpredictable.

There are times he still looks like the dazzling daredevil who can make tough shots, and take tough licks. And then, there are times Wade is a turnover machine who spends too much time whining to the refs.  With all due respect to Erik Spolestra, there’s only one person on the Heat who can tell him that….Pat Riley.

The Heat will NOT win an NBA title if Wade is less than himself. Teams will take Lebron out of the game (if he doesn’t take himself out). Chris Bosh is talented, but not a true 4th quarter go
 to closer. Wade is…but he’s got to clean up his game.   Get a better handle on his handles, and put the purity back in his jump shot.  Maybe he’s being a warrior fighting through injuries, and I’m being too unsympathetic.

Or maybe he needs to buckle down, and maybe deep down he agrees. If I were a betting man, I wouldn’t bet against Wade. He’s still got the closer mentality,  and certainly seems to have lost no level of desire.  He just needs to re-discover those parts of his game that once made him Jordan-esque.

If the NBA miles have added up and taken that away from him, then its up to Wade to re-invent himself into a different kind of player. He’s still stronger than most guards who try to stop him..still quicker than any forward trying to check him.  Dwyane Wade is still a great athlete, and by far, the Heat’s most popular player. He’ll get a pass for his past heroics….for a while.

But come money time…the Heat will need the real Dwyane Wade…to be the REAL Dwyane Wade.

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Too cool for school

Posted on January 11, 2012 by jimberrysports

I hope blowing that game last night against Golden State is a wake up call for the Heat. Sometimes, they are just too cool for school.   When they suffer these lapses, they act as though other teams won’t challenge them. So they make casual passes. They don’t lock down rebounds. They miss too many free throws. They end up keeping other teams in the game. No way Golden Sate should have come back and beat them last night.

When Lebron Jams buried back to back jumpers, the Heat went up by 17. But then Lebron vanished again in crunch time. Why is he standing up top, force feeding the ball to Udonis Haslem ? I love U-D, but when did he become the Heat’s closer ? Lebron didn’t even take a shot when the Heat needed someone to step up. Once again, he looked like a front runner…He’s the man when there’s no pressure..but when things get tight…Hmmm.

Dwyane Wade came back strong, but his jump shot is still flat. If he keeps missing that, teams will start playing off of him.  Haslem and Shane Battier need a little extra shooting practice. Mario Chalmers is playing hard with a great attitude. But his reckless turnovers prove he’s no real point guard.  Chris Bosh is the ultimate too cool for schooler. Time and again, he gets stripped of the ball as if no one will try to swat it when its in his hands.  Earth to Chris..when you get the ball, be more decisive and forceful.

I’m sure Erik Spolestra sees all of this. Frankly, the coach looked as bewildered as I did watching this game melt away. Why didn’t he insist that Wade and Lebron attack the rim when the game was slipping away ?  Anyway..enough of my ranting.

I’m sure the Heat will fix their problems, so these little bad habits go away. They clearly are the most talented team in the NBA, but they will NOT win an NBA title by playing..too cool for school.

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They get it !

Posted on December 19, 2011 by jimberrysports

         Two Miami Heat events this weekend re-affirmed what I have felt for some time.  When it comes to great PR, no sports team in South Florida gets it like the Heat.

       Thursday, the team played an intra-squad scrimmage on the American Airlines arena floor and let season ticket holders come watch.  I know fans feel a little basketball-starved because of the lockout, but I was surprised to see thousands of folks turn out.   When the players were introduced, they didn’t come out of the locker room. They came down from the stands..high fiving the fans.

    Saturday, the team again opened the arena to show its highlight movie “Into the Fire”, a somewhat fluffy documentary about Year one of the Big Three.  The turnout was smaller, but fans were just as enthusiastic.  They got revved up when Heat players Mario Chalmers, Joel Anthony, and Chris Bosh came out for a little post-movie roundtable discussion.

    The Heat always seems to understand that little things mean a lot, not only to the fans..but to the players. What other organization has sent its entire staff out to a players home for a surprise birthday party, as they once did for Udonis Haslem. 

  I was also personally impressed when Pat Riley and the Heat PR staff trucked out a cooler of Heinkenen for a group of reporters to toast the memory of Jim Mandich shortly after he died.

 It was such a thoughtful and classy move, and felt totally genuine.  Pat Riley might be a cold-blooded wheeler dealer who was a taskmaster as a coach, but he’s got a human side..and he has passed it on to his organization. Go Heat.

Dolphins, Marlins, and Panthers…take note.

 

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They’re back !

Posted on December 1, 2011 by jimberrysports

      Chris Bosh was grinning from ear to ear. Udonis Haslem was happily feeding balls. James Jones was excited to shoot them.  These three Heat team mates were back on their home practice court for the first time in five months.

    The league’s iminent labor deal means the icy lockout atmosphere is over. While coaches still can not interact with players until its all official, things have thawed out enough so that players are being allowed back into team buildings. The players clearly missed being there.  Haslem admitted to me that no place else can match the facilities they have in the American Airlines Arena.

   Chris Bosh acknowledged that it was hard to stay motivated and in shape during the on-again off-again labor negotiations which threatened to wipe out the whole season.   Now that’s history, and the Heat can get back to the reality of being the team everyone outside of Miami loves to hate.

   Las Vegas oddsmakers are pegging them as the early favorite to win an NBA title. Premature ? Yes. Realistic ? Absolutely…provided Pat Riley brings in the right pieces to complement Bosh, Lebron James, and Dwyane Wade.   Bosh is embracing the favorite role, saying he EXPECTS no less than a championship.  

  Wade told me recently the Heat played too angry last year. This season, he wants to have fun. They will only if they end it with another parade down Biscayne Boulvevard.

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