Heat's Offseason to Remember

Since this is my first post here, I will give a little background. Before 1999, my dream was for Indiana and San Antonion to meet in the finals, guaranteeing that one would be the first ABA team to win an NBA championship. The Spurs have gone on to take care of that little dilemma.

At this point, I wouldn't even predict the Heat to win the ECF, until we see what Indiana does. Like the the Spurs, the Pacers look okay from a cap standpoint, until you actually do the math and look at two-three years down the line. I am assuming the Pacers will use the new Amnesty provision to dump Bender, if only because I can't see why not.

At any rate, my point is that the other significant teams in the East have just started making their moves.

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So with Walker's and Williams' attitudes in check, their games become the focus, and their games fit snugly into the Heat's scheme. Walker, who might be nice coming off the bench behind the defensively-gifted James Posey at small forward, is an excellent passer, a good rebounder and a deep threat.

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Again, Walker's career 3pt fg% .326. Last year, it was .323. Hardly what I'd call a "threat".

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Those who worry about his 3-point binges should check out the restraint he showed after returning to Beantown last season. He won't be hoisting triples without conscience with Shaq and Flash on the floor.

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Right. Why? because this writer says so. At least he was right about Walker showing restraint. He toned it down from shooting over 600 3's in previous years with Boston down to only 341 3's. Quite an accomplishment. :rolleyes

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J-Will is also a 3-point threat, but more importantly a deft ball-handler who can get the Heat in the offense on time.

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J-Will's career 3-pt fg% is (drum roll please) .315. Last year he shot .324 so, obviously, he's quite a threat as well. He also showed restraint in tossing up only 330 shots from deep last year. Do columnists have access to player statistics anymore? ESPN sure has lowered the bar on writers these days.

After all his "glass-half-full" homeristic optimism, he then concludes that these perennial playoff failures will stay in line on the Heat because of Shaq. After all, there's no conflicting precedent is there?

Oh, and Gary Payton sends his regards.

Welcome to the board Reggie Miller. Hope you enjoy your stay.

Indiana looks to be a force to be reckoned with this year. Truth be told, I excpect us to meet in the finals this year. I think with Artest returning and the Jasikevicius signing, they became the favorites in the east. If Granger gives you meaningful minutes, look out.

Detroit has likely been weakened with Brown's departure because I feel you need a coach to preach defense religiously to play defense at the level they were at. Take away Detroit's defense and they aren't all that talented although they might become better offensively under Saunders. Their offensive droughts remind me of the Spurs of 2001/2002.

The Heat have probably spoiled the broth with too many unproven cooks. They only needed tweaking not wholesale changes. That leaves Indy at the top of the heap in the east when the dust settles imho. The 64K question is can the combustible players on that roster keep their cool in the playoffs. To me, Artest, Jackson and even Tinsley and O'Neal to some extent can lose their focus in pressure situations. If they can show that they can keep an even keel when the going gets tough, they'll be very hard to beat.

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Originally Posted by HeatChamps

Why all this hate on Shaq? He is a nice guy. He is like a kid. He doesn't try to hurt people or anything. I don't get it.

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Shaq's not a dirty player, I'll give you that. But he talks too way too much trash. I don't like trash talkers.

My Pistons quited him down for the second straight year and I'm hopin' we'll get the "shut-up Shaq" trifecta this year.

One thing I will always have to hand to you Piston fans: Your guys prevented Hell from freezing over and saved many a flying pig.

Thank you for winning the title in 2004. For one sweet playoff series, I was a bandwagon Piston fan.

Miami actually got weaker with their offseason moves. They have a guy in Shaq, who wants the ball, a guy in Wade who does nothing but shoot the ball, a guy in Walker who won't pass the ball, and another loser in Williams who doesn't know what to do with the ball. This season will be a worst debacle for Miami then the Lakers experiment with Payton and Malone. Should be fun to watch though and when they get eliminated, I'm going to laugh :lol and laugh :lol .....and then laugh some more. :lol