28.5 points on 55 percent shooting, and also 8.0 assists, and it was done when the Heat needed it the most, to get that 2nd seed. Lebron is going to go crazy in the playoffs... http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-heat/sfl-miami-heat-lebron-james-s041511,0,2562896.story MIAMI— LeBron James was selected NBA Player of the Month for the third time this season when he Friday was named Eastern Conference winner for April. James shared the honor with Miami Heat teammate Dwyane Wade in December and took the honor alone in January. James helped lead the Heat to a 6-1 April, as they rallied to claim the No. 2 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. James led the NBA in scoring in April, at 28.5 points per game, shooting 55 percent from the field. He also averaged 8.0 assists, 6.8 rebounds and 2.8 steals in April, closing out his seventh straight season averaging at least 25 points, six rebounds and six assists, joining Oscar Robertson as the only players in NBA history to accomplish this feat. Robertson did it in eight straight seasons from 1960-61 to 1967-68. Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant took the Western Conference honor for April.
How do you keep coming up with non-existent criticism for your favorite team? It's as if you always take the least popular criticism and somehow make it as if it was the general consensus, then somehow say the heat is proving everyone wrong. Next thing you're going to say is: "Everyone thought Heat will win less games than the Nets, but the Heat once again proved the haters wrong" or "People were saying Lebron won't even score 5 points a game because he has to share the ball with Juwan Howard and Joel Anthony, but Lebron is once again proving the haters wrong". And it IS a fact that the Heat won't be the 2nd seed in the west, at least not this season. Their record with +500. team is sub par at best, and they have to go up against Lakers, Mavericks, OKC, Spurs, Portland etc. more than twice. Despite the fact that they are in the east, they only have one win more than the best team's in the west. The Heat will drop at least 3-4 more games if they were in the west.
That isn't a fact. That is speculation. It's an educated guess about what would happen. But unless you've been to a parallel world in which the Heat played in the Western conference this season but everything else was identical, it's not a fact.
I'm assuming your not directing all that at me because the only thing I said is that statistically they are a 4/5 seed in the West to give some perspective on how their 2nd ranking in the East compares to the overall NBA power rankings. In my mind, most are expecting the Heat to go to the Finals and my point is that if they were in the West they would only be a 4 or 5 seed and generally speaking we don't think of 4/5 seeds as serious contenders as we do the Heat. The point isn't to find reasons to hate on the Heat - but to explain why we are overrating the Heat a bit. Meanwhile, how many people are talking about the Spurs(myself included - this is the first time I have mentioned them all season and they ran away with the West's best record)? ....the whole "hater" speak reminds me of when you were called a "Kobe hater" if you couldn't concede that he was anything less than the best basketball player ever.
What is a fact is their record against teams +500. And what is also a fact are the amount of teams above 500. in the western conference. Of course, it isn't a proven fact. But like you said, it is an educated guess with good evidence to support it. The only argument here are odds and probability, and the probability of the Heat having the same record in the east is low.
Really? I would think Spo and Riles would much prefer Philly, Boston, and Chi + Lakers or OKC in the finals to Thunder, Dallas(maybe Portland), LA + CHi in the finals. Philly is going to be easy and Boston has been a mess since the trade. That leaves them to try and win 8 against Chicago and the West's contender. If they were in the West they would face a hot OKC team who has an interior presence(mobile bigs at that) and probably the second best one 2 scoring punch in the league to Lebron/Wade in Durant/Westbrook...then Dallas or Portland would would be easy but probably a harder out that Philly and LA(who has Bynum) who would match up well and then they would still have to play Chicago.
If they were the 4th seed out west, wouldn't they be playing San Antonio in round 2? Or did the Spurs move to the east in this scenario? And in that case, how did Dallas/Portland become the #1/#8 matchup? Their most likely path would be OKC, SA, LA in the west as the #4 seed. That's a much tougher first round, but SA would be an easier matchup for them than Boston. The Lakers would give them more problems than the Bulls if for no other reason than because the league would want to guarantee a seven game series, and we all know what happens in game 7s in LA.
Come on, guys. More interesting questions: If we're moving conferences, let's move in time. How would the Heat measure up against Larry Bird's Celtics and the Doctor's Sixers circa 1980-1981? I think the Heat would lose to the Bucks in the 3-game first series of that era. The Bucks were really, really good back then. Moncrief would eat up the Heat's lack of a point guard, and Nellie was in his prime, much more enlightened than Spo. Also, we could move the Heat to another planet and let them take on a basketball team of extraterrestrials: the original Alien (small forward, guarding and devouring Lebron), Predator (shooting guard, gutting Dwayne Wade), Bubbha Ho-Tep at power forward, the robot thing from the Day the Earth Stood Still at Center, and chief alien lady from V as point guard. I don't think the Heat would last 3 minutes against this lineup though.
Wade must be loving this team, he can take a back seat due to migrane issues, and not worry about having to will his team to a win, he can just rely on Bosh and James to do there things.
No one cares about this thread now that the Heat are all that we true believers expected? Some pretty hilarious predictions from the haters in this one.
LOL with the mythical "haters" again. For the 798th time, I for one don't hate them at all. I have been critical, which is different. I'm critical of the Rockets and (unlike some people in this thread) I love the Rockets. Anyway, I think Lebron has outperformed a lot of predictions, especially in recent 4th quarters. And I think Spo has squeezed more out of the inferior center and point guard position (or better disguised how awful they are) than most critics had expected. Also, Chicago is just completely being exposed as a regular season team. History shows a lot of those. It's really interesting that great defense is not always great playoff defense. If they can win it this year, they may win more than the 2-3 championships I predicted. A championship with Bibby and big Z and chopped liver and hurt Mike Miller will show a BUNCH of free agents that they could be truly unstoppable with a fourth (or even a fifth) player. Well, I'm not being fair to Haslem. He's been a big boost for them recently. But you know what I'm getting at. If they win this year, look for a couple of significant free agent signings, and not just the old dudes looking to gravy train -- maybe some good 4th-year types.
I want to address the Heat fans in this thread. People that "hate" a team don't necessarily think they suck. In fact, most people "hate" the better teams in the league. Otherwise everyone would "hate" the Bucks or the Clippers. What people "hated" was how the big three was formed. What they "hate" was how they flaunted and flexed for the camera predicting championships. People "hate" them because they act like arrogant douches not because they suck. Put it this was. A guy rolls up in a Ferrari, gets out, looks at my car, and laughs. I don't hate him because he is rich. Sure, it could be that I am jealous that he is rich. I hate him because he was a prick. Likewise, at most the so called "haters" in this thread may be jealous of how Miami got 3 of the top 20 players in the league (two in the top 5), but they hate them because they were arrogant. They don't hate them because they suck.
Heat is three wins away from winnin a title they fisrt yea together. I gotta admit i was on of da people who didnt believe theyd make it this far in they first year, but damn they steppin up as closers!
The LeBron nuthuggers will never understand your point even though it is so freakin obvious. They will still act like "victims" of abuse.
Heat will not make the playoffs, and Lebron and wade will not work together, according to this thread.
I for one am glad Lebron is the villain of the NBA. We haven't really had one in a while. It'll be great to always have a team to root against. Are we haters? Yes. Do the Heat deserve the hate? Yes. Are Miami fans (football, baseball, and basketball) the worst fans in sports? Yes.
