Just some random thoughts on the couple of games that I watched. There'll be consequences for unwise moves. I think that's how Shaq got hurt, the 2nd game into the new season. If you bring in Walker, a certified cancer, you'd better be prepared for its consequences. Yes he gives you scoring and rebounding, but he also likes to take ill-advised 3-pointers. There he let it go again, and Shaq naturally went up for the long rebound. Being out of shape from all the burgers he digested during off season, the Shark Fu was not as quick and strong as he would like, and landed on someone's foot. OOuch! Now that's a classic "butterfly effect". Who could have thought Shaq's right ankle would be linked to the hiring of Employee No. 8? And if you are in the philosophical mood, you could even trace back even further to the day Shaq was traded to Heat. (Actually the Chinese way of fortune telling could have foreseen such kind of event the minute the trade was announced. But that's a totally different ball game and I won't wander further into it. ) But you may wonder aloud: if A'toine is a ankle breaker (the wrong way), how about all the other players who played with him. Did they all have a bad ankle thanks to him? Well to make the event fateful you'll need some other elements. You need an overweighted Shaq. You'll also need a little bit of help from the Dark Force, which, my friend, is required and happened to be provided in excess by no other man than Ron Ron . So now the pieces are all there and the "butterfly effect" is in full circle, being televised on national TV. ***************** If speaking in basketball terms, Shaq is the most comfortable under the basket, where he can get great position down low and control all the rebounds within range. If stretched a bit further out, like around the free-throw line (where he got hurt last night), he's less effective. The quick 3-pointers hoisted by Walker then created long rebounds which would force Shaq to go out to get them. Now you add a mad man who's also strong as a devil into the war zone, bad things will and did happen. Now let's look at the comparison between this Heat makeup and the 2003-04 Lakers: Shaq now <= Shaq then Wade ~= Kobe Walker < Karla GP now ~= GP then SVG < PhJ So in sum the Heat is actually weaker than the 03-04 Lakers. if that Laker team got whipped by the Pistons (which, by the way, was maybe even weaker than the current Pistons or Pacers), how could you expect this Heat squad to win it all? *************** The Dark Force is with Ron, no question about it. Don't you see a bit "bad karma" when that guy is always near the scene of bad things: violence, destruction, and the cover of Penthouse? (I bet there must be a magazine published by Satan that's sinfully named Penthell. "Uhh Satan, I'd like to give you 1/10th of my soul to be on the cover of Penthell. C'mon, who wouldn't want to read me and the girls while going through the fire drill? ") (Disclaimer: I've nothing against Penthouse. Actually I was a customer occasionally. But thanks to the Internet...) *************** The White Chocolate has passed its expiration date. Several years ago. What a shame. He should be put on a running and gunning team like the Suns. He needs good slashers and finishers who don't need to dominate the ball to be effective. Now he's reduced to a White Fisher: bring the ball up; toss it to Shaq or Wade; get out of the way. Any PG playing on this team or the Kobe-Shaq Lakers would be required to do the same thing and forget how to be himself. Wade really needs the ball to be dangerous, a la the Artist Formerly Know as The Franchise. He's not a spot-up shooter like Peja who'll benefit the most from a creative penetrator and passer like J-Will. (On a side note, J-Will really sucks on defense--as if that's sth new, anyway. He constantly got beat by Tinsley, didn't fight through picks, and still takes ill-advised long bombs. Dude should watch carefully how another defense-challenged PG, who happens to be the reigning MVP, plays to maximize his strength.) ************* It's a long season and let the fun begin. Thanks for reading. M.
dude that was a really good post. you should post more often. I agree with your Jason Williams analysis but I think Antoine may be a pretty good fit, he never played with a big man to give him space to shoot.
You have some valid points there. I wonder if Matt Maloney is still available. He might be the ideal Heat PG
One problem with your comparison is that you said Karl Malone is better than Walker, which he is. However, Karl Malone was injured way before the Lakers-Detroit series. In fact, if Karl Malone was healthy, the Lakers might have beaten Detroit. Besides that, interesting read.
Murzin . . . Are you my daddy? I was talking about many of your points in the exact details with my father last night. - It's all employee No. 8's fault ("I lay bricks"). He jacks up shots, Shaq's out for a month. - Ron Artest is cursed. If you're around him, bad stuff is bound to go down. He may not even be that affected by what happens, but you certainly will. He looked pretty impressive game-wise though. You're so right on. Great Post.
awesome. having just woken up and having little sense of societally induced logic, that makes perfect sense! Also as someone who is not a fan of walker, i was glad he got put on the heat because he would hurt their chances of winning (I do like shaq and wade, though). We saw it when he tried to take am ill advised three in the waning minutes and stepped out of bounds, IMO more a reason for their loss than Wade's missed shot.
Thank you guys. The brother is getting much love here and he appreciates it very much (and starts talking in the 3rd person (almost) thanks to ClutchFans ). Anyho I enjoyed reading many of your posts too, esp those of you who've contributed thousands of posts. Hats off to you for the enthusiasm and love for the game. Ra Ooh La La, it must be good to have a dad who's a fan too. Not like me, I don't even know what to talk about with my dad: me:"Dad, how's it going?" my dad:"Good. Good..." (3 minutes of silence later with TV in the background) me: "How's the weather there?" my dad:"Good. Good..." (3 minutes of silence later with TV in the background)) me:"Dad, could you put mom on the phone?" I know he's relieved to hear that. ************* About Walker, I have a gut feeling that he's not a winner. The game is not only about skills, which he doesn't lack as a matter of fact, but also about sth called the "flow", or the Chi, or the Tao of doing things, about not forcing things to happen but letting things come to you naturally. If I were SVG, I'd demand the ball goes to Shaq on the low post EVERY time on the offensive end. That's the natural way of the Heat's game. The same could be said about Yao and the Rox. As a facilitator of the Tao, you must NOT force things by ignoring Shaq or Yao. If you do, bad things happen since the "flow" or Chi of the game is disrupted. Why MJ was so great? Because he and the Chi were ONE. His way was the flow of the game. He's too strong for any Dark Force to break his game, not the flu, the virus, or even his bad gambling habit (Satan tried woman too; too bad the woman didn't get anything from MJ ). Now life comes full circle back to Ron. MJ and Ron represent two frightening forces of nature. I think Yoda could have forseen that fateful afternoon when a young Ron broke the declining MJ's ribs, which delayed his 3rd return from retirement. That's very much simbolic of what comes to be the current NBA (or you can call it the Empire, or the Middle Kingdom). All the MJ pretenders failed to re-forge his broken sword, and Ron is getting closer to the Dark Side. Shaq is but one fallen (falling) Jedi. There'll be others. ****************** It'd be interesting to write a book about these fantasies. Basketball fantasies. But I was only half joking about the fight between the Force and the Dark Side. Every man is tempted by the many distractions and seductions in life, and only the ones who conquered those will succeed. That's why we created all these legendary battles between good and evil: the White Wizard and the Eye of Evil, the Jedi and the Jedi Gone Bad. All these are actually a reflection of the inner battles that we fight every day. That's why they say the game is a drama filled with human suffering and pride. And that's why we watch the game with such intensity: In fact we're watching our own battles played out as a game. ******************** Quite curiously, Shaq was also hurt last season playing the Pacers; Ron didn't play though. I'm out. Peace. M. PS. Speaking of pure evil...
Murzin: You are quite possibly the most entertaining poster I have ever seen on any messageboard. Please ramble on more about basketball or anything at all.
