Miami Heat vs Chicago Bulls Series Thread

[heatmyshorts]

The Bulls went to the line more because they attacked more and they got the benefit of some close calls... That happens to every team that plays in that manner...Not saying it is right, and I dont think it is, but that is how they call games unfortunately. That is the problem with this Heat team (meaning the core guys) they think they can play half-ass and still get calls their way... not going to fucking happen... never has and wont.

The Heat need to stop falling in love with hustle players... dont get me wrong, I love them to... it is one of the things that made ZO my idol along with his off the court stuff but they need to worry about having more productive players than hustle players... hustle doesnt ALWAYS lead to productivity.

As for Spo not being Doc or Pop, so what? he is writing his own legacy and that is all he needs to worry about.. Not try to be someone he is not.

As for Spo needing to learn to motivate the players... as I said earlier, if they arent self motivated and motivated by the goals they often speak about having set for themselves... Not Spo, not Pat, not God can motivate them. They need to find it from within.

Again, disappointed with this loss but not surprised either... This Heat team just doesnt know how to take advantage of time off even at the most crucial times of the year... They have proven that too many times and there seems to be no end in sight.

Ok now im done. Ill start a new topic to get going for the next game.

Since every one is talking about adjustments,as usual... What adjustments do you think the team needs to make heading to game 2? I know a lot of you like to play coach/GM especially after losses...So, have at it!

It is frustrating. A win would have been nice.

Lebron should be more aggressive from the start.
Wade is what we need. He has been successful against the Bulls when the Heat plays the Bulls. And he should have an easier time with a depleted Bulls roster. Wade should be attacking and making defenses respect him, freeing up Lebron and everybody else. If Butler is on Lebron, who is on Wade? Wade should punish his defender.
We have to be physical but to an extent. Slowing the game down and being physical in the middle is what the Bulls want. One thing to nullify the Bulls clogging the paint is to have shooters move without the ball more and turn defenders heads away from the driving lanes for Wade or Lebron to operate. There was more standing around than moving.
Rotate the Heat bigs. Can't just depend on Anderson or even Lebron for help.
Spo is right about Bosh being the X-factor. He has to increase his defensive rebounding. Be physical with Noah. If there is anyone who has to be more physical, it is Bosh. Box out! Don;t let the Bulls bigs clog the paint. That is how they score on offensive rebounds. Too close to the basket.

Also, write some plays to free up Allen when points are needed. He is a proven veteran with a jumper and can make the occasional drive. Decoy plays for Allen will help.

Take Rio out if he is not contributing offensively. We can;t rely on him for defense against this team.

Moreover the Bulls play a depleted roster... take advantage of that. Keep players fresh. Need to make Nate and Butler work harder. Trapping these players to get turnovers is okay but it expends a lot of energy and makes the help defender run back on defense. Good one to one coverage on the Bulls primary ballhandler will help that.

 

[Triplexxx23]

Fuck that! We will get homecourt back. No worries!

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

Turnup, I will agree that both Wade and James got hammered a couple of times tonight and the refs didnt call it... I was there and I saw it first-hand. But, guess what? This is the fucking playoffs -- teams are going to be even more physical as the Bulls are a physical team to begin with... And, refs will let some calls go in order to let guys play since it is the playoffs.

All of this is no excuse for them to change their mindset as far as being aggressive... They should have an aggressive mindset from start to finish no matter what. From the jump the Heat settled for shots and started jacking up 3’s thats not their game... I knew we were in trouble the moment we started the game with that approach. Wade and Bosh have no buisness shooting 3’s. Shane needs to find other spots on the floor to shoot from instead of the 3pt line/corners... he should try going inside, he might actually make himself useful to the team.. the guy went to freaking Duke, he has to be smarter than he has shown recently.

The one bright spot of tonight is, my worst fear did not come true - I feared that Spo would have been dumb enough as was the case last season to have Shane in the starting lineup for no apparent reason as was the case last year but that didnt happen thankfully... And, I am not worried about him starting any time soon after sucking as much as he did tonight. You cant start a guy that doesnt contribute anything... you cant play that guy as many minutes either. I thought Spo made the right move when taking Shane out early on in the game when he was struggling... It was a mistake to insert him back in the game with it still on the line with the way he was playing.

Last thing I will say before moving on to game 2.. Obviously, the coaching staff has some adjustments to make but I would say the are minor and obvious as I have mentioned some already... But, the biggest adjustment has to come from the players and it has to be there mentality...Not only be ready for game 2, but be ready for a physical game... be ready to play in a game where some calls will not go your way and that is okay and just learn to fucking play through it. These damn guys need to learn to shut the fuck up and play through adversity. Im done.

Paolo. Since when is shooting alot of 3's not part of their game?
I said before the series started that if we lost a game (or games) that it would be because we missed a ton of wide open shots combined with someone on the Bulls stepping up and hitting open shots.

All year we lived with the ball being kicked out to wide open Allen, Miller, Battier, Chalmers, etc.. and did quite well with the results.
That part of our game isn't going to change.

 

[Heatles84]

I have to agree w/Paulo 100%, Shane had a bad game as well just like everyone else so his criticism is well warranted. We got away from our bread and butter and played the Bulls game. That game was winnable, but we took the Bulls for granted. We need to treat the Bulls with extreme prejudice and put them out as quick as possible.

The Heat need to have a stronger mentality, these weak lapses aren't going to work against Chicago. This better have woke them up. I have faith in this team though, they seem to thrive off of being put in uncomfortable situations.

 

[Flauge]

no panic here. it' one game in a series. miami is the better team. we played bad. missed open shots we usually make. i expect lebron and wade to come out on fire tomorrow.

 

[Paolo305613]

Paolo. Since when is shooting alot of 3's not part of their game?
I said before the series started that if we lost a game (or games) that it would be because we missed a ton of wide open shots combined with someone on the Bulls stepping up and hitting open shots.

All year we lived with the ball being kicked out to wide open Allen, Miller, Battier, Chalmers, etc.. and did quite well with the results.
That part of our game isn't going to change.

Turnup, shooting 3’s is apart of our game but it is not the main part and it is not even are biggest strength... The main part of our game and the biggest strength is attacking the basket - That is what should happen when you have LBJ, Wade (even when banged up) and Bosh... The 3’s should be secondary as a compliment to playing in attack mode.

As allaboutdatu said, we got away from our game and played the Bulls game and lost - Many times the Heat have done that this season... Played the opponents game instead of their own game and lost.

To me, this speaks to the egos on this team and cockiness...They think they can play any way they want and get away with it... Luckily, they have had luck on their side many times in the time they have been together and gotten away with it... They may get lucky again this series and get away with playing like shit and winning this series.

Everyone keeps saying we took the Bulls for granted, I just don’t see why our guys would do that - But, it does not surprise me either as they have taken so many teams for granted in their 3 years together and it has backfired. It is the playoffs... Now is not the time for that.

I would hope the Heat play with a stronger mentality but that has proven to be a tough task for these guys over the years... Time and again they have proven to be a mentally weak team in the face of adversity. It is difficult to be a mentally tough team when a lot of times your best players become the most mentally weak as we see a lot with Wade.


Two minor things I want to point out. One, not a very big deal, but we need to go back to our white-hot uniforms to get back on track... The regular home whites are just boring.

Secondly, I just remembered we had Noah and Nate Robinson in foul trouble (5 fouls) really early in the 4th quarter and we could not get EITHER of those guys out of the game with a 6th foul... That once again speaks to this team getting complacent as they were for really the entire game and just not attacking the basket. Jimmy Butler was an x-factor for the Bulls but Noah and Robinson were their main guys and we had them on the ropes to get them out of the game and we just failed to do so because we got complacent.

LBJ needs to be more aggressive and decisive with the ball. A lot of times he was just dribbiling the ball trying to get cute with it to the end up doing nothing but allow it to lead to an wasted possesion and points on the other end. No doubt the MVP presentation got to his head... Big time, divas allow those things to get in the way of the bigger picture too much.

 

[avalon2423]

Do you think we will see any lineup adjustments for game 2? Like Shane starting? Or even having Birdman start with Bosh. and bring Haslem off the bench.. I know we need people to come off the bench and score when the big 3 go out, but we have Ray and Miller who can do that and Haslem is productive off the bench...

 

[Paolo305613]

Shane starting? Lets not start this shit again. There was never any reason why he should have started the times we have started him... And due to the fact that he has been playing like total shit this entire season, there is obviously even less reason why he should start. He shouldnt start..Shouldnt even discuss or think about starting him. And off the bench, start limiting his minutes drastically until he can make himself useful, which I dont see happening... Its playoff time... The stage is too big for him.

I think what we may see more of and what we need to see more of , is Birdman playing alongside CB more...In recent games we have seen birdman get into too much early foul trouble, getting tired far too quick and I dont think it would be a good idea for him to start because of that. Regardless of the lack of production out of UD as a starter, it is better to have him out there for his intangibiles. As far as adjustments needed to be made for game 2... Certainly lineup adjustments is not necessary... maybe bench rotation/usage needs to change and just their approach mentally and physically.

 

[Flauge]

Do you think we will see any lineup adjustments for game 2? Like Shane starting? Or even having Birdman start with Bosh. and bring Haslem off the bench.. I know we need people to come off the bench and score when the big 3 go out, but we have Ray and Miller who can do that and Haslem is productive off the bench...

ive thought for awhile that birdman should be starting. he is better than haslem. that 27 game win streak made it nearly impossible for spoles to make the change. if it aint broke..

i would like to see andersen start, not because we lost to the bulls, as i still dont think this series goes past 6 games, and am standing by my call of heat in 5. id like to see him start because he is our second best big outside of bosh... he is just better than haslem at this point. we should never really lack for scoring off the bench.. as you mentioned, ray allen, mike miller.. you even have coles and battier who can hit shots. plus we should never not have at least one of the big 3.. if not two out on the court at all times. so scoring shouldnt be an issue for miami. today is the normal chicken little "Sky is Falling" day for heat haters and media to over react. order will be restored shortly.

 

[RedRum]

today is the normal chicken little "Sky is Falling" day for heat haters and media to over react. order will be restored shortly.

1 down ---3 more losses to go.

 

[Paolo305613]

What has ESPN and national writers been saying thus far? I have been keeping away from all sports channels today and will till tip off tomorrow..

 

[Heatles84]

What has ESPN and national writers been saying thus far? I have been keeping away from all sports channels today and will till tip off tomorrow..

I've stayed away as well. But a vast majority of the country (outside of Miami) predict the Bulls will win the series against the Heat. Needless to say this country is fucking retarded. I'm about ready to move to Canada.

 

[Paolo305613]

The fact that this country is beyond fucking retarded is an understatement and something I long came to realize.

 

[Heatles84]

The fact that this country is beyond fucking retarded is an understatement and something I long came to realize.

I highly recommend watching the move Idiocracy with Luke Wilson. It's kind of low budget and not as funny, but it's dead on point with how slowly society is plunging generation by generation.

 

[avalon2423]

i havent watched too much of the media today, but from what i have seen, people were still picking Miami in 6.

 

[Flauge]

I highly recommend watching the move Idiocracy with Luke Wilson. It's kind of low budget and not as funny, but it's dead on point with how slowly society is plunging generation by generation.

i love that movie... although i do wish Obama acted more like America's future black president than he does now. that would be awesome.

 

[Flauge]

i havent watched too much of the media today, but from what i have seen, people were still picking Miami in 6.

im at work.. i havent been watching. ill catch some tonight when i watch the games. dont really care. the bulls arent going to beat miami 4/7.. or 3/6 now. they are scrappy, they play hard..

congrats to them. they outplayed us down the stretch. who says the need DRose when Nate is hitting everything. either way, i hope they enjoyed yesterday and today... it will be the last time they win this season.

Prediction for the Fight - YouTube

 

[Paolo305613]

they are scrappy, they play hard...

If only the Heat played that way more consistently or at least a little more often than they currently do... Things would go a little smoother for them. But, I won’t hold my breath for them to start playing in this manner just yet.

 

[bksballer89]

If our big 3 play better and our shooters hit their wide open looks we should win by double digits.

 

[Paolo305613]

"Every game is a must-win in the playoffs.”
A quote from LBJ today after practice. As of right now, after game 1 - They need to stop all the talk and go out and show it on the court.