All of the ESPN folks keep saying that Miami is lost or wasnt giving effort

[indeedproceed]

Article written at Truehoop about Kawhi Leonard: "What makes Kawhi Leonard So Good?"

Article written at Truehoop about Avery Bradley: "Avery Bradley Matters Now?"

I only added the question mark to one of them.

[fairweatherfan]

Headline on ESPN's NBA page: "The Heat played one of their better games.  The surging Celtics were even better."  Sounds about right to me.

[guava_wrench]

I bore of pointing to 'effort' when teams get outplayed. It is lazy analysis. It is OK way coaches say it because they are trying to get the most out of their team. But when analysts use that crutch, it gets silly.

Look at Mikki Moore.

It takes a lot of effort to keep banging your head against a brick wall.

[hpantazo]

If Miami figures out how to get Bosh going again against Boston, Boston is in trouble.



If he continues to play small against the Celtics, Miami is in trouble. 

Unless they take out KG the way Wade took out Rondo last year, Bosh is not going to get going.

[OsirusCeltics]

The Celtics have played great of late obviously, but they are right in a sense that the Heat have looked lost lately. Don't get me wrong, the Celtics great display has a lot to do with tonight's game's outcome.

To me, they just look gassed. They just look tired and can't run and gun like they used to. They (Wade and LBJ) passed by everyone, on fastbreaks all the time. You can't see that nearly as much as we used to. It's no surprise though, I expected the Heat to get tired like this. It's one of those tired feelings that won't go away until the end of the season. It has hit them early because of their style of play.

It'll be interesting to see how Erik Spoelstra manages the team. Gregg Popovich said all along that he will choose health/rest over record and Spoelstra has said the opposite. The Heat are younger obviously, but this compact scheduling isn't easy for no team.

I really like the point you made. Deep down I feel that the Heat's style of play would cost them in the long run. They are getting tired and worn out, and I don't know if they can sustain the same energy they had in the regular season in the playoffs. But the 2 times the Celtics beat them just means the Celtics are better IMO

The Heat's style of play is predicated on their athleticism. Their offense is a fast pace running and dunking style which takes alot of energy. I think their defense is what really tires them out. The Spurs, Dallas, or the Celtics have positional team defense. The Heat on the other hand switch alot and move alot side to side. Just looking at one possesion from the Heat, you can see them expend so much energy on one play. It looks noble in hindsight, but I think that scheme can tire them out

[Finkelskyhook]

Small but amazing illustration of how in bed ESPN is with the messiah's team....NBA final scores captioning during the Bull's game showed the Celtics-Heat score....Showed only the messiah, Wade, and Bosh's points scored...Not ours.

Didn't we win the game?

[biggs]

Whenever we beat Lebron he "quits".  That's because we get under his skin.  PS lebron didn't quit last night, he got beat. I would say fare and square, but clearly the refs were in Miami's pocket. 

[LooseCannon]

If you missed Around the Horn today, it led off with a segment on the Celtics.  Bob Ryan declared the Celtics the #2 team in the East.  Michael Smith doubled down and decided to "live in the moment" and actually declared Boston the #1 team in the East, ahead of both Miami and Chicago.  Plaschke and Paige sputtered in protest, but host Tony Reali said they didn't really make any good points.

[Chris]

Honestly, I think last night did tell us much more about Miami than the C's.  The C's are what they are.  They have amazing chemistry, play stiffling defense, and have a ton of heart...but they live and die by perimeter shots, and are painfully thin up front.  They are going to be very dangerous in the playoffs, and can beat any team on any given night...but they will have very little room for error.

The Heat however, are loaded.  They had the homecourt last night, and came off of being embarrassed by the C's the last time they played...and yet they didn't rise to the challenge.  They should have dominated that game, and sent the C's home licking their wounds, but instead, they let the C's get what they want, and they couldn't figure out how to counter. 

As much as I love to put this on Lebron, I need to put this on their coach.  This Heat team is very flawed, because their coach is allowing them to rely on their talent.  They don't know how to counter when what they want to do when a smarter team is not allowing them to do what they want to.  And that is on the coach to teach them that.  Maybe the players are uncoachable, and if that's the case, its just too bad.  But, that team is just completely lost if they aren't getting out on the break, and until they fix that, they will be very beatable (well, as beatable as the most talented team in the league can ever be).

[OsirusCeltics]

Honestly, I think last night did tell us much more about Miami than the C's.  The C's are what they are.  They have amazing chemistry, play stiffling defense, and have a ton of heart...but they live and die by perimeter shots, and are painfully thin up front.  They are going to be very dangerous in the playoffs, and can beat any team on any given night...but they will have very little room for error.

The Heat however, are loaded.  They had the homecourt last night, and came off of being embarrassed by the C's the last time they played...and yet they didn't rise to the challenge.  They should have dominated that game, and sent the C's home licking their wounds, but instead, they let the C's get what they want, and they couldn't figure out how to counter. 

As much as I love to put this on Lebron, I need to put this on their coach.  This Heat team is very flawed, because their coach is allowing them to rely on their talent.  They don't know how to counter when what they want to do when a smarter team is not allowing them to do what they want to.  And that is on the coach to teach them that.  Maybe the players are uncoachable, and if that's the case, its just too bad.  But, that team is just completely lost if they aren't getting out on the break, and until they fix that, they will be very beatable (well, as beatable as the most talented team in the league can ever be).

You just described Miami

[Celtics4ever]

Their coach stinks.

[Chris]

Honestly, I think last night did tell us much more about Miami than the C's.  The C's are what they are.  They have amazing chemistry, play stiffling defense, and have a ton of heart...but they live and die by perimeter shots, and are painfully thin up front.  They are going to be very dangerous in the playoffs, and can beat any team on any given night...but they will have very little room for error.

The Heat however, are loaded.  They had the homecourt last night, and came off of being embarrassed by the C's the last time they played...and yet they didn't rise to the challenge.  They should have dominated that game, and sent the C's home licking their wounds, but instead, they let the C's get what they want, and they couldn't figure out how to counter. 

As much as I love to put this on Lebron, I need to put this on their coach.  This Heat team is very flawed, because their coach is allowing them to rely on their talent.  They don't know how to counter when what they want to do when a smarter team is not allowing them to do what they want to.  And that is on the coach to teach them that.  Maybe the players are uncoachable, and if that's the case, its just too bad.  But, that team is just completely lost if they aren't getting out on the break, and until they fix that, they will be very beatable (well, as beatable as the most talented team in the league can ever be).

You just described Miami

Huh?  Miami have the two best interior finishers in the league, and are at their best when they are getting a ton of dunks and shooting free throws.  The Heat also have pretty decent depth up front with 4 quality big men, and a SF who is bigger than many PFs.

And the Heat have a TON of room for error, because they are so talented.  They can just overwhelm teams in a way the C's just can't do.  But, they don't know how to use that talent to consistently make the most of it.

[Lord of Mikawa]

They cant comprehend that the Celtics just simply beat the Heat. Thats it. No effort questions, no injured players. The Celtics beat the Heat again and all the idiot ESPN dudes dont want to look like idiots so theyre blaming it on the Heat's effort or Spoelstra. LOL as if the Heat werent trying their hardest to beat the Celtics. Its just disrespectful to the Celtics and ignorant.

It is almost like they are programmed to disrespect our team. That makes me sick.

[fairweatherfan]

They cant comprehend that the Celtics just simply beat the Heat. Thats it. No effort questions, no injured players. The Celtics beat the Heat again and all the idiot ESPN dudes dont want to look like idiots so theyre blaming it on the Heat's effort or Spoelstra. LOL as if the Heat werent trying their hardest to beat the Celtics. Its just disrespectful to the Celtics and ignorant.

It is almost like they are programmed to disrespect our team. That makes me sick.

Have you guys actually been watching ESPN lately?  I barely watch it and I've seen multiple commentators label us title contenders, talking about how "the Celtics are back" and one guy (on Around the Horn, can't remember which) declare us the best team in the East.  Heck, Hollinger wrote a front-page article lauding our defensive improvement before last night's game even happened.

They're talking plenty about Miami too but this perception of massive disrespect seems to be mostly invented.  If anything I'd say they're overreacting in our favor after the two Miami wins.

[OsirusCeltics]

Honestly, I think last night did tell us much more about Miami than the C's.  The C's are what they are.  They have amazing chemistry, play stiffling defense, and have a ton of heart...but they live and die by perimeter shots, and are painfully thin up front.  They are going to be very dangerous in the playoffs, and can beat any team on any given night...but they will have very little room for error.

The Heat however, are loaded.  They had the homecourt last night, and came off of being embarrassed by the C's the last time they played...and yet they didn't rise to the challenge.  They should have dominated that game, and sent the C's home licking their wounds, but instead, they let the C's get what they want, and they couldn't figure out how to counter. 

As much as I love to put this on Lebron, I need to put this on their coach.  This Heat team is very flawed, because their coach is allowing them to rely on their talent.  They don't know how to counter when what they want to do when a smarter team is not allowing them to do what they want to.  And that is on the coach to teach them that.  Maybe the players are uncoachable, and if that's the case, its just too bad.  But, that team is just completely lost if they aren't getting out on the break, and until they fix that, they will be very beatable (well, as beatable as the most talented team in the league can ever be).

You just described Miami

Huh?  Miami have the two best interior finishers in the league, and are at their best when they are getting a ton of dunks and shooting free throws.  The Heat also have pretty decent depth up front with 4 quality big men, and a SF who is bigger than many PFs.

And the Heat have a TON of room for error, because they are so talented.  They can just overwhelm teams in a way the C's just can't do.  But, they don't know how to use that talent to consistently make the most of it.

Boston also have 4 quality big men. KG, Steisma, Hollins, Bass

The NBA Finals last year is where I saw all the flaws from the Heat
In a halfcourt game, Dallas took away their running game and they were living and dying by jumpshots. They have nobody on the team that is a consistent post presence, so Wade and Lebron were just jacking up shots all game. They have very little room for error. If their jumpshots don't fall they are in trouble

The Heat are thin upfront. Pittman is inexperienced, Bosh is a shooting guard Haslem and Joel Anthony are the only reliable ones. They can be exposed by the Celtics driving the lane and gettin their weak frontline in foul trouble. No one on the Heat can guard KG in the post