Went to the Heat game last night, and here are just a couple of observations from me:
1) I am not sure where the "new" old Shaq went, but all I saw was the "old" old Shaq. In fact, since the Heat have failed to score 70 pts in the 4 games prior to their demolishing of the Hawks, I would say that "new" old Shaq was just a 9 game aberration. Look, I am not saying he is a sub par center, I am just saying that Rasho was able to guard him one on one for most of the time, and he was completely unable to force his will on the game. Its more like he is a very run of the mill center now, no more dominant that an Eric Dampier or Big Z. Its a little shocking to see the decline in his game because you can still see flashes of dominant Shaq (in the 3rd quarter he was able to spin on Hump, split the Juan Dixon double team, and throw down a monster dunk, of course re read the 2 defenders he abused, maybe I shouldn't be so impressed). Anyway, if people actually think the Heat can win without D Wade, they are insane.
2) If D Wade doesn't make it back in time for the playoffs, or if he is less than 80% (ie he can't take his wild and fearless drives to the hoop, and a well placed/well timed hack by Rasho may knock him out of a game), I would LOVE the Raptors matching up against the Heat. Watching the Heat is a total disaster, White Chocolate has one of the ugliest 3's I have seen, and he is a STILL a poor decision maker. Zo looks worn down, I think he had to play too many minutes earlier this season. Eddie Jones is a joke (Dixon was one on one with him the whole game, and he did nothing. Big 2's like Jones should just rise up and own Juan). Antoine Walker, wow I don't know what to say about this guy, the decline from his employee #8 days is shocking, at this point, I would say that he is as much of a detriment to the Heat as he is a contributor, way too slow, surprisingly indecisive, a bad fit as the 6th man for this team. Udonis Haslem, I like quite a few things he did on the court, but when he wasn't hustling, he is worthless, Bosh owned him for stretches, very lackadaisical effort last night. I don't know if the media is just in love with the Heat because of their referee assisted run last season, but there is really no way I can see the Heat team advancing past the 1st round without D Wade back. All things being equal, the Heat (without Wade) is definitely not as good as Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago, Toronto. They are on par with Washington, if both were healthy, it be very interesting to see how they would matchup.
3) What is up with Sam Mitchell's man crush with Juan Dixon?!?! I am not sure if asking Juan to guard 2 guards is going to work out for the Raptors. Now, given the way the other East contenders are built, this experiment could work out. One thing I do know, Mo is done, stick a fork in him because he's got nothing left. He had so many wide open looks from downtown, and he bricked them all. Joey had a decent game on the boards with 4 last night, he should've had 2 more pts (Hump stole a put back from him). 4 and 4 is decent, but I really don't see him getting into the starting lineup with that kind of performance.
4) I love AP, he is definitely stepping up his game with Garbo down. 20 pts, on extremely efficient shooting, helping out everywhere on D. That little curl jumper is money, I would love to see the Raps one that a few more times per game cause AP has a sweet stroke.
5) The Raps didn't miss Garbo last night with everyone stepping up their games (except Mo), but down the line I think they will miss him for a game here and there. If Brags can come back strong in the playoffs, the Raps should be able to have some success in the playoffs.
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