Also, remember his blocks on Durant and Garnett? Those were two of the best blocks of the decade.

Martin is an efficient scorer. He's not a playmaker, he's not a handler, and he's not a great team defender.

Biggest problem I see w/chemistry is not from the players themselves,but from LeBron’s inner circle. The same geniuses who were behind the ESPN show,the proposed tour,LeBron’s questionable ads,etc. They’re going to be in his ear constantly telling him he has to make the Heat his team,he needs to be seen as the closer,the Man or else his “brand” gets devalued.
Meanwhile Spoelstra is Wade’s coach.(Notice how fast Wade preempted any talk of Riley replacing Spoelstra.)In crunch time Wade gets the ball. Now he may choose to kick out to LeBron,but it will be Wade’s choice.

Biggest problem I see w/chemistry is not from the players themselves,but from LeBron’s inner circle. The same geniuses who were behind the ESPN show,the proposed tour,LeBron’s questionable ads,etc. They’re going to be in his ear constantly telling him he has to make the Heat his team,he needs to be seen as the closer,the Man or else his “brand” gets devalued.
Meanwhile Spoelstra is Wade’s coach.(Notice how fast Wade preempted any talk of Riley replacing Spoelstra.)In crunch time Wade gets the ball. Now he may choose to kick out to LeBron,but it will be Wade’s choice.

What i am shocked by is the number of players taking less money to play with them, Haslem taking $14 million less over 5 years to stay in Miami? Wow, that is money a role player will never be able to make up.

To me, that is really shocking, as these players have short careers in which to make as much as possible, winning is great, but being set up for life is greater.

DD

What i am shocked by is the number of players taking less money to play with them, Haslem taking $14 million less over 5 years to stay in Miami? Wow, that is money a role player will never be able to make up.

To me, that is really shocking, as these players have short careers in which to make as much as possible, winning is great, but being set up for life is greater.

DD

As far as saying that we are still short that one elite player to make us a contender, I would question that too. My definition of an elite player, being a leader who is the foundation of your team, and whom you build a whole team around… the cornerstone of a franchise, if you will. Since the last Lakers 3-peat, we’ve had 8 titles, the only two who had more than one elite player were the Celtics and the Heat. Kobe is an elite player, but not Gasol based on the above definition (you don’t build a team around him as the focus). Duncan is definitely an elite player, on those terms, but not Parker and Ginobli. The Pistons had 0 elite players, Billups and Rip being top-tier, but not guys you build a franchise on and hope for success. So the trend, IMO tends to favor teams with good coaching, management, defense, work ethic and most of all, depth. I wouldn’t be quick to count us out as championship contenders, based on the fact that we have all of those traits in abundance. We took the Lakers to 7 games 2 years ago, have we gotten better since then? YES, have the Lakers? NO. Can Brooks/Martin be to Yao as Parker/Ginobili were to Duncan? No question. The biggest challenge Rick has facing him is how to win regular season games, as many as possible, with utilizing Yao as little as possible.

Since last year’s “Elevation of Ariza” has failed, I think he will extremely comfortably slip into the role as 4th or 5th offensive option. As shown towards the end of last season, he plays much better when he’s able to relax and play his game instead of forcing shots and attempting to manufacture plays with loads of pressure on. We need his length and speed on defense and him to spot up and hit 3s on offense when called on, that’s it, and I think he’ll do fine in those roles.

As far as saying that we are still short that one elite player to make us a contender, I would question that too. My definition of an elite player, being a leader who is the foundation of your team, and whom you build a whole team around… the cornerstone of a franchise, if you will. Since the last Lakers 3-peat, we’ve had 8 titles, the only two who had more than one elite player were the Celtics and the Heat. Kobe is an elite player, but not Gasol based on the above definition (you don’t build a team around him as the focus). Duncan is definitely an elite player, on those terms, but not Parker and Ginobli. The Pistons had 0 elite players, Billups and Rip being top-tier, but not guys you build a franchise on and hope for success. So the trend, IMO tends to favor teams with good coaching, management, defense, work ethic and most of all, depth. I wouldn’t be quick to count us out as championship contenders, based on the fact that we have all of those traits in abundance. We took the Lakers to 7 games 2 years ago, have we gotten better since then? YES, have the Lakers? NO. Can Brooks/Martin be to Yao as Parker/Ginobili were to Duncan? No question. The biggest challenge Rick has facing him is how to win regular season games, as many as possible, with utilizing Yao as little as possible.

Since last year’s “Elevation of Ariza” has failed, I think he will extremely comfortably slip into the role as 4th or 5th offensive option. As shown towards the end of last season, he plays much better when he’s able to relax and play his game instead of forcing shots and attempting to manufacture plays with loads of pressure on. We need his length and speed on defense and him to spot up and hit 3s on offense when called on, that’s it, and I think he’ll do fine in those roles.

Anthony – that’s probably one of the more intriguing situations I want to see unfold there. Of course all 3 are very talented and showcased their talents on their former teams but how much overlap is there now? It will definitely be a process of getting comfortable playing with one another…and of course its the adversity they will face that will define this experiment. In this first year (and quite possibly second year) while the talent around them is probably going to be slim how will they handle it when they are struggling in a game? I’m sure Bosh will defer most of the time as being a 3rd option, but Wade is used to putting his team on his back and carrying him and so is Lebron. So who wins out? Of course they’ll say all the right things but eventually one of them will emerge as the alpha; when that happens, will the other be OK with that? And as we see that chemistry is in fact an important factor in such a small team environment, how will that affect others?

I don’t want to completely slag them off this year or the following because you can’t deny the talent of all 3, but realistically I’m just not so sure how this team can be a championship-winning team. Right now its Wade, Lebron, Bosh, Chalmers and Mike Miller. Ok, fair enough, Miller is a good shooter, Chalmers is quite serviceable but who else is there? I mean, right now they basically have a starting 5…what about the rest of the team? If its Morey or Presti or a GM like that who has to grab pieces and build around them then there’s no doubt they can put together the right pieces. Has Miami shown that? The devil is in the details, and I really think this will become much more of a focal point as the season wears on and, if not addressed, will become a much more desperate situation the season after.

Stephen also brought up a point that I thought I had mentioned before as well, that my fear is that while Brooks-Martin are a great combo who can put points up, I just have the sneaking suspicion that they get those points in the right circumstances, so to speak. They compliment each other very nicely, but the inherent danger in that is what if both are in a slump, or injured, or limited by team defenses? Yes, either has shown they are capable of scoring but can they be counted on individually? If that’s our primary backcourt scoring option, then I think we need someone who can create their own shot consistently to round things out. I’m beginning to become less concerned about a backup center position because between the people we have and what is still available, we can fill that need quite gamely. Maybe I’m overthinking this and the offseason is making me crazy, but I guess recent history makes me concerned when we rely too much on a person or combination to be our focal point.

Someone tell me I’m worrying too much

Anthony – that’s probably one of the more intriguing situations I want to see unfold there. Of course all 3 are very talented and showcased their talents on their former teams but how much overlap is there now? It will definitely be a process of getting comfortable playing with one another…and of course its the adversity they will face that will define this experiment. In this first year (and quite possibly second year) while the talent around them is probably going to be slim how will they handle it when they are struggling in a game? I’m sure Bosh will defer most of the time as being a 3rd option, but Wade is used to putting his team on his back and carrying him and so is Lebron. So who wins out? Of course they’ll say all the right things but eventually one of them will emerge as the alpha; when that happens, will the other be OK with that? And as we see that chemistry is in fact an important factor in such a small team environment, how will that affect others?

I don’t want to completely slag them off this year or the following because you can’t deny the talent of all 3, but realistically I’m just not so sure how this team can be a championship-winning team. Right now its Wade, Lebron, Bosh, Chalmers and Mike Miller. Ok, fair enough, Miller is a good shooter, Chalmers is quite serviceable but who else is there? I mean, right now they basically have a starting 5…what about the rest of the team? If its Morey or Presti or a GM like that who has to grab pieces and build around them then there’s no doubt they can put together the right pieces. Has Miami shown that? The devil is in the details, and I really think this will become much more of a focal point as the season wears on and, if not addressed, will become a much more desperate situation the season after.

Stephen also brought up a point that I thought I had mentioned before as well, that my fear is that while Brooks-Martin are a great combo who can put points up, I just have the sneaking suspicion that they get those points in the right circumstances, so to speak. They compliment each other very nicely, but the inherent danger in that is what if both are in a slump, or injured, or limited by team defenses? Yes, either has shown they are capable of scoring but can they be counted on individually? If that’s our primary backcourt scoring option, then I think we need someone who can create their own shot consistently to round things out. I’m beginning to become less concerned about a backup center position because between the people we have and what is still available, we can fill that need quite gamely. Maybe I’m overthinking this and the offseason is making me crazy, but I guess recent history makes me concerned when we rely too much on a person or combination to be our focal point.

Someone tell me I’m worrying too much

Cleveland didn’t falter twice in the playoffs because Lebron was wrongly cast in the scorer role. They faltered because Mo Williams was their second best player who played like Rafer in the playoffs. Lebron didn’t exactly shine against the Celtics but Kobe wasn’t all that great either.

It’s uncanny how similar Wade and Lebron are. The only difference is that Lebron goes coast to coast more than Wade, who hardly does it and Lebron doesn’t employ the euro step like Wade does. They both love the high pick and roll, driving to the basket, creating contact, assisting on the corner three, firing about five threes in a row if they’re hot. They’re both great passers and extremely efficient scorers because of their high FG percentage and their ability to get to the line. They’re also great fourth quarter scorers. I’m guessing they’re both also steroid or HGH users as well, well I hope they are so they get exposed and the Miami dynasty crumbles in shame.

It’s definitely going to be fascinating to see how Wade and Lebron can get their rhythm together. They’re so used to having the ball on nearly every possession, being able to pass or shoot as much as they want, that it’s possible they will get out of sorts if they go four or five possessions without significantly touching the ball or trade off too frequently that neither gets into the zone. Sure they will be able to lead the second units and reprise their former roles but the bulk of their minutes will be played together. I wonder if their free throws attempts will go down, not just they’ll have fewer opportunities but because there is a limit, I hope, to how many free throws perimeter players can have during a game. Bigs and smalls get both average 10 plus free throws on the same team because they’re drawing different fouls but how many times can a referee call the exact same call for Wade and Lebron?

Cleveland didn’t falter twice in the playoffs because Lebron was wrongly cast in the scorer role. They faltered because Mo Williams was their second best player who played like Rafer in the playoffs. Lebron didn’t exactly shine against the Celtics but Kobe wasn’t all that great either.

It’s uncanny how similar Wade and Lebron are. The only difference is that Lebron goes coast to coast more than Wade, who hardly does it and Lebron doesn’t employ the euro step like Wade does. They both love the high pick and roll, driving to the basket, creating contact, assisting on the corner three, firing about five threes in a row if they’re hot. They’re both great passers and extremely efficient scorers because of their high FG percentage and their ability to get to the line. They’re also great fourth quarter scorers. I’m guessing they’re both also steroid or HGH users as well, well I hope they are so they get exposed and the Miami dynasty crumbles in shame.

It’s definitely going to be fascinating to see how Wade and Lebron can get their rhythm together. They’re so used to having the ball on nearly every possession, being able to pass or shoot as much as they want, that it’s possible they will get out of sorts if they go four or five possessions without significantly touching the ball or trade off too frequently that neither gets into the zone. Sure they will be able to lead the second units and reprise their former roles but the bulk of their minutes will be played together. I wonder if their free throws attempts will go down, not just they’ll have fewer opportunities but because there is a limit, I hope, to how many free throws perimeter players can have during a game. Bigs and smalls get both average 10 plus free throws on the same team because they’re drawing different fouls but how many times can a referee call the exact same call for Wade and Lebron?

His last season Yao played 33 min. per game averaging 19.7 points with 9.9 rebounds in 77 games. Last year Dwight Howard played 34 min. per game averaging 18.3 points with 9.7 rebounds in 82 games. Howard had a slight shot block advantage of 2.7 per game to Yao’s 2.0.

My memory of their last head to head competitions is of Yao being far more productive than Howard each game they faced one another.

Is Howard an elite player? I’m pretty sure we can both say yes. Has he elevated his game significantly this past year? Not to my eye. If was and is an elite player, then I must contend that Yao is too unless he proves otherwise by playing at a diminished level. Being restricted to 25 to 28 minutes is not significant if it protects his health.

I may be wrong, but time will give us the answer.

His last season Yao played 33 min. per game averaging 19.7 points with 9.9 rebounds in 77 games. Last year Dwight Howard played 34 min. per game averaging 18.3 points with 9.7 rebounds in 82 games. Howard had a slight shot block advantage of 2.7 per game to Yao’s 2.0.

My memory of their last head to head competitions is of Yao being far more productive than Howard each game they faced one another.

Is Howard an elite player? I’m pretty sure we can both say yes. Has he elevated his game significantly this past year? Not to my eye. If was and is an elite player, then I must contend that Yao is too unless he proves otherwise by playing at a diminished level. Being restricted to 25 to 28 minutes is not significant if it protects his health.

I may be wrong, but time will give us the answer.

I am stubbornly insistant that the Rockets need a play-maker,somebody who can both get his own shot,and penetrate and pass to open shooters.

I worry that a Brooks-Martin backcourt is way too perimeter oriented,that while they work well together the rest of the team gets shut out. Brooks for whatever reason cannot pass inside and almost never throws a lob. I cannot forget how 2 yrs ago w/McGrady out,teams would front Yao and the Rockets could never get him the ball,that Adelman had Artest and Battier feed Yao because Brooks couldn’t. Martin has never been known as a willing passer,and has never averaged even 3 assists a game in his career.

I am stubbornly insistant that the Rockets need a play-maker,somebody who can both get his own shot,and penetrate and pass to open shooters.

I worry that a Brooks-Martin backcourt is way too perimeter oriented,that while they work well together the rest of the team gets shut out. Brooks for whatever reason cannot pass inside and almost never throws a lob. I cannot forget how 2 yrs ago w/McGrady out,teams would front Yao and the Rockets could never get him the ball,that Adelman had Artest and Battier feed Yao because Brooks couldn’t. Martin has never been known as a willing passer,and has never averaged even 3 assists a game in his career.

Cavs fans’ grief was already out in public, there were articles on how they would ever recover IF LeBron left even before Bosh and Wade signed in Miami. All he did was capitalize on the hype, make some money for charity/create content for ESPN, while putting his name out there for the general public… the fans the NBA has not had since Jordan retired (second time).

As for Wade’s age, and injury concerns… I would assume the new stars along-side him in Miami will take some pressure off of him, mentally and physically. Hopefully, for Heat and casual fans, Wade takes a few less hard fouls on the way to the rim, improves his jumpshot, and ages gracefully… at a very solid 6-4, he is not that small a player.

Cavs fans’ grief was already out in public, there were articles on how they would ever recover IF LeBron left even before Bosh and Wade signed in Miami. All he did was capitalize on the hype, make some money for charity/create content for ESPN, while putting his name out there for the general public… the fans the NBA has not had since Jordan retired (second time).

As for Wade’s age, and injury concerns… I would assume the new stars along-side him in Miami will take some pressure off of him, mentally and physically. Hopefully, for Heat and casual fans, Wade takes a few less hard fouls on the way to the rim, improves his jumpshot, and ages gracefully… at a very solid 6-4, he is not that small a player.

His pr people should be fired, a simple press release explaining why and then a public thanks to the fans would have been the bare minimum of acceptability.

This whole thing really further reminds me of the way the professional nature of sport has changed things, particularly at an emotional level, we feel for our teams and players, whereas for them (both teams and players) it is a job or business venture. This clearly is a negative for clevelanders, however I have this grain of optimism (not sure why) that playing with your friends for less money and titles is in fact a positive.

As for the rockets, I am keen as mustard and ready to jump back in ( like Yao I pretty much took last season off) boots and all. There are so many variables, how will Yao go, and if he can play 25 great minutes how will that gel with our scoring backcourt, can scola co-exist at last seasons level, how does Ariza work as the 3rd/4th option? What will the offense look like with all these parts, especially if miller joins, will it emphasize the Yao/ miller at high post? One worry with this team is not the regular season but our inability to step it up to another level in the playoffs, which gets back to needing another gun, but maybe just maybe if you can’t have a big 3 then maybe a deep true total team is the way to go

His pr people should be fired, a simple press release explaining why and then a public thanks to the fans would have been the bare minimum of acceptability.

This whole thing really further reminds me of the way the professional nature of sport has changed things, particularly at an emotional level, we feel for our teams and players, whereas for them (both teams and players) it is a job or business venture. This clearly is a negative for clevelanders, however I have this grain of optimism (not sure why) that playing with your friends for less money and titles is in fact a positive.

As for the rockets, I am keen as mustard and ready to jump back in ( like Yao I pretty much took last season off) boots and all. There are so many variables, how will Yao go, and if he can play 25 great minutes how will that gel with our scoring backcourt, can scola co-exist at last seasons level, how does Ariza work as the 3rd/4th option? What will the offense look like with all these parts, especially if miller joins, will it emphasize the Yao/ miller at high post? One worry with this team is not the regular season but our inability to step it up to another level in the playoffs, which gets back to needing another gun, but maybe just maybe if you can’t have a big 3 then maybe a deep true total team is the way to go