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Zydrunas Ilgauskas not likely to start for MIA

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We'll see, don't be surprised if the Heat wins it all.

I for one will be shocked if the Heat make the playoffs let alone win the ship :chuckles:

If Dwight learns anything of value from Hakeem Olajuwon, I don't see the Heat making it out of the East. I'm sure Bron will finally start playing in the post to draw fouls (and stop taking possession and momentum killing 3s) but I think when games slow down in the playoffs you still win games on the boards and in the paint. At the same time I won't be shocked if the Heat can somehow get a quality big handed to them before the playoffs start.

EDIT-

Is he also working with Hakeem to become mentally tougher and not get into foul trouble in big games?

I think the Heat will probably put Lebron or Wade on Nelson in the fourth quarter of games, which should lock him up. Though they also have Chalmers and Arroyo who aren't slouches at point guard.

And how did Lebron do guarding Rafer Alston and Rondo in the playoffs? Granted Rondo is better than Nelson but for whatever stupid reason he was guarding Alston in the Magic series and did a lousy job of closing out and made it much more difficult for the rest of the team because Delonte had to guard Hedo and we eventually ran Sasha at him too with no luck. Lebron has potential to be a good defensive player but he still freelances at times.

Perkins shut Howard down. I'm fairly certain Dexter Pittman would at least be able to contain him.

So he still put up decent numbers against one of the best post defenders in the league who was surrounded by other decent to good post defenders but you think a rookie playing behind a paper thin frontline can contain him?

I think the plan will be to let him get his so it will be up to the other players on the Magic to play like they're playing against us in 2009 :mad: and hit their shots.
 
Unless Howard magically learns to shoot free throws, the Heat won't sweat him. They have Anthony, Z, Magloire, Pittman, and Randolph to foul him. That's 30 fouls right there. And we all know Howard will probably only play around 20 minutes vs. the heat because of foul trouble. So I think the Howard concern is a little overstated.

More of an issue is that Miami's system is about protecting the paint first, and giving up 3s. So if Orlando is red hot again they might stand a chance. Though their shooters seem to choke when they are run at by not midgets. They'll be closed on by Lebron instead of Mo Williams, which is a diffrent proposition.


If LeBron actually does a good job of closing out on shooters. The dirty little secret of that Orlando series was that, despite James' brilliant offensive performance, his D was awful. The guy has never really been great at closing out on shooters, and Orlando made that painfully obvious.
 
If LeBron actually does a good job of closing out on shooters. The dirty little secret of that Orlando series was that, despite James' brilliant offensive performance, his D was awful. The guy has never really been great at closing out on shooters, and Orlando made that painfully obvious.

You must have watched a diffrent Orlando series than I did. Because the Orlando series I watched Lebron never really got a chance to close out on shooters, because he was guarding the ball or Rafer Alston for too much of the series, and they ran that pick and roll with hedo which because of our rotations, left Mo or Delonte running out at the 6-10 Rashard Lewis, who killed us.

The next series vs. the Lakers, Lamar Odom was there to close with Ariza, and they didn't shoot nearly as well.

While I agree that Lebron's worst attribute defensively is getting his hand up on a close-out, he's infinitely better at it than Mo Williams is, and at least unlike Mo if he gets beat off the dribble he can recover with a shot block.

Just don't think Orlando has what it takes to stop the Heat. They have no one to guard Lebron or Wade. Their best player is foul prone and can be contained defensively without a double team.

The Magic need to make a big time trade to stay relevent out East IMO. Boston and Miami are both a tier above Orlando now.
 
blank964;995162but I think when games slow down in the playoffs you still win games on the boards and in the paint. At the same time I won't be shocked if the Heat can somehow get a quality big handed to them before the playoffs start.[/QUOTE said:
It's going to be tough to stop the Heat from getting into transition when they have one of Wade or Lebron perpetually leaking out. I think that's going to cause teams to have to drop 3 back and not go for offensive rebounds so much, which I think will cause the Heat to be able to keep teams at key moments to one and out possessions, which is how playoff basketball is won.

They actually do have very strong rebounders on the team. Lebron, Wade, and Bosh are all good to great rebounders for their position. Z is a good rebounder, especially offensively. And Anthony is a solid rebounder as well. As is Haslem. I think they're a better rebounding team than Boston. I mean Miami was a better rebounding team than Boston last year with that crappy team.
 
If LeBron actually does a good job of closing out on shooters. The dirty little secret of that Orlando series was that, despite James' brilliant offensive performance, his D was awful. The guy has never really been great at closing out on shooters, and Orlando made that painfully obvious.

LeBron was a roamer in the Orlando series. We took our chances that Rafer Alston could beat us and not Dwight Howard. LeBron's length makes it more difficult to shoot over him than a guard.

Though Mario Chalmers isn't much, if any, bigger than Mo Williams, so the other poster's opinion that it would be drastically different isn't really correct. And Wade's not a whole lot longer than Delonte, either.
 
LeBron was a roamer in the Orlando series. We took our chances that Rafer Alston could beat us and not Dwight Howard. LeBron's length makes it more difficult to shoot over him than a guard.

Though Mario Chalmers isn't much, if any, bigger than Mo Williams, so the other poster's opinion that it would be drastically different isn't really correct. And Wade's not a whole lot longer than Delonte, either.

I don't think Chalmers will be playing much in the playoffs. I think this will be the main heat lineup in the crunch:

Lebron
Wade
Miller
Bosh
Haslem

They'll switch pretty much everything on defense I would think. And your odds of completeting a cross court pass to the corner 3 against this lineup has to be pretty close to zero.

I think if they play Orlando in the playoffs--and I doubt they do(boston and maybe chicago can knock them off now), they'll just foul Howard anytime he gets close to a dunk, and try and get him in foul trouble on the other end.
 
Doesn't surprise me. He didn't sign with Miami to get playing time, he's there for the rings.
 
I'm still kinda sad z didn't get a ring that year
 
Really? That was the one and only reason I semi would have been OK with a heat win.

Like I was sad they won the year after when z was retired

I wanted the Heat to lose every year... I wouldn't have minded if he got a ring; it wasn't about him though...
 
I wanted the Heat to lose every year... I wouldn't have minded if he got a ring; it wasn't about him though...

Wasn't he still attached to the Cavs in some capacity in 2016?
 
Big Z, the original 7'3 Unicorn ;)

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