Another Friday night at home and another LeBron master piece. I am really starting to enjoy this. As you all know by now, I am firmly in LeBron's corner. I know that he could have handled things a little better, but he's young and he doesn't have a great support staff behind him. I can forgive him. I am loving being on the other side. I am enjoying the idea that LeBron is the villain. That people don't like him makes me want to like him even more. I'm not sure what it is but I am taking special delight at watching him silence crowds and then ever so suddenly stare the place down.
Friday night the Heat were in San Francisco to take on the Warriors. I remarked to my buddy that it was amazing to see the Heat struggle on offense in the first half. It honestly is ridiculous to think that the Big 3 can't score at will w. It's like they somehow become statues when they don't have the ball. The struggled through the first half and were up by only 2 against a vastly inferior team at halftime. Then the third quarter started and the Heat went on a HUGE run to put the game out of reach. As with last time I talked about this team, I know their big win came against a bad team, but I am convinced that they don't need to play a great 48 minutes to win ballgames. I think they can get away with playing 30 mediocre minutes and only 18 great minutes. When they get things going in the open court and when their confidence starts to soar, there is no stopping them. They can easily go on 10-0 runs in the span of 90 seconds.
The crazy thing is that both LeBron and Wade appear to play better when the other is not on the court. I know it's not a new idea as the Sports Guy, who was actually providing color commentary on Friday, has been saying it since Game 1 of the season. Both appear to be more confident as the alpha male. Neither knows how to play second fiddle. I don't think it's on purpose (I really do think they are trying to play with each other) and I don't know if it will last all season (I mean, they have to learn, right?) but the team looks stronger with one of them off the court. MAYBE what Spoelstra should do create a subbing pattern that minimizes the time on the court together. Both could play 32 minutes and they could be on the court alone for 8 minutes each. For them, that might spell a huge run.
Afterall, look at what LeBron did on Friday. 15 points in the 3rd quarter alone, including 3 three's on consecutive possessions. They weren't of the "Hey, look at me, I'm open" variety. They were the "Ok, I have the ball 3 feet behind the 3-point line. You are in my face, but I don't care. I'm LeBron James and I can score at will, so I'm going to bury this jumper" variety. I think those are my favorite shots to watch - but only when they go in. They are infuriating players shoot and miss them because they are bad shots. But when they count, oh boy, are they magnificent. Besides Kobe (and Durant in a year or two), I don't think anyone does this better than LeBron.
So yeah, I'm having a lot of fun watching this team. I tried to play amateur psychologist the other day and think I have pinpointed why I like them. Individually, I really like them both over the past 7 years. They are two of the top 5 players in the game AND you never hear any bad stuff about them off the court (I'm talking drugs, violence, not how spoiled they may be). I can understand wanting to play together. I don't have a problem with it, possibly because when I think about it, I see it in terms of playing again with my Bucknell boys. I would have to give it serious consideration if I was offered the opportunity to be paid to play in work leagues with them, even if that meant leaving Seattle. I realize that I will NEVER be an alpha-male or or the best player in my own zip code so it's difficult to know how I would think if I was the best in the universe. And that's the thing - I can continue to think of this arrangement as good friends playing together in South Beach in their mid-20's. I don't necessarily like the Heat, but I like LeBron and Wade. If it had been Kobe and Melo who decided to join up then I would have had different feelings, but I like these two guys. So I will continue to do so and I will continue to be a villain because of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment