Tag: basketball

Can’t take the Heat?

The Heat is an enigma. Supremely talented, the team remains unable to marshal its talent late in games and against the better teams. We keep hearing about how they need to learn each other’s games, but the season is in the homestretch with fewer than 20 games left. Shouldn’t James, Wade and Bosh have meshed by now?

The team, it appears, is at a turning point for the season. The current five-game losing streak (and six out of seven)  — with the Lakers on deck — could rip the last supports from the Heat’s season. Or it could lead the team to bond. But the last few days — reports of crying in the locker room, complaints from one of its high-priced stars — do not bode well.

The Heat have nine games against playoff teams out of its last 18, including games with the Lakers, Boston, San Antonio and Oklahoma City. Orlando, which is closing fast on the Heat, having moved to within three games in the Southeast conference with a somewhat easier schedule.

The fact is, the Heat have gone from the likelihood of facing Philadelphia in round one as the two seed, to facing off against the Hawks as a four seed. Either way, the Heat should be favored, but does anyone really believe at this point that Miami is playoff-ready?

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The heat is on the Heat

The Miami Heat showed last night why they may have a lot more difficulty getting through the Eastern Conference playoffs and to the finals than their record would indicate.

The team led the Knicks last night for most of the game — but surrendered two significant Knicks runs that ultimately doomed the Heat and the Heats’ big guns came up small when they needed to come up huge.

Lebron James and Dwayne Wade looked flustered and Chris Bosh disappeared for long stretches. There were lazy passes and an inability to contain Carmelo Anthony when Anthony wanted it.

What seemed obvious, as the game clocked ticked down to zero was that the Knicks wanted it more, from Anthony’s decision to cover James down the stretch to Amar’e’s huge block on James to Chauncey Billups once again living up to his nickname.

What was striking was the Knicks’ defense when it mattered. A team that no one will confuse with the Willis/Clyde or Ewing/Oakley Knicks, Stat and Melo made it clear last night that they were ready to put in the effort on the defensive end, and the role players — Bill Walker, Shawn Williams, Rony Turiaf — played their roles well.

The Knicks are not going far in the playoffs this year — though I do think they match up well with their likely first-round opponents Chicago or Miami.

But I have my doubts as to whether the Heat can go far, as well. The Celtics play devastating defense, as does Dwight Howard and Orlando. And the Heat just don’t close out games or win close games (5-11 in games decided by 5 or less) or consistently beat good teams (under .500 against teams above .500).

None of this is meant to indicate that the Heat are a bad team. These numbers are going to change and the Heat will move to the top of the heap. It’s just that, this year, the Heat have a lot of work to do.

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  • Read poetry at The Subterranean.
  • Certainties and Uncertainties a chapbook by Hank Kalet, will be published in November by Finishing Line Press. It can be ordered here.
  • Suburban Pastoral, a chapbook by Hank Kalet, available here.
Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

I knew they couldn’t be that bad

The Knicks are proving that this is going to be a long and eventful season. Following up an awful six-game losing streak that dropped them to 3-8, the team ran off three wins on the West Coast — an almost unheard of feat in recent Knicks’ years.

Good things abounded — including the play of point guard Ray Felton and forward Danilo Galinari and the emergence of Ronny Turiaf as a defensive stabilizer.

So, it seems pretty clear that this team is not going to be quite as bad as it looked a week ago, though I’m not sure we are looking at a team that will win much more than 40 games. Given the last half-dozen years or so, I’ll take it.

  • Send me an e-mail.
  • Read poetry at The Subterranean.
  • Certainties and Uncertainties a chapbook by Hank Kalet, will be published in November by Finishing Line Press. It can be ordered here.
  • Suburban Pastoral, a chapbook by Hank Kalet, available here.
Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

Knicks should not be this bad

The Knicks should not be 3-8. There is a better balance of talent than in recent years, though not enough to offset those nights when the shots do not fall. They need to play better defense and go hard to the hoop.

  • Send me an e-mail.
  • Read poetry at The Subterranean.
  • Certainties and Uncertainties a chapbook by Hank Kalet, will be published in November by Finishing Line Press. It can be ordered here.
  • Suburban Pastoral, a chapbook by Hank Kalet, available here.
Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

Optimism reigns before season begins

I am a Knicks fan, which is a lot like being a Mets fan when you get down to it. I am optimistic as the season approaches and then the results come in and the pain resumes. Alas.

In any case, stories like this one about Dano Galinari make me hopeful. (Though I wouldn’t risk a dime to back it up.)

  • Send me an e-mail.
  • Read poetry at The Subterranean.
  • Certainties and Uncertainties a chapbook by Hank Kalet, will be published in November by Finishing Line Press. it can be ordered here.
  • Suburban Pastoral, a chapbook by Hank Kalet, available here.
Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.