Thursday, February 25, 2010

The Lie That is David Stern....

http://www.aceonsports.com/uploaded_images/knicks_bag-734666.jpg
Getty Images: Chris from the blog shows his
displeasure with his current Knicks team as Godson looks on.


http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/100224 (this is a great read)



I simply posted the link on this because it is too long too post, but it is a great read and something I have been saying for years. Stern wants to whine and complain his way into a lockout instead of pointing fingers at the real culprits for the NBA's money issues: the terrible GMs we have in this league.  From the new CBA, to the high school draft rule, everything this clown has done has been to protect GMs and make up for their horrible mistakes. All he has ever done was put rules in place to protect GMs from themselves. One team in particular I have been saying has been making stupid mistakes for years, the Wiz, Simmons uses them as an example. He basically said the same things I said when the Wiz gave Arenas that stupid 100mill contract and Jamison that horrible extension:

"For instance, let's say you root for the Wizards like my buddy House. Over the last two years, House watched his team overpay Arenas ($111 million; nobody else could have offered more than $85 million at the time) and Antawn Jamison (a $41 million extension for someone about to reach his mid-30s) in a bizarre attempt to keep together the nucleus of a noncontender. Those contracts forced the Wiz to package the No. 5 pick in the 2009 draft, along with a couple of lousy contracts, for immediate help (Randy Foye and Mike Miller). When that move backfired and Arenas went child actor on us, the team called an audible and dealt three of its four best players (Jamison, Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood) for expiring contracts and the No. 30 pick in the 2010 draft.
Three unintentionally funny outcomes here. First, Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld was the one who overpaid everybody, then had to sacrifice Butler and a 2009 lottery pick just to undo his own horrendous mistakes. Basically, he created the same cap space that could have been attained two summers ago, only Washington fans lost a lottery pick in the process. Did he get fired for this? Of course not.

Second, the Wizards will have a ton of cap space this summer, only this summer's top free agents won't be saying, "Man, I'd love to play on a young team that's built around Gilbert Arenas." So it's a flawed business plan coming out of the gate. The Wizards shouldn't even mention the words "cap space" to their fans again. It's like promising your kids an ice cream at the end of a long drive when you know there's nothing in the fridge.
Third, they actually tried to sell their fans that one benefit of the Jamison trade was dipping the Wizards under the luxury tax threshold. As House hissed afterward, "What the [bleep] do I care if the Wiz aren't paying the tax? How does that affect me? Does that mean they're lowering ticket prices for the rest of the year then?"
Nope. Over the past five years, half the league's franchises crapped on their season-ticket holders at least once with mismanagement, salary dumping and/or tanking for lottery picks. Along with the Wizards, the following fan bases have reached a breaking point with their respective teams: Sixers, Pistons, Pacers, Nets, Knicks, Suns, Clippers, Warriors and Timberwolves. Depending on how the summer of 2010 works out, we could be adding Cavs, Heat, Raptors, Hawks and/or Grizzlies fans to that list. And four other teams have tried to put out a quality product but still hemorrhaged money this season: New Orleans, Milwaukee, Charlotte and San Antonio.
(Yes, I just mentioned 19 of the 30 NBA teams. You counted correctly.)"


Basically imo, the players , fans and agents all are about to suffer for the stupidity of these horrible GM's and the owners who refuse to fire them. Anybody disagree?

53 comments:

  1. LMAO!

    But yeah that Wizards shit was stupid. I hate when teams don't realize that "its over". Some teams that are really good can afford to overpay players since they are not going to be rebuilding any time soon anyway. It reminds me of when the Knicks resigned Houston and Ewing, then traded Camby and Nene for McDyess. Or when the Heat got Davis/Blount. Just let it fucking go and lets move onto the next era.

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  2. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&page=wojciechowski/100223&sportCat=nba

    another NY-biased article on lebron/bosh/wade going to Knicks

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  3. I will tell you what tho Chris, there are some teams that are exempt from this . Your Knicks are one of them, the Lakers, and the Mavs. Sure they each have made bad decisions, but they arent crying broke after doing so. These teams have the money to spend and will continue to do so, even when they have bad GMs. To me, those 3 teams may not have the smartest owners by a long shot, but they do have imo the best owners in the NBA. Just like Steinbrenner(I cant spell it) in baseball, Snyder, Huizenga and Jones in the NFL. I hope Ross is a lot like Huizenga tho.

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  4. lol harsh. to be fair, I was against not playing/trading Steph (last season, anyways).

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  5. As for the offseason...
    I say we get Bosh & Felton, trade Beas for a rebounding-shot blocking center, & retain Wright.

    Felton-Wade-Wright-Bosh-Gortat?

    We can worry about the bench later (we'll have Cook...) but I think that's a great start.

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  6. ...or we can start Chalmers at PG, & focus on getting a bench with that money...

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  7. I personally say we spend the money on finding Wade a backcourt mate as priority number one and then fill in the rest. I dont want to spend all of our money on 2 players/positions. Deepen this roster as oppose to just finding star power.

    JO/Camby/Magloire
    Beasley/Camby
    Joe/Wright
    Wade/Cook/Nate
    Felton/Nate/Skip

    That makes me happy and you can even replace Felton with Kirk. Skip is there for defense, Nate is the 6th man, Wright is for defense and cook,well, cook is cheap and I am a fan. If Lebron can be a contender last year with Mo Williams and Sideshowbob, thisis more than enough for Wade.

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  8. Nice. I'd like having Felton-Wade-Johnson-Beas, but I think we need to be greedy. Bosh is a top 10 player, & I think having him & Wade would make us a contender automatically (like when we got Shaq) & then, we'd be in a position to make all the necessary moves to be the hands-down favorite. Having Wade, Joe & Beas would make us a contender, but that's heavily reliant upon the premise Beasley gets over his inconsistencies & becomes a reliable 2nd option (juggle that with Joe). But, this was the method I preferred not too long ago...

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  9. ^ hate that paragraph...

    btw, if we have Nate, we won't need Skip for defense. Nate's D>Skip's. He's just one of those "needs to lock in" defenders, though...

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  10. I think BOS might resign Nate imo

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  11. "And isn't it all about the rings more than the other things? And didn't Michael Jordan play for way under his market value, until those last two years in Chicago, in order to let the Bulls assemble the complementary parts around him?"

    I did not know that. Wade-Gay/Johnson-Bosh should be possible. Most likely would happen in NY, but Miami has the best selling point; no state taxes. By not having to pay state taxes, the amount of money they leave on the table decreases.

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  12. "As much as there is the appeal for the Knicks to try the triple play, it could be easier to see it happening in Miami. For one, the Heat have to recruit only two outsiders, not three. Then there's the appeal of the South Beach lifestyle. And the Heat have an up-and-comer already on the roster in Michael Beasley.

    As an inducement, Riley might even offer that if LeBron, Wade and Bosh would join forces in Miami, he could guarantee the services of a Hall of Fame coach named -- ahem -- Riley."

    (Sorry about dominating the comments, lol)
    ^ I agree. Obviously Wade-LeBron-Bosh is a pipe dream, but just switch LeBron's name with one of the other big named guys. & if we could get a big 3 like that while keeping Beasley...Riley for best GM ever.

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  13. i dont see the heat getting 3 of them UNLESS they trade beasley, jones, and cook with future draft pick and capspace to either phoenix for amare or toronto for bosh. then they use the max money on the 2 remaining free agents and fill out the roster with minimum contracts. seems quite unlikely to me

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  14. Gotta agree with you GS... I'd take A)Bosh/B)Amare and A)Gay/B)Johnson and call it a day resign Wade and look for C and PG our picks. Pick up some vets for the minimum to round out the roster and try to resign Dorell with the part MLE and try feverishly hard to pick up Camby with part of the MLE. If Haslem's still desperate to be home in Miami vet's minimum to close out games while BEasley and Bosh watches on....lol

    Almost forgot the most important offseason move FIRE ERIK SPOELSTRA FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  15. we wont have the MLE if we are under the cap at the start of the summer

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  16. Cavs look like they're scared to drive the ball. Looks like they lack toughness outside of Shaq (especially with LeBron playing soft). Going to be a problem if they meet the Celts (healthy) in the playoffs. Then again, if the Celtics are healthy, they'll out-tough anybody...

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  17. honestly, I hope that we can get JO back for the vet minimum. i want him back every bit as much as dorrell wright.

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  18. I don't we can draft a new C JO is one knee injury away from retirement.

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  19. Another reason I want Bosh is because he'd make up for the lack of good centers in this FA. Bosh can rebound the ball. JO...not so much. He is a low-post presence, though, so if we go the perimeter guys route rather than getting a PF, than we probably will have to retain him (or have no low post presence)

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  20. i like JO as a low cost veteran off the bench. curious to see if he chases the money or chases a ring on south beach.

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  21. adrianw743 said...
    i like JO as a low cost veteran off the bench. curious to see if he chases the money or chases a ring on south beach.

    FEBRUARY 25, 2010 9:34 PM

    chase a ring on south beach? If he wants to chase a ring he'd go to Cleveland or L.A.

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  22. if riley does to this team what is expected to be done, he could rightly chase a ring on south beach chris. if miami can move one of the draft picks with james jones, they will be in business to be able to afford an awfully good player, maybe not max free agent, but a 2nd tier guy as well.

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  23. I think it's time to redesign the blog it's kinda been dying down lately...

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  24. http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=15420

    another excellent article on potential capspace

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  25. yeah, on non-gamedays it can be dead

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  26. that's because we need a troll, lol. nothing posted here really gets any "no, I disagree with that" feel to it since, more or less, we all share the same opinion on most subjects. Not much to post about (Cavs>Magic)

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  27. Maybe somebody with insider can post articles?Just a thought.Or maybe somebody has to become a troll like GS said lol.

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  28. Theres not much to really change about the blog to get the comments here.. Like GS said, the only difference here is there are no trolls to argue with, so the comments are a whole lot less. Personally the only reason I dont like going to Ira's blog IS the trolling and the retarded responses. If the chat thing wasnt here the comments would be rolling. Hell imo the blog posts may be longer but they are better than Ira's. If there are changes I can make just suggest them and we can get it done. Its always hard to just up and leave your first home and thats what Iras blog is.

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  29. True lol I find myself going back to Iras blog once and a while but the trolling just makes me leave again.

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  30. "Personally the only reason I dont like going to Ira's blog IS the trolling and the retarded responses."

    Agreed. That's why I don't mind it. Plus, the chat is live come gametime. Chris said it best before; this is the sports bar, while Ira's blog is the cafeteria at the office (or something like that)

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  31. Back to the subject of this team tho....

    As good as Bosh and Amare are, a 2 man team with ring chasers is not my first choice, now this is just me. I would much rather be LA,Orlando,Boston, or Denver than to be Cleveland or Utah. That 2 man game isnt as effective as it use to be. I want to be able to weather the storm if/when Wade goes down or anybody else in the lineup.

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  32. looking on ira's blog, to be fair, it it just as dead when you factor in the trolling. i think the difference is that we dont get the constant same guys every day like ira's blog gets. the content is better because everyone tends to stick to thoughtful insights. i dont know if we need a troll but maybe someone with a different perspective

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  33. Ira's blog is sickening. Its gotten to the point where I dont think even Slledge finds it fun to just criticize the Heat. Hes still trolling in his own way, but his posts make a lot more sense than the rest of the trolls on there. Evrn I-Win isnt as negative as he use to be.

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  34. KB i agree, i want a TEAM as well, with other guys capable of hitting shots. I look at dallas. they have their superstar in dirk, they have competent big men in haywood and dampier, they have solid pg's in kidd, barea and that rookie, and they also have scoring from terry and butler, along with athletes with stevenson and marion. i like their mix

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  35. well I do like a Wade-Wright-Bosh core. Then, we'd still have Beas, who could either be a super 6th man (our Lamar Odom-rounds out our best line-up when Bosh plays spot minutes at center) or we could move him for another piece. I do think, especially if we keep Wright, that Chalmers would be just fine as our starter, so we should find a C to move him for. That, or maybe we move Beas & Wright to get Rudy Gay...

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  36. I dont want Chalmers on the floor at all. I think him at pg, even if we get Lebron is a ba mistake waiting to happen. Hes stupid, hes just not labeled as a low IQ guy because hes not a chucker or he doesnt look like a brash youngster. Hes a quiet guy who hustles so it gets overlooked, but his basketball IQ is HORRIBLE. Not to mention hes just not a pg. He really doesnt have a skill to define him a capable starter imo. You know, like that one skill hes good at. Hes not a lockdown defender or a dead eye 3 point shooter. To me hes no good out there.

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  37. Inside the NBA was talking about Beasley, it was hilarious. Charles gave him some props though.

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  38. This whole idea that we can dump this on the GMs feet is BS. Where else does hiring personel have to guarentee salaries for YEARS in advance, before they even get to see how the player will play in their system?

    If you want Stern to stop trying to protect the GMs, then lets make this easy. Make ALL players become free agents at the end of each year. Then you can do the whole capatiism idea of the "free market"

    While we're at it, lets go ahead and make the draft order based just like it is now except based on the teams records for the past 3 years, not just the year just finished so that we can maybe avoid some of this tanking that happens every year.

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  39. A New Day said...

    "This whole idea that we can dump this on the GMs feet is BS. Where else does hiring personnel have to guarantee salaries for YEARS in advance, before they even get to see how the player will play in their system?"



    Ummmm, gonna take a wild guess here and say every sport except football.

    Regardless, you are going to overpay, we know that, but how much you do is on you. Theres not a sane person who thought what Washington was doing was a great idea. In fact, common sense should have prevailed when EVERYONE knows the highest contract he could have gotten from another team was 85 mill....what in a GMs right mind would make u offer him over 100 mill at that point? Cory Maggette was about to be relegated to a MLE deal from the Spurs when the warriors swooped in out of desperation and gave him a huge contract. There is no excuse for those 2 moves except for being bad at your job. You can make a mistake in the draft, thats fine. No matter who the player is you are drafting on potential. Thats also a decision, unlike in football, that you dont have to pay for a long time. The longest that mistake can last is 3 or 4 years at a relative cheap price. But when Luol Deng,Andrew Bynum,Kenyon Martin and Peja Stojakavich are not the best players on your team and you allow them and their agents to hold you by the nuts and force you to pay them near max contracts, you have failed horribly as a GM. Those are not just a few examples, not even the worst examples, its just examples of an ongoing problem thats widespread. Point blank, too many GMs are NOT good at their jobs. If your company hires an investor or whatever and he constantly has your company operating in the red, are you going to get mad at the investment and not fire the investor?

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  40. Your job as a GM is to sign good players to good contracts and build a good team. Of course you will overspend but thats a relative term. Its you job tom analyze and predict how well a player will fit in your "system". Its your job to see how well this player has performed under pressure, what kind of attitude he has, and if hes worth his contract to YOUR team. Nobody can predict the future but your job is to analyze to the best of your ability. If your best isnt good enough then you deserve to be fired and shoulder the blame.

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  41. agreed. that's why contracts shouldn't be guaranteed. then again, that would decrease the amount of big trades made by teams. If JO wasn't guaranteed, Indiana would've released him & we probably would've never gotten him.

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  42. btw kb, you haven't changed the poll in a long time, lol.

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  43. Yes finally a game, 330pm start is scary, hoepfully the youngsters are awake and the partying does not affect them too much!

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  44. so I was watching thr McDonald's commercial with Bron & Dwight again. I just got the joke from the part where Dwight goes, "Shake on it", leaves Bron hanging & says "Got you back" lol.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmrTDZy3f2M

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  45. I love this blog... it has gotten slow, but I also read Ira's blog and usually leave after reading a handful of idiotic and childish arguments.

    Honestly, the basketball IQ over there < Chalmers. I hate the trolling, it is fun within reason...

    I LOVE THE IDEA THAT WE COULD LAND BOSH/AMARE + GAY/JOHNSON!

    I almost posted that article too, it is a shame that players became overpaid it has ruined the game considerably... as did many other levels of mismanagement, such as wasting roster spots on players who are not ready - Joel, Dorell, Mario, DaeQuan... those types of guys needed to develop their games on the Miami Heat Jrs - they all have potential, but they do not deserve to be on the first team all year long quite yet (Dorell is, but it is his 6th year of occupying the roster spot of a better option).

    I wouldn't mind if they changed the system... it was fun while it lasted, but we need a real minor league and different cap rules, draft rules, etc.

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  46. There are not Miami Heat Jrs... that's part of the problem - the league is not set up well enough to develop talent. The D-league is not what it should be... DaeQuan and Mario should have been in it most of this season.

    These guys are good enough for the pros, but we shouldn't have to watch them struggle as much as we have had to... Dorell has been a wasted roster and cap space... change the CBA for the better and improve the quality of play.

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  47. It is much better than the Hate that is spewed over there. I like dealing with people who like the Heat.

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  48. Garnett stepped to the podium and breathed a heavy sigh after Saturday's game. Asked initially about the loss he said, "I got nothing to say, I feel disgusted."

    Later he expanded: "I'm not going to sit up here and give a bunch of excuses, that's not my style. You lose, you lose. They kicked our asses tonight. Period. Point blank. Players have to do more, including myself. We all have to dig deep and see what we're made of as a team. Seriously."

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  49. BETTER THAN WADE?: Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant keeps climbing the charts. "The kid, at worst, is probably the fourth-best player in the league," said Suns coach Alvin Gentry, the former Heat coach. "You have LeBron, Kobe and Dwyane Wade. He might even be ahead of one of those players. I won't tell you which one."

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  50. think Gentry forgot Melo. The guy who KD plays just like, but is not as strong or quick as...

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  51. i like durant... alot, but i want to see how he reacts in the playoffs. plus, i am not sure about his overall floor game.

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  52. Bucks 94, Heat 71
    by: Ira Winderman February 27th, 2010 | 5:46 PM Observations from Saturday’s 94-71 loss to the Bucks at AmericanAirlines Arena:
    •Dwyane Wade went through a pregame workout, but the likely target date for a return from his strained left calf is Tuesday’s home game against the Warriors.
    •Without Wade, the Heat simply wasn’t good enough. The problem was the Heat wasn’t good enough with Wade when it lost the first two games of the four-game season series to the Bucks.
    •It was mostly a dead building, which is particularly unusual for the team’s annual Kids Day.

    It was that kind of day for Udonis Haslem and the Heat against the Bucks. (AP)
    •Entering the game, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, “The ball’s simply got to move.” The Heat closed the third quarter with eight total assists. The Bucks had 18 to that point.
    •Dorell Wright’s ascension continues. He started the second half at small forward in place of Quentin Richardson, who has been limited the past week with a bruised thigh.
    •Daequan Cook got the start at shooting guard, but continued to look mostly lost. It is remarkable how limited the team’s options are when Wade is out.
    •Michael Beasley blew a second-quarter fastbreak dunk, but, to his credit, came back and scored on the next possession. Still, Beasley failed to take advantage of his size advantage in many matchups, again settling for too many jumpers.
    •Jamaal Magloire then met the front of the rim with a third-quarter dunk attempt.
    •As expected, with Rafer Alston returning to the starting lineup, Mario Chalmers remained the primary backup, with Carlos Arroyo falling out of the rotation until the start of the fourth quarter. It was a reshuffling expected even before Arroyo’s Friday arrest. Chalmers promptly missed four of his first five shots.
    •Joel Anthony also was removed from the rotation until garbage time (there was plenty), with Magloire somewhat surprisingly getting those minutes.
    •Alston still has yet to locate his jumper. And time is growing short in that respect.
    •Jermaine O’Neal kept the Heat afloat with his scoring, but the rebounding still is a concern.
    •Spoelstra tried to give O’Neal his customary break late in the third quarter, but was forced to rush him back in when the deficit reached 15, with O’Neal then called for his fourth foul.
    •The zone was back in healthy doses, but defense hardly is the greatest current concern.
    •With Richardson ailing, James Jones got a shot. One of his second-quarter 3-pointers, however, was reduced to a two-point basket upon review.
    •In light of Hawks coach Mike Woodson receiving a technical foul Friday night against Dallas for interfering with play while guiding his team from the sideline, Spoelstra said, “It surprised me. It’s an interesting development and we’ll see how it goes. I’ll try to keep off the court.”
    •The Heat’s pregame theme was “The Best.” (Insert your own response here.)

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