Super Friends on Backstage

Who will think that the Big Names in NBA will come together and play for Miami Heat? This is what the Miami Heat franchise is enjoying right now. Their team has the most star studded players in the planet of Basketball today. Having Lebron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the same team is like you’re in a nirvana that made you think that this trio will be unstoppable force for 5 years or more. But are they for real?

Last year’s offseason, free agents were loaded with superstars headed by the reigning MVP Lebron “The King” James. It was the best free agency that hit the market in NBA history. When NBA opened the free agency, all teams who wanted the services of Lebron James and other superstars booked themselves immediately to meet these superstars. They had their chances to woo them to play for their respective franchises by offering max contracts, giving out private jets, to be a stakeholder of their franchise and most of all to be a championship caliber team, which is music to LBJ’s ears.

Several teams were able to persuade the superstars to sign on a max contract in their team. Some superstars resigned from their mother teams. But one of the most anticipated decision in the sports world – where NBA superstar free agent LeBron James will play next season and beyond. He informed NBA that he will officially reveal his decision on “The Decision,” that was presented live on ESPN last July 8, 2010.

The entire nation was excited for this to happen. The New York Knicks who is front runner in his services and of course his mother team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. Finally the time has come, the question everybody wants to know: Lebron James decided to bring his talents to South Beach and join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh who already chosen Miami Heat as their destinations.

The whole world was shocked with his decision. Cleveland fans immediately burned his jerseys to show their dismay with their former home grown hero. Even Dan Gilbert the owner hasn’t controlled his emotion outburst by expressing his disappointment by writing an open letter shortly after Lebron’s statement by saying that “I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEAVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE”. This was a big statement but we can’t blame the owner for his action.

The major reason in Lebron’s decision was the best opportunity for him to win and to win now and to win in the future also. Thanks to the masterful job of Pat Riley who engineered in putting these pieces altogether on one team. I am wondering what he told to these superstars and how he convinced them to play for Miami but all I know is he is the guru.

Moving forward -- This weekend the 2011 playoffs will officially start. This is the time we’ve been waiting for, the real test for Super friends. They have locked themselves in the number 2 seed in Eastern Conference and will face the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1^st round. They owned this team in the regular season as the Miami Heat beat this team thrice. It looks like it will be an appetizer round for them, then after that they have to face the defending East Champs the Boston Celtics in semifinals, assuming the C’s will thrash the resurging New Knicks with Melo-Amare tandem in the 1^st round. This will be an acid test for them as they have to deal with the well experienced and most dangerous team in the postseason.

The Miami Heat is one of the favorite teams this postseason. But let’s face it they won’t get the title this year. Even they manhandled the league leading San Antonio Spurs in their home floor, beat twice the defending champions LA Lakers and finally figured out how to beat the Boston Celtics on their last meeting. Their chances of winning the title are not that huge. This team still needs some pieces to finally get the job done. Miami Heat was built to be a dynasty and that dynasty will not happen this year.

Here are the reasons why

1. Lack of Big Men -- Miami Heat doesn’t have the size to matchup with Boston Celtics and LA Lakers’ bigs. Chris Bosh is the only player who can man the paint for the Heat and even Udonis Haslem is uninjured, their frontline looks very fragile. What if Bosh gets into foul trouble? Who will defend the paint for them and worst case scenario what if the Heat loses him on an injury?
2. Low Block – The undersized Udonis Haslem is the only player who can play on the post for them but he got injured in the early goings of the season. So the limelight will be on Chris Bosh, but this superstar doesn’t play on the low block he is more on a face-up to the basket and pull some mid range jump shots. This team needs a real low post threat that can attract double teams and let Lebron James and Dwyane Wade attack the interior defense of their opposing teams.
3. Bench Support – After the Big Three, there’s no other player on the team they can rely on. This is the major problem when they signed the 3 Superstars to max contracts. This team doesn’t have the salary cap flexibility to sign a player in free agency. Thanks to those players who sacrificed their salary and signed with a minimum contract just to play with Super friends and hoping they will get their 1^st ever championship ring.
4. Shooting PG – Pat Riley indeed needed a PG with shooting touch. Mike Bibby became available through a buyout and the Heat’s president did not made any hesitation in signing the veteran point guard. Bibby’s arrival will bring his playoff experiences to the team. He is a great leader, proven scorer and clutch player. But the only downside on this was, Bibby is not the same player that we’ve seen when he is still donning the uniform of Sacramento Kings. Let’s just hope he will able to resurrect his career and be motivated, now that he is playing for a contender.
5. Togetherness – This will be the 1^st time for the Super friends to play together in the playoffs. No one knows who will take over on crunch time? Heat coach Erik Spoelstra tried to setup some late plays for Lebron but didn’t succeed in the regular season. There are lots of questions needed to be answered. Who will take over the game in crunch time? Who will take the last shot? Are these superstars willing to sacrifice their limelight on big stage? We will find our answer once the game comes to a close.
   

This will mark one of the exciting playoffs in NBA. All playoff teams will try to it make to the promise land and hoping to dethrone the LA Lakers. We will finally witness how the Miami Heat will showcase their talents on big stage. Will they overcome the pressure on their shoulders? Will they easily fold like what they have shown in the mid season where they caught as Crying Heat Babies? Or stand and live up to their talents? I am not a Super Friends fan but I do follow them because they are one of the favorites. I’m looking forward on the Eastern Conference Semifinals matchup where they will face my Boston Celtics. It will be a showdown guaranteed…

Here’s the familiar chant of Miami Heat.

Let’s Let’s Let’s Go HEAT!!!

Celtics Fall?

It’s been a year since I last wrote an article with regard to Boston Celtics. Now that the playoff is getting closer, we will be talking a lot how the Celts would fair this year. We all know the Celtics made a huge run in the playoffs last year and they are 1 win away from getting their 18^th championship. But the LA Lakers went in their way and pushed them back to earth in one of the historic NBA Finals 7 game series.

The Boston Celtics lost some key players on the offseason. Rasheed Wallace the ever reliable frontcourt defender announced his retirement and Tony Allen their wing defender signed with Memphis Grizzlies to get more playing time. But with these developments, the Celts made a counter upgrade by boosting up their roster by adding the 2 O’Neals (Shaq and Jermaine) in the middle to compete with Lakers' big, plus Delonte West for Rajon’s backup in the point guard position. Because of these adjustments, the Celtics made themselves once again one of the favorites to win the title this year.

The Boston Celtics surprised the league by their quick jelling with the system. They are one of the hottest teams from the very start. By the way, Kendrick Perkins was still sidelined due to knee injury that he suffered in the finals last year plus the in and outs of the O’Neal’s, West and never ending Rajon Rondo ankle injury. It’s very clear that the Celtics did not have a chance to play with a complete/healthy roster, but they still managed to compete with power house teams and remain on top of the standings.

Come February trade deadline, Celtics shocked the entire league by sending Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinsons to Oklahoma Thunder in exchange for Jeff Green and Nenad Krystic. This put a lot of questions to NBA fanatics, why Danny Ainge pull the trigger? Many NBA analysts said that this trade is a no brainer, no brainer because you just made your team an ORDINARY ONE. Boston Celtics lose their size advantage of Perk plus the energy of Nate that he can bring from the bench.

Lately, the Celtics is struggling to win games. From number 1 spot in the East, they are now down in 3rd spot and needs to win their remaining games of the season to secure home court advantage come in second round of the playoffs, and a possible showdown with Super Friends in the South Beach. Celts are 13-9 since the Perkins trade. It does not sound not so good for Boston, right? Is it because of Perkins is no longer donning Celtics uniform? My answer is a BIG NO NO NO!!!

NBA analysts and many people criticized Danny Ainge decision why he pushed the Perkins Trade. They are saying that Celtics recent struggles are due to that trade. This is totally not true. Personally, I am already fed up with these kinds of comments that were getting from our NBA analysts. I don’t know why they reacted so negatively with Perks trade. He is not the main reason why the Celts are on the slide.

Here’s my analysis with Celtics recent fall

1. Perkins is not the main reason why Celtics is not doing well lately. The spectacular playmaker Rajon Rondo is not the same player that we’ve seen in the early games of the season. He is the major reason why the Celtics are very finesse with their plays. His assists per game dropped significantly, because of his injuries throughout the season. His effectiveness in the Point Guard position suffered his team a lot.
2. Celtics Trade, the arrival of Jeff Green and Nenad Krystic made this team more promising. But unfortunately, these guys are not yet 100% fully learned the system of Doc Rivers. They don’t know yet how will they contribute to the big 4 of the Celts.
3. The injuries of the Big MAN. The 2 O’Neal’s are in and out of the season due to injuries. The Big news now is, the recent calf injury suffered by Shaq in his return from injury against the Pistons yesterday. This is a major blow for the Boston team. This will take a big hit on them come on the playoff time, because his return is uncertain. By the way, Nenand Krystic is also out due to injury.

Here’s my analysis with Perks Trade.

1. Danny Ainge pushed the trade because Boston already offered Kendrick Perkins an extension but he just ignored it. He told them that he wants to test the free agency market. It sounds that there is no guarantee that the Perks will be with the same team come next season.
2. We all know what happened with Lebron James and the Cavs. The Cavaliers waited for so long for Lebron to resign with them, but with his “The Decision” he made in New York, he opted to bring his talent in the South Beach which is the Miami Heat. Boston already learned that lesson, they traded away Perkins because they are unsure if Perk will resign with them. Instead of losing him in the free agency, they pulled the trade and get the services of Nenand Krystic and Jeff Green in return.
3. Jeff Green is a versatile player. He can play 3 or 4 position. He reminds me of Antawn Jamison who is a scorer, decent rebounder, good defender, has great shooting touch and can dribble the ball. While Nenand Krystic is a decent defender, rebounder, has perimeter shooting and can shoot Free Throws. This is a nice swap for Doc Rivers. Jeff Green and Nenand Krystic can spread the floor with their ability to shoot from the outside, and it will make a lot easier for Rajon and Pierce to penetrate and slash the middle.
   

Boston Celtics still remain the team to beat in the East. They just need their 4 stars to be healthy and ready come playoff time. This is the same team that shocked the whole world that nobody thought that they would reach the Finals and almost get their 18^th Championship.

Yes! Celts will be missing the toughness of Kendrick Perkins in the middle especially now that Shaq is uncertain for his return. But with their new recruits, Jeff Green and Nenad Krystic will provide instant offense and frontcourt stability for them.

I still believe the Celtics will return in the NBA Finals come in June. I am hoping that they will remain healthy all throughout the playoffs, and be ready to battle the All-Star Studded teams in Eastern Conference plus one more dance against the defending champs the LA Lakers. This will be one a hell playoffs that we will be witnessing. I can’t wait for this to happen.

Let’s Go Celtics!!!