Miami shows that “Wonder Boy” is better than “Superman”
When Miami made the Shaquille O’Neal trade last year, Shaq did what he does best… Run his mouth. He called Wade “Wonder Boy”, said that part of his problem in Miami was that he was playing alongside Chris Quinn and Ricky Davis, and that the HEAT medical staff never knew what was wrong with him. Shall we say that the HEAT had something to prove to O’Neal? As much as Chris Quinn and Wade might say it wasn’t.. It was. and You could see it in Wade’s eye that he was there to prove the Big cactus wrong.
Shawn Marion got a huge ovation from the beloved crowed in Phoenix…. O’Neal, don’t expect the same when we see you again in March down here in South Beach… “Go Ahead, boo me. I dont care, My feelings can’t get hurt” said O’Neal. Well, we shall see that. In the O’Neal - Marion comparison, Shaq had more points, 12, Marion had more assists, 6 and less turnovers, he committed zero.
Miami came into this game coming off one of it’s worst losses of the season. A 38 point loss to a young Portland Trail Blazers team. Okay, granted Phoenix did not have Steve Nash today (thigh injury) but still, in a game were Miami’s biggest lead was 19 and Phoenix never lead, it was by far one of Miami’s best game of the season versus a decent opponent.
Here at the HEAT blog, I am going to start doing something a little different, feel free to comment on it to let me know if you like it or not. I’m going to give out awards after every game. A game MVP, the biggesdt surprise of the game, the player that had the worst night so on and so forth. So, without further ado, here we go.
Game MVP: Dwyane Wade
It’s common sense to give the MVP award to Wade. Wade had 43 Points, 6 Assists, 3 Rebounds, and 1 Steal. Wade was terrific the entire way, and as i said, you could see it in his eyes that he had a chip on his shoulders from last season and all that O’Neal said about him and the rest of his team. Wade was 11-12 from the Free throw line. 2-3 from downtown and was just lighting up the floor with his amazing repertoire of skills, hitting the Js, getting teammates involved, getting to the hole. and so, for tonight’s game, Wade is the MVP.
Biggest Surprise of the game: Mario Chalmers
Many experts say the “Super Mario” was the steal of the draft, and I would agree with that. Mario has a terrific sense of defense, and that’s something that Erik Spoelstra has been preaching to this team. Chalmers had 5 Steals to go with 13 Points and 2 assists. He is a pain in the defensive end, Raja Bell and him almost got into a heated argument in the 3rd quarter after Bell stole the ball from him and Chalmers with his defensive swagger took it back. Many people ha said that Mario is inconsistent but I think that he has finally matured to the PG Miami needs, sure, he’s not the perfect PG yet but better then he was on the opening night.
Tough Night: Michael Beasley
The second overall pick in the NBA Draft, by far had the worst game of his young career. Zero points in 13 minutes of play. He did not start for the 1st time in his career, had only 2 steals, and 5 rebounds.. Beasley is learning that the NBA game is not the same game he played at Kansas State. Here in the pros Mike, the players deserve to be in it, in college not all players on the court deserve to be on it. I’m sure that Beasley is going to shake this game off and come back to the starting rotation tomorrow.
Lights Out performance: Leandro Barbosa
With Steve Nash not playing, Brazilian Leandro Barbosa took the reigns at the PG spot and did a superb job. 20 points, 2 steals, and 5 assists for the sixth man are pretty solid numbers. No wonder Barbosa got the sixth man of the year award two seasons ago. He was lights out tonight versus the HEAT and keep an eye on him getting only better.
Stat of the Night: Turnovers Mia-8 Phx-19
This proves that Erik Spoelstra’s defensive oriented team is soon to be seen every night. The run-and-gun Phoenix Suns of 2 years ago is no more. with 19 turnovers, that was by far the Suns worst offensive games this season. The HEAT is still among league leaders in Forced turnovers per game and keep and eye out for that to continue all season long.
Miami’s next opponent is the Los Angeles Clipper Tomorrow night at the Staples Center. Game Starts at 10:30
