NBA Game of the Week

As a regular blogging possibility, I thought I'd take up a Game of the Week.  I'll set the scene for the match (probably a Saturday or Sunday game), offer notes and/or observations on the gameplay and final stats, give a wrap-up of what went down.  I'd like to see as many teams as possible, although there are/will be teams I don't particularly care to watch, I'll probably get in all 30 at least once.

Bucks (4-5) at Heat (5-4)
While most pundits had the Heat comfortably making the playoffs in the East, just how the Heat would remake themselves post-Lebron was what we'd been waiting to see.  After 9 games it feels like we've seen it: adding Deng and McRoberts to a core of crafty veterans (Chalmers, Andersen, Cole, Haslem), moving the focus of the offense over to Bosh, picking up good rookie minutes from Shabazz and Ennis to go with whatever they can get out of D Wade is how they they plan to restore the production that took its talents back to Lake Erie.  Bosh is playing like an MVP and the rest of the team is doing what it needs to do, probably all comes down to Wade's back and just how far Bosh can go.  It's a long season but they look to be in the hunt for a home playoff series.

The Bucks only won 15 games last year though the roster looked to have enough veteran grit to at least outplay the Sixers and pick up a few W's.  Oh well, they picked up Jabari Parker for their troubles.  Rookie Jabari to go with another year of Giannis and the youth movement is looking pretty good.  Add in Larry Sanders back from injury and that is a formidable front court, especially in the East.  That said, the Bucks could vastly improve this year and still never even sniff a playoff spot.  So far they're hanging, won 5 of their first 9 games, will they hang around .500 all year (which would surely get them into the playoffs)?  I doubt it but we'll see.  Giannis and Jabari are legit, the sooner they figure out how good they are, the sooner they get to getting good.  Can they test the savvy Heat on their homefloor?

I'll take the Heat to handle their business.

1st: Heat 23-19
2nd: Heat 23-19

Heat are without Wade and McRoberts tonight, testing their depth against the upstart Bucks.  Bosh is so impressive, takes over when he wants, can get anywhere on the floor, can score from all over and still be a serious shot blocker at the other end.  I'm impressed with Ennis and Shabazz, both really know how to handle themselves out there, play within themselves and the team concept.  With Wade taking games off (you know he will), the rooks should probably get plenty of playing time.  What's gonna happen to Mario Chalmers?  He's a solid veteran PG by now but it just doesn't feel like he fits the Heat somehow.  The Heat up by 8 at the half,

Bucks are fun to watch, man, just a bunch of dudes running around crazy out there!  Love to watch Giannis attack the rack, his sense of the game continues to mature, his body control is Durant-like.  Jabari looks really confident, good to see, reminds me of a happy smiley Paul Pierce.  There was a great Reddit piece last week about Brandon Knight: a guy broke down every possession and measured Knight's highs and lows.  Basically it was an equal amount of amazing highs and head-scratching lows.  I'm seeing it here tonight: one play he's Jamal Crawford getting shots and setting people up, next minute he looks like Tim Conway on basketball.  His upside is still strong but his downside can be scary.  On the other hand the Wolters-Mayo-Bayless back court was not inspiring confidence.

3rd: Bucks 26-13
4th: Bucks 27-25

Where'd the Heat go?  Bosh really flailed after halftime.  All of a sudden the Heat could not penetrate the Bucks D.  Gotta say: that Sanders-Jabari-Giannis-Bayless-Knight defensive unit is pretty good, a lotta long arms and quick feet out there.  Were the Heat missing Wade's scoring or McRoberts' nifty passing?  Missing both couldn't have been good.  The Bucks limited their turnovers and were able to grind out possessions better than the Heat could.  In the final minutes, Knight nailed three straight 3's (the last one with Bosh in his grill!), kept the Heat from clawing back into it.  Good win for the Bucks, these young kids hang on every moment of goodness.  Now they find themselves 6th in East, gives them something to hold on to.

Disappointing loss for the Heat.  Probably figured a Sunday night game at home against the upstart Bucks was in the bag.  But without the Wade and McRoberts, the lack of depth was exposed.  Now they find themselves tied for 6th with the Bucks, between the Hawks and the Nets.  I fully expect the Heat to win more games than they lose, I'm not quite ready to say that about the Bucks.  The Heat have the proper stars, supporting cast and coach, but they also have 'senior moments' and don't feature a great deal of depth.  The Bucks have exciting youth, which almost never wins in the NBA, but the guard play is going to be spotty all year and they've got a lot of changes to go through, basically a team of trade bait.

Bucks 81-74 Heat

Any insights in the stats?  For the Bucks, Kendall Marshall failed to get off the bench, John Henson only played 3 minutes, Jared Dudley only played 10, Ersan Ilyasova played 12.  Nagging injuries, coach's doghouse, matchup concerns or do these guys represent the first up on the trade block?  Personally I'd keep Henson, think his game is really underrated, but Marshall is too inconsistent, Dudley a bit past his prime and Ilyasova is superfluous if Middleton is gonna get the forward minutes...Do the Bucks want Brandon Knight back next year?....Giannis was only 3-7 from the FT line, hate to see a young player lock in bad habits.

For the Heat: 39 mins for Bosh, 37 for Deng, 35 for Chalmers, only 7 for Haslem (how much are they paying him?  How many years on that deal?)....Not sure that relying on big minutes from Williams or Cole is gonna work out for the Heat in the long run....Bosh really had trouble against that young front court, 2-17 from the floor, couldn't hit the 3 or consistently get to the FT line.  Deng was only 3-11 from the floor....Without Wade to take up some defensive pressure and McRoberts to whip the ball around, those old legs for Miami are gonna have trouble against tough young rosters like the Bucks.  The Heat will get better throughout the season, there's still time to tinker.