ADDED: F LeBron James (six years, $107 million); F Chris Bosh (six years, $107 million); F Mike Miller (five years, $25 million); C Zydrunas Ilgauskas (two years, $2.8 million); F Juwan Howard (one year, $1.35 million).
LOST: F Dorell Wright (signed with Golden State).
RETAINED: G Dwyane Wade (six years, $110 million); C Udonis Haslem (five years, $20 million); G/F James Jones (one year, $1.1 million); C Joel Anthony (five years, $18 million); G Carlos Arroyo (one year)

Now that we have those two players who else are we going to get to fill out roster?

Ready for the Heat to put a beatdown on the Hawks tonight.

It was ajoy to see the 76ers win a close against the Magic tonight as the Magic is a tougher opponent for us if we were to meet them in later rounds.

Joel Anthony has been moved to the starting lineup. I like the decision.

Al Thornton for the Clippers, reminds me a lot of the way Lamar Odom played while in Miami. He can do it all on both ends and caused many a problem for us that night. A very dangerous utility player.

We have Golden State tomorrow to contend with which should go our way if we play like we have against these better teams.

Dwayne Wade once again made his presence felt by scoring 17 points ( Kobe and Chris Bosh both had 18 to lead Team USA) over 20 minutes on the floor. He also had 5 helpers and really locked down on defense, grabbing 6 steals. (You know somewhere Erik Spoelstra is counting his lucky stars that Dwayne Wade looks like he’s in championship MVP form once again.)  

The big story of this game is Chris Bosh, who went 7-8 from the field, had 5 boards and 2 blocks to compliment his 18 points over his 21 minutes spent on the court. Although team USA dominated the scoreboard, the 3 point shooting was yet again very shaky, the team going 7-20 overall.

Team USA will now face Spain, the most talented opponent USA will have to face in these Olympics. They shut down Germany 72-59, holding Dirk to only 11 points. Pau Gasol had 13. Although Spain is amidst controversy during these olympics, it looks like they have used it to fuel their hunger for gold, and it also looks like it will be time for redemption for the redeem team.

Next Game : USA vs. Spain    10:15 am ET        8/16/08
Quote: “We played like we wanted to win. We played together,” U.S. guard Dwyane Wade said. “We were very aware of their offensive sets, we were very aware of their personnel and we played like that. So we were kind of a step in front of what they wanted to do because we kind of knew everything already.”            – ESPN

Spoelstra? Opinions?

What about Chalmers?

What about the rest of the team and will they gel?

How do they match up right now with the rest of the division?

There were alot of cuts to the basket across the board. Maybe the coaching staff read something here last year?

Source

I feel so good for everyone on the team. All the vets, all the unsung heroes, and for our young star who clearly deserves everything he got.

Dwayne Wade is the MVP for the 2006 finals and the decision was not even close. The absolute clear and obvious winner.

Tonight may have been The Heat’s best team basketball, not seen since the Detroit series and regular season.

Udonis had his best game of the series. Since game 3 Haslem’s defense has been great on Dirk. Tonight it was steady as well, except he was able to knock down his famous jumper and collect a double double by being tenacious on the glass. He was really great in that department for us.

Another spark was Alonzo Mourning’s play. This guy, and I’ve been saying it all season, has given us, the fans, everything he has. Zo may have had his best season this year. His limited minutes have almost always been chock full of stats and have helped this team over many a hump.

The Heat were down as much as 14 when Zo, The Minister of Defense, as Eric Reid likes to often put it, stepped onto the court. Miami could do nothing right. No defense, no ball control, and Dallas was dropping points in the paint like it was going out of style. I immediately call my brother saying Zo has to come in. I don’t care if Shaq deserves his minutes, I don’t want to lose this game because of policy. We need defense, rebounds, and paint protection and Alonzo Mourning delivered big time.

Zo comes in and immediately blocks shots, rebounds, and makes two dunks. The guy got 8 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Zo brought us back from being down 11 points to being up 1 at the half. The Mavericks never really took it to the hoop and settled for jump shots for the rest of the game.

I can’t say how happy I am for Zo. Not just for what he went through with his transplant, but I’ve been watching Zo play for The Heat since he got here from Charlotte. Heck, I’ve been watching him since Charlotte. Don’t forget Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson were teammates in NBA Jam. They were always my team in that game.

I’m happy for the players who have chased rings and have gotten close like, Gary Payton, Shanden Andersen, Derek Andersen, and Antoine Walker.

So congratulations Heat. I watched every regular game this season and you guys made it worth it.