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We've have a great run. But now it's time to say goodbye.

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Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Justin Bieber... One More Ring Than Lebron and Bosh


Let's be honest... Justin Bieber is way hotter right now than Lebron James and the Miami Heat. As if last night's garbage, schoolyard performance by the "Miami Thrice" wasn't enough to reaffirm that then maybe this will.

That is the sight of Biebs rocking Phil Jackson's championship ring. This means that the battle for the center of the universe between Lebron and Justin Bieber has now been settled by way of TKO. Would Phil Jackson let just any court-side celebrity wear his ring? Maybe Jack Nicholson, but now that Bieber has a ring this gives him one more ring than Lebron and Bosh combined.

Ring aside, after last night's loss to the Celtics, may we all finally take a step back and realize that the Miami Heat might not be the 70-win team they were promised to be. They will have to work their way into being the championship caliber of team that was predicted to just happen magically in the off-season. Let's take a closer look at what happened last night.

Rajon Rondo finished the game last night with seventeen assists. That's two more than the entire Heat team combined. The Celt's defense also held the Heat to only thirty points at the half, last season's low was thirty-three. Yet, Lebron came alive in the third quarter after putting up a disappointing ten points in the first half. When Lebron turns on, there is usually no doubt that his team will come out victorious, but this was clearly not the case here. The Heat offense is not supposed to be built around James' jumper, but that was the result of the lack of rhythm and synergy displayed by the team against Boston. Numerous times the Heat had the momentum moving down the court, but they would slow up and try to structure some offensive scheme when they should have driven the ball to the basket utilizing their speed and strength. Bosh was timid and awful, and D-Wade was slow (as expected due to his recent injury). Needless to say, the Heat need a spark.

Last night proved that Lebron's new team isn't going to work like it did in Cleveland. His 30+ isn't going to be enough to bring W's to Miami. When Bosh puts up eight and Wade only thirteen, the Heat are going to have to seek help from their "anything but deep" bench, and we all saw how that ended up for them last night. Make no mistake, the Heat will win a lot of games, they just don't know how yet.

The Lakers on the other hand played a Houston team that has historically figured out and beat up the Lakers triangle. When it seemed like the Rockets had done it yet again as the Lakers were down eleven at the half, it was time for the Los Angeles bench to step up, and step up they did. Shannon Brown and Steve Blake were a huge factor in the Lakeshow's 112-110 victory over the Rockets. Brown went 4-5 from downtown and Blake similarly went 3-5. Blake's three-pointer with 18-seconds left to go up two was the hammer in momentum change and also the two points that would hold on to win for the Lakers. With five players in double digits, including two off the bench in Shannon Brown and Steve Blake, this just goes to show the depth that is the Los Angeles Lakers.

A couple things that I noticed the Lakers will need to continue work on is Lamar Odom's early foul trouble. It was all too familiar to have nine minutes left in the first quarter and see Odom with two personals. While he did finish with fourteen and looked strong otherwise, it is necessary to get him minutes on the court and it will be hard to do that when fighting foul trouble. Also, Ron Artest's jumpshot... He went 3-15 from the field and was only 2-6 from three-point land. That many missed opportunities gives opponents that many more opportunities for possession of the ball. Ron Ron needs to capitalize on better looks at the basket and not force the deep ball. Phil Jackson is going to need to tame the wild man and tame that dang jump shot.

Not too often do we see a team early season that has the ability to fight back from a double digit deficit at the half, but this is of course the back to back championship Los Angeles Lakers. It was a great start (at home) on the "road to the three peat". Lakers- first place in the West. Heat- last place in the East. Justin Bieber- One. Lebron- None.

Marty O'Connor
NBA-FrontPage Los Angeles


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