FanHouse MIami Heat

We all know that Antoine Walker once was a Celtic. And the real headz can think back to that brief memorable period of Gary Payton: The Green Months. Yet despite their different experiences with that proud franchise, they agree on one thing: Greg Oden cannot save this team

Gary Dzen at the Globe's Celtics Blog has their candid words:

"All [Oden's] going to do is bring fans in here," the Miami Heat point guard said in the locker room before tonight's game. "That's it. That's all they want. We aren't talking about no playoffs here. They're not going to the playoffs. If they're sold out that's good. They want to make their money."

"If they get Oden they still ain't going to do [crap], period" said Antoine Walker, sitting just a few feet away.

What I can't tell is whether they're dissing Oden, dissing the Celtics, or disdaining both. They go on to speak on the Celts' youthful personnel, the need for vets, and the pain of Paul Pierce, so the topic is clearly the Celtics franchise. However, discounting the power of a super-center in the threadbare East is strange ... unless you don't believe in said super-center. Actually, maybe all this proves is that NBA players don't buy into the same hype and assumptions that fuel fan, media, and management culture.

I wonder what they would have said about Durant.

Stop me if this sounds familiar...

Shaq has us fooled. From the mouth of the Big Obfuscator himself: "Once you learn how to do something, you don't lose it...unless you die." Thirty-two points and a respectable nine rebounds, another dominant game, and the entire world of media looking like chumps. The Heat also beat the T-Wolves 105-91, and KG had 23 and 11, but you could've guessed that part. Soon, monster performances from Shaq will be that regular, too.

Houston begins. T-Mac, 34 points. Yao, back to form with 24 and 12. Yao commanding the paint and drawing attention, McGrady freelancing and hitting jumpers. This is why the Rockets are hot, and why they topped the Nets 112-91. Who supposedly still have a shot at the playoffs. As long as Bostjan Nachbar goes for 29, they just might. They just might.

Trouble in Fireland? Note: the Suns are 9-1 since the break, and they did break the fabled century mark in this 104-103 victory over Chris Paul and company. Some are grousing about the 10-point lead Phoenix squandered. But people, did you ever think that maybe this is the Hornets finally, um, showing their stingers? Granted, the Suns haven't exactly been poetry in motion lately, but NOOCH might also end the season strong.

Josh Smith WHAT! When Memphis and Atlanta collide, best believe sparks will fly. In a 106-105 barnburner that was the best case scenario for two terrible, up-tempo teams playing, we learned something. At least in this diminished setting, Josh Smith is for real. The "raw, athletic" Smith notched 20 points, 9 rebounds, and a go-ahead three with 11 seconds left. Mike Miller had 29 for the Grizz. If there were an award call "Pretty Good to Very Good Player of the Year," he would get it in a heartbeat.

I have no idea why the Heat organization didn't throw an all-out, Wade-like news conference for this baby, but the South Florida Sun-Sentinel is reporting that three-point specialist Jason Kapono "is out indefinitely" with an ankle injury he incurred from landing on James Posey's foot last night:

Coach Pat Riley said Tuesday there was no timetable on Kapono's return but that the player suffered a "pretty bad sprain" and would be out "for a while." X-rays were negative on Monday but Riley said Kapono was scheduled to receive an MRI later Tuesday after the ankle swelled overnight.

"I think they are going to do an MRI tonight and see if there is something else, then put it in a hard cast and immobilize it," Riley said. "So he's going to be out for a while."

This is another tough break for the Heat as they Gwen Stefani it up for their late-game playoff run. Not only is Wade out rehabilitating his shoulder and watching commercials, but with Shaq Daddy back rocking the inside like he belongs on The List, you can only imagine how many wide-open looks he was bound to set-up for the league's most accurate three-point gunner.

Riley says Antoine Walker, James Posey or Dorell Wright will take over Kapono's starting small forward spot. Hopefully for Heat fans, Riley didn't list those in order.

Update: The MRI on Kapono's left ankle revealed a high ankle sprain and a bone contusion. Kapono will have a cast placed on the ankle tomorrow night, which he will wear for 10 days, and will then be re-evaluated.

You're right, "ridiculizer" is not a word. But neither is "ridiculization," and Shaq managed to use it in a sentence. Fortunately for him, he's one of a handful of people in the world who can get away with such a thing. Shaq was talking about his visit to the White House when he said this:

"When it comes to ridiculization, if you can't walk in a man's shoes, you shouldn't ridicule him," O'Neal says. "When I was sitting in the blue room and seeing all the (stuff) the president has to go through, people bringing him letters and a million people walking around, I couldn't do that job."

Fair enough. And by the way, you remember when Shaq gave that ball to the president, and the ball didn't bounce? That was Shaq's doing. He messed with the President's ball.

"You don't want the president bouncing the ball and hitting him in the face and we'll be all on TV," O'Neal says. "I don't want nothing happening to the president on my watch."

I love the idea that Shaq, while he's in the White House, assumes he's responsible for the well-being of the President. He's not just there as part of a ceremony, he's also the president's care-taker and right-hand man. And he took those responsibilities seriously enough to let air out of the basketball. For the President's protection. For everyone's protection.

I think we all owe Shaq a debt of gratitude for looking out for our well-being.

Watching Shaquille O'Neal last night against the Pistons was a little bit scary. Given his age, his role as the secondary scorer in Miami, and the fact that he plays about eleven games a year, you can forget what he's capable of. Last night, he was capable of making Bill Walton delight with glee, Chris Webber cower in fear, and the Miami Heat win.

He had almost the entire arsenal back. He had the spin moves working, he had the (sort of) jump hook working, he definitely had the push-off working ... the Pistons frontcourt was powerless.

Granted, Detroit never tried that rare maneuver called the "double team," and they never tried Rasheed Wallace (who generally defense Shaq pretty well), because he sat out while resting an injury ... but Dale Davis (who started, for some reason), Antonio McDyess, Jason Maxiell (6 whole minutes with Rasheed on the bench) Chris Webber and Nazr Mohammed all got their doses of vintage Shaq.

I'm not entirely sure what it means. Either Miami knows now that they can count on the Diesel to still bring it ... or the Diesel's having to empty his tank too soon to carry the team in Dwyane Wade's absence. Shaq can play like this. Shaq cannot play like this over an extended period.

This is good for the Heat right now, but I don't know if it's good for the Heat in April.

I'd read reports, here in the FanHouse and elsewhere, about the Heat's appearance at the White House. Finally, here's video. A couple of random points ...

• That's the nicest thing I've ever heard anyone say about Antoine Walker.

• Pat Riley can insist all he wants that he didn't interject politics into the proceedings, but he absolutely did.

• The President needs to be more selective about where he tries to dribble.

• Dwyane Wade still looks immeasurably cool with his arm in a sling. That guy could wear a white fake nose and glasses with a pair of Manute Bol's boxer shorts and still be the coolest guy in the room.

• I'm guessing that Jason Williams is the first man ever to set foot in the white house with "W-H-I-T E-B-O-Y" tattooed across his knuckles.

Is it cruel? Perhaps. But it's also inevitable for a guy who's made a career of throwing himself onto the ground and playing almost the entire game with a grimace to show the refs just how much it hurts.

My only wish is that the guy who made this video doctored the "Coming 11.3.05" to "Coming 11.3.07" to reflect the increasing likelihood that he's done for the season.

(via TrueHoop)

A quick look back at Thursday night in The Association ...

Worst. Game Seven. Ever. On a night that Dallas unveiled their Nowitzki MVP campaign, the German One didn't disappoint. Nowitzki had 31 points and 11 rebounds as the Mavericks spanked the Dwyane Wade-less Heat 112-100 for their 10th straight victory. (Quick question: Is it just me, or are Dirk's 30-10 nights becoming eerily automatic?) The Mavs have now won 31 of 33 and became just the fourth team in NBA history to have three winning streaks of at least 10 games. (See: '70-71 Bucks, '80-81 76ers and the '99-2000 Lakers.) Shaquille O'Neal had 17 points and eight rebounds, which -- news flash here -- isn't going to cut it, Big Diesel!

Suddenly It's Just As Much Fun To Talk About Mr. Fifty. Washington tried its best to blow a 17-point lead to Sacramento, but by the power of replay, held on to win, 109-106. With less than a second left, Kings' guard John Salmons nailed a game-tying three, but after video review officials ruled he hadn't got it off in time. Gilbert Arenas had an Agent Zero-like night (43 points, seven boards and seven assists) and my new favorite Wiz/action hero, 'Mr. Fifty' Deshawn Stevenson, backed up his moniker with 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting.

Who Needs Pau Gasol? The monster that is Ben Wallace, scored 14 points, grabbed 19 rebounds, had a season-high seven -- say it again -- seven blocks and even managed to sink two free-throws to lead Chicago to an 84-78 win over Cleveland. Yes, fear the 'fro is back, folks! (Too soon?)

Kind of cute... in a homely sort of way: The Basketball Jones daily podcast

So, about that Heat resurgence ...

It might be on hold for a little while, as they lost their MVP last night. Dwyane Wade dislocated his shoulder against the Rockets and left the game in agonizing pain (worse even than being left out of Charles Barkley's five). The man looked like he was crying.

The extent of the injury isn't yet known. From what I can gather from searching around various websites (a technique all the great doctors use), the shoulder is usually required to be immobilized for a few weeks, and after that, it takes some rehab to restore the range of motion. All I know is that judging from Wade's reaction, and Wade's a tough guy ... a dislocated shoulder looks like an extremely painful thing.

It happened on an innocuous little play. Wade was reaching for the ball near the foul line as Shane Battier was trying to reach for the ball as Shane Battier tired to get rid of it. It was the kind of thing that could happen to any guy on any play.

So, as Pat Riley suggested earlier, it's time for Shaq to get out of "ease back into it" mode. It's time for Shaq to get into "carry the damn team on his back" mode. Whether or not Shaq still has that in his arsenal is up for debate.

Miami currently clings to the 8th and final playoff spot in the East, with a two-game edge over New Jersey and a three game edge over the Knicks.

Somehow lost in the midst of Monta Ellis' ups, Michael Cooper's bricks and Penn's chainsaw not malfunctioning and accidentally slicing Tony Parker in two, was this potentially fierce All-Star Weekend moment via the Dallas-Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade didn't greet one another as the Western and Eastern Conference starters met at Thomas & Mack Center midcourt circle just before the opening tip.

Each bumped fists and man-hugged with just about every starter out there. Somehow, Nowitzki and Wade missed sharing pleasantries.

In case you've forgotten the drama, less than two weeks ago, Wade criticized Nowitzki's leadership skills, saying, "The reason they [the Mavs] lost the championship is because he [Nowitzki] wasn't the leader that he's supposed to be in the closing moments."

This, of course, led Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to openly blast Wade on everything from being a referee's pet to leading his teammates to the buffet table to questioning his Marquette business classes . . . on his blog. With typos.

And while both superstars have attempted to downplay the noise, saying things like, "it's nothing personal," and "there's really nothing to talk about," the fact of the matter is, it is and boy, is there ever. Their Shaq-and-Kobe-like fist-dis just goes to prove it.

Miami visits Dallas this Thursday. Thank you, NBA schedule-makers.