Matchup of the Year: The New York Knicks at the Miami Heat

       Which NBA team is currently in first place of the Eastern Conference? No, not the New York Knicks or the Chicago Bulls. Actually, the Miami Heat are leading their conference with their 26-7 record. Ever heard of them? They're the only team with three All-Stars and were the runners-up in last year's NBA Finals. No one ever thought that the Heat would be under the radar, but Jeremy Lin's rise to stardom out of nowhere has turned the national spotlight to the Big Apple. The Knicks have won nine of their eleven games with Lin as a starter and the microscope has intensified with Carmelo Anthony's return to the lineup. With the media's attention turned away from LeBron James and the Heat, Miami has quietly won nine of their ten games since Linsanity took over the country.

Courtesy of http://reddogreport.com/2012/02/thursdays-news-81/jeremy-lin-knicks-kings-2-15-12/

       The Eastern Conference matchup is a statement game for both teams. The Miami Heat have the chance to give the Knicks their third loss in the Jeremy Lin Era and prove that they deserve the hype as the league's premier team. For the Knicks, tonight's game is their biggest game of the season and Jeremy Lin's greatest test as an NBA starter. New York needs to figure out its chemistry between Lin, Melo, and Amar'e Stoudemire.  
       The first quarter was evenly-played but the Miami Heat were always a basket ahead of the Knicks. Miami showed why it is a legitimate title contender-not just because of its offense, but because of its lockdown defense. The Heat forced eight turnovers, three of which were on Lin, including a Mario Chalmers strip in the open court, which he took for an uncontested dunk. Between LeBron, Joel Anthony, and Shane Battier, the Heat blocked five shots. New York outrebounded the Heat thirteen to five but shot poorly after grabbing the offensive boards. Miami had lots of fast break opportunities but missed a handful of easy layups. The Knicks took three charges from the Heat, in a quarter in which Miami committed seven total. The Knicks gradually cut the deficit to four by the end of the quarter after rotating bench players Steve Novak, who hit a big three, and Baron Davis.
       New York came out strong in the second quarter with a 12-4 run, including two more threes from Novak. Amar'e Stoudemire and Chris Bosh came out hot in the new quarter. Bosh hit a pair of baseline jumpers for the Heat while Amar'e had a monstrous block on D-Wade, followed up by a statement dunk after blowing past his defender. Lin committed his fourth turnover of the game when he was pickpocketed by Heat rookie Norris Cole. Miami got some big minutes from its key bench players. Cole gave Mario Chalmers a needed rest as well as Haslem and Battier played great defense in their limited minutes. The pace of the game increased as the game progressed and both teams stepped up their game on defense. Lin committed two more dunks that led to dunks by LeBron James and Dwayne Wade. Miami's transition offense was at its best and contributed to the Heat retaking the lead. The Heat went into halftime leading 51-47 after both teams hit big shots in the final ten seconds of the half.
       A few things stuck out to me in the first half:

• This is the first game where Jeremy Lin isn't bigger than the game itself. Tonight's matchup is a playoff environment against the Knicks' biggest Eastern Conference foe on the road. Lin has played against the Lakers and Mavericks but New York has to make it past Miami if the Knicks want to make a run to the NBA Finals. He has never faced a team with as much starpower as the Heat. Miami has made it its goal to shut Lin and the Knicks down. He is tightly pressured every time down the court and committed six turnovers in the first half with only two points and two assists.
• The Knicks were lucky to be down by only four points at halftime. New York turned the ball over fifteen times in the first half and Lin and Melo were a combined 4-15 from the floor. The Knicks can't survive a playoff series if they commit this many turnovers and their scorers go cold shooting.
• Both teams have bench players with defined roles that are crucial to their respective team's success. The Heat have a solid backup point guard in Norris Cole, a good shooter in Mike Miller, and two extremely hard workers who hustle up and down the court in Udonis Haslem and Shane Battier. On New York's bench, J.R. Smith provides another scoring option and Steve Novak is an incredible spot-up three-point shooter.

       In the third quarter, Melo started to heat up with six points to bring his game total to fifteen, but the Knicks were countered by Chris Bosh and D-Wade, who has nine and eight points respectively. Jeremy Lin continued his worst performance of the season by only scoring four points and dishing out one assist in the quarter. He had some success driving to the basket and drawing the foul, but only two of his eight points through three quarters were not from the free throw line. He was not getting good looks at the basket and was not setting up his teammates in positions for them to score. Shane Battier scored a quick three after coming into the game and the Heat shut down the Knicks offense as their lead grew to twelve points.    

Courtesy of http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/heat/for-miami-heats-dwyane-wade-and-lebron-james-1166040.html

       It's the end of the third quarter and Miami Heat are up 80-66. It's 9 o'clock and probably a good time to open my backpack to start tonight's homework. The Knicks could could go on a run in the fourth quarter but New York and Jeremy Lin haven't shown me that they can win a quarter on the road against the Heat. The outcome may have been different had the game been played at Madison Square Garden, but it is clear that Miami is a much better team. The Heat have too many great scoring options between LeBron, D-Wade, and Chris Bosh, not to mention the solid production off the bench from Shane Battier and Mario Chalmers. Their transition offense and defense are unrivaled. With the possible exception of the Oklahoma City Thunder, there is not a team as athletic as the Miami Heat. Currently, the Heat are the number one seed in the Eastern Conference and the New York Knicks are the seven seed. If these two teams were to play in te playoffs, Miami would win in four games in a five game series and five games in a seven game series. If the Knicks continue to improve their record and earn a higher seed, I think they have the capability to win one playoff series, but I can't see them beating Chicago or Miami in the postseason.

What If Wednesday: What if LeBron Does Not Win a Championship in His Career? Will He Still Be One of the Greatest Players Ever?

       This is the first article for a new series called "What If Wednesdays," where I create hypothetical scenarios and examine the results of them. I do not necessarily think that these events are going to happen or should happen, but it is always fun to make conjectures.

       Never before in the history of professional sports has a single player's offseason and free agency been as widely publicized and scrutinized as that of LeBron James prior to the 2010-2011 NBA season. LeBron showed all other athletes who will be in similar situations in the future why it is a bad idea to change teams and leave your previous team in the dark until the last minute. The goal of this article is not to rip on LeBron, so before anyone wants to jump on Cleveland's Anti-LeBron Bandwagon, keep in mind that the worst decision he made in his professional career resulted in him donating thousands of dollars to the Boys and Girls Club. LeBron James had every right to find a new team--he spent seven years in his home state of Ohio, completely revitalized the city of Cleveland, and even took the Cavs to the NBA Finals. LeBron was the Cleveland Cavaliers and the front office never put the proper pieces around him for them to win a title. There were a few nice players such as Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Anderson Varejao, and Mo Williams, but they lacked someone who could take over the game if LeBron was having an off night. When the Cavs won, all credit was given to LeBron. And when they lost, especially in the playoffs, most of the blame fell on James' shoulders. The Miami Heat gave LeBron to play with two close friends and NBA All-Stars on a nightly basis. LeBron James lived in northern Ohio for the first twenty-five years of his life and as the best basketball player in the world, he had the opportunity to go to any major city in the United States. All loyalties and allegiance aside, which city would you choose? Florida, seventy degree weather, sunshine, lots of different forms of entertainment or Cleveland, a city destined to never win a major championship in sports, and it's fifteen degrees with six inches of snow on the ground. Miami wins that battle every time. Plus, having Pat Riley in the front office never hurts either.

Courtesy of http://chasing23.com/revisiting-the-decision-lebron-james/

       After "The Decision" was over and LeBron had been criticized nationally, his jersey burned in Cleveland, and the Heat filled up the rest of the team's roster spots, the new Big Three (LeBron, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh) put a target the size of Texas on their backs by declaring that they were going to win eight championships, after they rose out of center court in a cloud of smoke. Of course they got caught up in the moment and were trying to get the fans in Miami excited for the star-studded roster, but winning that many championships is quite a bold prediction for someone who played in one in his previous seven years in the league.        
       Let me make it clear--I think LeBron James will win multiple NBA Titles in his career, with the first of which coming this season. The Heat have developed a good chemistry and he is arguable having the greatest season of all time with his averages of 27 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals per game for a 26-7 team. However, let's say LeBron continues to choke late in important playoff games, he suffers a major injury, or the Big Three's chemistry goes down the drain. The Miami Heat as we know it today split up and LeBron lands with a new team.

Courtesy of http://www.nowpublic.com/sports/lebron-james-miami-heat-introduction

       Even if LeBron James never wins a ring, he is guaranteed to be a Hall of Famer. However, there is an honor, that is in name only, which is even greater than the H.o.F. and that is the small, exclusive room within the Hall for the best of the best. Michael Jordan is there. So is Bill Russell. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Karl Malone, Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, and Elgin Baylor are there. Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal will be there once he retires. A common theme in this elite group is rings, and often multiple of them. Karl Malone never won a title but he is also second all time on the NBA's scoring list.
       LeBron James will go down in history as one of the greatest players of all time even if he does not win an NBA Championship. He consistently averages a near triple-double. Through eight and a half seasons in the NBA, James has scored over 18,000 points and is on pace to finish in the top ten, if not the top five of all time. The change in the Cleveland Cavaliers' record from 2009-2010 to 2010-2011 should speak enough to the impact LeBron James has as a player. 61-21 to 19-63. That's a forty-two game difference because one player left. I think LeBron will overcome his fourth quarter struggles at some point in his career which should get rid of the bad taste in some people's mouths after they say his name. While true success and historical recognition largely depend on the number of rings a player has, LeBron James is a superhuman athlete who can turn any team in the league into a 55+ game winner and legitimate contender. Plus, when you consider the rest of his recognitions-2 MVP's, R.O.Y., 8-time All-Star, NBA Scoring Champion, 5-time All-NBA First-Team, 3-time All-NBA Defensive Team-he seems a lock to join the Jordans, Russells, and Chamberlains of the Hall of Fame. If LeBron still has three or four or five more years in his prime and another seven or eight years in the league, he is going to retire with numbers that few people could match.