Yes! My Bulls did it! They ended the Heat's 27-game win streak. I haven't been able to talk about it yet, so this blog comes a week late, but I hope you are still interested in reading. There's a lot to be covered from this game. How did the Bulls do it? How do I feel about the way LeBron handled the loss? What does this mean for teams playing the Heat going forward? All coming up and more in this blog!
Ever since the beginning of February, the Heat have been on this remarkable run, and LeBron has been playing at an MVP level. Before the streak, I thought Kevin Durant had a good shot at winning MVP. I thought it was pretty tight between him and LeBron. But then the Heat went on this tear, and LeBron is without a doubt this season's MVP. But it isn't just about LeBron, this streak was about the Miami Heat. Guys like Shane Battier and Mario Chalmers were stepping up and getting it done. The Heat have so many great three-point shooters. LeBron and Wade can drive in and dunk, and then when an opposing defense focuses on shutting them down in the paint, the Heat can kick outside to their snipers. They have the most explosive offense in the league. There were a lot of questions about the team because they are last in the league in rebounding, but this streak may have answered all of them. The Heat hadn't lost in weeks so they entertained their fans with pre-game dunks, and they even made their own Harlem Shake video.
I have been very upfront about expressing my distaste for the Heat, as they are the Bulls' biggest rival and they are the villains of the league. A lot of people hate the Yankees because of how much money they spend on players, well the Heat are the same way. Even though there is a salary cap in the NBA, the Heat are paying three guys $100 million each over the course of their contracts. I honestly thought that the Heat were going to do at least tie the record if they could get past the San Antonio Spurs. I didn't have a lot of hope for the Bulls entering the game.
Ever since the Heat formed the big three in the summer of 2010, I have been saying that the way teams can beat them is with diversity, defense and physicality. I thought a good model to follow would be the 2004 Detroit Pistons, that wasn't the most talented team, but they shut teams down defensively and played physical with them. They beat a Lakers team in the finals that had Shaq, Kobe, Gary Payton and Karl Malone. Even when LeBron was in Cleveland I was calling for teams to play physical on him. Look back on the "Jordan Rules" and see how the Pistons in the 80's and early 90's defended Jordan. That's old school basketball. Playing tough and getting in guy's heads. I've been disappointed with the way the league has been in recent years, shying away from that.
Many players follow LeBron around in the league today. Derrick Rose has always opposed him and hasn't followed him around. In fact, Rose appears to hate LeBron. One year when he was in the All-Star game, Rose complained about how he was annoyed with LeBron's pregame dancing. LeBron has been known for his clowning around and having fun. Back when he was with the Cavs, he famously pretended to take pictures of his team when they did the pregame introductions. LeBron likes to have fun while he plays. If anything, you would think the pregame celebrations before an All-Star game would be the time to screw around and have fun, which is why Dwight Howard loves playing in the All-Star game so much. Why would Rose complain about the celebrations? We don't know, but I believe it was the first time that we've actually heard a fellow superstar speak out against something LeBron does. And that gave me hope for not only the Bulls, but the league today.
Maybe because so many players follow LeBron around is why we don't see that kind of physicality against him. But the fact of the matter is, this current Bulls team hasn't shown any love for LeBron or Wade ever since the summer of 2010. Even before that summer, we used to see Noah and James shouting at each other and getting in to it. So I knew that if there was one team that was going to stick it to the Heat, it was the Bulls. A couple months ago when the teams last played, I thought the Bulls had a good chance of winning, but they got blown out of the gym and played poorly. And that was with Noah healthy. I didn't think we would see the Bulls beat the red hot Heat without Rose and without Noah. But I was wrong.
As I stated before, this season LeBron and the Heat have elevated their game to a whole new level, and during this streak I kept saying to people, teams are only going to have a shot if they play them physically. Finally someone did just that. The Bulls gave LeBron something he wasn't used to. Coach Tom Thibodeau executed a nearly flawless game plan and the Bulls beat the Heat and ended their streak. LeBron was fouled hard on a few plays, but no flagrants were called. After one of the hard fouls, LeBron threw an elbow at Carlos Boozer on the other end, and was assessed a flagrant foul. Throughout James' ten years in the NBA, I don't think I have ever seen him that wound up and frustrated in a game. The Bulls got in his head.
LeBron is a freight train. The dude's a 6'8 locomotive that can guard point guards, and block shots with his seven foot and a quarter of an inch wingspan. He's extremely talented, but he can use that size to his advantage. On offense he can barrel into people like a linebacker, and fouls won't come his way. In fact, he had a stretch earlier this season where he wasn't called for any fouls from December 8 until Christmas Day. How does that happen? He plays physical, but hardly anyone will play physical against him.
In order for teams to contend with the Heat, they need to play them the way the Bulls did last week. That's the model for playing the Heat. Don't give them anything. LeBron's going to try to barrel you over, so take him down with you like what Kirk Hinrich did. Rough him up. The league needs this back.
So now that the Heat's streak has been broken, what did LeBron do and say after the game? LeBron has presented himself over the past year and a half or so as a friendly guy. He doesn't want to be the villain of the league. He's stated that. He wants to be liked and many players will say that he's one of the nicest guys in the league. You see it in the Samsung commercials, where he's shown as a family man and friendly town hero. You see him going in to the barbershop and hanging out with common folk. And I'm not doubting he is like that, or anything. I'm not questioning his character. I've never met him so I'm going to attack him like that. But what I am saying is, because of all of this, it came as somewhat of a shock to me as how he handled things after the game.
The second the game ended, LeBron led his team right off the court, refusing to shake hands or talk to the Bulls. This was classless. This brought back memories of the 1991 Pistons getting swept by the Bulls in the Easter Conference Finals, and walking off the court early with 7.9 seconds left. The Pistons walk right by the Bulls and refuse to shake their hands or congratulate them. They won't even make eye-contact with them. After years of the Bulls not being able to get past the Pistons, the Bulls finally passed them. And the Pistons wouldn't congratulate them.
Just like the Pistons in that 1991 playoff series, the Heat finally got beat. After 27 straight games of other teams congratulating them on winning and what they've accomplished, they refuse to shake hands with the team that is able to beat them. Jeff Van Gundy said it was a good thing for the game. Yet, he was also the one complaining about how the Bulls were playing physical. He said that this is the way the game should be played. Look, I'm all about seeing old-school rivalries and teams that hate each other. That's a good thing for the game. But poor sportsmanship isn't. LeBron and Wade try to be role models, and then they behave that way? What is that teaching kids and young people nowadays? I just thought that from all the advertising, all the commercials they're in, they were above that. But I guess I was wrong. After all, LeBron refused to shake hands with the Orlando Magic after losing to them in the playoffs in 2009. I thought LeBron was maturing, but this was a despicable act. Dwyane Wade talked about his love, respect and admiration he has for his home city of Chicago before the game and then he acts the same way. And yet, SportsCenter and other sports talk shows on ESPN didn't show or even talk about this. Hmmmm.
One might make the argument that because it was such a physical game, the Heat didn't need to shake hands with the Bulls. But even in hockey, the roughest major sport in the world, a sport that allows fighting, guys still shake hands with the other team. You don't have to like someone to shake their hand and congratulate them. It's about respect. I was disgusted by this.
But that wasn't all LeBron did after the game. I was curious as to what he was going to say. Would he explain why he didn't shake hands with the other team? What would he say about the streak? LeBron didn't give the Bulls any credit. Instead he complained about the officiating. Seriously, the very guy that gets the most calls in the NBA wants more? C'mon. At least give the team some credit or take responsibility. Don't blame the game on the refs.
I thought the way LeBron should have gone with this question was the way one of the best leaders in college sports history answered it. Yes, I am talking about Tim Tebow. The 2008 Florida Gators were in a situation similar to this current Miami Heat team. The Gators entered the season with one of the most talented teams, and with high hopes and expectations. Their goal was to have a perfect season, which was something that Florida had never accomplished. After a disappointing loss to Ole Miss, Tebow broke down at the post game press conference. He cried. He was clearly hurt and heartbroken over the loss. He apologized to Gator nation, and gave his pledge to the fans and team for what to expect for the rest of the year. He talked about how a lot of good will come from the situation. He displayed his passion for the game and for the team. He talked about how hard he was going to push the team, how hard they were going to play, how hard they were going to work. Watch the video for that here. I think LeBron should have said something along these lines. I'm not questioning his passion or anything like that, but I think he handled this wrongly.
As for the Bulls side of things, they showed how well they are coached. Tom Thibodeau is one of the best coaches in the association. He has the Bulls on the right track. Next year, with a healthy Derrick Rose, the Bulls will be a huge threat to the Heat. I'm not going to get into what I think about when Rose should return, I am saving that for another blog. I've been saying for quite a while that in order for Boozer to be effective, he needs to stay in the painted area and not drift out for fade-away jump shots. Kirk Hinrich played well and looked like a true leader, hustler, and competitor. If given the chance, I think the Bulls could play the Heat competitively in the playoffs. I don't think they'll win a seven game series, but the point is they exposed them. In Iron Man 2, villain Ivan Vanko is trying to expose Tony Stark/Iron Man. He says, "If you can make God bleed, no one will believe in him anymore." And that's what the Bulls did, they made the Heat bleed. They exposed them. I don't think the Bulls can beat them in a seven game series, but they exposed the Heat to a team that can.
So this concludes my super-long takeaway from a game that happened over a week ago. But I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you to everyone for reading! As always, let me hear your thoughts on my Facebook fan page, comment below, or hit me up on Twitter @vellvita7.
Many players follow LeBron around in the league today. Derrick Rose has always opposed him and hasn't followed him around. In fact, Rose appears to hate LeBron. One year when he was in the All-Star game, Rose complained about how he was annoyed with LeBron's pregame dancing. LeBron has been known for his clowning around and having fun. Back when he was with the Cavs, he famously pretended to take pictures of his team when they did the pregame introductions. LeBron likes to have fun while he plays. If anything, you would think the pregame celebrations before an All-Star game would be the time to screw around and have fun, which is why Dwight Howard loves playing in the All-Star game so much. Why would Rose complain about the celebrations? We don't know, but I believe it was the first time that we've actually heard a fellow superstar speak out against something LeBron does. And that gave me hope for not only the Bulls, but the league today.
Maybe because so many players follow LeBron around is why we don't see that kind of physicality against him. But the fact of the matter is, this current Bulls team hasn't shown any love for LeBron or Wade ever since the summer of 2010. Even before that summer, we used to see Noah and James shouting at each other and getting in to it. So I knew that if there was one team that was going to stick it to the Heat, it was the Bulls. A couple months ago when the teams last played, I thought the Bulls had a good chance of winning, but they got blown out of the gym and played poorly. And that was with Noah healthy. I didn't think we would see the Bulls beat the red hot Heat without Rose and without Noah. But I was wrong.
As I stated before, this season LeBron and the Heat have elevated their game to a whole new level, and during this streak I kept saying to people, teams are only going to have a shot if they play them physically. Finally someone did just that. The Bulls gave LeBron something he wasn't used to. Coach Tom Thibodeau executed a nearly flawless game plan and the Bulls beat the Heat and ended their streak. LeBron was fouled hard on a few plays, but no flagrants were called. After one of the hard fouls, LeBron threw an elbow at Carlos Boozer on the other end, and was assessed a flagrant foul. Throughout James' ten years in the NBA, I don't think I have ever seen him that wound up and frustrated in a game. The Bulls got in his head.
LeBron is a freight train. The dude's a 6'8 locomotive that can guard point guards, and block shots with his seven foot and a quarter of an inch wingspan. He's extremely talented, but he can use that size to his advantage. On offense he can barrel into people like a linebacker, and fouls won't come his way. In fact, he had a stretch earlier this season where he wasn't called for any fouls from December 8 until Christmas Day. How does that happen? He plays physical, but hardly anyone will play physical against him.
In order for teams to contend with the Heat, they need to play them the way the Bulls did last week. That's the model for playing the Heat. Don't give them anything. LeBron's going to try to barrel you over, so take him down with you like what Kirk Hinrich did. Rough him up. The league needs this back.
So now that the Heat's streak has been broken, what did LeBron do and say after the game? LeBron has presented himself over the past year and a half or so as a friendly guy. He doesn't want to be the villain of the league. He's stated that. He wants to be liked and many players will say that he's one of the nicest guys in the league. You see it in the Samsung commercials, where he's shown as a family man and friendly town hero. You see him going in to the barbershop and hanging out with common folk. And I'm not doubting he is like that, or anything. I'm not questioning his character. I've never met him so I'm going to attack him like that. But what I am saying is, because of all of this, it came as somewhat of a shock to me as how he handled things after the game.
The second the game ended, LeBron led his team right off the court, refusing to shake hands or talk to the Bulls. This was classless. This brought back memories of the 1991 Pistons getting swept by the Bulls in the Easter Conference Finals, and walking off the court early with 7.9 seconds left. The Pistons walk right by the Bulls and refuse to shake their hands or congratulate them. They won't even make eye-contact with them. After years of the Bulls not being able to get past the Pistons, the Bulls finally passed them. And the Pistons wouldn't congratulate them.
Just like the Pistons in that 1991 playoff series, the Heat finally got beat. After 27 straight games of other teams congratulating them on winning and what they've accomplished, they refuse to shake hands with the team that is able to beat them. Jeff Van Gundy said it was a good thing for the game. Yet, he was also the one complaining about how the Bulls were playing physical. He said that this is the way the game should be played. Look, I'm all about seeing old-school rivalries and teams that hate each other. That's a good thing for the game. But poor sportsmanship isn't. LeBron and Wade try to be role models, and then they behave that way? What is that teaching kids and young people nowadays? I just thought that from all the advertising, all the commercials they're in, they were above that. But I guess I was wrong. After all, LeBron refused to shake hands with the Orlando Magic after losing to them in the playoffs in 2009. I thought LeBron was maturing, but this was a despicable act. Dwyane Wade talked about his love, respect and admiration he has for his home city of Chicago before the game and then he acts the same way. And yet, SportsCenter and other sports talk shows on ESPN didn't show or even talk about this. Hmmmm.
One might make the argument that because it was such a physical game, the Heat didn't need to shake hands with the Bulls. But even in hockey, the roughest major sport in the world, a sport that allows fighting, guys still shake hands with the other team. You don't have to like someone to shake their hand and congratulate them. It's about respect. I was disgusted by this.
But that wasn't all LeBron did after the game. I was curious as to what he was going to say. Would he explain why he didn't shake hands with the other team? What would he say about the streak? LeBron didn't give the Bulls any credit. Instead he complained about the officiating. Seriously, the very guy that gets the most calls in the NBA wants more? C'mon. At least give the team some credit or take responsibility. Don't blame the game on the refs.
I thought the way LeBron should have gone with this question was the way one of the best leaders in college sports history answered it. Yes, I am talking about Tim Tebow. The 2008 Florida Gators were in a situation similar to this current Miami Heat team. The Gators entered the season with one of the most talented teams, and with high hopes and expectations. Their goal was to have a perfect season, which was something that Florida had never accomplished. After a disappointing loss to Ole Miss, Tebow broke down at the post game press conference. He cried. He was clearly hurt and heartbroken over the loss. He apologized to Gator nation, and gave his pledge to the fans and team for what to expect for the rest of the year. He talked about how a lot of good will come from the situation. He displayed his passion for the game and for the team. He talked about how hard he was going to push the team, how hard they were going to play, how hard they were going to work. Watch the video for that here. I think LeBron should have said something along these lines. I'm not questioning his passion or anything like that, but I think he handled this wrongly.
As for the Bulls side of things, they showed how well they are coached. Tom Thibodeau is one of the best coaches in the association. He has the Bulls on the right track. Next year, with a healthy Derrick Rose, the Bulls will be a huge threat to the Heat. I'm not going to get into what I think about when Rose should return, I am saving that for another blog. I've been saying for quite a while that in order for Boozer to be effective, he needs to stay in the painted area and not drift out for fade-away jump shots. Kirk Hinrich played well and looked like a true leader, hustler, and competitor. If given the chance, I think the Bulls could play the Heat competitively in the playoffs. I don't think they'll win a seven game series, but the point is they exposed them. In Iron Man 2, villain Ivan Vanko is trying to expose Tony Stark/Iron Man. He says, "If you can make God bleed, no one will believe in him anymore." And that's what the Bulls did, they made the Heat bleed. They exposed them. I don't think the Bulls can beat them in a seven game series, but they exposed the Heat to a team that can.
So this concludes my super-long takeaway from a game that happened over a week ago. But I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you to everyone for reading! As always, let me hear your thoughts on my Facebook fan page, comment below, or hit me up on Twitter @vellvita7.
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