Tag: Miami Heat

We’re Going Streaking!!!!

~ Dave Ettinger ~ Leave a comment

History is being made right before our eyes.  The Chicago Blackhawks and the Miami Heat continue to extend their impressive winning streaks.  The Blackhawks have now earned at least one point in 24 straight games.  During this streak they have now won 11 games in a row.  Not all of their games have been easy, but they keep finding a way to win night in and night out.  Last night the Blackhawks scored 2 goals in the 3rd period to earn a come from behind victory; 3-2.  The game winning goal came from Daniel Carcillo with just under 50 seconds left in the game.  The Blackhawks will continue to keep their points and winning streak alive on Friday night when they visit the Colorado Avalanche.  The Blackhawks should be able to win that game easily, as the Avalanche have one of the worst records in the league.

Another streak that continued Wednesday night was the Miami Heat’s winning streak.  A win against the Orlando Magic brought their streak to 16 games.  The Heat continue to pile up wins and are an amazing 27-3 at home this season, but they should be a little concerned that they nearly blew another big lead against a sub-par team.  They were up by 15 at halftime, and by the time they were heading to the 4th quarter they were only up by 3 points.  They did the same thing against the Sacremento Kings, blowing an 8 point lead with only 1:12 left in regulation.  It was also nice to see Lebron finally hit a game winning shot for the Miami Heat.  It was his first with the Heat, and by my recollection his second of his career (it’s about time buddy).  For his sake, hopefully he can add clutch to his resume in the near future.  As of now that’s just about the only thing missing from his resume.  The Miami Heat will look to keep their winning streak alive Friday night at 8:00 P.M. against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Both of these streaks are extremely impressive.  How far do you think each streak will go?  Which streak do you think is more impressive?  Leave me your feedback in the comment section below.  I look forward to hearing your reactions.

If you enjoy my writing, follow me over to intheneutralzone.com where I am a contributing author there as well.  Also you can follow me on twitter @DaveEttinger2 or like me on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/DaveTalksSports.  Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!

What is This Pillow Fight and Where Did the NBA Go??

~ Dave Ettinger ~ 2 Comments

If you haven’t seen it already, the Miami Heat and the Minnesota Timberwolves got into a little scuffle Monday night.  J.J. Barea and Ray Allen started getting physical early on in the 4th quarter.  Ray Allen had the ball and gave Barea a little incidental elbow out on the perimeter.  Then, as Allen drove toward the basket, J.J. Barea gave Allen a little bump that knocked him to the floor.  Allen hopped up immediately enraged over the foul.  Both teams quickly met face to face where the incident took place, but all players involved were separated without it escalating any further.  As a result of the play, J.J. Barea was given a Flagrant-2 foul and was ejected from the game.  You need to see the play with your own two eyes to understand just how ridiculous the flagrant foul and subsequent ejection was.  If you want to check out a video of the play then click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUtYCXPW9fM  First of all, J.J. Barea is about 5’8″ and 160 pounds soaking wet (I don’t want to hear anything about the 6’0″ and 175 pounds that he’s listed at).  On a little side-note, I saw Barea play live in a college game once back in ’04-’05.  He played at Northeastern, and they were visiting my school; Umass.  When the game was over I walked past him as he was on his way to the locker room, and trust me he is not 6’0″ tall (I was towering over him and I’m only 5’11”).  Same goes with Allen Iverson, I stood next to him at a Knicks game once and was eye to eye with him.  I digress.  The fact of the matter is that J.J. Barea couldn’t toss Ray Allen and get a deserving Flagrant-2 foul if his life depended on it.  Ray Allen should have gotten up, dusted himself off, and walked to the free throw line like a man.  That would have been the end of it, and at most he could have whispered something to Barea next time they found themselves next to each other on the free throw line (something like, “try that again, and I’ll step on you little guy”).  Instead he got all flustered and created something out of nothing.  And that is the problem I have with today’s NBA.  Today’s NBA is soft.  Back in the day guys got knocked down way harder than that little bump Barea gave Allen.  Just ask Michael Jordan how hard the Pistons used to hit him in the ’80’s and ’90’s.  NBA players used to be as scared to drive to the basket as a wide receiver is coming across the middle of the field.  Unfortunately, that type of NBA has come and gone.  I understand that in this era everyone is more involved in player safety, and I’m okay with that.  I don’t want players getting injured unnecessarily, but we need to stop babying these players.  Flagrant fouls should be reserved for clearly intentional fouls that endanger the safety of a player.  You can’t watch that Flagrant Foul from Monday night and tell me that Ray Allen’s body was ever in danger.  That’s all I’m saying!  If you have something to say about the issue of flagrant fouls in the NBA, please leave me a comment or question.  Thank you.

If you enjoy my writing, follow me over to intheneutralzone.com where I am a contributing author there as well.  Also you can follow me on twitter @DaveEttinger2 or like me on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/DaveTalksSports.  Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!

If you want to see what a real flagrant foul looks like then check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dabt_Kb2UmQ