What did rookie Michael Beasley learn on the Heat's five-game West Coast earlier this season?
"Get some rest," he deadpanned.
The wide-eyed 19-year-old added: "Sleep as much as you can. Those were the longest seven-eight days of my life."
Why does this matter? The Heat starts a seven-game road trip Wednesday in Denver and then faces the Sacramento Kings, LA Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Milwaukee Bucks, Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder.
There will be some practice time in between but nonetheless it will be a grueling 13-day stretch.
Fellow rookie Mario Chalmers believes it will be an important stretch and agreed with Beasley's assessment. Yes, Beasley and Chalmers now have 33 games of NBA experience, but some things are still novelties. Going on a trip this long falls in that category. Chalmers said he expects it not only to be physically tough but also mentally challenging.
The length of the trip is not lost on the veterans.
"We're going to be gone for a long time," forward Shawn Marion said.
The Heat will play back-to-back games twice on the trip and the importance of this stretch should not be understated. The Heat left for its longest road trip of the season with a 18-15 record. There is a big difference between returning above or around .500 and below as the team moves closer to the middle of the season. The Heat went 3-2 on its West Coast swing in late November/early December.
Realistically how do you think the Heat will fare on this trip? What do you expect to learn from the Heat?
two things really excite me about this road trip:
1. i live on the west coast (portland), so i will get to watch most of these games
2. i remember on the wade/butler/odom team, they went on a really long road trip around midseason. it gave that young team some time to really form an identity.
i love hearing that beaz is just trying to get some rest. that means for two weeks, this team is just gonna sleep, eat, and play basketball. there are some very winnable games on that schedule, and there are some good tough games on that schedule, and there is a lot of practice time in between. the team defense is already solid, and playing out west should get the heat offense going, cuz the teams score a ton of points out here.
so to answer the question "what do i want to learn from the heat?", i think i'd like to see if they can really come together and play as a team. it'll be a good chance to tell how much they really like each other, and how much they like playing with each other. i am also hoping marion will step up his game against the familiar teams i the west, and show us some all-star caliber play. cuz we haven't seen it so far.
"how do i think they will fare?" well, lakers are gonna be tough to beat at home. denver and houston are both good but beatable; hopefully we steal one of those. the wolves, thunder, and kings all suck. the bucks seem okay. i am expecting 4-3 or 3-4, and hoping for 5-2
Posted by: ebag | January 06, 2009 at 11:23 PM
I agree that they have the posibility to come back with a 5-2 win record this time. I believe that they can still the Denver game and possibly the Houston game, but doubt the Lakers are going to let them beat them twice in tw months, especially at home. I think the other four teams are beatable, but sometimes we tend to play with less urgency when we play below .500 teams. I believe that with 5 wins and 2 losses they will be at 23-17 and go home and see if we can get over 25 or 30 wins before the half way mark. that would almost gaurrantee a 50 win season and a decent seating for a play-off seat. Remember,the nets, Knicks, Bobcats, Bulls, 76ers, and maybe even Washington maybe able to make a run since they will get Gilbert back. It would be great to get a 6-1 record on this trip to send a message in this league saying that they are for real.
Posted by: phil | January 07, 2009 at 12:35 AM
I believe that with James Jones coming back soon, and Diawar playing so well this seven game road trip should be a real test to see if we need to trade Marion before the Feb deadline or not. I believe we should if James Jones comes back productiely, and if we are able to get a solid defensive REBOUNDING/SHOT BLOCKING/SCORING, SCORING CENTER a guy that can gve this team 10 points 10 rebounds and maybe 2BLK's per game would be great. The Lakers need a small forward and a PG, why not send Marion/Quinn/Blunt over to Lakers for Odom/Mihms. We would give them a third option at center with Blunt, a solid SF at Marion and a Solid PG that can shoot at Quinn. then we can re-sign Livingston, or go after Tinsley as a vet PG or even Marbury for one sason since his contract expires after this season, and he definetly is a solid score when wade is off, and he can come off the bench so that they don't mess-up the chemistry of the starting five and Chalmers excellent Development.
Posted by: phil | January 07, 2009 at 12:45 AM
This trip will prove to us just how useless Chris Quinn is to this team and how dumb it was to release Shaun Livingston
Posted by: paolo | January 07, 2009 at 06:14 AM
I'd imagine we could go 4-3. That would be a successful west Coast trip to me.
Posted by: Magic Marc | January 07, 2009 at 08:46 AM
The guy that said Chris Quinn is useless must have forgotten about Marcus Banks. Anyway, this will be fun to watch this team grow on the road.
Hopefully the Heat can showcase Marion and give other teams a reason to want him. He does not fit in Miami's system and should be traded soon before other teams realize how average he is.
The Heat should win 4 of these games and if lucky...5.
Posted by: sean o | January 07, 2009 at 09:05 AM
The Big 10.
If the Heat remain as complacenet, passive, self-satisfied as they were on Monday, an ofer 10 -- not just 7 -- is a distinct possibility.
The next 7 against DEN, SAC, LAL, MIN, MIL, HOU, OKC -- plus 3 big immediately following their return (BOS, ORL, ATL) -- could be the make or break that tickles Riley's trade trigger.
Musty musts? Never mind the limitations of Anthony & Magloire, Heat bigs *must* play bigger -- i.e., relentless defense, mucho screens, timely boards, tipaways & putbacks to help closeout games. Marion, Haslem & Beasley must, as usual, play above their heads (longer than their length) but *within* their limits -- don't force shots that have ZERO probability of completion or FTAs, especially on the road, but don't settle for jumpers either when you can drive & finish and always ALWAYS try to draw fouls when longer bigs reach over your back/head. While Rio, Cook, Quinn must *consistently* do their parts to make opponents pay for doubling-tripling Wade, pressure the ball and create chaos when opponents have the ball.
Less than 4-6 would be, in this opinion, a BIG step backwards (back2backs v. MIN, MIL won't be easy despite their records). 5-5 would be sweet. Anything more, gravy.
Posted by: heatstroked | January 07, 2009 at 11:22 AM
Posted by: sean o | January 07, 2009 at 09:05 AM
---
Agreed, except for the essential reality Marion is anything but average to Miami's defense. Unlike Haslem, whose up/down offense has become more important than his scowl or often late/missing rotations.
Posted by: heatstroked | January 07, 2009 at 11:27 AM
this team is on the right track except for deficiency in the middle post. watching them win against lakers and cavaliers and losing but with a chance to win against the magic,celtics, and the spurs i can see the future coming. i have no problem Wade taking the game into his hands especially in the 4th quarter but try to trust your 3pt shooter teammate to find there range early in the game.when they start putting numbers then the opposing defense will spread out and will give Wade several option going into the last quarter of the game.
Posted by: ed | January 07, 2009 at 12:44 PM
I belive this will be nice chemistry btw them but i pretty much sad for Shaun bcuz this was proyected as potential bck up PG so i just hope they do not mess with this release as they did last year with penny , leaving Lou jackson that practically was just a smoke courtin.
heat forever
Posted by: fellow | January 07, 2009 at 02:13 PM
hah, Beasley says some wise sstuff for a 19 y.o.
Posted by: dskz12 | January 08, 2009 at 10:22 AM
i think the answer might be more minutes for beazly.
everyone keeps saying we need another solid big man who can score points and rebound, but we've got one sitting on the bench right now!
listen, i agreed with the idea of sitting beaz until he learned the defensive schemes and earned his minutes. but he has been playing well, and we need him out there. i have been a spo supporter the whole way, but i think its time that he release the beaz
free beazy!
Posted by: ebag | January 08, 2009 at 03:12 PM