Jermaine O’Neal Traded to Miami Heat
February 13, 2009
by Mark Brown… Toronto, disappointed by the O’Neal experiment so far, decided to deal the big man due to concerns about team chemistry.
Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani seemed to play better when O’Neal was injured, as O’Neal needed room in the low post to operate and crowded the paint. Bosh could not properly play, nor could Bargnani.
By adding Marion, Toronto has a much more athletic front line than in the past and will have a great deal of financial flexibility this summer, when Marion’s $17 million contract goes of the books. Marion’s agent has stated that Marion would not mind re-signing to play in Toronto after his contract expires.
Marion may switch back to the power forward position, where he enjoyed a great deal of success in Phoenix. In Miami, however, he was much less effective as a small forward. Hopefully the trade will allow Marion to get back to his old self.
Banks may get some playing time as a backup to Jose Calderon, but is pretty much just a filler.
The Miami Heat needed a proper center they could throw the ball to down low. More importantly, they needed a defensive presence that could block shots and rebound. With Michael Beasley and Udonis Haslem already at the forward spot, Marion’s presence did not allow for other players to get the time they needed.
Now, Beasley can start at the small forward position, Haslem at the power forward, and O’Neal at center.
Miami, too, will get financial wiggle room in the summer of 2010.
O’Neal’s $20 million contract expires, and the Heat may get a chance to add another superstar to add alongside Dwyane Wade. Jamario Moon adds depth and athleticism at the small forward spot, and will be a fairly good perimeter defender.
The deal does take Miami out of the Amare Stoudemire sweepstakes.
The Heat and Chicago Bulls were the two teams making a strong run for him. With Miami now backing down, it will be interesting to see if Chicago will be able to nab Stoudemire.
Both the Toronto Raptors and Miami Heat may have significantly improved their teams through this trade.
There is a chance in each scenario that the situation may backfire, but the deal could easily boost either team back among the Eastern Conference’s elite, to perhaps snatch the fourth seed in the playoffs.
College Basketball Top 25 Weekend Preview: Rivalry Week Continues
February 13, 2009
No. 25 Florida State at No. 8 Wake Forest, 4 PM ET Saturday on ESPN360
The Seminoles are red hot. The Demon Deacons are not. Florida State had struggled against ranked opponents until it knocked off Clemson. Wake Forest is undefeated in ACC play against ranked teams, but just 2-4 against unranked teams.
It’s a game of opposites as FSU will play defense, defense, and more defense while Wake Forest will try to get out and run.
FSU coach Leonard Hamilton’s team continues to win ballgames in a very tough ACC despite only having one consistent scorer. In fact, Toney Douglas is Florida State’s only player who is averaging double figures.
Wake Forest is just the opposite. Three players—Jeff Teague, James Johnson, and Al-Farouq Aminu—are all dropping at least 13 points per game.
The one thing these two teams truly share in common is the ability to force opponents into bad shots. Wake Forest ranks sixth in the nation in defensive field goal percentage while Florida State is 13th. For FSU, which just barely scores more than a point per possession, putting points on the board is going to be very difficult.
If Wake Forest can stay out of foul trouble, something it struggled to do against unranked ACC teams, the Demon Deacons should hold serve and win on their home court.
My pick: Wake Forest 73, Florida State 65
Georgetown at No. 22 Syracuse, Noon ET Saturday on ESPN
The Big East’s best rivalry is lacking a little bit of pizazz as the two bitter foes have lost a combined 12 of 15 games. But rivalry games always provide both teams will a chance to get back on track and that could certainly prove to be true once again in the Carrier Dome.
The ‘Cuse will try to Orange-out the Dome with 30,000-plus waving Syracuse’s version of the Terrible Towel to give the Orange a strong home-court advantage. It’s an advantage that led to two blowouts in the Carrier Dome of Hoya teams that were clearly better the past two seasons.
Syracuse’s key will be stopping Greg Monroe, who has the rare ability as a freshman to shred the ‘Cuse’s 2-3 zone, not with his scoring ability, but rather his passing ability. If the Orange collapses on Monroe like it did against Jeff Adrien against UConn, SU will force Georgetown into bad shots and turnovers.
For John Thompson III’s team, strong field goal defense will be necessary to come away with a victory. It seems like Syracuse always commits its 15 turnovers each game, but it’s the games the ‘Cuse shoots poorly in that the ‘Cuse loses.
The combination of the Orange’s home-court advantage and overall team strength will lead to an SU victory.
My pick: Syracuse 78, Georgetown 76
Southern California at No. 18 Arizona State, 10 p.m. ET Sunday
The Trojans are in a similar position to UCLA in that both Los Angeles teams are looking to avoid being swept in the state of Arizona.
USC lost a close game Thursday to Arizona and finds itself teetering on the bubble entering Sunday’s contest against the Sun Devils. Southern Cal doesn’t have much of a non-conference résumé so a win over a ranked Arizona State team will help make up for the lack of quality wins before the New Year.
USC coach Tim Floyd’s star recruit—DeMar DeRozan—is starting to figure things out in conference play after looking pretty mediocre in the non-conference slate. The super freshman will need to match Arizona State’s stud sophomore slasher James Harden, who led the Sun Devils to a sweep over preseason conference favorite UCLA.
Harden is likely a top-three pick in the NBA draft and hasn’t really been stopped in Pac-10 play except…against USC. The Sun Devil guard didn’t record a single field goal in the two teams’ first game early in Pac-10 play. That poor performance led to a convincing 61-49 victory for the Trojans.
If DeRozan can repeat his 22-point performance and solid defense on Harden, USC can sneak its way off the bubble and into the NCAA Tournament. But Harden learned his lesson in the first game and will lead ASU coach Herb Sendak’s team to another solid conference win.
My pick: Arizona State 67, USC 62
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