Dwyane Wade's near triple-double against the Nets, then his 6 point flu game, James White's scoring outbursts headline and summarize the month of March for the Heat. The Heat faced 4 teams, all below .500 mark and tried to finish the month with 18 wins. That didn't happen as Indiana and Minnesota surprised the Conference leading Heat within 7-days time. The overall 2-2 record this month doesn't give a good overview of the Heat this month.
Let's start with the play of Dwyane Wade. The month started with a match-up against the league's worst Hornets. Dwyane Wade was average and finished with 17 points on 7-9 shooting. Then, against the Nets, Wade erupted for 34 points, 13 assists and 9 rebounds on 14-20 shooting. But during warm-ups against Minnesota, Wade felt weak. He started for the Heat as usual, but wasn't himself. During halftime team doctors took Wade's temperature and it was off the scale.Wade continued on playing, but couldn't after 5 minutes in the third and was replaced with Dorell Wright. Wade finished with 6 points. Wade wrapped up the month with 15 points and 9 assists against the Pacers.
"I'm getting old. Next year this time I'll be 30. I'm not 24 anymore."The Heat signed James White after they traded Kyle Korver to the Pacers to a 5-year deal because White wanted a multi-year deal to prove himself. As he is only payed a little over 1M a year, it was an amazing find and you should admire Pat Riley's belief in White. White is averaging 13 points off the bench in 7 games so far. He is an excellent scorer off the bench and perhaps even an upgrade over Korver. It was basically like Korver was traded for White and Jeff Foster was just a bonus.
"I just want to prove myself to anyone who have doubted in me - coaches, GM's, fans and other players. I deserve to be in this league."-----------------
Western Conference Player of the Month : LaMarcus Aldridge | Portland Trail Blazers |
| 23.4 PPG | 8.4 RPG | 2.6 APG | 1.14 SPG | 2.86 BPG |
Eastern Conference Player of the Month : Rasheed Wallace | Detroit Pistons |
| 25.3 PPG | 8.5 RPG | 3.0 APG | 1.50 SPG | 1.83 BPG |
Western Conference Rookie of the Month : Albano Spagnoletti | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| 16.5 PPG | 8.3 RPG | 4.3 APG | 1.33 SPG | 1.17 BPG |
Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month : Carl Cruz | Washington Wizards |
| 20.7 PPG | 4.7 RPG | 6.0 APG | 2.33 SPG | 0.50 BPG |
LEGEND | L - League Leader | C - Conference Leader | D - Division Leader | P - Playoff Berth | x - Out of the Playoffs
(1) 1) (17-6) San Antonio L C D P
(2) 2) (16-7) Miami C D P
(3) 3) (18-9) Houston P
(5) 4) (16-8) Atlanta P
(9) 5) (15-10) Cleveland D
(4) 6) (13-9) Orlando
(10) 7) (14-10) Memphis
(16) 8) (16-12) Detroit P
(6) 9) (14-11) Chicago
(13) 10) (14-11) Toronto D
(11) 11) (15-12) LA Clippers D
(7) 12) (14-12) Denver D
(8) 13) (14-13) LA Lakers
(26) 14) (14-13) Portland
(23) 15) (13-13) Washington
(15) 16) (13-14) Charlotte
(17) 17) (13-14) Dallas
(19) 18) (13-14) Utah
(12) 19) (12-14) Philadelphia
(14) 20) (11-13) New Jersey
(20) 21) (12-15) Minnesota
(18) 22) (11-14) Boston
(24) 23) (11-14) Milwaukee
(21) 24) (11-14) Seattle
(27) 25) (11-14) Phoenix
(22) 26) (11-15) Sacramento
(25) 27) (10-14) Indiana
-------------------------------------
(28) 28) (7-17) Golden State x
(29) 29) (7-19) New York x
(30) 30) (5-20) New Orleans xPOINTS PER GAME : 1. (26.0) Yao Ming 2. (24.9) Jermaine O'Neal
3. (24.4) Lebron James
4. (24.3) Deron Williams
5. (23.8) Rasheed Wallace
// Rashard Lewis (22.0) //REBOUNDS PER GAME : 1. (13.2) Dwight Howard2. (12.3) Al Jefferson
3. (11.3) Emeka Okafor
- (11.3) Kevin Garnett
4. (10.7) Elton Brand
5. (10.6) Greg Oden
// Rashard Lewis (7.5) //ASSISTS PER GAME : 1. (8.6) Chris Paul2. (8.0) Jose Calderon
- (8.0) Baron Davis
3. (7.7) Steve Nash
4. (7.6) Jameer Nelson
5. (7.4) Tony Parker
// Dwyane Wade (6.1) //BLOCKS PER GAME : 1. (2.35) Dwight Howard 2. (2.25) Kevin Garnett
- (2.25) Amare Stoudemire
3. (2.24) Yao Ming
4. (2.22) Jermaine O'Neal
5. (2.19) Travis Outlaw
// Rashard Lewis (1.40) //STEALS PER GAME : 1. (2.30) Rajon Rondo2. (2.00) Vince Carter
3. (1.95) Dwyane Wade4. (1.92) Caron Butler
5. (1.88) Monta Ellis
- (1.88) Lenny Crabman
Rookie Rankings - January Edition* Rookie leader. Only 2 best performances from now on, in order of my hyper-clever EC rating. (Efficiency+Contribution)1. Karl Peebo | Sacramento Kings | EC RATING : + 3.631 | 18.7 PPG |
10.3 RPG | 4.0 APG | 1.31 SPG |
2.00 BPG |
March wasn't as good as February for Peebo, but he still ranks no 1 in the rankings. Double-doubles are still piling up, ranking in the Top 10 in the league. It has become a two-horse race, as the ROY award will likely go to an Estonian-born player.
VS HOU | L 89-102
38 minutes, 13 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers, 2 fouls, 6-19 FG, 0-2 3PT, 1-1 FT
VS PHO | L 86-121
28 minutes, 12 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 0 steals, 3 blocks, 2 turnovers, 1 foul, 5-9 FG, 1-1 3PT, 1-2 FT
2. Lenny Crabman | Memphis Grizzlies | EC RATING : + 3.380| 20.5 PPG | 5.0 RPG |
6.0 APG |
1.88 SPG | 0.42 BPG |
Crabman has the Grizzlies currently third in the West and is trying to lead the young Grizz to the teams first ever Finals appearance. When the season started, Crabman looked like a player who wasn't worth being the #1 pick with scorers like Sit and Spagnoletti behind him and a double-double machine co-native Peebo. Now though, all critics can watch Crabman in the Playoffs while none of the other three have led their respective teams to the Playoffs. Only Spagnoletti has a tiny chance.
VS LAL | W 98-94
39 minutes, 28 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 0 blocks, 3 turnovers, 2 fouls, 11-18 FG, 3-7 3PT, 3-4 FT
VS DAL | L 107-100
39 minutes, 14 points, 5 rebounds, 14 assists, 1 steal, 0 blocks, 0 turnovers, 3 fouls, 5-12 FG, 2-5 3PT, 2-2 FT
3. Albano Spagnoletti | Minnesota Timbervolwes | EC RATING : + 3.287| 18.5 PPG | 7.2 RPG | 4.5 APG| 1.38 SPG | 1.29 BPG |
Spagnoletti has been the only-one so far from the 2010 draft class to be able to beat the Heat. That's impressive. The wolves have 2 games left this season and can't finish with more then 14 wins, thus finishing with a losing record. It might even be good enough for a playoff-berth, but that is unlikely.
VS WAS| L 94-95
36 minutes, 20 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 0 blocks, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 6-11 FG, 3-5 3PT, 5-7 FT
VS UTA | L 90-94
37 minutes, 26 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 0 turnovers, 2 fouls, 10-22 FG, 4-9 3PT, 2-2 FT
4. William Sit | New York Knicks | EC RATING : + 3.121|
21.8 PPG | 3.3 RPG | 4.0 APG | 1.73 SPG | 0.38 BPG |
Carl Cruz beat Sit twice this month. First, in a long-anticipated match-up Cruz walked away with the win and after that, Cruz also took the ROTM honors. Sit made his opinion of the Knicks quite clear after the game and is demanding a change in New York. Who knows, Donnie Walsh is capable of changing this franchise, which has ran off course.
VS WAS| L 82-91
42 minutes, 30 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 0 blocks, 4 turnovers, 4 fouls, 14-31 FG, 1-9 3PT, 1-1 FT
VS DET | L 93-94
41 minutes, 29 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 0 blocks, 3 turnovers, 1 foul, 12-24 FG, 5-10 3PT, 0-0 FT
5. Carl Cruz | Washington Wizards | EC RATING : + 3.082| 18.4 PPG | 4.5 RPG | 5.8 APG | 1.58 SPG | 0.54 BPG |
Cruz might have been the best rookie this month, but he's still 0.039 EC points behind his arch-nemesis Sit. Thanks to Cruz, the Wizards are now 13-13 and is good enough for the 8th spot in the East. If they manage to hold on to the 8th seed, they could face the Miami Heat, who currently are leading the East. (16-7).
VS GSW | W 105-84
34 minutes, 31 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 0 turnovers, 3 fouls, 12-18 FG, 3-3 3PT, 4-6 FT
VS NYK | W 91-82
38 minutes, 20 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 0 blocks, 1 turnover, 5 fouls, 8-18 FG, 1-5 3PT, 3-3 FT
6. Oskar Tikka | Seattle Supersonics | EC RATING : + 2.670| 15.0 PPG | 6.9 RPG | 2.4 APG | 1.48 SPG | 0.92 BPG |
VS LAC | L 93-102
39 minutes, 22 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 0 blocks, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 9-15 FG, 1-1 3PT, 3-4 FT
VS HOU | W 115-82
37 minutes, 17 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 4 turnovers, 2 fouls, 7-10 FG, 1-1 3PT, 2-3 FT
7. Zoilo Resurreccion | Milwaukee Bucks | EC RATING : + 2.368 | 14.9 PPG | 3.5 RPG | 3.6 APG | 1.32 SPG | 0.36 BPG |
8. J.J Madden | Toronto Raptors | EC RATING : + 0.777| 3.8 PPG | 1.3 RPG | 1.8 APG | 0.74 SPG | 0.13 BPG |
VS NOH | W 102-95
14 minutes, 0 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 0-2 FG, 0-0 3PT, 0-0 FT
9. Karlis Jansons | Los Angeles Clippers | EC RATING : + 0.735 | 4.7 PPG | 0.6 RPG | 1.6 APG | 0.41 SPG | 0.04 BPG |
VS BOS | W 100-99
12 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 0 turnovers, 2 fouls, 1-3 FG, 0-2 3PT, 0-0 FT
VS ATL | L 102-106
14 minutes, 4 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 2 steals, 0 blocks, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 1-4 FG, 1-3 3PT, 1-1 FT
10. Manfred Nissley | Golden State Warriors | EC RATING : + 0.286| 1.2 PPG | 1.0 RPG | 0.3 APG | 0.18 SPG | 0.18 BPG |
VS BOS | W 95-83
5 minutes, 2 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 0 turnovers, 1 foul, 1-1 FG, 0-0 3PT, 0-0 FT