Thursday Throwback Posterization: Shaq Crushes The Dream

It's already Thursday again Dank Gamers, so you know what that means... Throwback Posterization time! This week's throw down is courtesy of Shaq Diesel, as he absolutely destroys Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon. Because Scott Skiles was still with Orlando in this video, this is either from Shaq's first or second year in the NBA. Just a year or two later these two teams would meet in the Finals, with the Rockets sweeping Orlando for their second title in a row.

The Magic run a great play here to get Shaq the dunk. Scott Skiles cuts to the basket and gets a nice a bounce pass from Jeff Turner. Because Skiles beats his man Scott Brooks on the cut, Hakeem is forced to help on defense. Skiles notices that Olajuwon left Shaq open and immediately dishes it to him. Brooks makes a half-assed attempt to steal the ball from Shaq, and Olajuwon does his best to contest Shaq's dunk, but the Diesel is just too powerful. It's a great posterization by Shaq, who hangs on the rim with one hand to rub it in.

One thing worth noting is that both point guards in this video are candidates for this season's Coach of the Year Award. Both Scott Skiles and Scott Brooks have led young teams to unexpectedly successful seasons, with the Milwaukee Bucks and Oklahoma City Thunder, respectively.

Turn the Heat around

Get the title? It's a play on that Gloria Estefan song, "Turn the Beat Around." I know, it's terrible. But that's mostly what we do here at Dank Game: make terrible titles for posts that are marginally less terrible. If I got that song stuck in your head, my bad.

Now, onto the Heat, turning it around.

The Heat had lost five straight coming into last night's game against the injury ridden Rockets (Trevor Ariza and Kyle Lowry both out), and they came out and took care of business at home by embarrassing Houston 99-66. The Heat played some of their best team basketball of the season, with six players in double figures and 27 assists on 41 field goals. Wade only posted 17 points and the Heat still won by 33. Usually this season Wade has to be nearing 30 for the Heat to even be close to getting a win. Even Daequan Cook got involved, scoring 10 points. Maybe Erik Spoelstra just wanted to remind everyone that he's still in the league before he defends his Three-Point Shooting crown during All-Star Weekend.

The first half was all Miami, with the Heat up 56 to 31. With Quentin Richardson picking up two quick fouls trying to guard the bulkier Carl Landry in the post, Dorell Wright came into the game and helped sparked the Heat to its big lead. Wright was aggressive in driving to the hoop and finding the open man. He closed the half with seven assists, but didn't get anymore in the second half. Udonis Haslem was also a big part of the Heat pulling away early, as he drilled 18-foot jump shots over and over again. He was 7 of 8 from the field to start the game.

The Rockets came out in the second half hitting multiple three-pointers which got the lead down into the teens, but the Heat pushed it back into the twenties by the end of the third quarter. From there on out, the Rockets seemed to accept the loss as they just went through the motions.

Typically, the Heat have trouble matching up with other team's height, but with the Rockets missing Yao Ming for the season, they're one of few teams Miami actually has a height advantage against. The Heat used this advantage, as Joel Anthony blocked 5 shots and JO blocked 2. I think this weakness will keep Houston out of the playoffs, as they have 6'9" Luis Scola and the big bodied 6'6" Chuck Hayes taking turns at center. 6-footer Aaron Brooks, who's a high volume scorer, couldn't seem to get to the hoop all night without meeting one of Miami's big men. He struggled to get anything going, finishing the game with only one assist and 3-16 shooting for 10 points. This attempted fast-break more or less summed up the game for Brooks:

I love me some two-handed blocks.

Another thing worth noting is that the Heat had plenty of fast break points against Houston. According to TeamRankings.com, the Heat rank second to last in the league in fast break points, averaging only 9.6 a game. I wish the Heat would get out and run more off of turnovers and defensive stops, as it makes for more exciting basketball as well as easier buckets, like this one from last night:



It was a great rebound game for the Heat, yet it can't be overstated. With the way things have gone this season, I expect them to get blown out or lose at the last second tonight in Atlanta. A win against the Hawks tonight would be huge, as the Heat would go into the All-Star break just a game below .500. Plus, if Chicago loses to Orlando and Charlotte loses to Minnesota, the Heat could find themselves with the sixth seed in the East. Although Chicago losing to Orlando is highly probable, I wouldn't put money on the latter.

Slim's NBA Opening Night Observations

Celtics 95, Cavaliers 89

After seeing the newest versions of the Cavs and Celts, I can't envision Cleveland going all the way this year. I know it's only one game, but I just don't think they can win a seven game series against the Celtics or Magic. The Cavs frontcourt is just too unreliable. Shaq had his moments early tonight, but he just can't seem to produce over extended periods of time. Give credit to Boston's Kendrick Perkins for keeping Shaq out of the paint and forcing him into difficult shots. As for the rest of the Cavs' frontcourt, I think Zydrunas Ilgauskas is actually a dinosaur at this point and despite a few buckets early on tonight, Varejao is an offensive liability. Sure, Ilgauskus will knock down shots and Varejao will make hustle plays, but Big Z's due to retire which would leave them with nothing but Varejao, Leon Powe (who's productive but undersized), and JJ Hickson, assuming Shaq's a one-year rental. They're going to need something more in the frontcourt if they want LeBron to stick around, even though I'm sure he will.

Cleveland's bench is also a concern, which was downright outclassed by Boston's bench. Boobie Gibson has been a pretty big disappointment after seeming like a promising player during the Cavs' run to the Finals in '07. As a Heat fan, I was sad to see Jamario Moon leave for the Cavs this offseason, but he looked pretty bad tonight despite finishing a nice oop from LeBron at one point. Rasheed Wallace seems to be a great sixth man for Boston and Marquis Daniels fits in well as a versatile guard off the bench. Shelden Williams, on the other hand, looks like he'll struggle to escape being branded a draft bust. I don't expect to see much of him once Big Baby gets back from his thumb surgery, which is a pretty hilarious story, by the way. It involves Big Baby shirtless with a bloody nose. Need I say more?

Lakers 99, Clippers 92

My excitement for this game was deflated upon hearing Blake Griffin would be out for six weeks and rightly so. The Clippers looked pretty horrendous, putting up bad shots and turning the ball over 20 times. Despite dishing 8 assits, Baron Davis shot just 1-10 from the field. Second year guard Eric Gordon was impressive though, posting a team high 21 points.

As for the Lakers, Kobe was Kobe, Bynum was impressive, Odom showed up, and Artest seems like he's still feeling things out. I don't have much else to say about this game other than I want more Shannon Brown.

Trailblazers 96, Rockets 87

The Rockets struggled to produce on offense having to rely on 6' guard Aaron Brooks (19 points, 5 assists) to carry the scoring load. Travis Outlaw and Brandon Roy led the Blazers in scoring with 23 and 20 points respectively, while new addition Andre Miller dropped 7 dimes.

Wizards 102, Mavericks 91

The Wizards overcame a 34 point effort by Dirk Nowitzki as Gilbert Arenas seems to have finally returned from injury. Agent Zero scored 29 points and dished out 9 assists. The NBA needs this guy, even if he isn't talking or blogging anymore.