The Association

A Look Back at the Playoff Preseason (First Round) - Eastern Conference

By Craig Kwasniewski 

Three weekends later and the first round is finally over.... finally! 

Remember the times when the first round was 5 games and was over by April 25th? Remember when the second round started as soon as the opponents were set?  Remember the excitement of 2 or 3 games a day no matter what with practically every game having some sort of meaning? Take away the ultra competitive Bulls - Celtics series and we were left with a bunch of yawners in the first round. I know the NBA will never reduce playoff games, but the first round looks more like a playoff preseason, even finishing behind the NHL in excitement. And the NBA should NEVER take a back seat to playoff hockey!!! 

Anyway, let's take a quick look back at all eight series in the newly christened Playoff Preseason: 

Cleveland beats Detroit 4-0: YAWN! (And that was from Piston fans who didn't sell their seats to Cavs fans.) If we're claiming the Bulls-Celtics series one of the greatest ever... ever...ever (echo-echo-echo) and making lists proclaiming it as such then let's to a list of the worst ever call this what it was: an abortion! Basically this was the worst playoff series since the Celtics-Pacers in 2004.  

The Pistons gave up on the season way back in November when Joe Dumars hired Michael "I'm afraid to stand up to my veterans" Curry and shipped their leader, their heart and their soul in Chauncey Billups to Denver for Allen Iverson's expiring contract. You gotta hand it to Joe Dumars, he not only killed one of the most successful teams in professional sports but he also ripped the heart out of Iverson and offered it to Kali Ma like that dude in Temple of Doom. The end result is collision of a team on a mission against a team mailing it in. I'm guessing Stern didn't consider this when expanding the Playoff Preseason to 7 games.  

Orlando beats Philadelphia 4-2: If these teams actually had fans this might have been a little more exciting. Instead the only entertainment factor was watching the TNT crew rip the Magic apart for their offense, their coach, their star players, their role players, their fans, their city... everything. When did the Orlando Magic become the Terrell Owens of the NBA? I get that their offense is bland and uninspiring and that Dwight Howard is not yet at the level of playoff superhero but take it easy fellas. The Magic CLEARLY aren't in the same category of the Lakers, Cavs or Celtics but just a level below with Denver (thanks to their GM Joe Dumars).  I feel they're headed in the right direction. I just think Orlando like NOLA last year benefited playing the role of upstart team and stole a few W's here and there (hello Lakers!). We'll see what happens next year when they play all season with a HUGE target on their back. 

Atlanta beats Miami 4-3: Again since we're now all about absolutes, is this the worst 7-game series ever? The closest game was 10 points! Even worse, those loud 4-letter bombs you hear are coming from the ABC and TNT offices after missing out on the ratings winfall of LeBron vs. Wade. How did David Stern let this pass? The 2006 Stern would give Wade 30 to 40 freethows, the 2006 Stern would have fouled out Mike Bibby AND Joe Johnson, the 2006 Stern would have had Joe Crawford give the Hawks three tech's... oh he did?... well it least he got that right.  The 2006 Stern would have found a way to make LeBron vs. Wade happen.    

Anyway, the only other thing I got from this series is Mike Woodson's "who just farted?" face. Call me crazy but if your coach looks confused, panicked and annoyed AT THE SAME TIME... well I'm not feeling too confident unless I have a ghost writer coach like Tom Thibodeau.

Boston beats Chicago 4-3:  The greatest series ever!  The greatest clutch-ness ever!  The greatest fans ever!  The greatest coaching ever!  (SCREEECH-CRASH!!!)

Okay stop right there!  This definitely was one of the most competitive series ever.  Five of the seven games went down to the last possession with each team showing extreme cantaloupe-sized balls.  But let's take a pause before rating this as the greatest ever.  As the TNT crew said, this series was close because of parity.  If Boston had KG this goes maybe 5 and we're all talking about how boring the 2009 Playoff Preseason was.   If Chicago had a head coach they win in 5 (seriously, how many times will Ray Allen be single-guarded with the C's down three?  And how many games did Del Negro lose because he ran out of TO's?).  If Derrick Rose actually knew how to play defense the Bulls win in 6.  If Paul Pierce wasn't so run down from carrying the Celtics to 60 wins, the Celtics win in 5.  But none of that happened and instead we witnessed easily the most competitive in the Playoff Preseason since the league expanded to 7 games.  But to call it the best playoff series ever is absolutely insane. 

The best ever are filled with drama, with stars, with destiny and a feeling of importance.  Take the 1981 Eastern Conference Finals between Celtics-76ers, you have the drama (five games decided by 2 or less), the stars (Dr. J near the end of his prime and Bird coming into his own) and you have the importance (playing for a Finals appearance).  Remember last year's Suns-Spurs Game 1?  At the time people were calling it the greatest playoff game ever, basically erasing 60 plus years of NBA history along the way.  But in the end the series fizzled in 5 with neither team having any relevance in the NBA title hunt last year.  Now Game 1 is just a 30 second commercial and nothing else. 

Let's see how Boston does for the rest of the playoffs before we rank this series in history.  If they somehow find a way to compete with Cleveland in the Eastern Conference Finals then we're talking a heroic effort along the likes of the 1987 Celtics, who fought tooth, nail and broken ankles through to the NBA Finals.  BTW - one of my favorite teams in NBA history and a true lesson on how to properly defend a title (2006 Miami Heat I'm talking to you!).  However, if they get bounced easily by Orlando, then the Bull-Celtics series will be easily replaced by whatever close 7-game series happens next year.  

One final note about this series:  Rondo was great, but not THAT great.  What I'm sayin' is that he's put together some very impressive numbers against ZERO defense.  The Bulls focused on shutting down Paul Pierce and sagged far away from Rondo, giving him a slew of WIDE OPEN jumpers.  Also, early in the series Derrick Rose played matador defense and leaked out for fastbreak opportunities.  We heard Doc Rivers pointing that out during a timeout and Rondo took advantage to the tune of a near triple-double average.  Before we start comparing Rondo to Isiah Thomas, Magic Johnson or even Chris Paul let's see what he does with defenses actually focused on him.  But WIDE OPEN is still WIDE OPEN and Rondo made the Bulls pay for not defending him one iota... so I guess he's got that going for him. 

One more final note:  Will Boston drop a banner and throw a parade for eliminating a 7-seed at home?

Monday Morning Point Guard

By Craig Kwasniewski 

March Madness eat your heart out! One weekend down and there were several upsets, a few stinkers and a couple expected results. As much as I love the whole one and done March Madness thing, you don't get the physical play, the adjustments and strategy that a 7-game series offers. Here are a few thoughts with one game down in each series: 

Boston vs. Chicago - Is there room on the Derrick Rose bandwagon? The Bulls were the one team I regret not seeing in person this year. Anyone with an eye for hoops can appreciate the full range this rookie brings to the Bulls but what I didn't notice until Saturday is Rose's quick and explosive LAST step. Most players have that quick first step to blow by defenders but Rose explodes right at the rim at his last step. Also, his extremely calm nature works well with the youthful Bulls. Game 1 against the defending champs and he has the heart rate of a librarian and it's contagious as the Bulls weren't phased at all. I still think Boston wins, but the Bulls should make Rose the GM, coach and owner and build around him for the next 12 years. 

Cleveland vs. Detroit - Are we done yet? Are we done yet? Are we done yet? SWEEP! 

San Antonio vs. Dallas - One quarter in, Duncan had springy legs and looked very 2007, I was on the brink of writing a "Mavs should have kept Maquis Daniels instead of Josh Howard" piece and Nowitzki was in foul trouble... basically it didn't look good for Dallas. I left home, went out thinking the Spurs would win easily and I caught the last few seconds at a bar as Dallas... PULLED AWAY FOR A W??? What the hell happened? Suddenly Dallas looks like a very legit Western Conference finalist and San Antonio looks old.    

Portland vs. Houston - This really looks like a match-up problem for Portland more than anything else. Maybe their inexperience cost them a W as they didn't have that fifth gear or maybe they're just happy to be there.  All I know is Yao played the best playoff game of his life and showed EVERYONE that the problem was always T-MAC. 

Los Angeles vs. Utah - No Okur, no chance for Utah... it's just that simple. But the real story is the referees killing the entire second half of the game. It's no surprise that Joey Crawford was the lead ref in the worst called game of the weekend. Does the NBA pay him by the fouls? Does he really think the fans pay to see him ref? Is he out to single-handedly ruin professional hoops?  There were SIXTEEN fouls in the 3rd quarter alone and a free-flowing game became a possession-by-possession freethrow festival. Terrible! 

Orlando vs. Philadelphia - I've said this all year, Orlando doesn't have the go to guy necessary to make a deep run in the playoffs. C-Webb pretty much blew a gasket ripping on the Magic not riding Dwight Howard all game. But does Superman really want to be "that guy" with the Magic or is he content with monster numbers, monster dunks and showmanship? NBA Champions all have the definitive alpha dog and an understood chain of command. The Celtics heart lies with KG but crunchtime went Pierce first and Sugar Ray second. The early 00's Lakers had Shaq for 3 1/2 quarters with Kobe as the closer... what about Orlando? 

Atlanta vs. Miami - The Hawks put together a Special Edition Double-DVD set of highlights on the Heat on Sunday. Instead of 2006 Kobe and the Lakers with their near upset of the #2 seeded Phoenix Suns, the Heat resembled the 2007 edition and the very one-sided 4-1 loss to Phoenix. But we'll see what kind of road playoff team Atlanta is in games 3 & 4. 

Denver vs. New Orleans - Denver put together a sick 21-0 run late in the 3rd early in the 4th to put away what was a close and very physical game. Chauncey Billups went retro looking like a 2005 version going 8 of 9 from three on his way to 36 points. NOLA basically gave up at the end of the 3rd quarter so this blowout doesn't really mean the Nuggets will sweep. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if NOLA steals game 2. This really feels like a very bitter and very physical seven game series.

2006 is why Wade should not win the MVP.

by Craig Kwasniewski

The Miami Heat are very competitive and Dwyane Wade is having an MVP-type of year very much like Kobe did in 2005-06... and that is exactly why he should *NOT* get the MVP. Kobe had one of the most dominant offensive seasons by a backcourt player ever, leading a very average Lakers squad (Smush Parker started and Brian Cook had mad minutes... need I sat more?) to an near upset of the Suns. Yet Kobe finished a distant 4th (???) in the MVP voting despite averaging 35.4 points including those memorable 62 and 81 point games. The arguement was that that as a 7-seed the Lakers weren't good enough, which makes sense to finish second to Steve Nash (who was clearly the best player on the best team, as many people noted while voting) but not 4th. That's because Kobe was still pulling Barry Bonds level of hatred back then. Anyway, Wade is having a stellar season and along with Erik Spoelstra's coaching, the Heat are playoff bound. But they are not even close to the Lakers, Cavs or Magic (but maybe Boston, but does that even count?)... they won't even get past the first round. So give the MVP to LeBron or Kobe and give Wade a 3rd place vote but the media needs to live by their own rules set in 2006.

Anyway, here are a few other thoughts on the Lakers 108-105 win over Miami from my seat high up in Section 316:

Phil Jackson almost cost the Lakers the game tonight. I know PJ coaches over the entire season instead of game-to-game but he needs to get a better feel of momentum during the 4th quarter. Much like the NOLA game last week, Jackson kept Kobe out too long and the Lakers lost all offensive momentum. The only things that saved LA tonight is that Miami's an average team, but the Lakers went from a comfortable 8 point lead to trailing by 2 with Kobe out for 5 minutes in the 4th. Miami was rolling and LA couldn't buy a hoop. Kobe comes around the 7 minute mark completely cold and the Lakers are predictably scrambling to regain control. PJ needs to get a better feel of the game down the stretch or more better he needs to not be so damn stubborn with his rotations and put Kobe back in faster.

Pau Gasol was very impressive despite being cold offensively. Andrew Bynum dominated the smaller Heat, but the real story is how Gasol adjusted to an off night offensively by hitting the glass for 18 boards. He saw that Bynum was on tonight and stayed out of the key, giving the youngster space to create in the post. Not many players in today's game will sacrifice points (especially offensive-oriented guys) and do the dirty work on the boards. I'm really enjoying the high basketball IQ in the Gasol era.

The Lakers need to work on defending the three. For the second game in a row the opposing team got W-I-D-E O-P-E-N looks from beyond the arc with the game on the line. Unlike Friday, where Mike Dunleavy tied the score up after his own W-I-D-E O-P-E-N three, Chris Quinn missed his from the corner with a chance to win it. How are these guys getting open??? I know the defense is keyed on Wade as he drives and looks to kick, but it's okay to singe guard a guy and give up a two if you're up three with the clock winding down.... no seriously, it's okay. This goes back to the type of players the Lakers are forced to play down the stretch with Luke Walton, Jordan Farmar and Lamar Odom... I'm talking specifically about you Vladi! Forget the 18 points tonight, Radmanovic had several serious head scratchers on defense that almost cost the Lakers. On Friday both he and Sasha Vujacic rotated into the low post, both allowing Dunleavy that uncontested three and tonight Radman turned the ball over and committed a dumb foul on an uncontested break.

Around the NBA and Blockquoting Myself Until I Go Blind!

By Craig Kwasniewski

Time to do my favorite thing of all time... outside of cracking on Pat Riley and the Miami Heat, which is way too easy these days, especially after getting rolled by the Celtics' Big One (KG and Ray Allen were out). I mean rolled... at home by a score of 117-87. And all D-Wade could do was score a Barkley-needs-to-remove-him-from-his-five 7 points.

EMBARRASSING!

Where was I? Oh yeah, my OTHER favorite thing... outside of cracking on the Golden State Warriors, which is never not fun, especially after losing to Houston 111-107. But I'm sure it's because the refs screwed over Tha Dubs, right? Actually not, the Yao Ming-led Rockets shot 2 more freethrows than the perimeter-oriented Warriors (32 to 30 in Houston). But unlike Miami, Golden State is expected to drop a roadie to a very good Houston team, so there's nothing embarrassing about it...

I'm just happy.

So AGAIN, where was I? Oh yeah, my OTHER, OTHER favorite thing... outside of cracking on the San Antonio Spurs, which... is... pure... fun! Especially after losing to a team currently on a Miami Heat-esque 14-game losing streak. Yes, the San Antonio Spurs fell to the redneck-owned Seattle Sonics 88 to 85. The loss puts the Spurs at 0-2 on their annual Rodeo trip.

RODEO-SMODEO... it's called a long road trip and many teams have their own brutal roadies every year (Chicago has the circus trip and the Lakers have the Grammy's trip), but all I hear over and over again is "Rodeo... Rodeo... Rodeo..." Deal with it and move on! Every team has 41 home games and 41 road games, unless your the Clippers where its 39-43 because of the Lakers. So what does a 9-game roadie at the end of January/early February mean? It means you have a crapload of home games coming up!

Suck it up San Antonio!

Anyway, my real favorite thing of all time... blockquoting myself (only because, as many of our regular readers know, I'm rarely right). Anyway, because of a first half injury to Son of Walton (vaginal inflammation?), the Lakers were forced to use a lineup that I've been suggesting for days. This is what I said on Monday:

Simple solution to Son of Walton crapfest: Shift Kobe to the 3 and start a backcourt of D-Fish and (heavy sigh) Sasha Vujacic. I can’t believe I wrote that, but Vujacic is a lot better offensively this year and his defense gets under the opposition’s skin. And Kobe at the three spot is a ton better than Son of Walton.

So with the Lakers trailing 100-91, a line-up of Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown put the Lakers on a 29-9 run on their way to a 121-109 win at Staples Center. Two key adjustments were made down the stretch: Kobe was moved to small forward and Son of Walton was NOT on the floor. And as I hoped, Vujacic's scrappy/annoying defense got under the skin of Nate Robinson, drawing a technical foul along the way.

One of the biggest flaws in Phil Jackson's coaching is his inability to change line-ups from game to game. Once he finds his rotation, he sticks with it all season. In many cases he'll start a rarely-used player instead of messing with his set rotation. The best example was with the 1994 Chicago Bulls, the season after MJ's first retirement. Instead of acquiring a big-time scoring guard, Jackson stuck journeyman Pete Myers in Jordan's shooting guard spot and maintained the same rotation from 1993 throughout the rest of the line-up.

Well, son of Walton's case of sudden vaginal inflammation caused Jackson to make the change tonight and hopefully this'll shed some light on the Zenmaster. Until Bynum and Trevor Ariza return, the Lakers best chance is Kobe at the three, facilitating, passing and attacking from the post and sides of the court.

Here's a few other things that I saw from Section 316:

Robinson and Lee were tired at the end: One other reason why the Lakers were able to pull away late in the game was that David Lee and Nate Robinson were simply gasses at the end. Both were having great games; Lee with his hustle and put-back points (21 points!) and Robinson who was hot from the perimeter. They both played a big part in that 100-91 lead but all the hard work and long minutes finally caught up with them. Lee had to fill in for the foul-plagued Eddy Curry and Robinson's taking up a lot of Marbury's minutes, both playing 10 more minutes than normal.

Nate was on fire! The Knicks were running Rip Hamilton-type of screens all over the floor and giving him decent looks, which mostly he hit.

Knicks bigs can finish: Curry, Z-Bo and Lee are all long, strong and have soft hands. Once they got the ball inside 3 feet they rarely missed. The Lakers, on the other hand, blew a lot of easy shots for various reasons. Obviously Kwame has no hands and Mbenga has no offensive games, but it was Odom and Turiaf who missed a few easy put-backs. Odom goes through these stretches where he puts so much English on his shots that they lip out.

Knicks fans not as much of a force tonight: Normally a huge contingent of transplant Knicks fans roll out to Staples for the Laker-Knicks game (with their "back home's" and "out here's"). But maybe the Isiah era has finally taken a toll on west-coast Knicks Pride or maybe they're all at the Super Bowl. Either way, Knicks games are always fun because of their fans but this year was a 3 on a 10-scale.

Laker haters rest easy: This is the last 316 section report until February 19th because the Lakers head out on a 9-game roadie because of the Grammy's. (Grammy's Trip... Grammy's Trip... Grammy's Trip!) So outside of a 10,000 word anti-Son of Walton post, there will be a lot less Lakers stuff here at TAB for the next few weeks.

Converse WADE 3.0: Limited Christmas Edition

by Brett Edwards

Another year has gone by, which means it's time for another special Christmas edition of Converse's Dwyane Wade signature shoes. This time it's a limited release Green/Black/Lizard-skin looking set of kicks, which despite having nothing to do with the Heat's team colors, are pretty damn cool looking. Here are couple of photos of the shoes, which you can expect to see D. Wade himself rocking on Christmas Day on ABC during the Heat's loss to the Cavs. Once I get a chance to play in them, you can expect some more pics and a performance review.

Hey Shaq, Be Careful What You Wish For

By Craig Kwasniewski

Write what you see … because apparently I don't know what the fuck I'm talking about.

Are you really sure you want that? Really? RE-AL-LY????

I read that quote in the Daily Dime's Soliloquy about Miami's 117-113 win over Phoenix last night. I guess now that the have officially "turned their season around" the obvious question comes to mind: Where's the championship parade? Will they drop a banner now that they sit 6-15 and dead last in the weaker Eastern Conference? Did Shaq break out a "can you dig it????" in the lockerroom celebration? Was it truely a 15-Strong type of victory for the Heat and Pat Riley's immense ego?

Anyway, with criticism coming down on him from all directions, Shaq went retro for Heritage Week and broke out his anti-Kobe favorite, "Write what you see."

Okay Shaq, you asked for it:

I see a fat, lazy, old, tired, out-of-shape, overrated, on-the-decline, pompous, fat, errogant, slow, average, fat, lazy, limited, angry basketball center that does not take responsibility for his own actions. (Did I mention that he was fat?)

Feel free to say "I'm full" at the dinner table. Shaq's too old to play himself into shape during the first half of the season. The only way he can play at the level of play we're used to is by getting into top physical shape with a strict off-season routine... like Zo Mourning. And we all know that will never happen.

So maybe *don't* write what you see, eh?

Miami Learns What *EVERY* Laker Fan Knows... Smush Sucks

By Craig Kwasniewski

The 2007-08 season is one month old and already the Miami Heat are quick to learn that Smush Parker might be the *WORST* player in the NBA.

According to ESPN.com:

Smush Parker -- kept away from the team since his Nov. 27 incident with a valet -- wants to return as soon as possible, but he's being paid and won't seek union intervention, his agent said.

"I've got to believe Miami has enough information to make a decision," agent Billy Ceisler said.

One Heat person expects the team to try to trade him when he becomes eligible Dec. 15. Besides struggling on the court, Parker has had a tough adjustment to the Heat's culture, associates say. -- Miami Herald

The Heat’s culture???

What the hell is that? So he can’t adjust to Ricky Davis hookering around, or Shaq eating everything in sight and tanking, or Mark Blount mailing in games, or Pat Riley’s BIG EGO? Obviously this is code for "ship his ass outta here!!!!"

Big props for the Heat taking only 2 weeks to realize that Parker sucks… it only took the Lakers 2 years. BTW - FUCK MITCH KUPCHAK!

Thank You Pat Riley!!!

By Craig Kwasniewski

The Miami Heat have signed Smush Parker to a 2-year contract on Friday and all I can say is...

Thank you Pat Riley!

Thanks for signing the worst Laker starter since Samaki Walker.

Thanks for signing the worst starting point guard in the NBA for the past two seasons.

Thanks for signing the biggest playoff choke since Devean George (how'd that work for ya Dallas?).

Thanks for signing all those thrown headbands... oh and there will be many more to come in South Beach!

Thanks for signing all those missed WIDE OPEN jumpers. Hey Miami, get used to this sound: "Awwwwwwww!!!" (That's what you'll say as Smush misses another jumper courtesy of a Wade or Shaq double team.)

Thanks for signing the player with worst body language in the league. Hey Smush, keep your chin up... I'm sure a lot of players would have blown that uncontested layup.

Thanks for signing the worst off-the-ball defender in the league. Help defense isn't really Smush's forté... actually he doesn't really have a forté.

There's two ways to look at this move:

1) Pat Riley is officially in his "Hey I'm Keith Hernandez" stage of his career. He somehow believes that his coaching skills and the abilities of Shaq and Wade will make something out of Smush. If he succeeds, five NBA title be damned, this will be the best coaching effort of his career.

2) The Miami Heat sold out their future for the 2005-06 NBA title and are now stuck in salary cap hell. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel says it best:

Parker is the Heat's lone acquisition in an offseason framed by failure to sign Milwaukee guard Mo Williams or Rockets guard Steve Francis. Warriors swingman Mickael Pietrus and Spanish guard Juan Carlos Navarro remain outside possibilities through a sign-and-trade.

When you're big offseason acquisition is Smush Parker YOU ARE FUCKED!

Once again, thank you Pat Riley! As for the Miami Heat fans, I leave you with the words of Smush Parker (and a huge smile from me):

I came to the Heat for the chance to bring a championship back to Miami. We have all the right pieces in place. Whatever they want me to do, I'll do. I'll be a floor leader, a coach on the floor. I'm a point guard; the offense and defense starts with me.

Priceless...

But I won't have to ever again!

The Winner Within Gets Swept

By Craig Kwasniewski

Big question for Mr. Sixteen Strong... what chapter in your book The Winner Within covers defending champs being swept?

Is there a chapter that covers tanking the regular season and *NOT* flipping the switch?

Is there a chapter that covers quitting on your team taking time off in the middle of the season for "hip replacement surgery?"

Is there a chapter that covers creative injuries for when your starting center's woefully out of shape and disinterested in the regular season?

Is there a chapter that covers backstabbing a franchise or a former assistant coach?

Is there a chapter that covers handling a steroid-laced back-up center?

Your a well prepared motivational speaker and writer, I'm sure you've found the proper way to distance yourself from such an embarrassment.

But since your such a trailblazer of a head coach, let me remind you that since the playoffs expanded to 16 teams, your Sixteen Strong was the first defending champ to get swept in the first round of the playoffs.

You are truly THE WINNER WITHIN!

Converse WADE 2.0: Limited Playoff Edition

by Brett Edwards

What would the playoffs be without some fresh limited edition gear to go along with them? Well, still probably pretty cool, but the new gear does add a little something. Today we bring you news of our favorite baller D.Wade's new playoff kicks: the "limited playoff edition" WADE 2.0 by Converse. Converse is re-launching their "ALL IN" campaign, and here's what they're saying about these particular shoes:

The WADE 2.0 signature shoe reflects the duality of Wade’s game with a “Rose and Thorn” design inspiration – his fierceness on the court meets the beauty of his game. Design elements relating to Wade include a perforated pattern on the medial side of the shoe that has an embossed “Z” for his son, Zaire. The upper and outsole both have a repeating “W” pattern inspired by Wade and the Thorn. Finally, there is a leather patch behind the tongue featuring Dwyane Wade’s signature.

Sounds good to me. These look decidedly better than the candy cane edition that they rolled out for Christmas, but then again I'm not a big fan of the color red, so what do I know. These won't be available in stores until April 25, which by then might have the Heat halfway to the second round. At least that's what Shaq thinks.