One Month Later...

The first full month of the NBA season is virtually over, and the Miami Heat currently stands at 8-9. Miami has hovered around .500 for the entire month, but finds itself just out of the playoff picture if the season ended tonight.

First, a little perspective. The Heat won 15 games last season, and to be more than halfway towards last season's win total just one month in the season is a drastic improvement. Miami is playing better than the so-called experts thought them to be. Erik Spoelstra is a rookie coach and has a very young team. This team has also felt the absence of three-point specialist James Jones, a low-post presence and a veteran point guard.

With that being said, President Pat Riley made clear over the summer that anything less than a playoff run would be a disappointment for the Heat. This team cannot continue to trade wins and losses. Miami needs to string a few wins together, and it has only won two consecutive games once this season.

Things are looking up for the Heat, though. Dwyane Wade is playing as well as he has ever played. Mario Chalmers and Chris Quinn have proven to be a nice one-two punch at the point guard position. Daequan Cook has been the inconsistent shooter he was a year ago, but has improved his game in defense and rebounding this season. And Udonis Haslem has been adequate at the five, but has seemed liberated in his past two games at the four with a defensive load lifted off of his shoulders.

Will we see Spoelstra's lineup of Chalmers, Wade, Shawn Marion, Haslem and Joel Anthony in the future? I expect so. This lineup gives Miami a defensive presence in Anthony, who has proven his worth this season. But the biggest benefactor of the new move may be Michael Beasley, the second overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.
Beasley has played two games off the bench thus far, one good game and one bad game. Therefore, it is difficult to get a gauge on how he will be as a reserve. In theory, this move looks to be very strong for the Miami Heat. Beasley will be playing alongside the second unit, with players like Quinn, Cook, Yahkouba Diawara and Jamaal Magloire. In other words, he will not be taking shots away from anyone. Moreover, he would be the go-to while Wade is on the bench, providing points where they would otherwise be scarce.

On the other hand, Beasley was arguably the most talented player in the Draft Class of '08. Spooelstra is looking for him to be more than a sixth man. Beasley may find himself as a starter later on this season, especially with Marion trade rumors heating up. The question for Spoelstra would then be whether Beasley is tailored for the small forward position. Is he quick enough to guard the likes of LeBron James, Paul Pierce, Tayshaun Prince and Rashard Lewis? It would be difficult for me to see Beasley guarding those threes, but I had difficulty seeing Antoine Walker guarding those players during Miami's championship run in 2006. Then-coach Riley used James Posey off the bench as a defensive stopper. Spoelstra, an heir to Riley, may try to emulate that with Beasley role-playing Walker and Jones role-playing Posey.

December should figure to be a pick-me-up month for the Heat. Spoelstra's team will rest 18 of the 31 days in the year's final month, and will only have two sets of back-to-backs. Miami plays Golden State (twice), Charlotte, Memphis, Milwaukee and Chicago in December, all of whom have identical or worse records than the Heat. With the possible return of Jones before we all have to buy a new calender, maybe Miami could find itself a few games above .500 going into 2009.

The Heat is still well in the playoff hunt, just a half-game behind New York for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. If Miami is able to stay healthy over the next few weeks, they could surprise a lot of teams. Marion may be traded, but I would not take anything with more than a grain of salt with any of these rumors until the trade is made official.

Iffy Call Overshadows Loss

If you talked to Dwyane Wade after Miami's 97-96 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, he would not have talked about what his team did wrong. He would talk about an iffy call that may have tipped the game in the balance last night.

"It was [expletive]," Wade said of the controversial call.

With the Heat down by one with 7.6 seconds to go, Baron Davis made a desperation pass in fear of getting called for a five-second violation. Wade stole the ball in midair and threw the ball towards Udonis Haslem, who was in position for a wide-open dunk. Referee Courtney Kirkland inadvertently exhaled into his whistle as Wade fell into him and onto the scorers' table.

The Clipper crowd cheered when it appeared that Wade had stepped out of bounds after gaining possession. Ultimately, the officiating crew granted Wade with the steal and gave Miami the possession on an in-bounds pass. For Miami, the breakaway scoring opportunity was lost, and the win would have to come by harder.
The Clippers wisely used a foul the team had to give, giving Miami another in-bounds pass with just 2.9 seconds to play. The ball was given to Wade, and once the L.A. defense collapsed on him, he was forced to throw up a desperation three at the buzzer that did not even hit the rim.

"We won the game," Wade said. "And they took it away from us."

Under League rules, the Heat has no path to protest this call.

"Yeah, it's tough," Haslem added. "But there's a lot of things we could have done differently before that last play."

Haslem is right. The Heat once had a six-point lead in the final quarter, before letting L.A. go up by as many as eight just minutes later. Miami should not have lost to a 3-13 Clippers team without Chris Kaman. This should not have been a one-point game for Miami, it should have been a double-digit win for the Heat.

Shawn Marion did not look like the star he is. He looked like a ghost. The four-time NBA All-Star shot just one-for-six from the field for five points and turned the ball over five times. Marion did have nine rebounds, but Erik Spoelstra needs Marion to be more than a rebounding force.

Daequan Cook shot just 3-of-11 from the field in 21 minutes off the bench. Cook is a streaky shooter, so missing shots will be part of the game for him sometimes. However, Cook can drive to the rim as the defense is running towards him. If Cook just took a step or two closer to the basket, his percentages of making the shot would have gone up exponentially.

Miami's interior defense may have done enough to slow down Amare Stoudemire and Shaquille O'Neal, but it let rookie Al Thornton and newcomer Zach Randolph do everything they wanted to last night. Thornton had 27 points on 8-of-14 shooting and 11-of-14 from the free-throw line. Randolph, meanwhile, also added 27 points with 13 rebounds. Marcus Camby added 12 points and 12 rebounds, a double-double.

Spoelstra went with his lineup from Friday's win against the Suns, with Joel Anthony starting at the five. Anthony had three rebounds and two blocks in 19 minutes. Anthony was kept on the bench due to early foul trouble, a frequent obstacle for the 6-foot-9 center this season.

Michael Beasley played very well as a reserve last night, finishing with 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field and three-of-four shooting from downtown in 27 minutes. Beasley scored 17 points in the second-quarter, two shy of the franchise record shared by Tim Hardaway and Sherman Douglas. I would have liked to see more of Beasley in the second half, who only got 10 minutes of playing time after intermission. He had his foul trouble, but his scoring would have helped Miami in the fourth quarter.

Haslem continued to appear more comfortable as a power forward. The Miami native had 18 points, six rebounds and three blocks in 42 minutes for the Heat. Wade was sensational (again) with 26 points on 12-of-21 shooting to go along with 11 assists, six rebounds and three steals. Mario Chalmers added 11 on four-of-nine shooting for the Heat, again one game below .500.

Miami starts the last month of 2008 Monday against the Golden State Warriors at 10:30 p.m. The Heat will then finish up its five-game West coast swing against the Utah Jazz Wednesday at 9 p.m.

Flash Blows By Superman

It was the first time the Miami Heat and the Phoenix Suns met since the blockbuster trade that sent Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to Miami in exchange for Shaquille O'Neal. But if you asked Dwyane Wade, that's not the reason he was motivated last night.

“We got beat by 40 points a couple nights ago,” Wade said during his halftime interview. “We didn't play with no heart, no tenacity. So it wasn't about us playing Shaq, it was about us getting a win.”

Wade and the young Heat took a tremendous step forward by handily defeating the Suns 107-92 after Portland blew out Miami only two nights earlier. After two poor shooting nights, Wade made a statement last night with a season-high 43 points on 15-of-24 shooting and 11-for-12 shooting from the free-throw line to go along with six assists and three rebounds. Steve Nash did not play for the Suns with a bruised thigh, but Phoenix was still the favorites without its star point guard.

The first quarter was decisive for Miami. Wade had 12 points on five-of-seven shooting for Miami in the first stanza of play to lead the Heat to a 32-19 advantage at the end of one. Miami's lead stayed around 13 for the rest of the game. A third-quarter run for the Heat put the lead up to 19, but the Suns was able to make it an 11-point game going into the final quarter of play. Fortunately for Miami, Dwyane Wade and Co. were able to close out the game in the fourth quarter.

Wade got to the rim at will and seemingly did everything he wanted to do against Raja Bell, one of the League's better defenders. But it wasn't the drives to the basket that surprised me. Wade also shot very well from mid-range and even went all the way out to the three-point line to score. I would have to strain to think of the last time I saw Wade shoot this well in his entire career. This young man is playing as good as anybody in the League and has been playing spectacular basketball since the Olympics.

A lot of credit has to go to Wade, but Erik Spoelstra also made some shrewd moves for Miami. He went with a lineup of Mario Chalmers, Wade, Marion, Udonis Haslem and Joel Anthony, a move to beef up Miami's front-line against Amare Stoudemire and O'Neal. Fortunately for Miami, Stoudemire was about as active as Mark Blount, with only six rebounds in 33 minutes. But this team was also able to hold O'Neal down.

Spoelstra had Anthony front O'Neal the entire game. The bad side of fronting a center is that if the pass into the post goes over Anthony's head, then that center will have an easy dunk every single time. However, the Suns could not get a pass into the post, which led to 14 turnovers for Phoenix in the first half alone. Moreover, O'Neal never got into an offensive rhythm, forced to score most of his points on offensive rebounds. Throughout the game, O'Neal never got to the free throw line nor had an assist.

Spoelstra was also able to minimize Stoudemire's and O'Neal's impact defensively. The Heat incessantly exploited Phoenix's poor pick-and-roll defense, which led to open lanes to the basket and open shots from the field. Coming off of a bad defensive night and a bad offensive night, Miami played as well as the could have against a strong team in the West.

Spoelstra's move to shift some of the heavy lifting over to Anthony also freed up Haslem. The 6-foot-8 Miami native looked more comfortable at the four, and had 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds.

Jamaal Magloire also returned briefly, playing a little over two minutes in his first game of the season. The 6-foot-11 Magloire will provide help in the future against the bigger centers, with the Heat's next game against the 7-foot Chris Kaman and the Los Angeles Clippers.

Could we see Beasley off the bench in the future? Yes. Spoelstra's move to start Anthony should have been enacted against the Rockets last week. With that being said, I am not sure I would only give Beasley 13 minutes of playing time. He could not have guarded Stoudemire, but what is wrong with him at the three, guarding Matt Barnes and Grant Hill? Beasley missed all of his five field goal attempts and ended up scoreless, but battled for rebounds last night, something we have not seen out of the kid in a while.

Five players scored in double figures for Miami. Marion had 10 points, nine rebounds and six assists against the team he played with for over eight seasons. Chalmers was a pest on both sides of the court. On the defensive end, the rookie point guard had five steals and even managed to rattle Bell a bit. Offensively, Chalmers had 13 points on five-of-seven shooting from the field and three-for-four from downtown. Daequan Cook was a big help off the bench for Miami, with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting in 28 minutes.

The Heat, 1-1 on its five game West-coast swing, will visit the L.A. Clippers tonight at 10:30 p.m.

Pitiful Performance in Portland

The NBA season is 82 games long. There are going to be nights when shots are just not falling down. That was the case for the Miami Heat last night, when Miami sunk below .500 for the first time since Nov. 1 in a 106-68 spanking. 

What is understandable were the constant clanks at the rim for Miami. What is not understandable was its relaxed defense. Throughout the night, there were missed defensive assignments, uncontested cuts to the basket and wide open shots from beyond the arc. Portland shot nearly 50 percent from the field and had six players register in double figures. When a team is having an off night, it should rely on its defense to at least keep the game competitive. 

This game was over before it even started. The Trail Blazers jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter. Portland had a 20-point lead by the end of the first quarter, and the Miami Heat was never able to even bring it down to single digits. When a team is poor on the offensive end and pathetic on the defensive end, that team gets embarrassed. Last night was no different. 

Channing Frye and LaMarcus Aldridge led the way for Portland, with 17 points and 16 points, respectively. Michael Beasley was no match for the bigger Frye or Aldridge, and ended up getting in early foul trouble (again). Shawn Marion, who missed the game to attend the funeral of his great uncle, would have been useful on defense. 

A way to hide Beasley's defensive deficiencies would be to move him over to the three. In stead of starting Yakhouba Diawara in place of Marion, Coach Erik Spoelstra could have started Joel Anthony at the center position, moved Udonis Haslem over to the four and Beasley over to the small forward position. Small forward Nicolas Batum did score 15 points for Portland, but he is more of a three-point specialist than anything. 

Beasley was the only rotation player who shot reasonably well from the field. The 6-foot-9 rookie out of Kansas State had 14 points on 7-of-18 shooting. Beasley attacked the basket and even soared for a highlight-reel dunk in the third quarter, but the same could not be said for attacking the glass. Beasley only had four rebounds in 30 minutes for Miami. 

Miami's rebounding was a big problem again. The Blazers won the battle of the boards easily, with a 55-28 advantage. Haslem and Dwyane Wade had six rebounds apiece for Miami, but the lack of height was evident last night. Pat Riley cannot just sit back and hope that Jamaal Magloire will be the answer to his problems. He has to get someone in there who can defend and rebound. 

Wade, who came off of a 7-for-23 shooting against Houston, was not much better last night. The 6-foot-4 guard out of Marquette shot just 5-for-14 from the field to score 12 points. Wade did have six boards, six assists and five steals, but there is a reason why the Heat managed just 68 points: its go-to guy had another off night. 

The only player who shot above 50 percent from the field for Miami was Marcus Banks. In 22 minutes, Banks shot five-of-six from the field for 11 points. Banks also had four rebounds and one steal, but Rudy Fernandez nailed him on a back-door cut for a layup. Spoelstra can not single out Banks for this, since virtually every Heat player played bad defense. 

Still, Banks made the most of his garbage minutes. And it could not have come better at a time for the point guard when both Mario Chalmers and Chris Quinn had poor shooting nights. But will this be enough for Spoelstra to put Banks back in the rotation? One game is not enough, but Miami's rookie coach may give Banks more playing time Friday against his former teammate Steve Nash and the rest of the Phoenix Suns. 

On a lighter note, Shaun Livingston got his first minutes of action in nearly a month last night. The 6-foot-7 point guard scored two points on one-for-two shooting from the field in seven minutes. 

The Heat is still in the playoff picture, tied with three other teams for the eighth seed in the East. However, Miami would face off against the Boston Celtics were the season to end today, due to the Heat's superior conference record against Philadelphia and New York. But after the worst loss of the season, the Heat are just going to have to put this loss behind them and focus on the Suns Friday night. 

Heat Flame Out to Yao, Rockets

The Miami Heat have traded wins and losses for its last nine games going into last night's meeting with Houston, and continued that trend last night in a 107-98 loss to the Rockets.

The Rockets stayed in control for the entire game, as Miami's only lead came on a Shawn Marion hook shot to start the game. Houston's lead stayed around 10 points for most of the game from then on. Michael Beasley's driving layup with just over eight minutes left in the third quarter made it a 56-58 game, but Houston then made 11 unanswered points to give Houston some breathing room again. It was a five-point game at the end of the third quarter and a five-point game with 4:23 left to go in the fourth quarter, but for every run the Heat made, Houston had an answer.

The 6-foot-8 Udonis Haslem was no match for the 7-foot-6 Yao Ming, in a match-up between the League's shortest center and its tallest center. Yao had 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field and 10-11 from the free-throw line. Additionally, Yao grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out four assists last night.
Erik Spoelstra knew that Yao was going to have a field day last night, regardless of whether he would be single- or double-teamed. A more effective defensive strategy against Yao would be to do what the Detroit Pistons did against Shaquille O'Neal in the 2004 NBA Finals. The 6-foot-9 Ben Wallace looked like a toothpick compared to O'Neal and he filled up the stat sheet. However, the Pistons stayed at home with the rest of the Lakers and were able to dust Los Angeles in five games. The Rockets shot 10-of-19 from beyond the arc, and a lot of those threes were due to Yao passing out of the double-team. If Spoelstra told his perimeter players to stay at home with Ron Artest, Rafer Alston and Aaron Brooks, it would have taken an option out of Houston's offensive arsenal.

Offensively, the evident choice would be to try to get Yao in foul trouble. The Heat attempted 24 three-pointers last night and Yao had three fouls in 35 minutes of action. Now, it was difficult for Dwyane Wade to drive to the rim with Ron Artest playing such good defense on him. The second leading scorer in the League never found his rhythm and missed 16 of his attempted 23 shots. I was surprised at the lack of screens given for Wade. The other players cannot just sit there and watch Wade. They have got to help him out with screens and cuts to the basket.

Marion and Beasley played very well. Marion had 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds in 41 minutes. Beasley had 14 points on 7-of-16 shooting and grabbed five rebounds in 29 minutes. However, neither of them was able to step up and compensate for Wade's off night.

It was a great night for Mario Chalmers, who had a career-high 23 points last night on 7-of-13 shooting and 5-for-10 from downtown. Chalmers also grabbed four rebounds, dished out six assists and collected four steals. Fellow newcomer Yakhouba Diawara also had an impressive night, with 12 points on five-for-six shooting from the field and two steals in 23 minutes.

Haslem struggled with his offense against the imposing Yao, and seemed tired guarding the 7-foot-6 center from China. With Miami's three next games against the 7-foot Greg Oden and Portland, the 7-foot-1 O'Neal and Phoenix and the 7-foot-1 Chris Kaman and the Clippers, Haslem will be doing a lot of heavy lifting this Thanksgiving week.

Joel Anthony provided help off the bench for Haslem, and grabbed eight rebounds and blocked four shots in just 28 minutes of action. He probably would have played more if he had not committed five fouls last night. While Anthony's defense and rebounding is appreciated, he needs to work on his fouls. An effective game from him will especially be needed with the seven-footers coming up this week.

Erik Spoelstra will try to avoid a loss to drop his team below .500 for the first time since Nov. 1 with a road game against Portland Wednesday night.

Injury Notes

Shawn Marion will not play against Portland Wednesday due to the death of his great uncle. However, he plans to return with the team for Thursday's practice in Phoenix.

Dorell Wright was originally projected to come back Nov. 1, but the date kept getting pushed back. The date will be pushed back even more. The 6-foot-9 forward underwent arthroscopic surgery to clear up loose bodies out of his left knee. Wright had surgery March 3 to repair a meniscal tear in his left knee, but additional work was needed. No timetable has been announced for his arrival.

Six-foot-11 center Jamaal Magloire will travel with the rest of the Heat on its road trip. Magloire banged his left hand in pre-practice Sunday morning and did not practice with the team in the afternoon. Spoelstra said this was not a setback for Magloire, who completed his first full five-on-five practice last Friday. His availability for Wednesday night's game against Portland is unknown.

Heat Rally To Beat Pacers

After going down by as many as 15 points in the first half, the Miami Heat went on the comeback trail and was able to defeat the Indiana Pacers in a 109-100 decision.

Miami found itself down by a score of 60-48 at intermission, and Dwyane Wade had 20 of those points. The Heat went on a 12-5 run to open the third quarter to make it a two-point game with just under eight minutes to go in the third. The game stayed close through the end of the quarter, and the Heat fans in the AmericanAirlines Arena found their team tied with Indiana, 79-79 when the buzzer sounded.

The Heat took its first lead of the night since the first quarter on a dunk by Joel Anthony to make it 83-82 with nine minutes and 46 seconds to go. The Pacers tied it up shortly thereafter at 87 all on an and-one by Marquis Daniels, but Wade's driving dunk on the ensuing Heat possession put Miami up for good. Danny Granger hit a three-point shot to make it 98-99 with 2:41 left to go, but the Heat went on a 10-2 run to finish up the game.

Wade finished with 38 points on 15-for-24 shooting from the field. Wade also grabbed four rebounds, dished out eight assists and blocked two shots. On the flip side, Wade missed five free-throws, committed four fouls and turned the ball over four times. This was a nice night by Wade, but he could have more than 40 points if he just made his free-throws and didn't give the ball away to the Pacers.

In the first half, Miami's offensive was seemingly all Wade. But Wade got plenty of help when he needed it most, in the second half during the Heat's late surge. After getting into early foul trouble, Michael Beasley had 17-points on 6-of-11 shooting and six rebounds in just 28 minutes. Beasley scored 10 of Miami's 31 points in the decisive third quarter. The fact that Erik Spoelstra had enough faith in Beasley for him to play in the fourth quarter was an encouraging sign from the rookie forward out of Kansas State.
Shawn Marion also stepped up. One thing I like about Marion is that he never looks for his shot; he just takes what he is given. Marion ended up as Miami's second-leading scorer last night, with 18 points, nine rebounds and a season-high six steals.

It must have been a good night for Udonis Haslem. The 6-foot-8 center not only out-jumped the 7-foot Rasho Nesterovic for the jump-ball, his first of the season, he also had 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds.

This was another night that we saw Mario Chalmers struggle with his shot and Chris Quinn make up for him off the bench. Chalmers missed all four of his field goal attempts while Quinn made three of his six attempts for eight points. Chalmers, however, did collect three steals for Miami.

After the game, Wade spoke of his hopefulness for the team to pull a string of wins together. Miami is one game above .500 with one more home game against Houston before going on a five-game road tirp. I could not think of a better time than now when this young Heat team would begin to mature and gain some type of consistency.

Injury Notes

Miami's 6-foot-11 center, Jamaal Magloire could have his season debut Monday against Houston. Magloire has been riddled with a broken bone in his left hand he sustained in preseason, and could provide some size for the Heat Monday when Haslem is matched up against the 7-foot-5 Yao Ming.

Forward James Jones, Miami's prime off-season acquisition, had his cast removed from his right wrist after surgery during training camp. It was initially projected Jones would be back in the first month of the new year, but Jones thinks he'll be back before the turn of the calender.

"I'm pain free," Jones said. "This is the first time I've been pain free shooting in like three months. It's a weight off my shoulders."

McDyess Would Be Welcome Addition

Heat President Pat Riley went on the record Sunday, saying that his organization has looked into the possibility of signing free agent Antonio McDyess. And while McDyess is a shadow of his former self, adding him would be a welcome addition.

Michael Beasley needs a mentor. This is not to say that he is immature. But throughout his rookie season, Beasley has had his moments and his rookie moments. An average of 15 points and six rebounds is good for any 19-year-old in the League. However, Beasley has shown laziness and confusion on defense. He has been foul-prone. He has not been taking advantage of his post game. In order for Beasley to became that 20 and 10 guy Heat fans want him to be, he will need some advice. McDyess can provide that advice.

McDyess was selected second overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 1995 NBA Draft, the same position Beasley was selected 13 years later. McDyess was known for his explosiveness and averaged 17.8 points and and nearly nine rebounds per game in his first six seasons. Unfortunately, McDyess suffered a serious knee injury, a patellar tendon rupture, during the 2001-02 season. McDyess re-aggravated his injury numerous times before his knee was finally declared healthy in the summer of 2004, when he signed with the Detroit Pistons.

McDyess was a reliable sixth man for Detroit and developed a reputation as a hard-nosed defender who could cause damage from mid-range jumpers. He is now more of a finesse player and a voice in the locker-room. McDyess was once an excellent defender, and could counsel Beasley on man-to-man defense. Miami's last lottery pick, Dwyane Wade, was mentored by Eddie Jones and Caron Butler. Beasley should also be given that privilege to turn him into a better player.

Taking a more broad look at McDyess' effect on the team, the 6-foot-9 forward out of Alabama would help Miami in rebounding. He is 34, but McDyess averaged 8.5 rebounds per game last season, playing 29 minutes for Detroit. And despite his nagging knee injury, he has played 78 games or more in his last three seasons.

The Heat is already capped out at the League's maximum of 15 players per squad. Pat Riley would have to waive one player in order to sign McDyess. Alonzo Mourning's possible return complicates this even further. If Riley decides to sign McDyess and Mourning, he would have to bite the bullet and cut two of his players. Since Riley probably does not want to do that, he will have to make a decision. Mourning's defense and rebounding are superior to that of McDyess, but the 6-foot-10 center out of Georgetown has not said whether he plans to make a comeback. Riley will have to consult with Mourning before even offering McDyess a contract.

The best player for Riley to cut would be Yakhouba Diawara. I know his contract extends to next season, but basing roster decisions on money and not talent would be a mistake. Diawara has been pretty pedestrian throughout this season, despite getting the chance to start twice. With new progress made on James Jones' knee, Diawara may not be needed.

In addition to the four small forwards the Heat currently retains, Pat Riley also signed four point guards. The most cost-effective cut would be to wave goodbye to Shaun Livingston. I know that he has not even played a game for Miami, and I am not an advocate of cutting him. But Livingston will only receive a $400,000 paycheck at the end of the season, and his contract does not extend any further. Mario Chalmers and Chris Quinn have been good options for Miami, and cutting Livingston would be understandable.

McDyess is not a big name. He would not turn the Heat from a .500 team to an elite team in the East. But he would improve Miami's rebounding and be a mentor for Beasley. And with the free agent and trade market as it is, this could be as a good as it gets.

Heat Blow Big Wade Performance

Heat guard Dwyane Wade showed no signs of a sprained right ankle in Wednesday night's game against Toronto. Wade took complete control, scoring a season-high 40 points on 16-of-30 shooting to go along with 11 assists and five blocked shots.Wade's performance, however, was to no avail as Miami lost to the Raptors, 101-96.


After both teams see-sawed with the lead for the entire first half, the Raptors went on a big run in the third quarter. The score at intermission was 43-47 Toronto, but the Raptors built a 17-point lead by the 2:02 mark of the third stanza of play. Andrea Bargnani and Anthony Parker each made two three-pointers in the third quarter. Part of the Heat's problem was its rotation defense, but Coach Erik Spoelstra must share some of the blame. He put the 6-foot-5 Daequan Cook on the 7-foot Bargnani in Toronto and that did not work to well. Why would it work in a change of venue? Spoelstra should know better.

That is not to say the Heat showed a lack of effort. Miami showed great effort last night. Less than four minutes into the final period of play, the Heat took an 84-83 lead on a driving dunk by Wade. But that lead would be short-lived, as Parker hit a three-point shot to give Toronto a two-point lead. Miami then missed its next five shots, and the Toronto lead snowballed to four points with just under six minutes to play. There was still plenty of time, but the Heat had several chances to create and expand lead and came up short time after time.

Wade's layup with two minutes and 45 seconds left in the game made it 91-92. After a dunk by Jermaine O'Neal and a layup by Jose Calderon, Wade's turnaround jumper made it a 96-93 game with just 62 seconds to go. But Parker's three-pointer on Toronto's ensuing possession iced the game for the Raptors.

Watching the game, it felt like the Heat could have won this game. But they could have won this game with some comfort. Shawn Marion, who had 20 points on 10-of-17 shooting, and Wade scored 63% of Miami's points. Only that duo and Cook scored in double figures for Miami. Udonis Haslem missed those 15-foot shots he has been consistent on. Mario Chalmers sank back into his shooting slump and Chris Quinn took too few shots to compensate for Chalmers' off night. Michael Beasley was held to just 12 minutes of action after committing two fouls in the first 72 seconds of play. Beasley wasn't even put in during the critical fourth quarter. And Joel Anthony was not able to affect Miami's defense, committing four fouls in just 15 minutes of action.

To its credit, Miami did narrow the rebounding edge from Sunday's loss. The Raptors won the battle of the boards by just two rebounds. Marion and Haslem both grabbed double-figure rebounds. The Raptors just made the big shots when they counted and the Heat had a two-man show for its offense.

The Heat will host its next two games at home, first against Indiana Saturday and then against Houston Monday. Miami will then go on a five-game road trip. Spoelstra should be telling his young team that it cannot continue to trade wins and losses. The Heat has to get some consistency if it wants to be a resurgent team in the East.

Heat Escape With Road Win

So far this season, Miami has been a one step forward, one step back type of team. The Heat was great at home, but awful on the road. And although the Washington Wizards did not have Gilbert Arenas, Miami played well against the Wizards to escape with a 94-87 road win.

The game stayed tight in the first half, but the Heat went on a run to build up an eight-point lead going into the final stanza of play. Miami had its breathing room for nine minutes of the third quarter before the Wizards went on a 6-0 run to close Miami's gap to 87-90 with just over two minutes to go with a layup from Antawn Jamison. However, that layup would be the last bucket for the Wizards. Shawn Marion and Dwyane Wade both iced the game for Miami in the final minutes of play with two points apiece.

Wade, playing despite suffering a sprained ankle, played very gingerly. He only shot 6-for-16 from the field, but made it to the free-throw line 10 times, grabbed six rebounds, dished out 10 assists, collected two steals and rejected two shots. As always, the turnovers were there for the 6-foot-4 guard out of Marquette. Wade had five mishaps, but no one else had more than two as the entire team had 14 turnovers.
Wade had a quiet start, and Marion was able to step up in the first half. Marion, who logged a team-high 41 minutes of play, shot 5-of-11 from the field for 10 first-half points. Marion cooled down in the second half, but his hot shooting was needed in the first half. The 6-foot-7 forward for Miami finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. One can only speculate, however, whether Marion's role as the offensive focus was a showcase him to other General Managers around the League.

Another unexpected hero for Miami was Mario Chalmers. The rookie out of Kansas shot five-for-seven from the field and three-for-five from downtown en route to a 15 point, six assist performance. Chalmers' minutes at the point were again roughly balanced with Chris Quinn. Quinn scored 10 points on four-of-nine shooting.

While Chalmers finally found his shot, Miami's other rookie had a very rocky game. Second overall pick Michael Beasley played only 16 minutes and got into early foul trouble. Beasley had just two points at halftime and was benched again in the fourth quarter.

Beasley's front-line partner, Udonis Haslem, registered a double-double. The 6-foot-8 center out of Florida had 12 points on five-for-eight shooting and 11 rebounds. Joel Anthony was the first center to replace Haslem and did what he was signed on to do: defense and rebounding. Last night, Anthony had six rebounds and three blocks in just 20 minutes of action.

Daequan Cook provided 13 points off the bench for Miami. Not only did Cook shoot well from the field, he grabbed four rebounds and dished out five assists. In just one year, Cook has gone from a one-dimensional three-point threat to a multifaceted menace.

Erik Spoelstra's team will not get much time to celebrate the win. The Heat will finish the second night of a back-to-back at home against the Toronto Raptors tonight at 7:30 p.m. Miami came up close north of the border, but will have a chance at revenge tonight.

Same Problems, Another Loss

The Miami Heat were not able to take advantage of the undermanned Raptors in a 107-96 matinee match-up Sunday. Will Solomon, starting in place of the injured Jose Calderon stepped up to put Miami back at .500.

Toronto pounded Miami on the boards and inside, reminiscent of the Heat's loss to the Portland Trailblazers last Wednesday. The Heat as a whole only grabbed 35 rebounds, and Udonis Haslem was the only player to get more than six. The Raptors, by contrast, were able to snatch 52 rebounds. Shawn Marion only grabbed four boards and Beasley finished with six. Haslem registered a double-double, with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Erik Spoelstra had a bit of a dilemma going into tonight's game. The Raptors start a lineup that features Jermaine O'Neal and Chris Bosh, both of whom are at least 6-foot-10. With the undersized Heat, Spoelstra knew he would have problems defensively. Beasley struggled against Toronto's height on both ends of the court, only scoring 13 points while missing 10 of his 14 attempted shots. For the Raptors, O'Neal did the damage on the defensive end while Bosh took care of the offense. O'Neal grabbed 18 rebounds while Bosh scored 27 points and got to the free-throw line 15 times.

And just like the Portland game, the Heat let this one get away. Toronto had a two-point lead at the end of three quarters of action before it ballooned to a 10-point lead by the 7:50 mark of the fourth quarter. Miami was able to make a mini-run to cut the lead to 93-98 with just over a minute to play, but the Raptors answered with a six-zero run that all but iced the game for Toronto.

That is what is so disappointing about this game. Spoelstra's team was coming with a height disadvantage, so the rebounding deficit is to be expected (although more out of Marion and Beasley would have been nice). But the Heat let its guard down defensively in the fourth quarter. Rotations were slow and there was little help defense during Toronto's decisive run. This is a young team. There are going to be growing pains, and that is what the Heat is going through right now. But Miami's young players cannot develop until they learn to address their mistakes. Turnovers weren't so much of a factor, but rebounding and defense were.

Dwyane Wade looked good on the stat sheet, and the stat sheet does not lie. Twenty-nine points with eight assists and four steals is nothing to be ashamed of. Shooting 13-for-31 from the field while making it to the free-throw line just four times is something to be ashamed of. But it's more than that. Chalmers could not run the offense and Wade was left to do much of the playmaking. Chris Quinn actually got more minutes of playing time yesterday than Chalmers. Could Quinn move up to the position as the starter? Chalmers has been in a bit of a slump, while Quinn has shown a certain level of calmness as the point guard while being a consistent threat from downtown.

Although Wade played until the end of the game, Miami's star guard sprained his ankle during the third quarter. He sat out Miami's practice earlier today and is listed as a game-time decision for Tuesday's road match-up against Washington. Wade has said that his participation is a priority this season, but it would be better to let this heal than risking a more serious injury. If the team trainer doesn't envision that as a possibility, Wade should play. But the Heat shouldn't risk too much this early in the season.

Dwyane Wade's backup, Daequan Cook, hit four triples yesterday against Toronto on his way to 16 points. But Cook's three first-half three-pointers made the team a little trigger happy. Miami attempted 24 shots from beyond the arc, converting on just eight. These players have to know that relying on the three-point shot does not win games.

Miami will visit the Wizards, as they get a shot at revenge for last week's blowout loss. But Wednesday, the Heat will host the Raptors, with a shot at revenge themselves.

Heat Outduel Wizards

With Shawn Marion back from his two-game absence due to a groin injury, the Miami Heat cruised to a 97-77 win over the Washington Wizards, who are already one-third of the way towards last season's win total.

Marion started and got about 29 minutes of playing time. He played well and looked very fluid, on his way to 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting and 12 rebounds. He did a lot of things that do not show up on the stat sheet, though. His energy on both ends of the court was missed in Wednesday's loss to Portland.

The best player on the court for Miami was (as usual) Dwyane Wade. At the end of 24 minutes of action, Miami had a comfortable 12-point lead. But Wade's 12-point third-quarter performance effectively put the game away, as the third quarter concluded with Miami up by 23. Wade made his first four shots and ended up with 24 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Wade was also able to sit out the fourth quarter, some valuable rest for the player who has had to do a lot of the heavy lifting thus far.

Michael Beasley went away from the Antawn Jamison comparisons and more towards the Rasheed Wallace comparisons tonight. Beasley had a one-handed put-back dunk that got a roar from the crowd in the second quarter and drove past Caron Butler for a third-quarter jam. Beasley's six rebounds were underwhelming, so he'll have to do some more work to get closer to Wallace. However, Beasley displayed a certain level of willingness to get his hands dirty tonight on offense. He finished with 19 points on 9-of-17 shooting.

After letting Portland take them apart on the boards, the Heat were much better rebounding tonight. Miami won the battle of the boards handily, 52-33. In addition to Marion's 12 and Beasley's six, Udonis Haslem grabbed 13 boards and Daequan Cook continued to show his assertiveness on defense with six rebounds.

Haslem had 13 points to go along with his 13 rebounds. Haslem shot an efficient six-of-nine from the field and blocked two shots. There was no apparent height differential between Haslem and Etan Thomas, a plus for Miami. Haslem's new backup, Joel Anthony, struggled with his offense (one-for-four from the field to score just two points) and fouls (four), but will remain ahead of Mark Blount because of his rebounding. Tonight, Anthony grabbed four rebounds, all offensive.

Miami's other detriment in the loss to Portland was its point guard play and turnovers. Chalmers shot just three-of-nine from the field, but had a nice running dunk in the first quarter. The rookie out of Kansas also dished out seven assists and turned the ball over three times, not a stat to be proud of, but an improvement over his five mishaps Wednesday.

Chris Quinn continued to outshine Chalmers tonight. Quinn shot an uneven 4-of-10 from the field, but was manning the point during Miami's decisive third-quarter run. Moreover, Quinn had zero turnovers in 27 minutes of action.

Cook did not shoot well from the field with just three connections on 10 attempts, but has significantly improved his defense. Cook spent time on DeShawn Stevenson, who has a field day every time the Wizards have come down to Miami in recent years. Stevenson ended up with just eight points on two-of-six shooting. It has been a very pleasant surprise to see how much Cook has matured after just one season in the NBA this year.

As good as this win felt, this is a win the Heat was supposed to get. Miami played good team defense, shot well from the field, won the battle of the boards overwhelmingly and kept its turnovers to a relative minimum. Erik Spoelstra's team will have three of its next five games in South Beach before embarking on a five-game road-trip. The season is just starting, but Spoelstra is going to need his team to bolster its record before going on the road-trip.

Lack of Rebounding, Turnovers Plague Heat

In its second game of a three game home-stand, the Miami Heat came up just short in a 104-96 loss to Portland, with rebounding and turnovers the main reasons the Heat lost.

In spite of its lack of size and offensive carelessness, Miami was able to keep it close for most of the game. Dwyane Wade, Michael Beasley, Daequan Cook and Chris Quinn played well, but the Heat let this game slip away. Erik Spoelstra's team had a slim lead with just under 10 minutes to go before letting Rudy Fernandez take over the game.

The lack of size was evident early on. In the first quarter, the Heat had three turnovers combined. Lamarcus Aldridge exploited Miami's smallness with Beasley on him, so it was not surprising to see Portland take an eight-point lead into the second quarter. Miami was able to get Portland out of its inside game, and ended up losing the battle of the boards by just five rebounds. Udonis Haslem grabbed 11 boards, Wade had six rebounds and Cook leaped for five rebounds. But more out of Beasley would have been nice, and Shawn Marion, who missed his second consecutive game with a groin injury, would have been useful last night.

The Heat committed 19 turnovers on the night while forcing only 12 mishaps by the Blazers. Wade had four turnovers (that is not eyebrow-raising), but Mario Chalmers committed five turnovers (that is eyebrow-raising). Chalmers looked very erratic and did not make good decisions in transition. Spoelstra did notice that and balance Quinn's minutes with Chalmers' almost evenly, and Quinn did not commit a turnover in 30 minutes of action.

In spite of all of its mistakes, the Heat made it a ballgame. After Cook nailed a three-pointer to put the Heat up 81-79 with 9:43 to go, Portland went on an 11-2 run to make it a seven-point deficit for Miami with just over six minutes to go. Wade kept Miami close almost all of the way, highlighted by a vicious two-handed dunk over two Portland defenders to make it a four-point game with 40 seconds to go. But on the ensuing possession for the Trailblazers, Steve Blake hit an open three just as the shot-clock was about to expire, putting Miami down 101-94 with just 17 seconds to go.

New addition Yakhouba Diawara started again in the absence of Marion. Diawara did not offer much, and did not even slow down Brandon Roy. If this is all we can expect from Diawara, maybe Dorell Wright can get another chance. However, Spoelstra did not have that in mind. Wright could not get out of his street clothes last night.

Joel Anthony played well, grabbing five boards in 13 minutes off the bench. He guarded Greg Oden when he was put in, and did a good job of boxing him out on defensive possessions, although Oden did score the first points of his career after he grabbed an offensive rebound over Anthony (was that over the back?) and jammed it home.

For the better parts of Miami's season thus far, Chalmers and Quinn have been more than sufficient at point guard and Haslem has exceeded expectations at the pivot. But nowhere more was Miami's lack of sound decision-making and lack of size more apparent than last night.

Heat Come from Behind to Beat Nets

Without his sidekick, Shawn Marion, Dwyane Wade took it up a notch to help his team come back from a 10-point deficit with under six minutes to defeat the Nets in a 99-94 decision.

Vince Carter's three-point shot with Wade right in his face made it an 83-73 game with 5:48 to go. On the Heat's next possession, Wade gave it up to Daequan Cook, who nailed a three. Wade then hit two other triples late in the game, a rarity for the six-foot-four guard out of Marquette to cut more into the lead. Wade's bank-shot made it all tied up at 88 apiece with 1:35 left to go. But it was Chris Quinn who hit six consecutive free-throws late in the game to ice the victory for Miami.

Wade finished with 33 points on 9-of-18 shooting, 11-for-12 from the free-throw line and four-for-seven from downtown. Wade also had five assists and four steals, but also committed six turnovers. However, the Heat as a whole only committed 13 turnovers. When Erik Spoelstra has a player who is going to commit several turnovers, the key for the team is to have other players surrounding Wade who take care of the basketball. The role players have struck the right accord so far this season.

Newcomer Yakhouba Diawara replaced Marion in the starting lineup, a move by Spoelstra to bulk up his defense against Carter. But Diawara was on the court for just 20 minutes, and Spoelstra went to a three-guard lineup, using Cook at the three. Cook shot very well from beyond the arc, scoring 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting. More importantly, however, Cook kept Carter honest on defense.

Carter finished with 22 points on 7-for-16 shooting and Keyon Dooling had 18 on the night. But Miami's biggest problem defensively was against Yi Jianlian. The seven-foot forward out of China was simply too lengthy for the six-foot-nine Michael Beasley. Yi finished with a double-double, registering 24 points and 10 rebounds while hitting five three-pointers from beyond the arc.

That is not to say that Beasley had a bad game. The rookie out of Kansas State finished with 19 points on 8-of-18 shooting and six rebounds. Fifteen of Beasley's 19 points came in the first half, as he showcased his mid-range ability and his low-post moves last night.

After six chances, Spoelstra has finally decided to take Mark Blount out of the center rotation. Blount, who averaged less than four points and not even two rebounds this season, was inactive last night. Joel Anthony, the sophomore center, got 16 minutes of playing time last night. Anthony had four rebounds in his first outing of the season, one shy of Blount's season high.

Guard Marcus Banks (hip injury) was active but did not play last night. Spoelstra has seemingly settled on his one-two point guard punch of Mario Chalmers and Quinn. It will be interesting to see how Spoelstra (or maybe Pat Riley, upstairs) will deal with point guards Chalmers and Shaun Livingston after Chalmers and Quinn have exceeded expectations.

Hoping to see forward Dorell Wright get some playing time with Marion out? Keep on hoping. Wright could not even get out of his street clothes last night. Spoelstra said that the reason Wright did not dress was to continue to get back in shape after last summer's knee surgery.

Miami (4-3) is now second in the Southeast Division and currently have the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. The Heat is 3-0 on its home-court, but will be tested Wednesday by the Portland Trailblazers at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

Heat Host Nets

Yeah, the Heat lost to the New Orleans Hornets, courtesy of an electrifying Chris Paul and an off Michael Beasley. But for a team that is already one-fifth of the way to last season's win total six games in the season, it is hard for a fan to complain.

Miami opens a three game home-stand tonight against the New Jersey Nets. New Jersey will be without Devin Harris, who was involved in the Jason Kidd trade last seasob. New Jersey (2-3) will field a new-look team that features Bobby Simmons, Yi Jianlian, Keyon Dooling, Brook Lopez and the familiar sight of Vince Carter.

Carter has averaged 21.8 points per game in his first five outings. The task of guarding him will be given to Shawn Marion. Marion should be able to keep up with Carter and make things difficult for him, but Carter can go all the way out to the three-point line to knock down a shot. Marion will have to honor that if he wants to keep Carter grounded.

The Heat already has an identity. It is a team with active hands, sneaky steals and an efficient offense. Dwyane Wade has played as well as anyone could have expected him to. Through six games, the Beijing gold-medalist has averaged 26.2 points, eight rebounds and six-and-a-half rebounds per game. Beasley is not as lucky, but has still had his moments. One cannot expect a 19-year-old to suddenly become a definitive second scoring option, but 16 points and six rebounds through six games are good numbers by any standard.

Miami's youthful exuberance has been able to conceal its small front-line against teams such as the San Antonio Spurs and Philadelphia 76ers. But it has been noticeable in the Heat's losses. With word coming out of Miami that Jamal Magloire is close to returning, it only provides more optimism for Heat fans. He was pretty pedestrian in his preseason appearances, but Mark Blount has been completely invisible.

James Jones is progressing nicely, as his return will surely be a welcome one. Chris Quinn has been able to score 14 points or more in his last two appearances, with consistent shooting from beyond the arc. Erik Spoelstra needed someone to step up in the absences of both Jones and Marcus Banks. Quinn has emerged as the unsung hero.

Miami has six of its next eight games in the AmericanAirlines Arena before going on a five-game road trip in the West. Spoelstra will undoubtedly be looking to polish his roster to sustain the potential unevenness on his road trip. Spoelstra can only hope that it will start tonight, against a depleted Nets team.

Heat Spur to Victory

After Tony Parker scored a career-high 55 points, the former Finals MVP landed awkwardly after going up for a layup with just under two minutes to play in the first quarter and will miss the next two to four weeks of play.

That is bad news for the Spurs, who were already undermanned with Manu Ginobili out after his Olympic injury. But for the Miami Heat, it got above the .500 mark for the first time this season, snagged its first road win and beat the Spurs in San Antonio for the first time in over a decade.

Even before Parker sprained his ankle, Erik Spoelstra got his team to put together an 18-0 run in the first quarter that got Miami to jump to a 24-9 lead. The young Heat team never relinquished its lead, despite some mini-runs by San Antonio throughout the game.

Dwyane Wade was nothing short of spectacular. The Finals MVP for the Heat side is back. A few days ago, he said he was out of rhythm, but he seemed in a very good rhythm last night. The six-foot-four guard out of Marquette had 33 points on 14-of-25 shooting, grabbed 10 rebounds, had nine assists, three steals with just one foul. Wade was also very active on defense, deflecting passes and contesting shots. Because of Wade's leadership, the rest of the team played active defense. That's a good sign from Miami's vocal leader. Wade's only blemish was his three turnovers, but the rest of his team only committed five. By comparison, the Spurs had 14 mishaps.

While Wade seized the spotlight on national television, Michael Beasley did not disappoint. The rookie out of Kansas State had 20 points, converted on all 10 of his free-throw attempts, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked two shots. Beasley looked very mature and calm in his first nationally-televised game. The one particular moment that stood out to me was in the third quarter. After Mario Chalmers blocked a layup shot by forward Ime Udoka, Beasley got the ball in transition. He had Wade by his side. Instead of trying an alley-oop, Beasley just gave Wade a soft bounce pass for a dunk. You will not see many 19-year-old's doing that, but Spoelstra has sent the right message to this kid.
The other rookie in the starting lineup, Chalmers, also played well. Although he did not look for his shot, he did a good job as a facilitator. The rookie out of Kansas had seven assists on the night. But the most pleasant surprise for Chalmers was his active defense. Parker never got anything easily in the first quarter, and that was due in large part to Chalmers.

An average fan would not have been able to notice Miami's past woes at the point guard position. Chris Quinn came off the bench to score 15 points in just 17 minutes. Quinn made the San Antonio defense pay for leaving him open. Quinn connected on five three-pointers, which was especially helpful with the absence of James Jones. It will be interesting to see what Spoelstra will do with Marcus Banks, who missed last night's game with a hip injury. If Quinn and Chalmers continue to be a solid one-two punch, Spoelstra may be faced with a bit of a dilemma.

Udonis Haslem (again) over-preformed at the five. The 6'8" center registered a double-double, with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Haslem made the occasional mistake of fronting Tim Duncan, but Haslem had a very strong night overall. It seems as if Marion, though active, is looking out-of-place in this offense.

In addition to Quinn, another bench hero was Daequan Cook. Following a late San Antonio run that got the lead down to 89-80 with over two minutes to go, Wade drove into the lane and kicked it out to Cook for the nail in the coffin. Cook finished with 10 points on four-of-eight shooting in 28 minutes.

The Heat will have no time to savor this win, with another road game against Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets at 8 p.m. on NBATV.

A New Era

40 years after civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, a majority of the citizens of the United States of America elected a Black man to be the leader of its nation.

While there is still surely bigotry and racism in this country, we start everything on a whole different baseline. As much as people have said we have progressed to achieve a more perfect union, it could never truly be achieved until our country, predominantly white, could entrust a Black man to handle the highest office in the land.

President-elect Barack Obama did not get a majority of the White vote. No Democrat does. But he was able to ensure the support of 48% of Whites, higher than any Democrat has received since Jimmy Carter. This was truly a historic moment not just for Blacks, who have had their ancestors bleed and die for a greater cause, but a moment for all Americans to rejoice in a time of progress, no matter your political ideology.

I talked to a very good friend of mine the day after the election. He had always been cautious to declare Obama as the likely winner in this election, partly because there is still a significant amount of racists in this country. He told me that this represented a new period, a new era of this country. For a long time, he was told that people like him could only make it in life if there were dribbling a ball or rapping a lyric. Now, he can tell his daughters that they can become a president of the United States of America. And he assured to me that this not is progress for Blacks, it is progress for all Americans. When George W. Bush became president, people said, "His father was also president and his grandfather was a senator." With Obama, he literally came out of nowhere and came from nothing.

The 44th president will have the largest inbox of any president since Franklin Roosevelt's inaguration in 1933 at the most depressing time of the Great Depression. There are a multitude of duties on his plate. He has already started assembling his new administration, with Rahm Emmanual accepting Obama's offer as the new Chief of Staff. There will be no honeymoon for Obama, because he will have to get to work.

John McCain gave a very gracious concession speech late Tuesday night. He said he would help Obama win, and that Americans should come together. Yet I have seen several Republicans talk about the end of America and how the U.S. will soon turn into a socialist country. Every time I hear one of my conservative friends tell me this, I merely ask them to look at McCain's concession speech. I can not begin to fathom why anyone would not at least hope that Obama has a good presidency. We are in some very, very difficult perilous economic times. The Democrats did not reach a filibuster-proof majority, so the Republicans will still be able to filibuster.

This is a new era in America. The barrier has been broken, the glass cieling has been shattered. Let the reconstruction begin.

Redemption Day

In less than one hour, the first statewide polls will close, and the counting will begin to determine the 44 President of the United States of America and the 111 Congress.

There is no one questioning the evident result of the Senatorial and Congressional races: the Democrats will increase its majority in both houses of Congress. The question will be if the Democrats can reach the threshold of 60 Senators in the Democratic caucus. There are currently 49 Democrats in the Congress, but Joe Liberman and Bernie Sanders caucus with the Democrats. Senate races in Alaska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon and Virginia are slightly tilting blue. The Senate races in North Carolina and Minnesota are pure tossups -- both have gotten particularly nasty in recent weeks. The Democrats also have a chance to win seats in Kentucky, Georgia and Mississippi, as they would have 61 Senate seats in the best-case scenario. That would give Harry Reid the liberty to kick out McCain-backer Lieberman out of the Democratic caucus and still retain 60 seats in the Senate. It will take some luck for the Democrats to get to 60, but they will retain a big majority no matter what.

Everyone talks about a a 60-seat Senate for the Democrats "filibuster proof". While it is true 60 votes in the Senate is filibuster-proof, there are some socially conservative Democrats and some economically conservative Democrats. Therefore, Reid will need to try to bring some Republicans over on issues such as Iraq, the economy and healthcare in order to achieve a cloture vote to end a filibuster.

Now let's move on to the big race. Everybody will be watching this one, even people outside of the United States. This is the first time to sitting Senators are facing each other. This is the first time a Black man is the nominee of a major party. This is the first time both candidates were born outside of the continental United States -- John McCain in Panama Canal Zone and Barack Obama in Hawaii. Additionally, this is the second time a woman is running as the running mate of the presidential candidate. This is also the first time a Roman Catholic is running for vice-president.

There are two possibilities for America. One, John McCain wins. The next four years will look like the last eight, and it will be a disaster. Or two, Barack Obama will be elected president of the United States of America. That would be truly amazing. As I said, the entire world will have its eyes upon us today. Our standing in the world has gone down the drain these past eight years. This is America's chance to prove that George W. Bush was not the rule, he was the exception. This is America's chance to prove that we have progressed as a nation, that 40 years after Martin Luther King Jr. was shot to death, these United States of America would elect a man of African heritage to be president of its nation. This is not only Election Day, it is Redemption Day.

It would be a big change. A seismic change. But we have had this before. In 1779, George Washington left office after eight years, and passing the baton to John Adams. This marked the first time in recorded human history in which a non-relative was transferred the authority of the highest office of a country without death, rebellion or violence being the cause. That was a big change. I hope we are in store for another one, Nov. 4, 2008, Redemption Day.