HEAT v. Mavs

no photos cause im in a rush...

I'm taking the Heat in 7. Why? Because I think the Heat with the resurgence of Haslem and Miller finally have a unit in the last 6 minutes of the 2nd quarter and 4th quarter to close out. The problem with the Heat all season has been the inability to get 5 people on the floor at once who have to be defended. That unit is also rebounding. The Bulls in my opinion have a better defense than the Mavs, yet, the Heat were able to execute in the half-court when they needed to even with a lackluster Dwayne Wade for 3 games.

Now, the Mavs are a different story. They have the best team offense in the NBA. Watching them against OKC, who many considered to have the most offensive firepower in the playoffs, was a joke. OKC, like Miami, is a team the depends heavily on isolation. The problem for the Thunder was that Durant was aggressive for two games and part of game 4. The rest of the time, he didn't actively come to the ball. A lot of people blame Westbrook, but I saw a very stagnant offense that didn't move and Westbrook was forced to go one on one many times. The Mavs did a great job controlling the paint, closing out, and keeping Westbrook out of the paint although he did get them in transition.

The Mavs offense is very reminiscent of the old Adelman Kings or Trailblazers. Not that they play Princeton, but I have never seen a team move the ball as well and as much. There's almost no dribbling and picture perfect basketball. They are very difficult to defend because the offensive angles are constantly changing and defenders get caught in the wrong positions. OKC also allowed Dirk to go one on one with Ibaka and Collison, which is what the Heat should do with Haslem or Bosh on Dirk. Play him one on one, don't foul and let him get his buckets. But, do NOT leave Terry, Kidd, or Marion and make sure to box out Chandler.

I am taking the Heat because I think they are capable of turning Dallas into an isolation team, which is not their strength. They are not going to win on Dirk's back, their strength is team basketball. The Heat's biggest weakness is in the paint and at PG. Joel Anthony is giving it his all, but Tyson Chandler will have his way. That said, the Mavs are a much less aggressive front line and Bosh should have more success on the glass. Miller/Haslem should also be able to get boards and make up for Chandler's advantage over Anthony.

The one guy who I think will light the Heat up is Jose Juan Barea. He's the one guy on the Mavs that the Heat just can't match up with. I'm guessing that Carlisle will deploy him when Wade is on the bench and they are forced to play Chalmers/Bibby. The difference is going to become, can Terry/Barea get the Mavs such a cushion at the beginning of the 2nd and 4th quarters that Bron/Wade/Bosh can't make up for in the end of the 2nd and 4th?

We know that Wade, Bron, Bosh, Nowitzki, Terry are going to get theirs. The question comes down to the Bareas, Stevensons, Haslems and Millers of the world. First bench player to 15 probably wins it for his team each night. I think that Haslem/Miller/Bibby/Chalmers will get the Heat just enough (25 to 30 a game) to win because the Mavs can't match up one on one with the big 3. Kidd will do his best and limit Wade, but Terry is their second best offensive player and he's gonna get lit up defensively. There is no one in the world who can guard Bron and Bosh will keep it close enough with Nowitzki because Dirk actually plays into some of Bosh's strengths by being more of a perimeter player. Keep the Mavs under 100, keep Dirk under 28, Heat win.

PARTY AND BLUE CRABS

It's gonna be LIVE. We bringin' blue crabs and all that other game to East Broadway. Your boi boi Elliot Aronow aka The Hair will be hosting, Prince Language with the heat rocks, and I'll be by the bar. No cover, no bullshit, just some mother fuckers who wanna party. AIIITTEEE?

Shouts to Our Show and No Comprendo/DFA

Food Gold Video Party: Loco Moco with Eddie Huang and Ninjasonik from Mr Goldbar on Vimeo.

BLUE CRAB DINNER AT LTO

Starting Friday, I'll be at LTO doing a blue crab dinner. It's gonna be dope. I did the dinner just like we would at home, but with some new additions. Spring/Summer we always bring icebox duck wings with us fishing, crabbing, or barbecues. They are braised duck wings that get chilled in the fridge overnight cause they taste better cold. The skin gets a real interesting texture.

Fried Oyster Po Baos w/ red sausage pate is something we've been doing at Baohaus the last few weeks. It sounds crazy, but it's the bao as usual with a fried oyster getting the same prep as our chicken but it's topped with pickled radish/carrots as opposed to the haus relish. More sweetness and acidity that way.

Hunan ham hock w/ stir fried leeks is a classic dish, but nothing goes better with blue crab than corn so we take fresh corn kernels and throw them in the mix. Smoky, a little spicy, and sweet.

This sounds like a fusion dish, but it's not. Cajun and Taiwanese people both make sausages out of rice. For Cajuns it's boudin, for Taiwanese people it's a sticky rice in casing. We're going to do the sticky rice sausage with some pork butt, liver, sticky rice, and serve it with homemade sweet chili sauce.

Other highlights for me are the Gator Tail, which is something we grew up eating in Florida and the FOB chicken. It's a half roasted chicken seasoned with sichuan peppercorns, anise, ginger, salt and pepper, then served with skin crisped from hot infused oil.