News On The Horizon 5/17/2013

Who's That Guy? Norris Cole!--Grantland
Norris Cole Dunked, Heat Eliminate Bulls with 94-91 Win [Video]--The Big Lead
Erik Spoelstra plays Miami Heat point guards more--Miami Herald
Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade intends to play despite painful knee injury: ‘It is what it is’--Miami Herald

PICKING UP THE SLACK

For now, it’s up to players such as Chris Bosh, Ray Allen, Norris Cole and Mario Chalmers to carry the load for Wade.

Last year, despite his knee injury, Wade helped propel the Heat past Indiana when Bosh was out with an abdominal injury. It appears Bosh is now doing his part to account for Wade’s lack of production. After his 20-point, 19-rebound effort in Game 3, Bosh made seven of his first eight shots in Game 4. With Wade going 0 of5 from the field to begin the game — and 3 of 10 overall — the Heat needed Bosh to be on his game.

Said James: “When one guy goes down, another guy has to step up or the same guys just step up more, and we know that D-Wade is battling an injury right now and he’s nowhere near 100 percent, so everyone has to step up.”

Reserves spark Miami Heat comeback--Miami Herald
Linda Robertson: Chicago Bulls gasp as Miami Heat cuts lifeline--Miami Herald

Who else but Dwyane Wade to deliver the crushing blows. First he came on with a lovely floater, and the expression on Heat players’ faces changed from perplexed to miffed, as in let’s get this done already. Sure enough, a moment later Wade elevated as high as he’s been in a month to slam a follow-up of a Norris Cole miss.
...
Cole passed to Chris “Birdman” Andersen for a dunk that inflamed the crowd and narrowed the gap to three points. Battier shook off his shooting doldrums. Then Cole sank a three to give Miami its first lead since 4:27 of the second quarter. When Cole snaked inside to dunk over the Bulls’ big men, the suspense began to ebb away.

Miami Heat eliminates Chicago Bulls, advances to Eastern Conference Finals--Miami Herald
Heat's Dwyane Wade ready to move past injury talk--South Florida Sun Sentinel

"He's a competitor," guard Norris Cole said. "We don't doubt him. We don't worry too much in the locker room about what the media says. We know if he's out there, he's going to give us his all. We all know what he's capable of. His credentials speak for themselves. He's going to be productive in some type way for us."

Hyde5: Five things we learned from Heat-Bulls series--South Florida Sun Sentinel
Now the playoffs really start for Heat--South Florida Sun Sentinel
Heat blow lead, find way to finish off Bulls 94-91--South Florida Sun Sentinel

In a laughter that became a near disaster, the Heat found a way behind 23 points from LeBron James, 18 from Dwyane Wade in a sharp bounce back from his knee issues, 12 from Chris Bosh and a late bench spark provided by Norris Cole and Shane Battier.

You expected a relaxed evening? You got Heat fans jumping off their seats when Norris Cole hit a jump shot, then ran down the lane with a dunk, to give the Heat a lead for the first time since the second quarter.

3. Norris Cole can change games (depending on the matchup). He had 18 points in each of Games 2 and 3. He shot nine of 11 on 3-point shots in the series. He kept Chicago’s 5-6 Nate Robinson from shooting over 40 percent in the final four games when he began to be used on him more. Even in Game 5, when Cole had only five points, four game in the final minutes to spark the Heat, including a drive through the lane and dunk.

But don’t overdo this: At six-feet, Cole needs the right matchup to play. The small Robinson was a perfect fit for him and a tough cover for Mario Chalmers. Indiana has 6-2 George Hill, so that’ll be interesting to see how it works.
...
5. The Heat need to shoot better on 3-pointers. This team relies on great shooters from distance to separate themselves some nights. Cole aside, they aren’t burning it up in the playoffs. LeBron (32.1 percent), Allen (37.8), Shane Battier (26.1) and Mike Miller (16.7) are all shooting below their season average – Allen is the closest at 4.5 percent below his season average.

McCallum to Attend NBA Pre-Draft Camp--detroittitans.com
Detroit Titans Court Report Nominated for Michigan Emmy--detroittitans.com

UWGB gets investigator's report; Wardle decision could take 2 weeks--Green Bay Press Gazette
UWGB receives investigator's report on Wardle, decision coming--UWGB Hoops Blog

Amanda Braun will build carefully at UWM--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Malcolm Moore chooses Milwaukee--PantherU

Former Alabama center Moussa Gueye transfers to Valparaiso--CollegeBasketballTalk
3-point shot: ACC and MSG?--College Basketball Nation Blog

2. Valparaiso picked up a key big man in Alabama 7-foot transfer Moussa Gueye. Gueye, according to Valpo coach Bryce Drew, can play immediately. Gueye originally committed to the Crusaders before going to Alabama. Gueye blocked 52 shots last season for the Tide. He'll be a major distraction for teams in the Horizon League and give the defending conference champs quite a frontline with 6-9 Bobby Capobianco, 6-8 Rice transfer David Chadwick and 6-10 big man Vashil Fernandez.

Valparaiso lands Moussa Gueye -- for real, this time--The Wisdom of Oz
Alabama's Moussa Gueye transfers to Valparaiso--The NWI Times
Moussa Gueye and Mohamed Kone--Inside VU Sports
Early look at 2013-14 Valparaiso Men's Basketball team--Inside VU Sports

Bradbury looking forward to summer practices--Dayton Daily News

McCallum to Participate in NBA Pre-Draft Camp--Horizon League Network