Daryl Harkin

First off, I want to say that i am a Miami Heat fan and that I'm ecstatic about how Pat Riley handled his business. He was a good player, a great coach and after this an amazing General Manager.

Lebron James

Although I am happy with getting Lebron James and Chris Bosh, I do not like how Lebron James handled it. I realise that Lebron did whats best for him and his career, but to drag it out like he did, and then announce it on a "Lebron James Free Agency Special" on ESPN was simply the wrong way to go about it. No wonder Dan Gilbert and Cleveland feel betrayed, i don't blame Dan for writing his open letter on the Cavalier's website, he is true in everything he says, except for the claim that Cleveland will win a ring before Lebron. That is a statement if i ever heard one! (Also on a side note, he Gilbert couldn't have picked a girlier font to write an angry letter in, i mean Comic Sans, really?)

In my opinion what Lebron should have done was announce that he's leaving as soon as possible, it would have softened the blow a little, oh and don't do it on national TV, on your own TV special. Also, the way he got the hopes up of teams like the Clippers and the Nets, and maybe the Knicks was just wrong. I mean why bring those teams out to give him a pitch if they didnt have a chance in the first place. Just a waste of time, and from now on Lebron won't be known as the great player that he is, but a traitor.

I think J A Adande is right when he said that Lebron made everyone look bad in this whole situation. Wade and Bosh look bad for courting Lebron, The Heat look bad because Lebron will be wearing their number 6 next year, The media look bad for stringing the public along (when they didnt know any better that the public themselves) and well Lebron is just the most hated man in 49 states in America.

Miami Heat

Will the Heat win a Title right off the bat? Personally, i think no. A team does not consist of 1 player, nor does it consist of 3, No matter who they are. But they definitely are contenders. Miami have 4 players on contract as of now (Mario Chalmers being the 4th) since they got rid of Beasley for basically nothing. He might as well have been traded for a washing machine! Pat Riley still has a lot of work ahead of them. For us to win a title in two years, "The Bigger Three" will have to accept less than a maximum contract. And if they all are being completely honest when they say "It's not about the money, its about winning" then we should expect to see that.

Miami need to address two positions, the 1 and the 5. As far as im concerned we should pick up players that put us in the position to beat the L.A Lakers, cause without a doubt the Lakers are the best team in the league. I think we needed Brendan Haywood to match up to Andrew Bynum to be honest, but he resigned with Dallas and now we're basically screwed. Miami need length! Mario might be able to do a "Rondo" with the big three, i think he can, good passer and has been playing off Wade for two years now, the man can shoot the ball. Miami also need a consistent spot up shooter. Ideally, Anthony Morrow is the man for the job, but the rumour mill is saying we''re looking at Mike Miller.I don't like it but i wouldn't argue with Riles. We have a couple of nice draft picks too, i sincerely hope that Da'Sean Butler gets healthy because he's a great competitor and has great potential, especially with Wade and Lebron as mentor's.

I here a lot of people saying that these three "great" players cannot play with each other, that there isn't enough basketball to go around. I think this is crazy, great players get the job done, sacrifices will be made and the Heat will win games. As for who's team it is, It is, has been and always will be Wade's team! Wade is a winner, he's got his ring. he knows how to get there! I see Lebron becoming a serious facilitator(Dare i say it, the next Magic Johnson), Wade will score alot cause that what he does best, and with a post presence like Bosh there's a nice base there. Plus "The Bigger Three" is very defensive orientated.

Wade and the other two are sticking by there guns that Erik "Mini Riles" Spoelstra will be coaching the heat, "He is their Coach". Something tells me, come mid season, or when the Heat lose two games in a row, Riles will be downstairs handling egos.

Chris Bosh

Hear alot of people saying that Chris Bosh is only a good player, i consider him a great player. The best big man in free agency, he was a part of a bad team and more importantly a bad organisation. I see him flourishing in the Heat's great organisation, plus he has the least amount of pressure on him.

That's me for now... few predictions for who's left (that matters)!

David Lee - NJ/ or a trade for Al Jefferson
Shaq - Who knows, Miami maybe ?
Scola - Houston treated him well, i see him staying home.
Childress - Hawks ?
Haslem - Staying in the 305 (Miami)
Tyrus Thomas - Replace Bosh in Toronto maybe ?

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My Time @ King College Tennessee so far...

So... Niall asked me to write about my experience in Tennessee so far, I’m a bit behind so bear with me I’ll try and get you all caught up. So I arrived at King after a 24 hour flight stopping in three different American cities on the 16th of August. Classes would start on the 17th so I was thrown right into the mix. I was so tired and had so much to do the first two days that I remember very little from those days. Because King is a relatively small campus it didn’t take long before everyone knew that I was the "Irish guy" on campus, a lot of people would come up and to me just to hear me speak, even at this stage some people choice to call me “Ireland” rather than Daryl.

Before I arrived I had been in touch with my coach on playing at King and helping out there Basketball program. King College had excelled in the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) division over the last 5 or 6 years, therefore they had made moves to make the step up to NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Division two, I had just happened to arrive in their transition year. This year they will be competing in the (National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association) but playing against Division 1 and 2 schools. When I arrived I found out that I would be playing on the Junior Varsity Squad, however before I could play I had to become eligible through the NCAA Clearinghouse.

This would end up being a longer process than I expected, and because I was European the process was made more difficult. Initially I was able to proof that I am a true amateur, which Niall helped me out with. I was told I was cleared to practice so I got off the sideline, before I was told I didn’t have to prove that I was academically sound because I was on a one year scholarship but that soon changed so I sent the Clearinghouse my A Level results, which they processed, but said it wasn’t enough and asked for my GCSE's. By the time I had become fully eligible I had missed three games including the school’s alumni game.

While I was cleared the first time preseason conditioning had begun, this meant getting up most weekdays at 6 am to go to the track. Every roster member was required to run a mile in a set time (5.45 for guards, 6.45 for forwards, and 7.00 for centres); on top of this the team would then go to the track later in the day for conditioning and have individual workouts throughout the day, as well as attending classes and study hall (the team studies together). As soon as I was cleared by the eligibility centre I made sure I made my mile the first time I attempted it, there was no way I was running it twice, I ran it in 5.30 and nearly died after, I still had to get up with the team to go to the track until everyone made their mile. This is when I noticed for the first time the bond between the players on a College Basketball team, those who completed their laps would still be up at 6 am, lined up around the track, encouraging the rest of the team to "make it this time". It was funny cause the people who lived beside the track used to hate us and you would occasionally hear them screaming out the window for us to be quiet.

It was a frustrating time for me after this because I was cleared to practice but not to play. So all I could do during game was sit on the sidelines, I ended up riding pine for all the wrong reasons. Our JV roster consisted of, walk ons and recovering Varsity players or new Varsity recruits who wouldn't get as much time on Varsity. I remember watching our second game of the season at home against "Bluefield" we won by 30 or 40 while I sat on the bench. To me our roster doesn't look like much a basketball roster, Bluefield looked athletic, I’m pretty sure they thought they'd walk over us. Our roster consists of one 6"9 280 pounder, we call him "Big Boy" or "Meat", and the rest of the roster is 6"1 and smaller. The advantage we had over other teams was that we could shoot, Snapp was our main weapon, 3 point machine, range like Wi-Fi, he went off on Bluefield, scored 25 in the first half. Cory Brown was our backup point guard but could start in my opinion; he looks small but was lightening fast and could just score at will. He was back up behind Batson, King's main recruit this year. He was playing JV to get accustom to King's system. Drew is our 4 man and our captain, smaller than me but athletic as anything, easily our best rebounder. I realized really quickly that I wasn’t going to play the point, when I eventually became eligible in fact it was more likely for me to fit in the forward position simply because of the fact that our team was so small. I would eventually become eligible for our first game against our local rivals Milligan. That’s enough for now ill update you on my first couple of games in my next entry.

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My thoughts on the Free Agency!

My Time @ King College Tennessee so far...

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