FOULEDOUT!

Erik Celino Spoelstra was named as the new head coach of Miami Heat after Pat Riley stepped down. I’m not really familiar with this Spoelstra and I was thrilled to find out that he’s a Filipino-American. Spoelstra’s mother hails from San Pablo, Laguna and his father is a Dutch-Irish. He has been to the Philippines only once.

Spoelstra originally joined the Miami Heat organization as a video tape coordinator in 1995. He also helped the team in individual player training taking credit for honing Dwyane Wade’s shooting.

At 37 years old, Spoelstra is the youngest NBA head coach today. He is 69 days younger than second youngest head coach, Lawrence Frank of the New Jersey Nets.

After spending 13 seasons with the Heat organization, Spoelstra finally climbed up the ladder and got his chance to call the shots for the Heat.

If my memory serves me right, I think Erik Spoelstra is the first and only Fil-Am who became a head coach for an NBA team. Kudos to the man. Congratulations and good luck to Erik Spoelstra for his tenure as the Miami Heat head coach.

-fouledout

Miami Heat 92

Chicago Bulls 99*

Dwayne Wade and Shawn Marion combined for 53 points but still lost to the Chicago Bulls dropping their ninth straight game.

Kirk Hinrich stepped up for the Bulls who are playing without Ben Gordon, Luol Deng and Ben Wallace. Hinrich came off the bench and finished with 24 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. He had plenty of help from his teammates. Three Bulls players finished with double-doubles. Joe Smith had 19 points and 11 rebounds, Thabo Sefolosha had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Tyrus Thomas contributed 10 points and 12 rebounds. Andres Nocioni chipped in 18 points.

Only Wade and Marion scored in double figures for the Miami Heat. Wade finished with 30 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assist while Marion had 23 points and 7 rebounds. Jason Williams and Marcus Banks had 9 points apiece for the Heat.

Dallas Mavericks   97

Phoenix Suns    109*

Defending MVP Dirk Nowitzki posted 36 points for the Dallas Mavericks but it wasn’t enough to beat the fiery Phoenix Suns on Valentine’s Day.

Amare Stoudamire and Leandro Barbosa had 26 points each for the Suns and Steve Nash finished with 24 points and 13 assists.

Jason Terry scored 29 points for the Mavericks but he and Dirk got little help from their teammates. No other Maverick scored in double digits except for Dirk and Terry. Dallas swingman Eddie Jones had 9 points while Devean George and Brandon Bass each had 7 points.

-fouledout

Is the grass greener in the desert?

The Phoenix Suns finalized a trade with Miami Heat and acquired Shaquille O’Neal in exchange for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks.

“We’re thrilled to add a player and person of Shaquille’s quality to our roster. We believe this addition strengthens our team.” President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Steve Kerr said.

Shaq, a 16-year NBA veteran is one of the most prolific scorer and rebounder in the history of the NBA. But that was the thing of the past. It seems like ages since we last saw Shaq in action. He was plagued by injuries in the recent years and his hip problems have kept him out of the hard court for the last couple of weeks.

The 7-1, 325 pound center owns a career average of 25.6 points and 11.5 rebounds. He is a 14-time All-Star and won the NBA championship three times with the L.A. Lakers and once with the Heat.

Shawn Marion spent his entire career in Phoenix. He played for the Suns since he was drafted ninth overall in the 1999 NBA Draft. Marion is a four-time All-Star and considered as one of the most all-around players in the NBA. He owns a career average of 18.4 points and 10.0 rebounds.

Marcus Banks was acquired by the Suns in 2006 and has seen very limited playing time. He is averaging 5.2 points and 1.0 assists in 24 games this season.

-fouledout