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Defense, Not Ego, Cost Heat Championship

June 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Even after the Mavs have won the title, the media can’t stop trying to make it all about Lebron James. In praising the Mavs and their style of play, they seem to want to portray the Heat as the antithesis – a team all about ego, superstars, Hollywood, glitz. A team with all sizzle and no steak. Meanwhile, the Mavs are the desperate veteran team that came together for the right reasons, to try and eek out one more run to get the hardware associated with greatness – an NBA championship.

After probably the most heavily scrutinized season in any professional sport, the Heat made it all the way to the Finals with a chance to win the whole darned thing. That should be valued as a successful season for any team, let alone this one. The level of expectation being so high says a lot, however. The Heat’s take-no-prisoners proclamation at the beginning of the season makes them the bad guys. Stating publicly what your lofty goals are is hybris in the eyes of the media. You have to earn it.

Jason Terry flaunts a trophy tattoo on his right arm and everyone thinks that is endearing. He is only trying to give himself a goal. Maybe because he choked so bad in the 2006 series, and was no where to be found for the most part in this current series, he was given a free pass.

Yet no other team was so heavily attacked and scrutinized, you have to wonder what effect it had on this series – did it affect the officiating, for example? Lebron James averaged about 9 free throw attempts per game in the regular season but struggled to find 4 in the Finals in any game. Is it possible that taking away a large part of James’ game, drawing contact and while getting to the rim and getting FTAs, may have had a dampening effect on his game? You bet. The outside opinions speak volumes. Here are a few that badmouth the Heat.

Ohio Governor John Kasich proclaims a resolution for the Mavericks beating Lebron James

A sense of entitlement keeps the Heat from winning

First of all, a governor wasting any time worrying about Lebron James just goes to show you how screwed up the politics are in his state. No wonder the economy sucks in Ohio. Then, to say the Heat lost the Finals because of their sense of entitlement is definitely a sign of a bitter axe to grind. Let’s totally block out the fact that another team was playing in the series, one that was making more and better shots as the series pushed on and played stingier defense, too. This is just a taste of what the Heat have faced this season – a bitter public invested in the idea of pointing the blame at one person alone – Lebron James.

If you can remove James from the Heat, maybe the story changes. The perception definitely would as Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade are not as polarizing as James. But you can’t remove James from this team. He is a part of it – he is a part of why they got this far. Anyone else saying otherwise is just being blinded by their own hatred of James and his Decision. Most are so overly invested in The Decision that they are indeed held hostage by it. You can’t explain why so many are, but you can’t explain anything about the Heat’s situation without it.

The reason why the Heat lost this series, on their end, was they stopped playing defense. When the series started, the Mavs were overwhelmed by the speed of this team’s defense. Everyone was showering praise on the Heat’s ability to close out on shooters and force the Mavs to speed up their shots, putting them out of rhythm. The Heat also swarmed in and forced the Mavs to be a one-man team, daring Dirk to beat them. As the series wore on, not only did the Mavs start hitting their three point shots with regularity, but the rest of the team started to contribute on the offensive end as well. Jason Terry, who had never even gotten off the bus, had started hitting shots and doing his biplane thing on the court. JJ Barrea started scoring. Shawn Marion, Tyson Chandler, Jason Kidd. Everyone.

The criticism focused on Lebron James and his lack of contribution in games. He even had a triple double in Game 5, the first since 2000, but that didn’t satisfy. Jason Terry scores 17 points and labels about him being overrated are ripped off immediately.

The Mavs made plays. They took advantage of every opportunity presented to them. On the Heat side, they were listless. Even Dwyane Wade fumbled a last chance possession in Game 4 and no one whispered about it. It was all about James and his lack of contribution.

The Heat came together for the simple fact that this game is dictated by matchups and when you have 3 of the best on the floor at their positions, you have a chance to win on any night and at any stage of the series. What emerged was that the Heat got beat by a team that just played better. Sure, the Heat are more talented and we like to think they will be back. The fact is the other teams in the East are going to be gunning for them. But it wasn’t ego that kept this team from grabbing the ring. It was a breakdown in execution, an apathetic defense, some bull-headed coaching decisions. More importantly, it was a Mavericks team that had a miracle rebirth at the end of Game 2 in this series. With 6 minutes to go, they ran their offense right past a Heat team playing to run out the clock. A run that was more heavily characterized by bad defensive execution and organization than anything else. If the Heat played defense like they had been all series, to that point, the Mavs don’t score 17 points in that final span.

You can argue it was their ego that assumed they would win and thereby gave up Game 2. Sure, you can say that, but ego was the reason why they played better defense in Game 3 and the reason why they won that game. They felt like they were the better team and wanted to prove it. Ego is not necessarily a bad thing, it is a must thing, a vital thing. In order to survive and thrive, you have to have an identity with which to hold tightly to. The Heat envisioned themselves as champions, as a dynasty. That was a proclamation at the beginning of the season. Now the Mavs deflated that vision a bit, but this is still the beginning of a run, not the end. The Heat will learn from this, just as they did after Game 2. They will learn, and they are humbled by this, sure. Yet, ego will give them the fire to pick themselves back up off the floor and demand that they get back for another shot at the ring.

Filed Under: Featured, Heat Index Tagged With: , , ,

Dirk Has Cold, Heat Goes Cold in Game 4

June 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If you told me that the Heat would shoot 42% and get very little production – on either end of the floor – from one of their best players in Lebron James and still have a chance to win, I would have laughed in your face. No way. You would add that the game would be won in the low 80′s and the Heat would only lose by 3 on the road, in Dallas, with the Mavericks backs against the wall playing for all the marbles in this series – and still, I would say you’re crazy.

But, no one is giving the Mavs any credit. They are saying that the Heat lost this game and point the finger to Lebron, who attempted only 1 shot in the 4th quarter. They almost steer clear of any mentioning of how the Mavs had more at stake and how Dwyane Wade made some critical mistakes down the stretch, too.

Let’s not forget the Mavs: they had quite a bit of drama heading into last night’s game 4. Dirk Nowitzki played with a 101 degree fever. Jason Terry found himself admitting that Lebron James had shut him down in Games 1 and 3, but not in Game 2 and asked if Lebron could keep it up for seven games. Deshawn Stevenson called Dwyane Wade and Lebron James great actors.

The Heat? Stayed composed. There was no fire across the bow. No diatribe to spark paper clipping collecting. Simply put, the Heat got beat. They got beat by a team that was at home, more desperate for a win, and fed off of that scenario to get it done. You tip your cap to your opponent, make no excuses, and get back to work.

Yes, the Heat were able to build up leads throughout the game, but the Mavs were able to answer and go on runs. You will hear coaches so this is a make or miss league. Some nights, with even matches, you will make a shot and you’re the hero. You miss a shot, and you’re the goat. (See Dirk Nowitzki in Game 2 then in Game 3.) The Heat made shots in Game 3, the Mavs made the shots in Game 4. Yet, even that isn’t such a strong indication of this game.

The Mavs shot 6-19, 32% in the 4th while the Heat shot 32%. Despite the horrific field goal percentages, the Mavs outscored the Heat 21-9 over the final 9:58 of the game. The Heat offense does get clunky at times, but the only player able to score consistently throughout the game was Dwyane Wade, who scored 32 points on 13-20 shooting. Chris Bosh did score 24 points on 9-19 shooting, but most of that scoring came in the first quarter.

Lebron James only put in 8 points and was largely lost in the game outside of some spectacular assists and strong defense. Deshawn Stevenson claims James “checked out”.

Realistically, a finger can be pointed at Wade, too. He did drop the ball on a possession that would have given the Heat a chance for a shot at the end of the game but also, he missed one of two free throws which would have had a larger impact on the end of the game.

Speaking of, no team seemed to have the ability to score for the final minutes of the quarter. In fact, in the final 2:16 of the game the Mavs hit 4-4 on FTs while making only 1 FG. The Heat were 3-4 on FTs while only making one field goal as well. So it wasn’t like anyone shut it down and put this game to bed at the end of the game.

The Mavs should have blown out the Heat last night. They got more production from their bench and their starters than the Heat did. Tyson Chandler, Shawn Marion, Jason Terry, Deshawn Stevenson, and Dirk Nowitzki all had double figures in scoring. For the Heat, only Wade and Bosh had double figures. The Mavs shot 39% while the Heat shot 42% but a lot of the Mavs shots were misses – not because of the Heat defense, but just because they were rimming out. Nowitzki actually should have had a lot more production, considering his 6-19 night and fever, his shots were just spinning out.

The Mavs should have won last night’s game and in truth, it was expected. The Heat really didn’t have much business being in this game with Lebron only scoring 8 points and getting very little production from the rest of their team. Outside of a 40+ point performance from either Wade or Bosh, the Heat just had too flat of an offense and defensively were not able to solve Chandler’s offensive rebounding (9) and Marion’s clean-up offense. They were at home, got more FTs and had more to play for than the Heat.

If the Heat have shown anything this year, it is their ability to play better when the drama increases. They will get their chance to do so because, statistically, the winner of Game 5 with a series tied 2-2 wins the trophy 73% of the time. If the Heat can pull it off, they will go back to Miami up 3-2 with a 9-1 record at home this postseason.

Filed Under: Featured, Hottest, Postseason Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Heat Win Game 3 With Defense; Bosh Illustrates Heat Drive

June 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment

With a swollen left eye and game seemingly in need of healing, Chris Bosh became the symbol for the Heat’s 88-86 nailbiter win over the Mavericks last night. He didn’t have a particularly good night, but he came through when his team needed him to. Bosh drained a long range jumper behind a screen from Udonis Haslem that proved to be the difference maker. Prior to that shot, Bosh was doing everything he could to pass up the chance to score for his team.

Meanwhile, on the other end, Dirk Nowitzki got the shot he wanted, although tightly defended by Haslem, but it just bounced off the rim. Game. Buzzer. Heat up 2-1.

And we all know the stat. Since the change in format, teams are 11-0 when they win Game 3 in the Finals. So, the notion is basically pencil in the Heat for a championship. Not so fast. The Heat are still a team haunted by the meltdown – or the choke – they went through in Game 2 as the Mavericks roared past them with 6:22 to go to take the game by 2 points. In fact, it may have been in response to this that the Heat came out firing after halftime, starting with a 6-0 run to push their lead up.

In the end though, it was Bosh, having an off night, who was the hero and Nowitzki, scoring 34 points, who came up short. Most in the media say that the Mavs have to get more firepower around Nowitzki – yet chastised the Heat for assembling three of the best free agents on the market to get where they are. Funny how perceptions change – or are conveniently subjective.

This was a game the Heat won with their defense – despite some very questionable calls from the refs (6 straight free throws for Nowitzki from 4:56-3:03 in the final quarter). They won it with their defense, on the last possession on the road. This is a huge win for this team, especially after giving one away in Game 2.

Filed Under: Featured, Hottest, Postseason Tagged With: , , , ,

Who Peed in My Mojito? Heat Choke in Game 2

June 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A 16 point lead with just about 6 minutes to go. Everyone was celebrating, even the Miami Heat. And that is when the problems began.

You can’t just get apathetic in the middle of a game and think your opponent is so weak-minded they will just lay down and die. The Mavericks have a collection of old farts that don’t know when to quit. Yes, you may be faster and quicker and sexier, but there is a reason why they are representing the Western conference. Just ask OKC if a lead is safe with them.

Look, let’s not overreact. The Heat are not all of a sudden bums. The media will prop up Jason Terry and Dirk Nowitzki as if they are immortals, and overstate their heroics, but the fact of the matter is Miami choked this game away themselves – they gave it away. Who knows why they were feeling so charitable.

The problem? This was vintage Miami Heat 2010 – when they were struggling to beat good teams and everyone was dumping on them. The cause? Lebron’s Cleveland Clearout tactics resurfaced. Wade was the hot hand in this game. He was vintage 2006 – the Mavs killer. Mark Cuban was practically going into shell shock, rocking himself back and forth for most of this game – but in the end, he would be celebrating and dancing and laughing. The sad thing is, it wasn’t the Mavs that took the ball out of the Heat’s hottest hand – it was the Heat themselves. They kept going to Lebron who kept plopping his rock at the top of the key for his typical 10-15 second shot clock run off – only when the Heat play bad. This would result in containment from the Mavs zone defense and Lebron hoisting up a desperate shot to beat the final ticks of the shot clock.

Meanwhile, Wade couldn’t get around Jason Kidd’s defense. The guy he previously said he was watching on black and white TV. Really?

Miami just played bad basketball – something they were probably due for considering they have been pulling out some close ones here in this postseason in the last few. Instead, they got punked this time and played like a bunch of rookies who didn’t know how to close out a team. This one hurts. This one stings. And it should. Because Miami is the better team in this series – and still is. No matter what the media says about the Heat and the miraculous comeback of the Mavs over the next few days, it still remains that the Mavs have no answer for the Heat’s defense and can’t stop Wade and James. The only people on that court that can stop the Heat are themselves.

Maybe this is a blessing in disguise. Game 3, down 0-2, would have seen a fierce Mavs team backed into a corner with their fans heading back to AAC. Now, some of that pressure is diffused and the Mavs may be feeling pretty good about their chances. Maybe they start believing in themselves now. The Heat will have to bring it and will have to bring it from start to finish. They can’t play apathetically, they can’t be lazy. It’s a harsh lesson to learn – especially in the midst of a championship series – but learn it you must at some point. Lebron, for all his accolades of late, still only has 1 Finals win. Wade has 5 – and was the instrument of doom against the Mavs back in 2006. The Heat need to remember that and need to recall the pecking order here. Time to get back to reality and this choke-job loss in front of the world will help humble them and get the Heat back to where they need to be. Focused on the next game and nothing more. No ring-sizing just yet.

Filed Under: Featured, Hottest, Postseason Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Heat Roll Past Mavericks in 4th in Game 1 92-84

May 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The question tonight was how would the Heat stop Dirk Nowitzki, but that seems a bit foolish now. Because the real question is, how would the Mavs stop Wade and Lebron?

Yet, if the pundits are going to have their due, they are going to cite the bench scoring for both teams. The Heat poured in 27 from their bench while the Mavs only yielded 17. In fact, Dirk Nowitzki was a large part of their offense, as usual, dropping 27 points on 7-18 with 12-12 free throws. Credit the Heat’s defense, which was fixated on stopping Nowitzki with double teams and getting him out of his comfort zone when shooting. He did end up missing 11 shots while making only 7, and although he had 27 points, he was noticeably slowed down.

The Heat defense has not gotten enough credit, but it soon will. The ability to double team Dirk and then quickly recover is something only the Heat can do. The Thunder and Lakers were unable to do that and Nowitzki was able to punish those teams.

The fact of the matter is, it is really hard to matchup against a team with Wade and Lebron on the floor at the same time. Take a look at Wade’s numbers – in the first half he struggled and scored only 7 points but in the second half, particularly the 4th quarter, he dropped in 15 points and lead the charge for his team to close out the Mavs. He blocked a shot, hit a three, and just had gained so much momentum that he showed why he haunted this Mavs team back in the 2006 Finals. He finished with 22 points 10 rebounds and 6 assists.

Game 2 is on Thursday and the questions have been answered by the Heat. Now, it is the Mavs who will have many more questions to answer – can they find a way to matchup with Run DLC and slow down Wade, James, and Bosh? Can they find more offense from other sources on their team? Can the Mavs outrebound the Heat or will their athleticism outshine the Mavs?

Just a note – teams that win Game 1 win the series 73% of the time. But we know that didn’t hold up in the last Finals matchup between these two teams.

Filed Under: Featured, Hottest, Postseason Tagged With: , , , ,
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