Archive for the ‘Miami Heat’ Category

You might think that the Miami Heat lost Game 4 of their Eastern Conference finals game against the Indiana Pacers because they were outrebounded by 19, because they missed most of their open corner threes, because LeBron James fouled out when that never happens or because the Pacers scored more points. And really, these are all good reasons for why the Heat failed to take a 3-1 lead on their way back to Miami.

However, listening to head coach Erik Spoelstra tell it, there was a bigger reason than any of those things. From the Sun Sentinel:

“Playoffs are about overcoming everything,” said Spoelstra, who added that Bosh and James would receive treatment but no other medical update was available.

“We didn’t necessarily play well. We didn’t get to our identity. We had massive foul trouble all across the board and we have a 3-point lead down the stretch in an opponent’s building and plays to be made to finish off that game.

“We didn’t. They made more plays down the stretch and typically the team that deserves to win does.” [...]

“They played with a greater sense of urgency. They made more plays going down the stretch and for that matter during the course of he game, not only offensive rebounds, but loose balls, effort plays, impact plays, imposing plays.

“Sometimes there’s a karma to the game, so they beat us down the stretch. There’s no excuses, nothing else to it other than that.”

Yes, true, there are like 19 billion reasons that Spoelstra listed that contributed to the Heat loss, but the thing that there is “nothing else to it other than that” is the “karma to the game.” Which means, I guess, that the Heat lost because of karma. And if you consider all those things that Spoelstra mentioned — not playing Heat basketball, tons of fouls, failing to make plays at the end of the game, not hustling for 50-50 balls — as karma, then I guess he is right.

And to be honest, I can kind of see where he’s coming from. Those various reasons the Heat lost could all be considered “bad basketball,” it could be argued, and if you spend an entire game making bad basketball plays, then I guess that is against what the basketball gods want to see and therefore you’re going to have bad karma and lose. I think that is the point, though I never did get around to taking Comparative Religions in college. At the very least, what Spoelstra is getting at is a tried-and-true lesson that we’ve seen thousands of times in the NBA. Some people call it “playing the right way,” Spoelstra calls it karma. If a team doesn’t care to do the little things, he seems to be saying, there’s not going to be a big payoff in the end.

Or maybe I’m wrong and Spoelstra really is blaming things solely on the Heat having bad karma. Though you would think that gifting an opponent with 15 free offensive rebounds is generous enough to win them a few points.

(via SLAM)

To help you understand just how long it’s been since Chris Andersen missed a shot from the field, please consider that the last time he missed there were only five “Fast and Furious” movies to memorize. If that doesn’t put things in perspective, I don’t know what will. And since Vin Diesel lives his life a quarter-mile at a time, it’s safe to say that it’s been several lifetimes since the Birdman missed even a single shot. That’s impressive.

But how does he do it? How does a half-man/half-bird nightmare hybrid take four shots a game against two of the NBA’s best defenses in Chicago and Indiana without ever botching one? How does he not pop the basketball with his talons? There are a lot of questions to be answered, and there are two words that do all the answering — “bird box.” From the Miami Herald:

“I just do what I do, man,” Andersen said. “I don’t really think about how many shots I’ve made in a row or how good I am. I just continue to do what I do, and that’s come off the bench and bring defense and energy, run the floor, get to my spots.

“If LeBron calls me up, I’ll come up. If not, I’ll stay in the bird box.” [...]

“I’m getting the basketball around the rim,” Andersen said. “If I can’t make it a foot away from the basket, I shouldn’t be playing this sport.”

I’ve taken the liberty of combining Andersen’s shot charts from the last four games — those are the ones where he hasn’t missed at all, tallying 15 makes in 15 shots — so that you can see exactly where the bird box is. It’s pretty obvious.

Right in front of the basket, never more than a few feet away: this is the bird box. And even though he’s being humble about his finishing ability — if anyone could make all their shots from right in front of the hoop, where all the tall guys hang out, we wouldn’t have so many “Joel Anthony is still on the Heat?” jokes — it’s easy to see that Chris Andersen is taking, and making, exclusively easy shots. And well, he has an explanation for that too.

Of course, Andersen gives all credit to the Heat’s ball handlers, who he says “always make the right decisions.” And, of course, Andersen had special praise for LeBron James, who he called “un-human.”

“I’m telling you,” Andersen said. “He makes the game so much easier for everybody.”

Yes, he does. That’s how a hollow-boned guy who was out of the league a few months ago can shoot 85 percent during the playoffs. Because not only have 74 percent of Andersen’s playoff baskets been assisted, LeBron is the leading assistster on such baskets, tallying eight thus far in the postseason (Ray Allen is second with seven).

I mean, I am having a hard time remembering Andersen even dribbling once before a basket right now, which isn’t a diss or anything, but just a way of saying that Chris Andersen is great at catching the ball and immediately putting it in the basket. That is a skill and it’s made the Heat even more dangerous than they were before they plucked (bird pun) him off the scrap heap. Now all the Heat have to worry about is cleaning up all the droppings in the restricted area. Someone should put down some torn-up newspaper or something.

(via PBT)