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Exhibition Season Part II

Authored by Mike Leffman - April 5, 2005 - 1:56 am

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Miami and center Shaquille O’Neil go into Tuesday’s game against the Chicago Bulls faced with the same issue O’Neil’s Lakers team saw during their title quests: momentum (and lack thereof).

During the 2000 Lakers’ championship they ended the season going .500 in the last six games, after coming off an 11-game winning streak. It took them six games to defeat the Indiana Pacers for the title.

The next season, Shaq and the Lakers lost five of eight games heading into April (including a loss to Atlanta). It took them five games in the Finals to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers, despite losing the first game.

The Heat response is typical. It’s late in the season and the playoff scenario is pretty much set. The entire team cannot be at 100% every night. O’Neil and Dwyane Wade pick up the slack with Wade doing the same duties as Kobe Bryant did in the past. O’Neil was recently quoted comparing the two duos and went on to boast Wade and him are better than the Shaq-Kobe tag-team.

Miami can win games with just their one-two combo like the Lakers (who received great team efforts in the playoffs to win those tough Western Conference titles). Unfortunately, the only teams the Heat can defeat with this style of play are the likes of New Orleans, Toronto and Atlanta.

A possible playoff opponent--the Indiana Pacers–have beaten the Heat three times this season [Indiana visits Miami April 17 at 1 p.m.].
The loss of momentum is being noticed by the players.
“I just tried to come out and be aggressive and help my team come out with more energy than we’ve been coming out with lately,” said Wade to the Miami Herald after the 111-99 win over the Hornets.

All cannot be blamed on lack of energy since Coach Stan Van Gundy is toying with the lineup to find some consistency throughout the playoffs. Qyntel Woods is seeing more minutes and Alonzo Mourning is slowly being worked in. Both are players who have no “flow” yet and could be helpful in the playoffs for eight to 12 minutes a game.

How many more games will they blow before Van Gundy is consistent with his lineup? They can lose all of them and it really wouldn’t matter.

Nothing can explain a 94-92 loss to the Bobcats. Well, a poorly-thought out three-point attempt as time expires.

If they’re treating the rest of the year as a second exhibition season they might not find any consistency against their opponents. Six of their eight remaining games are against playoff-qualified teams and the other two are against Orlando (one game out of the playoffs) and the dreaded Bobcats.

Van Gundy’s strategy might be to not reveal anything since the odds are more than one of their remaining opponents might be seen again in the playoffs. Bet on Philadelphia or Orlando as possible first-round foes (Miami is a combined 5-1 against both teams).

O’Neil and Wade can carry the Heat past the first round and even tough out a win in a six- or seven-game series in the second round.

The problem comes when Detroit arrives. If Van Gundy wants a playoff-ready team he better be treating the last eight games as if it were the playoffs and not a meaningless preseason game against the Hawks.