| Gonna Need More Than The Starting Five Authored by Mike Leffman - April 18, 2005 - 9:01 pm
Two games to go and everything is on track for the playoffs. Shaquille O’Neal’s resting and the bench should be getting the minutes it needs to make an offensive-impact once Cleveland or New Jersey figure out who wants to lose in the opening-round.
On a recent TNT broadcast, Charles Barkley said center Alonzo Mourning needs to step up if the Heat want any depth out of their bench. He had nine rebounds in the win over Indiana and grabbed 14 rebounds in an April 10 loss to Detroit but his shooting needs to be kept to a minimum – playing more as a Dennis Rodman-type. Mourning is very foul-prone when faced with extended minutes, which is something he shouldn’t see in the playoffs, especially with Christian Laettner back.
The last two games have had different bench players pick up the slack for the rest. Indiana saw Mourning leading the bench by scoring 8 points and Rasual Butler led with 13 points against Detroit. If the Heat can get more of that kind of play, they’ll be all right, however, if the playoffs are anything like the overtime loss to Philadelphia – then they’re in trouble.
At the Philly game, Mourning led the bench with four points in 16 minutes of play. Laettner was second with three points in 10 minutes. Entirely not enough. Obviously it is was Dwyane Wade’s game to shine and he made the most of it with season-highs in minutes (49) and points (48).
It’s difficult to watch a team with starters that could rival some of the league’s past-bests if only they had a bench with at least one or two go-to guys. With the first round at best-of seven, O’Neil might need some serious rest time as the playoffs go on, or even if he gets in foul trouble.
One player will not win every game for a team. Talk to Cleveland and Philadelphia. If O’Neil is not at 100% then Wade will need help. Finding a way to get Steve Smith involved in the offense would be a big start. Smith contributed to the Hornets this year and made 38-of-90 three-points attempts with them. His playing time per game has dropped from 17.2 minutes to 6.8 minutes since being traded to the Heat, although with his playoff experience (87 games) Smith should see more time on the court.
There shouldn’t be any alarms going off in Miami as they have one of the best starting lineups in the league and won’t see any real competition until Detroit comes around. But Phoenix is in the same position as Miami, both having the best record in the league while there is one other team – two in Phoenix’s case with San Antonio and Dallas – that has more depth despite a less-superior record. At least it will make things interesting.
No matter what happens early in the playoffs, it is shaping up to be Detroit/Miami and San Antonio/Dallas or Phoenix as the NBA’s Final Four (or five). |
