| Heat To Face Many 'Intangi-Bulls' Authored by Andrew Friedman - April 21, 2006 - 10:09 pm
The Miami Heat will enter the 2006 Playoffs Saturday against the Chicago Bulls, giving fans only a slight idea of what the team will look like. New roles, innumerable changes, injuries and off-court issues have plagued the Heat's success all season long, particularly in the final month of action leading up to the playoffs.
Shaquille O'Neal (23 games), Jason Williams (23), Alonzo Mourning (17), James Posey (15), have all missed significant time. Udonis Haslem has endured a slightly separated shoulder and lingering pain from a finger he broke last season. Antoine Walker has been inconsistent and has struggled in finding an appropriate role on the team. Head Coach Pat Riley missed the last two games of the season to be with his ailing mother, who passed away Friday.
The Bulls, on the other hand, are winners of 10 of their last 11, and are steamrolling into the playoffs. Miami won 2 of 3 against Chicago this past season. The first game was
a three point victory, also the first game Miami played after Stan Van Gundy stepped down as head coach. The most recent game, which the Bulls won, was played by a Heat team that had already clinched the second seed against a Bulls team playing for their playoff lives.
The second game played between these two teams, however, is a point of concern. Miami escaped Chicago with a one point win. The Heat had their top 12 players in uniform. Dwyane Wade struggled, saying after the game, "Out in Chicago I never play good. I have a long career ahead of me, so one day I will get one good game in." Wade will likely have
to play more than one good game against a Chicago team full of pesky perimeter defenders who have the ability to give Wade fits, including Chris Duhon, Ben Gordon and Kirk
Hinrich, whose Kansas Jayhawks beat Dwyane Wade?s Marquette Golden Eagles in the 2003 Final Four, the most meaningful game the two guards have played against each other, until
now.
With several issues surrounding the Heat, Miami has several points of optimism as they enter the playoffs: everything could fall into place at the right time. Alonzo Mourning
is expected to miss game one, but Miami shouldn't desperately need him until either later in the series or possibly the second round, giving Mourning additional time to heal.
James Posey and Jason Williams returned before the regular season ended. Antoine Walker may have finally found a comfortable and effective role in the rotation as the team's starting small forward. Pat Riley is expected to be back on the sidelines.
And the biggest reason of all is Shaquille O'Neal. The Wall Street Journal recently published an article pointing out O'Neal's statistics, comparing his numbers after zero
days rest between games and two days rest between games. O'Neal's worst games appeared in back-to-back games, where he averaged 17 points, 7.9 rebounds and 54.5% shooting. With at least one day of rest, O'Neal averages 21.2 points, 9.7 rebounds and 61.4% shooting. In the playoffs, there is at least one game of rest between games. That one day of rest makes a significant impact on O'Neal's effectiveness, and his numbers appear closer to the numbers he displayed the two seasons prior this one.
The Heat has been attacked with criticism all season long. If anything, Miami has all the motivation in the world to make the 2006 Playoffs the most successful to date. |
