Big game tonight. Win or go home. Clearly the momentum is on the Pacers' side. So, what should the Heat do to win?
Keys to the game:
1. Rebounds!!!!
It's not secret that the Heat are getting crushed on the boards. David West, Roy Hibbert, Ian Mahimi and Tyler Hansborough are just getting too many rebounds. So, with that being said, the Heat bigs are going to have to play tough. Birdman's return should help. Bosh needs to grow a pair. Lebron, Haslem, and all of the wings need to all box out and help out on the glass.
2. Ball Movement
When the Heat move the ball from side to side, good things happen. It's obvious that during the Heat losses, ball movement has been nonexistent. With Ray Allen, Wade, and Battier cold from the outside, Indiana is packing the paint. In order to combat this, Lebron has to start posting more. Even if he doesn't score, he has to continue to attack and force double teams. Only then will the Heat shooters be able to get open looks (and hopefully knock them down).
3. Defense
Now when I say defense, I'm not simply talking about double-teaming the bigs or not getting beat off of the dribble. Specifically, I'm identifying the Heat's pick-and-roll defense. So far in the series, the Heat have been aggressively trapping pick-and-rolls. They want to force the guards outside and disrupt the offense of the pacers. However, whats happening is that the guards are getting rid of the ball quickly to slipping bigs. As a result, instead of forcing the Pacers' guards to beat them, the Heat are allowing the big men to beat them. Also, the slip forces the Heat to rotate, which then causes all kinds of problems. A better way to play the screen-and-roll is to go underneath picks. Sure, the guards are solid shooters, but I'll live with an outside shot than a Roy Hibbert hook shot any day.
No comments:
Post a Comment