Sunday, November 06, 2005
Heat off to a slow start
I must admit I didn't watch most of the Bucks-Heat game last night. Partly because I expected the Heat to win easily, but who could take their eyes away from the Virginia Tech-Miami football game?
I was quite shocked to see the Heat squander a six point lead late in the fourth quarter to the Bucks who got huge games from new addition Bobby Simmons and the starting back court of Ford and Redd. What I noticed though was that Zo wasn't in the game as the Bucks made their way back into the game at that time, with an 11-2 run. It is common knowledge that when you sustain a close lead nearing the end of the game, it's time to lock up on defense. Why was Zo not in the game as the Bucks made this comeback?
It's for this reason that I'm calling for Van-Gundy to be removed as the head coach. He doesn't know how to coach effectively and I've been saying this since his first year when he took Wade out at the end of the Heat's sixth play-off game against the Pacers, with two minutes left. How can a coach remove the best player on the floor at such a key time? And refused to bring him in as an option for the desperation three point attempt to tie the game, choosing to let Rafer Alston, who was 0-5 at the time, take the shot. He missed.
I've always questioned Van-Gundy's ability to coach a group of talented and championship worthy players with only three years experience as a coach. Last year, the heat got elimininated by the Pistons in game seven of the Eastern Conference finals, when he refused to get the ball to Shaq in the post, with Wade being seiously injured.
Now, fast forward to this season. Shaq is out for two-four weeks, but we have a backup bench that could be starting on many teams, so I wonder why we are losing to the Bucks in a game we clearly should have won. By the all-star break, if Miami doesn't stand at the top three positions in the east, then I think it's time for Riley to take control of the team he has put together and continue with his no-nonsense attitude. At least, we know this way that Walker wouldn't be hoisting up irrelevant and unmakeable threes and J. Williams would not be allowed to go 1-9 from the field without playing defense, when we have Payton as his backup.
I was quite shocked to see the Heat squander a six point lead late in the fourth quarter to the Bucks who got huge games from new addition Bobby Simmons and the starting back court of Ford and Redd. What I noticed though was that Zo wasn't in the game as the Bucks made their way back into the game at that time, with an 11-2 run. It is common knowledge that when you sustain a close lead nearing the end of the game, it's time to lock up on defense. Why was Zo not in the game as the Bucks made this comeback?
It's for this reason that I'm calling for Van-Gundy to be removed as the head coach. He doesn't know how to coach effectively and I've been saying this since his first year when he took Wade out at the end of the Heat's sixth play-off game against the Pacers, with two minutes left. How can a coach remove the best player on the floor at such a key time? And refused to bring him in as an option for the desperation three point attempt to tie the game, choosing to let Rafer Alston, who was 0-5 at the time, take the shot. He missed.
I've always questioned Van-Gundy's ability to coach a group of talented and championship worthy players with only three years experience as a coach. Last year, the heat got elimininated by the Pistons in game seven of the Eastern Conference finals, when he refused to get the ball to Shaq in the post, with Wade being seiously injured.
Now, fast forward to this season. Shaq is out for two-four weeks, but we have a backup bench that could be starting on many teams, so I wonder why we are losing to the Bucks in a game we clearly should have won. By the all-star break, if Miami doesn't stand at the top three positions in the east, then I think it's time for Riley to take control of the team he has put together and continue with his no-nonsense attitude. At least, we know this way that Walker wouldn't be hoisting up irrelevant and unmakeable threes and J. Williams would not be allowed to go 1-9 from the field without playing defense, when we have Payton as his backup.
