Heat will get burned if Shaq remains cold
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Ira Winderman
SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL
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</IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>JEFFREY WASHINGTON FORT WORTH STAR - TELEGRAM </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>The Mavericks’ double teams have been very effective against Shaquille O’Neal. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
MIAMI — The Heat left Dallas confused, with its franchise big man muttering.
"I got five shots the whole night," Shaquille O’Neal said as he headed to the team bus late Sunday after bypassing the mandatory media session, "five shots."
The question now is whether the Heat has a shot against the Mavericks after falling behind 0-2.
As has been the case since O’Neal’s arrival in the 2004 off-season, the Heat’s hopes will only be as large as O’Neal’s performance.
Rather than deal with the simmering issues of his team’s offensive direction, coach Pat Riley opted to allow his players to stew on their own yesterday, canceling practice.
While O’Neal remains frustrated by his lack of opportunities, after his 2-of-5, five-point performance in Sunday’s 99-85 loss, he isn’t blameless.
"We have to do a better job of getting him the ball," backup center Alonzo Mourning said. "And he has to do a better job of getting in position. He knows that."
The ugly reality is O’Neal’s scoring total in Game 2 was his lowest in 190 career playoff games.
The recent reality is that the performance hardly was unique.
Of O’Neal’s three single-digit career playoff games, two have come this postseason, when factoring in his eight points in a Game 3 loss in the first round in Chicago.
Consistency not only stands as an issue for a Heat offense that has generated an average of 82.5 points in this series but also for O’Neal.
The two factors, of course, are intertwined.
It is far easier to double-team O’Neal when the supporting players aren’t supporting. Beyond some too-littletoo-late scoring from forward Antoine Walker, the Heat’s offense has been reduced to all-or-nothing from guard Dwyane Wade.
"They know who to stay home on," Riley said, "and they know who to leave open."
After the loss Sunday, Mourning said, "No one expected us to come out and play the way we did the past two games."
Then again, perhaps the doubledigit defeats were exactly what was to be expected. Factoring in the Heat’s 0-2 regular season against Dallas, the margin of defeat against the Mavericks this season has been 18.3 points in the four meetings.
In some ways, this is starting to look like the last time Riley guided the Heat into the playoffs, when it was routed in a 3-0 sweep by the Hornets in 2001.
That was before O’Neal’s arrival, before the Heat put its focus on an imposing inside game, a focus that now must be re-established.
"He’s frustrated," Walker said. "He’s a guy that likes to get involved in the game. They are doing a good job of double-teaming him."
In bowing out in the conference semifinals and then conference finals the past two seasons, the Heat exited amid questions about the approach of former coach Stan Van Gundy. Now, on a bigger stage, the challenge has grown exponentially for Riley.
While only two teams in the previous 59 NBA Finals have recovered from 0-2 to win a title, no NBA team has recovered from 0-3 to win a postseason series.
"Whatever adjustments we make over the next couple of days," Riley said, "have to work."
But even then, some of the onus will remain on O’Neal, who is 2 of 16 from the foul line in the series.
"Sometimes," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson reasoned, "when your free throws aren’t going, that can stymie you a little bit."
The foul-line futility has been a constant for O’Neal during his 14 seasons; single-digit scoring in the playoffs, however, has not. "I think Shaq understands," Wade said. "He’s been in this (Finals) situation more than anybody, so I’m sure we’ll bounce back."
