NBA Finals: Game 1 Musings

The Heat let game 1 get away. I'm not going to tell you why they lost, or what they need to do in game 2 to send the series back to South Beach tied at 1-1. It seems fairly obvious that they need to take care of the ball a little better and go through C Shaquille O'neal early in the possessions. Rather, I'm going to take a look at a few things I noticed during the game.

SG Dwayne Wade is incredible! He's quick and explodes to the rim and his block on Mavs F Dirk Nowitzki at the beginning of the game helped the Heat take a big lead early. However, he cost his team on a number of occasions by acting like an NBA player, rather than acting like a basketball player. Wade doesn't hustle back on defense, especially when he turns the ball over or misses a shot and thinks he's been wronged. Maybe he was fouled and has a valid point to argue, maybe he wasn't and doesn't. Either way, the Mavericks are too good at pushing the ball - and the Heat aren't good enough at transition defense - to have Wade dwell on the previous play. Pat Riley, early in the game, was motioning for Wade to get back on defense after a mistake and needs to sit Wade down and get it in his young star's head that Wade needs to wait for a break in the action to work on officials.

Shaq should try not to miss his first 8 attempts from the foul line the next time they roll the ball out (interesting note: he missed at least one more, but a Maverick was called for a lane violation so Shaq got another chance). But, Shaq's 1-9 from the FT line wasn't as bad as it might seem. At least Shaq was missing both free throws with regularity; Dwayne Wade kept missing the first one and making the second one, limiting the Heat to one point on a number of possessions. I didn't keep tabs on the plays after Shaq's misses, but I know that on one occasion the Heat got an offensive rebound and, subsequently, Antoine Walker hit a three-pointer. Thus, it was actually beneficial for the Heat for Shaq to miss the FT's. If he had made the first one and missed the second, then Walker had hit and 3 and been fouled, that would have been the best scenario. But, getting three points on a possession is, obviously, better than getting two points (unless the Heat want to lose so they have to see David Stern give Mark Cuban the NBA Championship trophy). FT shooting can be important, I'm not saying that it isn't important to make FT's, but misses can be opportunities for offensive rebounds and additional shots at the basket. The Heat scored at least 4 points off of Shaq's 9 FT attempts, and possibly more. I think that is the more meaningful stat than just reporting that he was 1-9.

It's definitely a good thing that Jason Terry didn't listen to that lady on ESPNEWS ... he shot 13-18 for 32 points in game one. He scored 20 of the Mavs 46 in the first half and tied the Heat (12 points) in the 4th quarter, when the Mavs ran away for the win.

Is it just me or is Antoine Walker lacking the athleticism it takes to be a quality contributor in the NBA (or, at least on the Heat)? He had Dirk 1-on-1 in the open court and was able to get Nowitzki turned around, but he couldn't finish the play. Udonis Haslem got a bogus foul call on what should have been a jump ball going for the rebound, but that was just one of the many questionable calls, going both ways, during the game. Walker isn't the NBA's best long-distance shooter, although it seems like he thinks he's pretty good. It seems like Walker is a much better shooter when he's wide open than when he has a hand in his face. That leads to the question, why does he shoot when the defender is right on him? With Shaq in the post, you shouldn't have to settle for highly-contested 3's ... you should get open 3's. Walker also clears out with his off arm on drives (and gets called for it) because he lacks the athleticism to go strong to the basket against good shot blockers. Why isn't James Posey playing more? Posey shoots the 3 at a higher percentage (or at least he did during the season) and is a better defender. Plus, he doesn't thrive on controlling the ball. Walker isn't given the freedom to create for teammates because the offense runs through Wade and O'neal, so why is he on the court? Oh, it's for those funky runners he throws up, obviously.