Miami Heat shows there is hope for Yao and McGrady
June 21st, 2006by John
Miami’s NBA championship gives hope to Yao and T-Mac that they may not be that far off from the promised land like most people think they are.WEDNESDAY, 6/21/06 – After watching Miami win a ring Tuesday night, there is hope for the Rockets.
We all just saw the Miami Heat‘s incredible run to win the NBA championship. It was an amazing series not many people thought the Heat could pull off given Dallas’ “superior talent.”
It confirms to me further that to win a ring in the NBA, your chances increase if you have a marquee center who can be effective in the paint (Shaq, Alonzo Mourning) along with a guard who can score in a variety of ways (Dwyane Wade). As talented, quick and accurate Dallas was in the regular season and much of the post-season, to win it all, we just saw in the NBA Finals how you need a talented big man down low and an amazing shooting guard on the wing. The Mavericks had something close with the latter (Jason Terry), but not the former (Erick Dampier).
Of course, this is all good news for the Rockets who have both in Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady (when he’s healthy).
Although Shaq didn’t rack up massive statistics in the NBA Finals, he still grabbed lots of boards and kept the defense honest by not having the Dallas defense completely swamp Wade. And when you factor in Mourning’s contribution on the defensive end, you realize the Mavericks didn’t have enough with Dampier and Desagana Diop playing center, and Dirk Nowitzki playing “quasi-center.”
As much firepower and speed the Mavericks had in Nowitzki, Terry, Jerry Stackhouse, Josh Howard, and Devin Harris, their offense and defense didn’t have enough to overcome their deficiencies down low and in the middle. As great as the Mavericks are, I guess jump shots and floaters in the lane can only take you so far.
Just look at last year’s NBA champions – the San Antonio Spurs – and what Tim Duncan has meant for that team in the paint. Or look at the Phoenix Suns this past year. If Amare Stoudemire had not been injured this past season and had been playing down low, there is no doubt they would have beaten the Mavericks to get to the Finals.
I know the Rockets are lacking in “role players” like the Heat have (Mourning, Udonis Haslem, Jason Williams, Antoine Walker, James Posey, Gary Payton). But those kinds of players are much easier to find in comparison to finding a strong duo like Shaq/Wade or Yao/T-Mac. Remember that Pat Riley acquired Williams, Walker, Posey and Payton all fairly recently.
What that means is that it IS possible for the Rockets to find the right supporting cast fairly quickly, hopefully with the expertise of GM-to-be Daryl Morey.
Similar to what George Mason University did in the NCAA this past year – making people believe that a mid-major college CAN make it to the Final Four — the Miami Heat give the Rockets hope that an NBA championship can be won with two (not three) franchise players — a force in the paint, a stud at shooting guard — and a few role players acquired quickly through trades and free agency.
And don’t forget that Jeff Van Gundy is a Pat Riley disciple, having been his assistant coach in New York. Hopefully Van Gundy learned something this year by watching how his old boss won a ring by coaching his players with more ‘touch and feel,’ rather than gloom-and-doom and calling out his players all the time.