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Posted by on Jun 4, 2013 in Pat Wong, Sports | 0 comments

Instant Coffee: “Red” and Yellow Game 7 and a Kidd’s End

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Indiana Pacers 76 Miami Heat 99

During the first quarter, the Pacers gave the Heat the same problems that they were giving the Heat the first six games of the series. Unfortunately for the Pacers, they squandered the first quarter by committing 9 turnovers, which is an Achilles’ heel of the Pacers the entire season. As such, the Pacers only had a 2 point lead after the first quarter and missed an opportunity to put the Heat immediately on their heels. At that point, I felt like I was listening to “The Rains of Castamere” back to back nights as the Heat settled in and prepared for an ambush in the second quarter. The onslaught began and the Pacers never got a chance to make it close again. As expected, Lebron James had another great game. Although Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh were far from having their best games, they were at least able to provide some support for Lebron in stark contrast to Game 6. Ray Allen and Chris Anderson were also able to make key contributions off the bench.

Nevertheless, the key to victory was the Heat’s defense. First, they shut down Paul George. He played like a superstar for most of the series but was not up for the task in Game 7. Next, they were able to contain Roy Hibbert, who dominated the Heat during the series. They threw some double teams early in the game that confused him and threw him off. Hibbert still had 18 points and 8 rebounds but most of the production did not impact the game. Overall, the Heat were able to buckle down and take away the edge the Pacers front line had for most of the series as they were able to outrebound the Pacers 43 to 36. Combined with the 21 turnovers forced, the Heat shot 7 shots from the field and 18 more free throws. Obviously, the disparity in those numbers is too much for the Pacers to overcome on the road against a great team.

While I will touch more upon the Heat when I preview the Finals, I wanted to give a few thoughts on the future of the Pacers. They have definitely established themselves as an up and coming team. Paul George has shown he can be a superstar in the NBA, which is a key to building any great team. He is still very young and his development will be instrumental in the Pacers returning to this point and potentially winning a championship. The biggest order of business in the offseason for the Pacers will be signing David West. They need to sign him as West and Hibbert form one of the best power forward/ center combinations in the league. The Pacers will also need Hibbert to continue to get better. He stepped up big in the playoffs but needs to be more consistent throughout the season. Danny Granger returning will also be a big help for a team that goes into offensive droughts. Granger is another perimeter scorer and great shooter that can be another option for the Pacers on offense. As noted above, the Pacers have turnover problems. They will have to try to get a pure point guard to run the offense and create shots for his team. George Hill is a nice player who can score as a point guard. However, he is probably more of a great bench player than a starting point guard when the Pacers face the top teams. In general, the Pacers need to get more depth so they have more production off the bench. As we saw in this series, when their starting lineup was sitting on the bench, the Heat made big runs. Regardless, the Pacers have a bright future and we will be seeing them deep in the playoffs consistently for years to come.

Quick Thoughts on Jason Kidd Retirement

Two days after his Co-Rookie of the Year, Grant Hill, announced his retirement, Kidd did the same. Kidd is definitely one of the greatest point guards to ever play in the NBA. Although there were concerns whether he could score and shoot well enough when he entered the league, he was a walking triple double, a one man fast break, and worked hard on his shot so that it was respectable. He was also one of the biggest competitors in the NBA.

I did not know how great of a basketball player he was until he was traded to the New Jersey Nets. At that time, the Nets were a bad team and had problems scoring. When they traded Stephon Marbury for Jason Kidd, I thought they were making mistake as Marbury scored 20 points per game and dished out 8 assist. How could a guy who scored less and shot worst make an offense better? I quickly learned that I was young and did not understand the game as well as I thought. Kidd had a complete understanding of the game and one of the highest basketball IQs in the NBA. He was a pure point guard that was able to make his team better. As I learned later in life, it does not matter if you score so long as your team scores. Nothing illustrated it more than the difference between Marbury and Kidd. Marbury was great at putting up numbers but Kidd was great at making his team mates better and putting up wins.

Kidd took Nets teams that had no business being at the top of the league to the NBA Finals in back to back years in 2002 and 2003. Keith Van Horn, Kenyon Martin, Kerry Kittles, and Kendall Gill were good players. However, they are not superstars and certainly not the players that Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili were on the Lakers and Spurs teams that the Nets lost to in the Finals those years. While it took Kidd awhile to get back to the Finals, he was able to help Dirk Nowitzki get the Dallas Mavericks back to the NBA Finals in 2011 and won it against the vaunted Miami Heat team. Even though Kidd was older and past his prime, he was asked to defend Lebron James for key parts of the series. As a testament to Kidd’s defense and strength, he was able to slow Lebron down with the help of a Mavericks zone.

Farewell Jason Kidd. You had a Hall of Fame career.

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