Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Posted: 10:23 p.m.
By John R. Finger
CSNPhilly.com
Two games and two defeats into the Sixers playoff run, head coach Doug Collins thinks he understands the main issues.
OK, the smart-alecky answer would be make more shots and hope LeBron James and Dwyane Wade dont show up to the gym, but it is much more involved than that. For instance, even though the Sixers got smoked by 21 points in Miami to fall behind two-games-to-none, Collins said Tuesday afternoons pre-practice video session at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine wasnt as demoralizing as we might have expected.
Simply, the Sixers can beat the Heat on Thursday night, but only if they execute the plan well.
The Sixers must rebound and get turnovers
Before anyone says, Duh, hear it out. In Game 1 the Sixers didnt take care of the offensive glass and at one point in the third quarter had rebounded just 17 of the Heats 30 missed shots. Because of this, the Sixers defense was on its heels in the paint where they allowed a put back, gave the Heat a fresh 24 seconds or committed a foul.
At the end of the game the Heat outscored the Sixers by 19 points from the line.
NBA
Our bread and butter is getting out in the open court and getting some point off turnovers, but we werent able to do that the first three quarters, Collins explained. We have to be more active, we have to screen harder. I thought we played hard, but we have to play harder. We have to do all the little things and I think our guys saw that.
Keep the Heat in The Yard
The yard is the area on the court inside the three-point arc and outside of the paint. If the Heat are getting most of their shots outside of the yard, it means they are getting some easy looks at the hoop. Two-point shots in the yard are much easier for the defense to contend, which means more rebounds and more chances to kick off the running game.
In Game 2, the Sixers did a much better job at this, holding the Heat to 13 baskets in the paint, three three-pointers and nine baskets in the yard. The disparity, again, was on the free-throw line.
We did a good job defending the paint, Collins said. They made two-point field goals and thats what you have to make them do.
Get Iguodala and Brand more involved
The statistic of the series thus far might be the fact that Elton Brand, the teams leading scorer, got just two shots in the first half of Game 2 on his way to a 1-for-5 effort for three points. Meanwhile, Andre Iguodala has scored nine points on 15 shots in the first two games.
For the Sixers to have a chance, the duo needs to score 30 points a night, not 29 combined in the first two games the way it has been.
We need EB and Dre to get their average, Collins understated.
Brand scored 17 points in the opener, with 13 coming in the first half. That means hes scored just seven points in the last six quarters, something he attributes not to the Heat adjusting on him, but from the Sixers not getting a good offensive rhythm.
Game 2, we're looking at it as an aberration, Brand said. But it does show how much work we have to do and how certain things in the regular season we kind of let slip because we were winning games."
At the same time, the Heat have done a pretty good job at taking away the 15-footer from the foul-line off a little pick-and-roll that Brand has built his career on. As a result, Collins thinks Brand might have to take that shot a little deeper than usual.
Their defense is what I worried about the most coming into the series, Collins said. Could we score? Last night we struggled.
Brand has played the last two months with a broken hand, and showed up at practice on Tuesday with what looked like fresh scratch marks on his neck. Meanwhile, Iguodalas chronic tendinitis that cost him some of his typical defensive tenacity the last few weeks of the regular season wont heal until he shuts it down.
During the tape session on Tuesday, however, Collins says he saw some things that might help Iguodala get going.
I think that in looking at the tape we saw some things with Dre that can help him, too. A lot of it is our spacing on the floor, Collins explained. Their guys trap really hard on the pick-and-rolls and they have to be really crisp with what you do. You have to get that ball out because if there are two guys on the ball it means there are four guys playing against three and that ball has to have energythat ball has to really, really move. We talked about that.
Get inside
The Sixers offense is built on its ability to run, but if that isnt possible, the half-court game can be a little troublesome. In Game 1, Miami stopped the Sixers from running during the first half, dropped into a zone, and started picking away at the deficit that faced them.
To fight that, the Sixers want to get it closer to the basket. There are ways to do that, Collins said.
One thing you have to do against Miami is either get the ball into the paint either by dribble or a pass, the coach said. When you do that it collapses their defense and then you have to move that ball and make some shots. So somehow you have to penetrate it against the defense and get the ball in the paint.
Williams getting minutes
Meanwhile, Collins is hoping for more minutes from top reserve, Lou Williams, who missed the last five games of the regular season with a hamstring injury. In order to help Williams regain his stamina, Collins says he put the guard in during the fourth quarter.
Lou is trying to get his legs and thats why I left him out there a little longer Monday night, Collins said. When we played in Milwaukee I gave Lou some extra minutes at the end of the game and I thought he got into some rhythm that really helped him and Im hoping that he will be a little sharper.
Dont be like Mike?
When he was still in high school, Miamis James was designated as the heir to Michael Jordans standing as the best player in the game. To further push the hype, James even wore No. 23 during his years with Cleveland, though he wears No. 6 in Miami, which was a number made famous by Julius Erving in Philadelphia.
Nevertheless, Collins coached Jordan in Chicago and Washington and says James isnt quite the raw scorer than M.J. was. When discussing whether Iguodala needs to score more points, Collins alluded to James, Jordan and Magic Johnson.
Andre would rather be a playmaker than a scorer, Collins said. Ive always said that about LeBron James. LeBron James, for as good a scorer that he is, would rather be Magic Johnson than Michael Jordan. Dwyane Wade, in this series, has been a playmaker for them in moving the ball.
Fight history
The Heat have taken a 2-0 advantage in a playoff series six times and have gone 6-0 in those series. Meanwhile, the Sixers are 0-16 when they fall into a 2-0 series deficit.
In other words, it doesnt look too good for the Sixers.
Ah, that's statistics," Collins said, dismissively. I want to win Thursday. I'm not going to get into NBA statistics.
E-mail John R. Finger at jfinger@comcastsportsnet.com
Related: Sixers looking forward home court in Game 3Sixers Notes: Williams struggling to regain touchBuy Sixers gear