Friday, April 22, 2011
Posted: 7:08 p.m.
By Dei Lynam
CSNPhilly.com
We know the numbers: Miami has made 40 more free throws than the Sixers in this series and they have collected 35 more rebounds. In Thursdays six-point defeat, the Heat attempted 20 more shots in the paint than the home team.
Add the numbers up and you arrive at Miamis commanding three-games-to-none lead.
The moment of truth comes Sunday.
I always call a game like Sunday a human nature game, Doug Collins said. Are you going to let human nature take over when the game gets tough? You are down 0-3. How bad do you want to go back to Miami? Do I want to see these guys again or are we going to fight like we have all season long and find a way to get back to Miami?
You dont want to get swept. You dont want to be out, Elton Brand said. Weve had a fun season enjoying each other and we want to keep growing. We dont want to go home. Nobody wants to go home.
Three of the Sixers' starters had never been in the postseason: Jrue Holiday, Jodie Meeks and Spencer Hawes. Add Evan Turner to that mix and you can understand why the focus in the Sixers' gym Friday was not about facing elimination, but instead putting together another performance like Game 1 and Game 3 where the Sixers gave themselves a chance to win.
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Thats the good thing about a young group, they just have that natural energy and they are too goofy to know the situation, Andre Iguodala. They are always excited to play the games and they rub off on everyone because they want to play the game and enjoy playing.
We realize that Sunday is do or die, Lou Williams said. Its either win or go home and we want to stretch this thing out, so I think we will probably have our best effort on Sunday.
There is still room for improvement where the Sixers are concerned. Iguodala continues to struggle with his shooting. He has seven made field goals and is shooting 28 percent. Also, after averaging 19 points in the first two games, Thaddeus Young scored four points in Game 3.
The Sixers can also ill afford to let Miami tally 20 offensive rebounds as the Heat did on Thursday.
Those are the obvious areas to point out, but Collins and his staff showed a tape to the team of Miamis 10 fourth-quarter baskets from Game 3. Seven of those field goals came in the final five seconds of the shot clock.
Basically, what I was walking our guys through was that it wasnt any plays that beat us, Collins said. It was playing through the whole shot clock for 24 seconds and what we call the moment of truth when that ball goes up, going and seeking a body and coming away with that ball.
A contributing factor with the Sixers' rebounding woes is that they like to trap the pick-and-roll and when they do it that means there is a free man.
Do they send a guy to go flying in from the outside to go to the boards or do they protect back? Collins asked. You run the risk of if you dont get that rebound then you get run out on, on the other end, like (Dwyane) Wade on his tip-dunk came from the top of the circle. We had trapped the ball and we were a little bit late in rotation. Normally a guy is going to stay there and protect back, but he saw an opening and went in and dunked the ball, and that is why he is Dwyane Wade.
Brand was the lone Sixer with double-digit rebounds. Eight of his 11 boards were defensive, but he admits it is challenging to keep the Heat off the offensive glass.
When you trap it is a perimeter player. Its not like the post player where you are trapping him and you can get to the boards, he said. You are outside the paint and thats a big guy trapping, so they have an advantage on the boards. We just all have to get in there and gang rebound.
They do the same thing to us, trapping on pick-and-rolls, Iguodala added. So we can take a page out of their book and do the same thing.
Email Dei Lynam at dlynam@cocmastsportsnet.com
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