I don't know if it was Larry Bird's blank stare from the crowd, Frank
Voegel's "hands-on-my-hips-and-I-don't-give-a-sh*t" demeanor, or Danny
Granger's self-assurance, but this team was more confident than they
should have been. Hibbert had held the post down with authority, Granger
was knocking down shots from infinity and beyond, and West frustrated
the bigs by dropping those mutant floater-hook-jumpshots late in the
4th. The best player on the other team missed the shot that could have
won it all, and a relatively easy one at that. West puts up another
"nah, that's a rebound" shot, sinks it, goodnight.
The
"other" team in this situation wasn't the Miami Heat from last night's
game 2 collapse. It was the Cleveland Caveliers, Dec.30th, 2011, and
Kyrie Irving missed a game winning lay-up that was cake for a kid that
skilled. Why am I starting an article on "clutchness" with the newly
minted ROY? Because according to 82games.com, he leads the league in points acrued per 48 minutes
of clutch-time. 5 minutes or less left in the 4th qt plus overtime, that
is our defintion of the clutch category. Kyrie Irving leads it,
followed by Durant Anthony, Westbrook, and CP3.
Now,
Miami has seen some trouble. Notably, the blame for Miami's lack of
ability to close has been placed on one Lebron Ramone James. Nevermind
that James is by far the best player in basketball, fans all over Miami
have called upon the Heat to hand the closing chores to Finals Champion
Dwyane Wade. I mean, to give some credit to the losing argument, Wade is
the man who was untouchable in 2006. He put a team on his shoulders and
made a historic come back on the biggest stage of basketball, the NBA
Finals. He was the ever-composed composer, the artist and the artwork,
both creator and product of Miami's offensive push to a title. There's
no question that he has a resume that would suggest that he is the
team's closer.
The problem, statistically speaking, is
that none of that matters. When Wade's numbers with 5 minutes or less
are stacked up next to James', they lack in the luster Miami fans have
stapled on Dywane. Consider the fact that per 48 minutes of clutch time,
Wade attempts 25 shots while James attempts 26. Now, consider that Wade
is shooting 38% fg while Lebron is at 39% in clutch time. Add on to
that the fact that Wade and James looked at 20% and 27% respectively
from trey and 68% and 64% from the line, and you have a myth of "the
closer" overpowering the Miami airwaves. Wade falls behind in points
acrued in clutch time to players like Anthony Morrow, Marcus Thornton,
and...wait for it...take a seat for this...Drew Gooden.
The
problem goes past some assuming fans. Fans don't coach teams. Miami has
at its helm a guy I think has one of the more internationally
influenced playbooks in the league. From Horn Screens and Double Posts
to Triple-Screen Fades and Zipper-screen Isolations, Spo knows. My
question would be just what the heck is keeping him from using some of
that creativity in some of these games? When the heat needed a play
drawn up with 25 seconds left to go in a pivotal game 2 in last year's
finals, Spo draws up a beauty that puts a dangerous Chalmers open on the
3 point line off of a screen-the-screener move, and the passing duties
on the best passer in a Heat jersey, James. Lebron throws a strike to
Chalmers that made a beeline for his shooter's pocket. Perfect
execution.
So, all of this talk about who has to close is
pointless and ignorant. Numbers are numbers. For analysts to assume that
they know the mental make up of an athlete is purely for entertainment
purposes. In my opinion, the best player on the court is Lebron James,
he should close it. Hell, Wade and James can share it. In truth it
doesn't matter which one of them actually closes the games if there's a
competent play drawn up to get one of those stars the ball in a good
position. And I don't mean these ridiculous Iso's where a guy gets the
ball at the top and has everyone clear out. A clear out ends with a
double team, which results in a pass to another player not named Lebron
James or Dwyane Wade. When a team can lock your iso plays down simply by
bringing out the guy guarding the worst player on the court and keeping
a guy on Wade, there's a problem in the play-calling, not in the
playing.
