Quote:
Originally Posted by dirno2000
To add the the crunch time 5 discussion keep in mind the Heat just went to game 6 of the NBA finals with Chris Bosh as their finishing center. They ran through very good Boston and Chicago teams and could have beat us. Our guys made plays and theirs didn't but I never got the feeling the they were crippled by the line up.
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I'll play a little devil's advocate, even though we probably agree on this. The counter-arguments would be that: 1) with the exception of Game 6 when Chandler couldn't stay on the court, he was more than the Heat could handle, 2) JJB says hello...as he's slicing through the Heat defense for another layup, and 3) crunch time didn't work out so well for the Heat in the Finals.
All that said, Miami's problem wasn't that they lacked a center. Their problem was that once you got past their big 3, who never completely figured out how to function effectively as a unit, the rest of the team was just out-matched by the breadth of talent and the waves of execution and trust that the Mavs kept throwing at them.
Dallas, with Odom, would be in a completely different situation. I think he'll fit beautifully, backing up Dirk, playing next to Dirk in big lineups, AND playing next to Dirk in small lineups. And I fully expect Dallas to frequently close with Lamar as well. This team won plenty of games in Carlisle's first year with Brandon Bass as the closing center and the post-first quarter disappearing act that was Josh Howard at the 3 (when he wasn't getting spelled by Devean George). A Marion/Dirk/Odom trio would (will) be in a completely different class.