Category: In the News

Eastern finals matchups, keys to victory

Express-News NBA writer Mike Monroe profiles the key players and matchups in the Eastern Conference finals between the top-seeded Bulls and No. 2 seed Heat, who lost all three meetings to Chicago this season by a combined eight points.

POINT GUARD

Heat: (0) Mike Bibby 6-2, 13th yr – The worst defender among all starters left in playoffs, and he’s about to face the MVP … He’d better shoot better from long range (23.5 percent) than he did in first two rounds.

Bulls: (1) Derrick Rose 6-3, 4th yr – Playoffs production (28.8 ppg, 8.2 apg) better than the regular season (25.0, 7.7) that earned MVP Award … Shooting, however, is down (44.5/33.2 on 3-pointers in season vs. 40.0/25.4 in playoffs).

Edge: Bulls

SHOOTING GUARD

Heat: (3) Dwyane Wade 6-4, 8th yr – He’s had some problems with migraines in playoff run, but he’s been a headache for opponents, averaging 26.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and 5.0 assists … 3-point shooting has dropped in playoffs to 25.0.

Bulls: (6) Keith Bogans 6-5, 8th yr – He’s picking his spots to shoot playoff 3-pointers and has been so accurate (48.7 percent) that the Heat will have to game plan to limit his open opportunities. This fact alone makes him a factor.

Edge: Heat

SMALL FORWARD

Heat: (6) LeBron James 6-8,8th yr – His strong finish in close-out game against Celtics answered questions about his crunch-time edge. … After averaging 24.2 points in first round, scoring jumped to 28.0 in five games against Celtics.

Bulls: (9) Luol Deng 6-9, 7th yr – No Bulls player has logged more playoff court time than Deng, 43.2 minutes per game. … Solid playoff scorer (16.7 points) and rebounder (6.5), it’s his defensive excellence that keeps him out there.

Edge: Heat

POWER FORWARD

Heat: (1) Chris Bosh 6-11, 8th yr – After averaging 19.8 points in first round, he slipped to 12.8 against Celtics’ stiffer defense but was Heat’s top rebounder against Boston. … Solid pick-and-roll defender will be vital at defensive end.

Bulls: (5) Carlos Boozer 6-9, 9th yr – Bothered some by “turf toe” during conference semifinals. … Playoff scoring (11.8 points per game) way off from regular season (17.5), but rebounding virtually the same (9.5 per game).

Edge: Heat

CENTER

Heat: (50) Joel Anthony 6-9, 4th yr – A very athletic defender and quick to get on the boards, which is precisely what is needed against Noah. … Averaged 6.2 rebounds in conference semis against Boston, making himself a significant factor.

Bulls: (13) Joakim Noah 6-11, 4th yr – Bulls’ emotional leader also is their top rebounder (10.4 per game in regular season and playoffs) and an outstanding outlet passer. Always looking to lead Rose on the way to the basket.

Edge: Bulls

BENCH

Heat: G Mario Chalmers’ ability to defend Kyle Korver and Bogans, even Rose, makes him most important reserve … Bench bigs provide little, though Zydrunas Ilgauskas looms as an X-factor if Anthony still starts … James Jones is a 3-point threat.

Bulls: F Kyle Korver keeps foes from doubling Rose by demanding a defender at the arc. … Omer Asik’s toughness has made him a surprise factor … Ronnie Brewer’s defense and Taj Gibson’s rebounding make them X-factors.

Edge: Bulls

COACH

Heat: Erik Spoelstra 3rd yr – He’s already beaten Tom Thibodeau’s mentor, Doc Rivers, but this is a big series for a guy who is going to take a lot of heat (pardon the pun) if he can’t get the team and its talents into the NBA Finals.

Bulls: Tom Thibodeau 1st yr – The guy won the Coach of the Year award and has his team playing lock-down playoff defense. … His use of bench has been masterful, and he’s smart enough to know Rose is a great closer.

PREDICTION

Heat in six?

* * *

HEAT VS. BULLS KEYS TO VICTORY

M-V-P vs. M-V-We: This series should probably be sponsored by the True Value Hardware chain. Of the five remaining playoff teams, none relies more on one player than the Bulls, who lean heavily on MVP Derrick Rose to generate offense, especially in crunch time. Though two-time MVP LeBron James finished third in this year’s voting, many believe 2006 Finals MVP Dwyane Wade has just as much impact.

Roll that pick: The Bulls rely heavily on pick-and-roll action, especially with Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah. The Heat’s big men, Joel Anthony and Chris Bosh, are adept at defending the pick-and-roll, “showing” out to force the dribbler — usually Rose — farther from the basket than he wants. How this action plays out will go a long way towards determining the series winner.

Ex-Spurs, X-Factors: Spurs fans often averted their eyes when Keith Bogans launched 3-pointers during his days as a rotation player in 2009-10. Now he’s a starter for the Bulls and was a positive factor from long range in a few playoff games leading to this series. Then there’s Kurt “Big Sexy” Thomas. In what should be a defensive series, he has a chance to be a factor on the interior.

– Mike Monroe

Butler’s comeback provides Spurs compelling prospect

By Tim Griffin
tgriffin@express-news.net

The memory still haunts Da’Sean Butler several months after his short stay with the Miami Heat ended.

Butler wasn’t healthy when he tried to earn his way onto the Heat’s roster as a rookie last fall.

Far from it, in fact.

As Butler attempted to overcome a serious knee injury, he did his best to convince Miami coaches he could still play at the level that made him one of the nation’s top college players the previous season.

But the nagging effects of the injury didn’t give him much of a chance to show what he could do.

“I remember my first training camp and how I couldn’t participate,” Butler said. “I practically cried sitting there.”

Butler was waived by the Heat and spent several months in basketball limbo before resurfacing with the Spurs late in the season with a waiver transaction on March 25.

The Spurs had no immediate expectations as they placed him on the inactive list. Butler continued his rehabilitation with the team’s strength staff.

Even with the lockout looming, Butler has big hopes he can start his NBA playing career with the Spurs when camps open.

“I love to play basketball, and I love to prove people wrong,” Butler said. “This is something I’ve been praying and leading to do during the last year. I’m close now.”

Such a recovery is stunning after Butler’s college career ended as it did in the 2010 Final Four semifinals.

After leading West Virginia to its first Final Four appearance in 51 seasons, Butler sustained a horrific injury to his left knee while driving to the basket late in a loss to eventual national champion Duke.

The image is still hard to shake more than a year later. Butler was writhing on the floor, biting on his hand trying to fight off pain. Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins was draped over Butler, whispering words of encouragement to him.

The diagnosis was a torn ACL, a sprained MCL and multiple bone bruises. His recovery was expected to take at least six months.

The injury caused his draft stock to plummet. After originally being projected as a mid-first-rounder, Butler fell to the 42nd overall pick in the middle of the second round.

As his recovery progressed, Butler tried to push his recovery as much as possible.

“Early on, I was really rushing,” Butler said. “I just wanted everybody to know that I would be fine and not let this injury slow me down.”

But he was clearly not the same player as before as he tried to recapture the form that enabled him to lead the Mountaineers in scoring and assists at 17.2 and 3.1 as a senior.

“I was treating it like an ankle sprain, and that’s definitely not the case,” Butler said.

Gradually, he’s recovered and is close to the form of his senior season.

Before his injury, the 6-foot-7, 230-pounder was known as a pure shooter whose high release was almost impossible to defend. He was also known for his high basketball intellect and his character — traits that would fit the Spurs’ profile of second-round late bloomers.

But his lack of athleticism was a concern, even before his knee injury.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich still hasn’t seen much of Butler’s on-court skills since his arrival.

“I have no idea,” Popovich said. “You can’t even tell if he’s a player or not. He’s out there running around pylons.

“Everybody just tells me he looked good in the tournament. But they also tell me he’s X number of pounds heavier than he was in the tournament. So I won’t even have an impression of him until camp comes.”

When that chance arrives, Butler vows to be ready.

“It feels like it’s been an extremely long, long year for me,” Butler said. “But it’s a big opportunity to get a chance with an organization like this one. This is a great second chance and a great place for me.”

Defending NBA champs on playoff precipice

By Mike Monroe
mikemonroe@express-news.net

DALLAS — First, the Spurs fell, a 61-win No. 1 seed ousted in the first round of the NBA’s Western Conference playoffs.

Soon, the West’s No. 2 seed, the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, may join them as idled observers, a legendary coach sent to early retirement in the process.

Dallas has a 3-0 lead in the best-of-7 Western Conference semifinals series that resumes today at American Airlines Center.

The Lakers are the 99th team in NBA history to face such a daunting deficit, defiance seemingly their final refuge. The first 98, after all, failed to overcome. But Lakers star Kobe Bryant insisted he has no doubt his team can be the first, starting with today’s game, and issued a warning to any teammate that might not share the belief.

“I’m going to keep this train moving,” he said, “so you’re either going to be on it, or in front of it. But the train will keep moving.”

The Mavericks have outscored the Lakers in the fourth quarter of each of the first three games because they have kept Bryant from dominating. In the final five minutes of Dallas’ 98-92 Game 3 victory, Bryant missed all four of the shots he attempted and committed two turnovers.

Meanwhile, center Andrew Bynum, on the brink of a breakout game after scoring 21 points through the first 3??1/2 quarters, did not touch the ball.

“The last five minutes is when I go to work,” Bryant explained, “and I didn’t the last game. I’ve got to get the ball and make those plays.”

Lakers coach Phil Jackson has hinted all season that he will retire at season’s end, whenever that may be. Veteran Lakers such as Bryant and Derek Fisher, starters on the five Lakers teams Jackson has coached to NBA titles, don’t want to get swept and have that be Jackson’s final experience.

“It means more to myself and Derek than anybody else on this team, the history that we have,” Bryant said, “but you try not to think of that. You just try to think of the game.”

In a pre-practice meeting, Jackson told his players to forget about him and any legacy issues, then fell back on a longtime playoff ploy: Complaining about the officiating, hoping the referees working today’s game will notice.

Jackson said his All-Star power forward, Pau Gasol, has struggled in the first three games of the series because defenders are breaking a rule.

“I’ve resisted this the whole playoffs, but the NBA used to call it ‘knee up the butt,’?” Jackson said. “You couldn’t lift your knee off the floor to run a guy off the post. They’re doing it every time. They’re taking him out of the post so he can’t get a post-up.

“We didn’t complain about it against New Orleans, but the Mavs are doing the same damn thing. So we’re kind of resigned that they’re not going to change the rules. .?.?. I mean go back to what they used to have as a rule.”

Meanwhile, the Mavericks quietly go about their business of making the two-time defending champions look old, and in the way.

“We’re up against an opponent that’s very experienced and has got a lot of weapons,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “We’ve got to stay on task.

“I feel like they’re going to play better, and we’ll have to play better, too.”