290: 125: Nobody can teach me how to talk!
(Asking for monthly votes!) 290: 125: Nobody can teach me how to talk!
(Asking for monthly votes!) Atop the stands of Miami Heat, a man with glasses looking plump and kind with graying hair, resembling Gabe Newell, was smiling at the camera.
He was Micky Arison, the majority owner of the Miami Heat, who had just purchased the shares from the other two major shareholders for $32.5 million this summer, becoming the biggest boss of the Heat, with ultimate control over the franchise.
Despite his benign appearance, his successful acquisition of the Heat this summer was anything but soft.
In March, one of the original owners of the Heat, Lewis Schaffel, teamed up with other minority shareholders in a sudden move against the Arison family, attempting to wrest ultimate control of the Miami Heat and oust the Arisons.
Faced with such an unexpected event, Micky didn’t back down.
He calmly gathered damaging information about some of the minority shareholders, successfully wooing them to his side and weakening the enemy’s forces.
Then, he exercised the legal rights associated with his shares, outright firing all of Lewis Schaffel’s loyalists, leaving him isolated and without support overnight.
Micky’s decisive and ruthless actions intimidated another major shareholder, Billy Cunningham, who considering the poor revenue performance of the Heat and not wanting to get involved in the dispute, proactively sold his shares to Micky and cashed out.
Eventually, as the tide turned against him, Lewis Schaffel had no choice but to bow out and sell all of his shares.
Thus, Micky eliminated the other shareholders.
The man in glasses appeared congenial, yet his lenses were spattered with fresh blood.
Micky Arison was acutely aware that business combat requires being tough, decisive, and cold-blooded, and in his view, basketball was the same.
That’s why the hard-nosed Micky favored the equally tough Pat Riley, to the extent that he didn’t hesitate to sell 10% of his shares to Riley to bring him aboard.
He hoped his team would become an ironclad force like the New York Knicks, and in the entire league, only Riley could achieve that.
As an owner who loved to win and truly loved basketball, Micky Arison looked forward with great anticipation to the Florida derby.
He knew all too well that with this season’s roster, the Heat was not going to win the championship.
But as long as they could beat their in-state rivals, the Magic, a few more times, the season would be worthwhile!
Arison deeply appreciated Pat Riley’s pre-game comments.
Indeed, in basketball, as in business competition, sometimes you must be ruthless.
He believed Riley’s words certainly affected the young mindset of the Magic Team; he relished seeing those super talents fall clumsily at the American Airlines Center!
Brian Hill had also reminded Roger before the game, “Don’t get caught up in one-on-one, Riley’s words were meant to provoke you.
Today, we need to play more as a team, it’s best to pass the ball to everyone!”
As the starters for both teams gathered, with the Magic missing two starting big men, Brian Hill’s lineup was Saru, Harper, Roger, McKey, and Cage.
Roger was moved to the small forward position, while McKey was pushed to power forward.
On the Heat side, the starting five were Bimbo Coles, Rex Chapman, Billy Owens, Mourning, and Kevin Willis.
The Heat’s starting lineup wasn’t glamorous, but, as expected, their defense was among the top in the league.
Like the Knicks, the Heat excelled in areas that required effort, discipline, and intense physical confrontation, with every player on the team being a fiery warrior on the defensive side.
Their defense might lack in natural talent, but not in execution and team spirit.
Riley might have been a bastard, but his construction of the team’s defense was indeed masterful.
The game started, with the tall Kevin Willis securing the tip-off for the Heat.
The Heat’s first play went to Mourning, keenly aware of the Magic’s weak spot after losing Grant and O’Neal.
Mourning received the ball, turned around, and shot effortlessly, scoring over McKey.
The Heat took the lead, 0-2.
“Why didn’t you put your biggest asshole on the court?
You pose no challenge to me!” Mourning trash-talked McKey after scoring the basket.
Roger jogged up to the frontcourt, noticing that Rex Chapman was closely guarding him even off the ball.
One of the newest defensive strategies brought by Pat Riley to the Heat was to maintain physical contact with the main scoring threat at all times, even without the ball.
To harass persistently with aggressive body contact.
Whether it was through touch or collision, the message was clear: never stop!
In fact, Brian Hill had previously used this same tactic, er, had coincidentally devised a similar strategy to counter Jordan.
Seeing that Roger was being tightly defended, Saru decided to initiate the offense by using pick-and-rolls to activate the other players.
He hadn’t forgotten the head coach’s words to play as a team as much as possible today.
Saru called Michael Cage for a screen, but after circumventing the pick-and-roll, Kevin Willis and Bimbo Coles immediately opted for a double team.
Saru quickly passed the ball to Cage, who had cut to the basket after setting the pick.
Cage took two large steps and went up for the layup.
It seemed that this pick-and-roll play was successful.
However, Cage failed to score because at the moment the basketball left his fingertips, Miami’s number 33 enforcer flew in and swatted the ball fiercely out of his hands!
Most of the Heat’s starters might have had mediocre talent, but Alonzo Mourning was clearly an exception.