293: 126: It’s over, there will be no more Miami Heat team with this number (asking for monthly votes!) 293: 126: It’s over, there will be no more Miami Heat team with this number (asking for monthly votes!) No one understood what “miserable” meant more than Alonzo Mourning
As a powerful center, he was first knocked to the ground by the guard Roger.
Then Roger dunked on him with an impactful face-to-face dunk.
When it came to frequency of being knocked down among centers, that could only be compared to the Philly Emperor many years later.
Mourning was the soul of the entire Heat team, his toughness was the toughness of the Heat, his resilience was the resilience of the Heat.
As a result, Roger had smashed his toughness and resilience to pieces.
So for the Heat, Roger’s attacks were direct hits to the soul.
Micky Arison watched Roger who was unleashing his fury at Riley, starting to get nervous.
His opponent seemed to be tougher and more decisive than his own team!
Mourning clambered up from the ground in a sorry state, angrily pounding the soft pad on the basketball hoop.
He swore to himself that he would never again speak a word with Roger in private!
That recent dunk, along with Roger’s subsequent trash talk, were simply suffocating his dignity!
Roger was indeed suffocating Mourning’s dignity, his methods now were just that cruel.
Different from the angry Mourning, Pat who was constantly being ranted at, remained very calm.
He sat on the bench, legs crossed, even occasionally fixing his slicked-back hairstyle, as if he didn’t care at all about what Roger was saying.
Riley just turned his head, looking at his assistant coach Stan Van Gundy, “Heh, the idiot really thinks he can win.”
Riley’s composure wasn’t faked; since he had chosen such a defensive strategy, he didn’t mind at all how many points Roger scored.
Even if Roger scored 40 points, as long as the Heat were leading on the scoreboard, Roger would still be the loser!
Seeing that Riley had no reaction, Roger was quite displeased.
Alright then, I want to see how long you can keep sitting there so calmly!
Ever since tasting the sweetness of isolation plays, Roger would initiate one-on-one challenges whenever he got the ball.
Pat Riley used a strategy of constantly fresh defenders to try to contain Roger, with Chapman, Bimbo Coles, Billy Owens, and even Kurt Thomas from the bench taking turns guarding Roger for several possessions.
But it was to no avail.
Roger’s shooting touch wasn’t worn down by their ineffective defense; the Heat’s one-on-one defense simply didn’t work against Roger.
13 points in one quarter, Roger played with ease.
But Riley felt his strategy was the right one, because after the first quarter, the Magic only led the Heat by 3 points.
Roger’s isolation plays were dragging down the entire team’s offensive rhythm, that was a fact.
Role players wouldn’t get touches on offense for too long, their enthusiasm, their shooting touch, would all decline.
But was Roger harming the team’s offense?
Because with the Magic’s current lineup, giving the ball rights to role players would only make their offense even more difficult.
In other words, no matter how the Magic chose to attack, it was the worst choice, which is exactly what the Heat’s defense wanted to achieve.
During the break between quarters, Brian Hill didn’t blame Roger for the excessive isolation plays in the first quarter.
He admitted it wasn’t his preferred style of play, but it was the tactic they had to use now.
With the team short-handed, Brian Hill didn’t have many options to solve the problems.
In that case, it was up to Roger to solve them.
He looked at Roger, hesitated for a moment, then patted Roger on the shoulder, “Rest for the first four minutes of the second quarter.”
Roger had no objection, he indeed needed some time to rest.
You can’t just play a full 48 minutes by casually throwing around words like “perseverance” and “endurance.”
Who can’t play 48 minutes of contact sports?
Just grit your teeth and you can persist.
But on the basketball court, persisting for 48 minutes without efficiency is meaningless.
You’re just physically on the court, but if you can neither score nor guard anyone, you might as well sit down.
Players with real basketball IQ aren’t after playing 48 minutes, but about scoring as many points as possible at the most appropriate times.
Today, Roger needed to take a huge number of shots, and if he wanted to maintain efficiency, he had to take time to catch his breath.
In the early stages of the second quarter without Roger, the Magic finally became more team-oriented on offense.
But facing the Heat’s almost mistake-free defense, the Magic’s role players who couldn’t get any open shots had no power to forcefully solve the problem.
The Magic, as the defending champions, had their foundations, and their role players were all excellent.
But with the current roster, when you looked around, there were almost no weaknesses, but also almost no strengths.
No matter how excellent role players are, they can’t replace the function of a core player.
Just like Kyle Anderson being an all-around role player for the Timberwolves, but when he took charge on the national team?
It was simply unbearable to watch.
As the saying goes, to break through the Heat’s defense, you need top-notch talent.
Although Saru regained his form this season, he had lost his ability to penetrate.
As a off-ball shooter type of role player, he clearly couldn’t carry the team’s offense.
He was a nice accessory beside Roger, but to ask him to lead the team’s offense alone, that was too much to ask.
The four minutes passed quickly, and the Heat took the lead by 4 points.
Not until then did Roger finally return to the court.
As soon as he came back, Roger eagerly walked up to the Heat’s bench, looking straight at Pat Riley, “Keep watching, bastard!”
Riley remained cool, not shifting an inch from his seat.
He believed that as the game went on, Roger’s offensive efficiency would definitely fluctuate.