[MSNBC] Playoffs when real fun begins

cur.ve · Apr 20, 2007

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18164406/

A few choice quotes:

In the seventh game, Lakers starters provided 107 of the team’s 112 points and 51 of its 52 rebounds. “We were a team of five guys at that point,” Fox said. “If ever in my career there was a moment where we were running on fumes, that was it."
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Rudy Tomjanovich, who coached the Houston Rockets to a pair of titles in 1994 and 1995, said that is when strategy really gets interesting.

“It’s adjustments on top of adjustments, a chess match,” Tomjanovich recalled. “It’s amazing the little adjustments. I learned from Bill Fitch a minor adjustment about bringing a guy over three feet after a cut. Because of floor spacing and the illegal defense rules at the time, it gave Hakeem (Olajuwon) a chance to come free to the middle. That play was always a reminder to me that the simplest adjustment might be the one that does it for you.”
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“The penetration aspect is the one thing that you can’t coach and you can’t defend,” Daly said. “Teams that have great penetrators end up getting shots strictly off the penetration. And that’s an advantage of a particular talent that either you have or you don’t.”

The West field is loaded with these types of players, and more than ever among teams outside the Big Three (Dallas, Phoenix and San Antonio), which leaves the door open for some first-round fireworks. Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony can carve through any opponent. In addition to McGrady, Houston has a second problem for foes: center Yao Ming, who is enjoying his best season and consistently punishing teams who attempt to cover him with a single defender.[/QOUTE]

In the 1995 West finals, Olajuwon was unstoppable in torching David Robinson and the San Antonio Spurs, averaging 35 points and shooting 56 percent in a six-game victory. After Olajuwon scored 41 points in a Game 2 win, which came the day after Robinson was named league MVP, Olajuwon’s teammate Sam Cassell said, “Who are the idiots who voted Hakeem fifth for MVP?”

The level Olajuwon reached in that series rests in the upper echelon of individual accomplishment. Ditto for last season’s run in the Finals by Dwyane Wade, who tallied 42, 36, 43 and 36 in the final four games — all victories — as the Miami Heat rallied to win the championship.

“The playoffs are what it’s all about, a kid in the driveway, the last second shot,” Tomjanovich said. “You see some wonderful things, like what Olajuwon did in the San Antonio series in ’95. Those kinds of things are what make our game great, having guys in a situation where they can reach these heights that haven’t been reached before.”
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“One characteristic of those Houston (championship) teams was that we were great when our backs were against the wall,” said Tomjanovich, whose team won eight games over two years when facing elimination. “All the bull went out the window, all the complaints went out the window. The thought was, ‘Now it’s time for us to really get together and get this thing done.’”

The current Rockets showed signs of a bit more toughness earlier this month in a victory over the Sonics. After Yao was taken down by Seattle forward Nick Collison, who was issued a flagrant foul, McGrady came to his teammate’s defense. McGrady pushed Collison and earned a technical foul. After the incident, Houston immediately forced the ball into Yao, who scored eight points in the next 54 seconds.

“When a team is really physical with you, you’re either gonna back down from it or you’re gonna respond to it. I thought we did a great job of responding and accepting that challenge,” said McGrady, who doesn’t carry the reputation as an enforcer. Hanging around Jeff Van Gundy, whose New York Knicks teams in the late 1990s thrived when play turned physical, has certainly rubbed off on the superstar. Still, McGrady, who has averaged nearly 30 points in 25 career playoff games, has yet to win a series (0-5). Maybe this is the year.
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IROC it · Apr 20, 2007

After Olajuwon scored 41 points in a Game 2 win, which came the day after Robinson was named league MVP, Olajuwon’s teammate Sam Cassell said, “Who are the idiots who voted Hakeem fifth for MVP?”
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Sweet.

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[MSNBC] Playoffs when real fun begins

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