Tag: 2011 NBA Playoffs (Page 16 of 16)

Great Quotes: Stan Van Gundy

Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy had a few thoughts to share about the Miami Heat and how they are reacting to the scrutiny they’re under.

“I do chuckle a little bit when they sort of complain about the scrutiny when they get. My suggestion would be if you don’t want the scrutiny, you don’t hold a championship celebration before you’ve even practiced together. It’s hard to go out yourself and invite that kind of crowd and celebration and attention, and then when things aren’t going well, sort of bemoan the fact that you’re getting that attention. To me, that doesn’t follow.”

Stan Van Gundy

The Heat’s summer celebration (after signing LeBron, Wade and Bosh) raised more than a few eyebrows around the league. I’m sure the players and franchise just wanted to celebrate the fact that they signed all three players, but it clearly didn’t go over very well outside of South Florida.

It is funny that anyone in their position would be surprised at the attention the team is getting. Of course the team is going to be under heavy scrutiny after the summer it had. And when you lose four games in a row, that attention isn’t going to be positive. Man up.

Miami’s struggles continue

Miami Heat’s LeBron James (L) defends against the Chicago Bulls Derrick Rose during fourth quarter NBA basketball action in Miami, Florida March 6, 2011. REUTERS/Hans Deryk (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT BASKETBALL)

The Miami Heat are in the midst of an 11-game run against teams with winning records, and so far they’ve dropped the first four. On Sunday, they lost to the Bulls 87-86, even though LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh combined for 69 points on 53% shooting from the field.

Derrick Rose staked his claim to be the league’s MVP (once again) with a 27-point, five-assist performance, leading the Bulls to a 3-0 season sweep against the Heat. Carlos Boozer struggled to 12 points and 10 boards, but Luol Deng had a very nice game with 18 points.

I think Chicago has established itself as at least the second-best team in the East. The Bulls’ defense is outstanding thanks to the arrival of longtime Celtics’ assistant Tom Thibodeau, and offensively, everything runs through Rose. They look like they know what they’re doing while Miami sometimes look confused and out of sorts.

The win is big for Chicago because neither team wants to play the Knicks in the first round. New York will likely finish in the #6 spot, which means whoever finishes #3 has to face the dangerous combination of Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Chauncey Billups. The Bulls are now two games ahead of the Heat in the loss column and hold the tiebraker, so they’re likely to face the Sixers in the first round, not the Knicks.

If the Heat have to face the Knicks in the first round and the Bulls in the semis, forget about making the Finals, they may have a tough time even winning a series or two.

Was Chris Bosh’s 1-for-18 night the worst ever?

Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh stands on the court during the second against the Chicago Bulls quarter at the United Center in Chicago on January 15, 2011. The Bulls win 99-96. UPI/Brian Kersey

Chris Bosh missed 17 of his 18 shot attempts last night in the Heat’s 93-89 loss in Chicago. His shooting performance was so bad that it got me wondering — historically speaking, just how bad was it?

Basketball-Reference has a ‘play finder’ that allows users to look up individual games or seasons based on a series of criteria. It only goes back to the 1986-87 season, but for our purposes, that’s probably far enough. I asked the site to generate a list of players that attempted 15 or more shots but had two or fewer makes, and list those results in order of ascending field goal percentage. The resulting list shows the very worst shooting nights over the last 25 years.

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