Game Thread: Charlotte Hornets @ Miami Heat (Game 5)

Haven't heard if Nic will be available. Either way I'd stick with the same starters and have Nic come off the bench tonight for strategic reasons. Charlotte has been exploiting situations Miami chooses to surrender, not some unsolvable 5-man lineup Clifford has put together. I don't see the advantages/disadvantages changing in game 5 unless Spoelstra alters their defensive approach or playing groups.

 

- Goal should be playing Miami's starters to a draw. That hasn't happened all series no matter who starts.

 

- Get Whiteside in early foul trouble. He's far less active defensively with 2 early fouls even when he returns.

 

- Continue exploiting their bench with de facto 1's. Sand-bagging Nic could be a huge advantage ending Q1/Q2

 

- Keep turnovers low. Miami's "pace" depends on changing ends quickly for easy shots and forcing cross-matches to hide liabilities.

 

- Personally, I'd like to see more Hawes: Lin, Courtney, Nic, Cody, and Hawes in Q2. Marvin if Nic can't play.

 

- All that said, probably hinges on Miami making shots and Kemba/Lin attacking unless Miami alters their D.

Buckets it looks like Batum is playing and asked to come off of the bench tonight. Team player.

 

I like your 2Q lineup. Have Courtney and Batum bring the ball up some so they don't blitz Lin and then he can attack from the wing.

i would also add to buckets list (haha) to not allow whiteside to dunk the ball, particularly on lobs. it completely feeds him emotionally. if you take it away, he loses his will to play both offensively and defensively. 

Buckets it looks like Batum is playing and asked to come off of the bench tonight. Team player.

 

I like your 2Q lineup. Have Courtney and Batum bring the ball up some so they don't blitz Lin and then he can attack from the wing.

 

i want to see a kemba/batum/marv/frank/al or cody lineup if batum is feeling well enough to run with wade. i think it is the trump card lineup.

Judging by their manly quotes Whiteside and Wade watch too many 1980's action movies. I get it - we won't doubt your legendary resolve.

Clifford likes the Cody/Hawes tandem. This way we can still have 4 outside threats on the the floor with Cody defending the 4-man.

In game 3 the Hornets exploited this twin tower vs. small ball mismatch by going to Cody in the post. In game 4 Hawes was defended by Winslow in this situation, but we did not really feed Hawes in the post. Anybody think we ought to try that if Hawes is defended by a small guy again? Or is Hawes just a little too awkward for that kind of offensive showcasing?

http://fivethirtyeig...kes-and-misses/

Clifford likes the Cody/Hawes tandem. This way we can still have 4 outside threats on the the floor with Cody defending the 4-man.

In game 3 they exploited this twin tower vs. small ball mismatch by going to Cody in the post. In game 4 Hawes was defended by Winslow in this situation, but we did not really feed Hawes in the post. Anybody think we ought to try that if Hawes is defended by a small guy again? Or is Hawes just a little too awkward for that kind of offensive showcasing?

 

If needed with an expiring shot clock after primarily looking for the baseline cut or kickout from the high post. Otherwise, Hawes in the post eliminates the purpose of creating space for Cody and Lin. He's intriguing though since he's the only C when surrounded by shooters who could force Miami into adjusting

I want us to slow the pace of the game while not relenting on our attacking the rim with reckless abandon. If they take away the lane by helping, I want to hear Mickey screaming from the corner "now Rocky! Switch to the three Rock!" We didn't chase those 3p chickens all year for nothing.

I love the idea of bringing Nic off the bench. That's holy crap fun to contemplate. I do hope that Frank can remain solid on defense, and I like the idea of giving Spencer some burn with Cody if we're going to play Frank along with Al. And I don't want Marvin to have to guard Deng, would rather see him on JJ exclusively.

But most critical to our success, wear Purple jerseys! I am

Ziggy is there a way to temporarily block new user accounts created today from using the forum/chat? Feels like we've had 2-3 trolls lately.

Just the threat of Nic will force them to spend time on it.

 

 

 

Meanwhile Tyler Johnson ruled out for tonight, targeting game 6

 

Another big thing with Nic coming back is we have the Nic to Cody pick and roll excellence back on track, and now featured off the bench to attack miamis second string. Good luck with that.

I feel like we have the upper hand here. We've proven we can beat them with either the three point barrage during the season, and now a second way with an attack the rim approach. Miami's proven they can only beat us if the whole team takes their Curry supplements for a complete anomaly of incredible shooting. That they've actually done it twice makes it seem incredibly unlikely that they could shoot like that again.

I feel confident in us heading out of there with a victory.

At practice today Clifford had a baffled look when being told "Heat players are talking about the officiating" and being informed of Whiteside's "flop-offs" comment. "We don't have any floppers on our team," he said. He said "there's no comparison" when talking about the historical amount of flopping of the players on the two rosters. He said there's nothing in the tapes or NBA reports to support Whiteside's comments.

 

Sorry that I don't know how to do a direct link. Scroll down and under "VIDEOS" with the plain black font click on the image of Cliff with the red seats behind him.

 

http://www.nba.com/hornets/

http://www.nba.com/v...-cha-play9.nba/

 

 

Here is the only flop video I can find from this series.  Just watch how Deng flops around the court trying to find Kemba. 

At practice today Clifford had a baffled look when being told "key players are talking about the officiating" and being informed of Whiteside's "flop-offs" comment. "We don't have any floppers on our team," he said. He said "there's no comparison" when talking about the historical amount of flopping of the players on the two roosters. He said there's nothing in the tapes or NBA reports to support Whiteside's comments.

 

Sorry that I don't know how to do a direct link. Scroll down and under "VIDEOS" with the plain black font click on the image of Cliff with the red seats behind him.

 

http://www.nba.com/hornets/

 

 

Here's the direct video for anyone having troubles opening Ashevillelin's link

 

 

I really think Clifford's motivation had more to do with Wade's veiled threat about lane contact.

 

As for flopping, Wade flopped at minimum 3 if not 4 times last game. If you see a 4 on 5 in all likelihood Wade fell down trying to sell a call (or grabbing his face, whatever) with the bonus being lazy in transition. Hurts his own team more often than not.

 

Like this play - if anyone touched him it was Winslow. There's nothing natural about launching backwards while safely folding into the deadbug position, arms flailing skyward.

 

 

If needed with an expiring shot clock after primarily looking for the baseline cut or kickout from the high post. Otherwise, Hawes in the post eliminates the purpose of creating space for Cody and Lin. He's intriguing though since he's the only C when surrounded by shooters who could force Miami into adjusting

I'm sure you noticed in game 3, it was Winslow defending Zeller for that stretch and we quickly exploited it. Wise move of them to put their small 4 Winslow on Hawes in game 4 when the similar situation arose.

Buckets it looks like Batum is playing and asked to come off of the bench tonight. Team player.

 

I like your 2Q lineup. Have Courtney and Batum bring the ball up some so they don't blitz Lin and then he can attack from the wing.

 

So is there talk of Miami roughing us up tonight? Anybody want us to "get creative" with an early Tyler Hansbrough appearance on Whiteside? Throw them a curveball? Away game for us and we get destroyed in Miami in the playoffs so why not try a surprise risk?

"Tyler, go in there and hack the hell out of them 6 times as quickly as possible."

So is there talk of Miami roughing us up tonight? Anybody want us to "get creative" with an early Tyler Hansbrough appearance on Whiteside? Throw them a curveball? Away game for us and we get destroyed in Miami in the playoffs so why not try a surprise risk?

"Tyler, go in there and hack the hell out of them 6 times as quickly as possible."

Oops. Maybe I post it 6 times...

So is there talk of Miami roughing us up tonight? Anybody want us to "get creative" with an early Tyler Hansbrough appearance on Whiteside? Throw them a curveball? Away game for us and we get destroyed in Miami in the playoffs so why not try a surprise risk?

"Tyler, go in there and hack the hell out of them 6 times as quickly as possible."

 

that would be a dumb move. they are already having issues with the hornets getting to the line. i would welcome them in forcing the refs to set the tone. 

that would be a dumb move. they are already having issues with the hornets getting to the line. i would welcome them in forcing the refs to set the tone. 

 

what Chef said. Miami can't afford their 2 best players racking up fouls in a closely called game.