Preview: Eastern Conference Semifinals: Miami VS Indiana

<div align="center"><u><font size="6"><font color="blue">Eastern Conference Semifinals</font></font></u></div>


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<div align="center">Time: 9:00 EST</div>
<div align="center">Place: Conseco Field House</div>
<div align="center">Tv: TNT, RSN</div>
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<div align="center"><u><font size="5">Probable Starting Lineups:</font></u></div>


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<div align="center">Dwayne Wade/Jamaal Tinsley</div>

<div align="center">Wade gets the advantage here. He is faster, more atheletic and stronger than Tinsley is. Tinsley can pass the ball better than Wade but his defence is second rate. He will have a tough time trying to check Wade and he will regularly need double teams to cover his behind.</div>

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<div align="center">Eddie Jones/Reggie Miller</div>

<div align="center">Eddie Jones' offensive game has been horrible for the playoffs. He is averaging 15 points a game but shooting 37% from the field. His defence has picked up though but that is something we expect from Eddie Jones in the first place. Reggie Miller has not been used that much in the playoffs but if you are blowing away teams by 10-20 points why put any more miles on his old legs? Playing 23 minutes a game and averaging 10 points a game Reggie is going to be called on this series to hit some big shots against a defence that held Indiana to 39% during the regular season.</div>

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<div align="center">Caron Butler/Ron Artest</div>

<div align="center">One of the matchups to watch for the series. Both players are hard nosed defenders who have an offensive game. I would not see Artest too much on Butler but actually splitting time between Butler, Wade and Jones. Butler's game is what kept the lead for Miami in game 7 and they will need him to continue his play against the Beast of the East Ron Artest.</div>

<div align="center"><font size="4"><font color="#ff0000">Key</font></font><font size="4"><font color="red">Matchup</font></font></div>
<div align="center">Lamar Odom/Jermaine O'neal</div>

<div align="center">The key matchup of the series. So many questions to ask about this matchup. Will JO come out and guard Lamar on the perimetre or stay down low and wait for him to drive to the basket? Lamar provides an interesting matchup because he is freaking 6'10 and plays like a guard. I would play Odom for the shot and try to deny the drive because that is where he is most dangerous. Odom had his way with PJ Brown in the last series but Jermaine O'neal is more mobile and I consider him to be a better defender. You probably will not see Odom check JO. He would just destroy him in the post. Brian Grant will most likely get that assignment. This is a battle of two different styles of basketball and the most exciting matchup for the series. </div>

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<div align="center">Brian Grant/Jeff Foster</div>

<div align="center">Probably the most boring matchup of the series. I consider Foster to be an underrated defender who is very good at positioning himself. He's also a bigtime hustler who goes after offensive boards. Brian Grant is a gritty player who boards well but is past his prime. Sometimes he has a good 10-15 footer but its not consistent enough to respect. </div>


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<div align="center"><u><font size="5">Bench Players</font></u></div>

<div align="center">Miami</div>

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<div align="center">Miami pretty much doesn't have a bench. Other than Rafer Alston and Udonis Haslem, Malik Allen was the only reserve to come off the bench in game 7 against New Orleans. How much time did Allen log? 3 minutes. Miami relies heavily on their starters and their two bench players Alston and Haslim leaving them to a strict 7 man rotation. They have young legs but do they have enough gas to go up against a fresh Indiana squad after surviving a game 7?</div>


<div align="center">Indiana </div>

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<div align="center">Indiana's bench is spear-headed by 6th man runner-up Al Harrington who could be a starter on most teams. Jonathan Bender is finally getting into a groove after battling various injuries throughout the season. Fred Jones is becoming a major contributor every nigh with his hustle and hard work, not to mention his 40 inch vertical. Anthony Johnson is a solid backup for Tinsley and he can come in for a effective 10-20 minutes to rest Jamaal. In short Indiana's bench was regarded as one of the best in the NBA and Miami will have a tough time facing a team who has fresh legs every minute.</div>

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<u><font size="5">Keys to the Game:</font></u>


Miami
<ul>
[*]Somehow keep the Pacers off the glass. They will totally eat up rebounds if Haslem, Odom and Grant don't focus on boxing out.
[*]Take advantage of your talented guards and penetrate the lane to draw fouls. Coming into enemy territory you have to make sure you get to the line early and often.
[*]Utilize Odom with his guard abilities and lure JO away from the basket. Keeping JO away will let the guards cut to the lane and go in against a worse defender. Or Odom could just take him off the dribble on an isolation IF....JO can't guard him. But thats a big IF.
[/list]Indiana
<ul>
[*]Utilize JO to your advantage and attack the post area. By establishing JO early down low this will give the Pacers an early advantage in the paint. Ownership of the paint is essential to winning games in the playoffs.
[*]Ron Artest has to attack Caron Butler on the offensive end. Caron did not have to worry about George Lynch going off on a scoring tear but he will have to worry about Ron Artest on both ends of the court.
[*]Rotate the ball effectively. Ron Artest and JO will get double teamed almost immediatley every time they get the ball. Put yourself in a position where you can rotate the ball to the open player. If not just give it back to JO in the post and do it all over again.
[*]Make sure your bench is well utilized to save the legs of Artest and JO. Miami's bench can't hold a candle to the talent Indiana has on their bench.
[/list]<u><font size="5"><font color="blue">CourtVisions Prediction.....</font></font></u>

The Heat will play a valient series but lose in............5. The Pacers bench will be the key to their winning ways.

 

Heat will give the Pacers a fight no doubt about it. They need to get plenty of fastbreak buckets to have a chance in this series, Pacers are a very good team but they still have plenty of flaws in their game. The point guard spot and the center position are still quite weak, even though Reggie can still hit the three he isn't what he isn't to be, past his prime, can be stopped and be ineffective.

Heat have a clear advantage in the backcourt, the only difference is the Pacers have a good inside game thanks to Jermaine O'Neal. When he attacks the basket he is basically unguardable but considering his all-star status and the impact he has on games It is a real surprise he only shoots 42% from the field.

Ron Artest is the key to this series, I would put him on Butler to start off with as Caron has been playing very good basketball in these playoffs and to end the regular season but If Wade starts taking Tinsley to school then Carisle will need to make some adjustments by moving Ron into Wade. Lamar Odom has to not always settle for that jump shot, get Jermaine in foul trouble by attacking the basket is what he needs to do If the Heat are to pull off the upset.

Miami really needs to get something from their bench, Rafer Alston struggled in their series with New Orleans he needs to find that outside shot again to at least make Indiana a little concerned about their depth.

Pacers in 6

 

I don't really see Miami really doing much damage to Indiana at all. In all seriousness New Orleans is half the team Indiana is. Their star player Baron Davis was hampered by back spasms and Magloire was Ineffective offensively for the most part of the series. Miami was playing with a healthy lineup the whole series but it still went to a game 7. I am pretty skeptical of whether or not they are going to even win a game in the series against a very strong Indiana team.

Uh oh....

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">
Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest missed the team's morning shootaround today with a migraine headache. He is probable for tonight's second-round playoff opener with Miami at Conseco Fieldhouse. Tipoff is 8 p.m.

Artest will receive his trophy for winning the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award before the game. The veteran player was instrumental in the Pacers' first-round sweep of Boston, although he was suspended one game by the NBA for leaving the bench during an altercation.

The Pacers have not played since April 25, waiting for the Miami-New Orleans series to conclude. The Heat needed the full seven games to dispose of the Hornets, setting up their matchup with the Pacers.</div><div align="center"><u>Full Story</u></div>

<div align="left"> </div>
<div align="left">I doubt Artest would miss a game due to a migraine. He would probably come back right after a surgery if he had to.</div>

 

How Can Wade Take Tinsley To School? You Must Not Have Seen, What Tinsley Can Do, Why Do you Think He Got A Playground Name Like The Abuser!

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Kareem.02:</div><div class="quote_post">How Can Wade Take Tinsley To School? You Must Not Have Seen, What Tinsley Can Do, Why Do you Think He Got A Playground Name Like The Abuser!</div>

Wade can take the best point guards to school, I somehow doubt Jamaal Tinsley should bother him that much, Tinsley is also not a great good defender either. Playground basketball? who cares about that, this is the NBA.

I know what Tinsley can do...

Not much.

 

First:

Give Me One Good Reason Why Tinsley Can't Do Much!

Second:

Your Little Rookie Friend Tossed The Ball Away About 27 Times Or More Against N.O.
It Ain't Always About Who Can Defend Better, And In That Case We Just Put Artest On Wade, And Then He's Going To Get Banged Around, Like a Cryin Baby First Time At The PLAYOFFS!

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Kareem.02:</div><div class="quote_post">First:

Give Me One Good Reason Why Tinsley Can't Do Much!

Second:

Your Little Rookie Friend Tossed The Ball Away About 27 Times Or More Against N.O.
It Ain't Always About Who Can Defend Better, And In That Case We Just Put Artest On Wade, And Then He's Going To Get Banged Around, Like a Cryin Baby First Time At The PLAYOFFS!</div>

Tinsley is an average basketball player that can pass the ball decently, he also has decent range on his three-point shot which to get his credit has improved. But nothing speical

Wade had turnovers against the Hornet yes but he was going up against the league leader in steals that being Baron Davis. He is also a rookie so he is bound to turn the ball over, thats what rookie PG's do. Putting Artest on Wade will have to happen If Wade plays the way I expect him to but then again that leaves a very talented Caron Butler artest free which is also not very wise position to be in.

 

Why Not, So Just Go With Ron On Wade And Harrington On Butler, Or Even F.Jones On Wade!

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Kareem.02:</div><div class="quote_post">Why Not, So Just Go With Ron On Wade And Harrington On Butler, Or Even F.Jones On Wade!</div>

Harrington nor Jones would have the kind of effect on D against Butler that Artest has. If I was Carisle I would keep Artest on Butler or even Odom as those two are most likely to have a bigger effect as they can both post up and cause problems for Indy inside. Wade is a rookie but should be able to get his points no matter what, Butler should be more of a concern.

 

If Ron Is On Butler He's No Concern, Talkin About Doing Damage Inside Its In INDY's favor.
The Only Players On The Heat That Can Do Damage, Are Haslem,Grant, And Maybe Odom.

If You Take Indiana: JO,Bender,Harrington,Croshere,Foster,Pollard,Artest.

The Only Thing, That The Heat Can Take In Advantage, Is It's Quick Players.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Kareem.02:</div><div class="quote_post">If Ron Is On Butler He's No Concern, Talkin About Doing Damage Inside Its In INDY's favor.
The Only Players On The Heat That Can Do Damage, Are Haslem,Grant, And Maybe Odom.

If You Take Indiana: JO,Bender,Harrington,Croshere,Foster,Pollard,Artest.

The Only Thing, That The Heat Can Take In Advantage, Is It's Quick Players.</div>

Wade and Eddie Jones can hurt you from the outside (mainly Jones) even though he can be inconsistant he is still one of the top pure shooters in the NBA. Of course the Pacers have better post presents and therefore will get alot of points in the paint but Lamar Odom and Caron Butler are good post players that can get it done inside. It's to me what they do best, attacking the basket and posting up.

 

<font size="4"><font color="red">Heat @ <font color="blue">Pacers</font></font></font>
<font size="4"><font color="#0000ff"></font></font>
<font color="black">Can you say domination? The Pacers led from the start and dominated a Heat team that looked exhausted and out of gas. Ron Artest led the way with 25 points and Jamaal Tinsley played an amazing game with 17 points and 5 dimes. Jermaine O'neal played a disspointing game shooting 29% with 13 points and 7 boards. Dwayne Wade was doing the damage for the Heat with 22 points and 4 assists. Lamar Odom was a non factor shooting a horrid 33% with 12 points and 7 boards.</font>

Coming into the series it was a known fact that Indiana had a deep bench and everyone played their roles effectively. Rafer Alston was the only bright spot for the Heat. If the Heat rely on Rafer to do what he did tonight and expect to come out on top.....they'll be packin their bags sooner than later.

We saw Jeff Foster take chances at checking Odom and it worked. Foster is a pretty underrated defender who no one really seems to notice.

All in all it was just pure domination by a team itching to get back on the court. I don't see this going past 4.



..........<font size="1">Right now I'm actually starting to do a Indiana and Detroit preview. </font>

 

Additional info about Game 1.

<font color="Blue">Game 1 Recap</font>
<font color="Blue">BoxScore</font>

 

It's pretty good that there isn't a long delay with the next game like all the other series. Great game for the Pacers and shaking off the rust. But the Heat might surprise the Pacers mang. You never know. But then again, they don't have any kinda size, they would have to play their hearts out every single game.

 

I think if Tinsley shoots like he did in game 1 for the rest of the series the Pacers will have a huge advantage.

 

^You can almost gurantee Tinsley won't have a game like that again in this series. He was just hot in this game. Eddie Jones didn't help Miami out at all, dude had only 3 points. I think the real test for Indiana is going into Miami where the Heat seem to always play well. If they can show the first game in Miami what they showed today (<font size="1">dominant defence, good decisions on offense) </font><font size="2">they will crush this team like they did Boston.</font>

Artest is becoming one of the best players in the playoffs: Article

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">
Before the Indiana Pacers opened their second-round series against the Miami Heat on Thursday, NBA legend Bill Russell presented the Defensive Player of the Year award to Indiana's Ron Artest.

For the rest of the night, Artest showed he's a premier offensive threat as well.

The Pacers' leading scorer in their first-round sweep of Boston, Artest scored a game-high 25 points in a 94-81 victory over the Heat.

"I'm just trying to play aggressive, trying to attack the same way they're attacking us," Artest said as he leaned back in a chair in the locker room after his 40th 20-point game of the season.

"You've got to step up your game, your intensity, and I'm trying to do that on both ends of the floor."

The 25 points are one short of Artest's career playoff high, reached twice last year in the Pacers' 4-2 first-round loss to Boston.

Artest averaged a team-high 20.3 points in the first round this year against Boston, missing one game due to a league-imposed suspension for leaving the bench during an altercation.

Against the Heat, he shot 7-for-17 from the field, 10-for-13 from the free throw line and added six rebounds and four assists.

All of that came after Artest missed the pregame shoot-around with a migraine headache.</div>
<div align="center"><u>Full Story</u></div>

 

Miami even though they didn't shoot the ball very well competed with Indiana for most of the game, they are a poor road team which has hurt them all season so I don't think you can judge this game and say "this game is proof Indy will roll over them and sweep" Pistons aren't saying they will destroy NJ after killing them by 23 and holding them to 56 so people shouldn't be saying it here either. Jamaal Tinsley shot the well very well and gave them more points than ever was expected, I doubt that happens again. So the Heat still have plenty of chances to come back in this series

They are a completely different team on their homecourt. No doubt Miami need to win game 2 If they are to challenge in this series.

 

^IMO I thought that Indiana always had a lock on the game from the tipoff. They never really came close until the 4th quarter but Reggie hit that shot to pretty much put it away with three minutes left. Miami was trying to get competitive but it was too little too late. I wouldn't be afraid to say that Indiana dominated them.

Miami really needs to find a way to score baskets and solve this defence. Ron Artest is a major threat as is Jermaine O'neal. You can't expect O'neal to keep playing like this this series so Eddie Jones and Lamar Odom have to bring their "A" games.

 

Tinsley Was Shooting The Lights Out For Real!
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<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AllNet:</div><div class="quote_post">Wade can take the best point guards to school, I somehow doubt Jamaal Tinsley should bother him that much, Tinsley is also not a great good defender either. Playground basketball? who cares about that, this is the NBA.

I know what Tinsley can do...

Not much.</div>

 

Your point? Wade was not stopped had 22 points 7 rebounds and 4 assists on 10/21 shooting. Tinsley did nothing to stop him, one good scoring game doesn't make Tinsley a threat...He was left open 90% of the time on his threes. I wouldn't expect him to play that good again in this series.