There are a few
lessons the Memphis Grizzlies can learn from this year’s NBA Finals combatants.
As the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat continue their fight for the Larry
O’Brien Trophy, here are a few factors Jerry West, Mike Fratello, and friends
might consider over the off-season.
Get
younger . . . or don’t. What do you make of the considerable contrast in age
between the Miami roster and the Mavericks’? The Heat’s eight-man rotation
averages a long-in-the-tooth 30.5 years (with three players over the age of 33).
Dallas’ top eight players average only 27.4 years (with three players under 26
and none older than 31). For the 2005-06 season, Memphis sent out a lineup (when
you count Damon Stoudamire, injured in December) that averaged 29.1 years. And
the Grizzlies featured only one player — All-Star Pau Gasol — under the age of
26.
The fact is, Miami is an old team, with a transcendent 24-year-old star in
Dwyane Wade. In a fashion reminiscent of Michael Jordan’s prime, Wade has
completely dominated this year’s Finals, infusing energy to a rotation that
would otherwise be run off the court by the quicker Mavericks. And that might be
the “age lesson” for the Grizzlies. A team can win with 30-somethings, but it
had better be centered around a star who can win games on his own. Paying
attention, Pau?
Speed at
the point. No way does Dallas reach the Finals without the contribution of
second-year point guard Devin Harris. On offense, he matched the standard of San
Antonio’s Tony Parker in the second round. On defense, Harris kept MVP Steve
Nash within reasonable containment in the conference finals (one of a crew of
foils Dallas threw at the Suns’ point guard). And it’s entirely Harris’
quickness — with and without the ball — that will make him a star in the near
future. Chucky Atkins is no slowpoke, and picked up the point pieces nicely
after Stoudamire’s season-ending injury. But neither he nor Stoudamire is in the
Parker/Harris/Nash category of ball-handling dynamos.
For the Grizzlies to
advance deep into the playoffs, they have to find a point guard who can put
defenders on their heels. One with a better jump shot than Antonio Burks.
Style
adaptation. Wow, that sounds like a lesson for sportswriters, no? Dallas had to
pull a 180 between their series with the conventionally great Spurs offense and
the run-and-gun Phoenix attack. Harris was inserted into the starting lineup to
out-quick San Antonio, while center Erick Dampier hardly played as the Mavs
tried to keep up with the Suns. Likewise, Miami adjusted from a man-to-man
attack Detroit threw their way in the Eastern Conference finals to the
double-teaming of Shaquille O’Neal that predicated the Mavericks’ strategy in
the Finals.
This is an area that doesn’t appear to be the specialty of Grizzly
coach Mike Fratello. Going back to his success in Cleveland, Fratello’s teams
have been about minimizing possessions, defensive clamps, and scoring through
the post. Old-school professional basketball, the kind Wes Unseld would love.
Some flexibility in style, though, is necessary in the modern NBA.
The
evolution of Pau. Until the Shaq clones mature, NBA teams must be creative in
developing their superstars. So keep your eyes on the Grizzlies’ best player,
because he may not be finished developing. Gasol’s German counterpart with
Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki, was once a freakish, 7-foot jump-shooter, who scored his
points, but wasn’t seen as a difference-maker. In these playoffs, he converted a
3-point-play at the end of Game 7 in San Antonio that saved the Mavs’ season,
then simply took over play in Game 5 against Phoenix, scoring a cool 50 to all
but punch his team’s card to the Finals.
Gasol is two years younger than
Nowitzki, and continues to show improvement as a defender and rebounder. He may
still be THE guy Memphis basketball fans crave.
Keep the
faith. Thirteen years ago, the Dallas Mavericks went 13-69. The year before they
won all of 11 games. They were the worst franchise in American pro sports in the
Nineties. As for Miami, they won exactly four playoff series in 16 years before
the man-monster that is Shaq was brought to town. This year’s championship
series has been a breakthrough for the NBA, and by several measures.
“Nontraditional” teams can, in fact, win an NBA title. The 12-game playoff
losing streak in Memphis will end, and soon. Beyond that? Hope springs eternal.
