Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Tucker earns Tiger stripes
Clemson football coach Swinney admires veteran player’s grit
MIAMI — The basketball pedigree is as a Texas Longhorn.
But had there been a move in another sporting direction, P.J. Tucker apparently would have been embraced as a Clemson Tiger.
At least that’s the impression created amid these Eastern Conference semifinals by an encounter Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra spoke of with Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney after Monday night’s Game 1.
No sooner had Tucker’s relentless hustle as an undersized member of the power rotation helped provide the Miami Heat with a 1-0 series lead Monday night against the Philadelphia 76ers, then Spoelstra spoke of a Swinney embrace moments earlier.
“I had Dabo out here,” Spoelstra explained. “He and I have been friends for a few years. I’ve visited him. So as we were hanging out in Championship Alley after the game, Tuck came by, and he was the first guy Dabo went up to, and he said, ‘Man, I love the way you play. I love
the way you compete. You could have played for us, back in the day.’ “
That’s Championship Alley as in the hallway that leads from the court at FTX Arena to the Heat locker room.
“And that’s the way P.J. is,” Spoelstra said. “He’s extremely physical, obviously. He’s really competitive. He’s all about the plays in between, the hustle plays, the 50-50s. But he’s able to do it with an incredible discipline and a mind.
“I think that really is what separates him from just being an overly physical guy that’s just picking up six fouls in 10 minutes. P.J. has a great feel and IQ for the game and he does it on both ends for us. That’s really important.”
Considering what Tucker, 36, has been willing to do on the hardwood when it comes to loose balls, Spoelstra has no doubt about what would ensue on the turf if Tucker was chasing down a fumble.
“I would not want to be in that pile,” Spoelstra said, “if he’s got a loose ball going for it.”
So perhaps all full circle, that chance meeting with Swinney, considering that when Rick Barnes recruited Tucker to Texas, he quipped, “Am I here to recruit a basketball player or an offensive tackle?”
The Riley way
In a piece on ESPN’s Andscape site, Tucker spoke about the surprising chill nature of Heat president Pat Riley at the team’s practice facility.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever liked somebody as much as I like Pat,” Tucker said. “Maybe because he’s older. He’s chill. He’s at every practice. He got his pad. He got his pen. He is over there writing. He does not
say a word. I don’t know if anybody ever heard Pat say a word at practice. He has not addressed the team. He has not said a word all season.
“And I’d heard all these Pat Riley stories, so I’m ready for him to start wigging out, come to the locker room and halftime. I have been on teams where owners and presidents
come in and say, ‘What y’all doing?’ Bro, Pat Riley hasn’t said one word all year. Hey, I’m telling you all Pat, for me, sends is text messages. Pat text messages with me.”
Punching bags
Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers spoke pregame Wednesday about the Heat landing the series’ first punches.
“If it was a boxing match,” he said of Monday night’s Game 1, “we were the counterpuncher, and we didn’t counterpunch.
“It’s tough to play that way, if the other team is hitting first on everything.”