Lineup shuffle likely for Heat
Down 3-2, best combo needed
There are two ideas Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra will draw on today.
One, his guys have played their best after a loss. Two, he will most likely be making lineup changes before Game 6 tips off at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.
Spoelstra’s lineup changes and rotations have fluctuated wildly throughout the playoffs. Power forwards Udonis Haslem and Chris “Birdman” Andersen played more minutes earlier in the playoffs. Shooting guard Mike Miller picked up more minutes near the end of the Eastern Conference finals against the Indiana Pacers and has started the last two games in place of Haslem against the San Antonio Spurs.
And now it might be time for Spoelstra to do it again. The fourthyear coach says “everything is on the table” in a must-win game. And down 3-2 to the Spurs, expect more changes. Would he put Haslem back
one of the most intimidating figures in all of professional sports.
“Danny is the one who had to resolve it by saying, ‘I know that I fit (in San Antonio), and I want to make it happen,’ ” his agent, Bill Duffy, told USA TODAY Sports. “I said, ‘Then you call Pop.’ He called Pop and said, ‘I’m going to be back. I want to be back.’
“I think Pop really respected the fact that Danny had called him himself and was almost apologetic about it. ... That’s how he was able to come back. It’s a great testament to Danny’s resolve and his goal to be in San Antonio but also to Pop and (general manager) R.C. (Buford) for having open-mindedness and having the communication to give the kid a second opportunity.” And what a second chance. If the Spurs are able to finish off the Miami Heat and win their fifth championship, Green might wind up Finals MVP after what has been a remarkable run. He is shooting his way into the long-range record books while facing off against legendary marksman Ray Allen of the Heat. In the Spurs’ Game 5 win Sunday that put them up 3-2 in the series, Green set a Finals record for three-pointers by surpassing Allen’s mark of 22 set during his seven-game title run with the Boston Celtics in 2008. That 6for-10 performance from beyond the arc made him 25-for-38 (65.8%).
With four more three-pointers, Green would set a record for a playoff series of any kind by besting Allen’s record of 28 (2001 in seven games while with the Milwaukee Bucks against the Philadelphia 76ers) that matched that of the Orlando Magic’s Dennis Scott (a seven-game series in 1995 against the Indiana Pacers). With 90 total points in five games, Green trails only LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in Finals scoring while leading the Spurs (Tony Parker has 81 points, Tim Duncan 78).
Before Green found his way into and out of Popovich’s doghouse and forged the most fascinating of careers, he was a second-round pick at the end of the Cleveland Cavaliers bench who watched James in all his glory. Green’s talent was there, but the chance to shine was not. He played in 20 games during his rookie season and had a short assignment with the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League before getting waived during training camp of his second season. He also spent some time with Reno’s D-League team.
“I’ve seen the talent in practice every day,” James said of Green. “We would always shoot after practice. It would be me, him, Mo (Williams) and Boobie (Daniel) Gibson shooting every day after practice. (I’ve) seen his ability to shoot the ball. In practice, he would play very well. I just think he needed an opportunity, and I said that before the series. He got a great opportunity here, and he’s taking full advantage of it.”
But it never would have happened if not for Green’s willingness to change. He had been part of a looser team culture in Cleveland, and his practice habits enraged Popovich in San Antonio. His college coach played a part in Green’s return to San Antonio, too, imploring Popovich to not give up on the player who averaged 13.1 points a game and shot 41.8% from beyond the arc during his senior season with the Tar Heels.
“When Pop and I talked for the first time after cutting him ... Pop said, ‘He is here in practice, and he is acting like he is doing us a favor by being here,’ ” Williams told USA TODAY Sports. “So it’s a little bit of an attitude thing. When you are brought up on a 10-day contract, you had better do everything you can at every second to impress those people, because a 10-day contract is exactly what it sounds like.”
Green never hesitates to admit that his time in Reno was humbling. And when the Reno Bighorns went to
“I just think he needed an opportunity ... and he’s taking full advantage of it.” LeBron James
great lengths to land the player they never expected to be available, his turnaround had officially begun.
The Bighorns had to trade for the rights to draft Green, doing a deal with the Sioux Falls SkyForce, giving up their best player, former Georgetown big man Patrick Ewing Jr.
“I remember we were on the road in Texas, and the owners called me and said, ‘ We don’t want you to do this (trade); Ewing is our best player,’ ” said Eric Musselman, who was coaching the Bighorns at the time.
“Honestly, I get goosebumps (watching Green now). ... I told my wife, ‘Can you believe that two years ago we had an owner tell us not to trade Patrick Ewing Jr. for him?’ The guy is leading the championship in scoring. He’s scoring more than Wade and LeBron (in some games). Are you kidding me? How did this happen?”
The phone call to Popovich started it all, and the Spurs have been calling on him ever since.
“(I’ve) definitely matured so much as a player being in this organization, being around Pop, Timmy, Tony, Manu (Ginobili); those are true professionals,” Green said. “And also the opportunity. Pop gives us young guys a great opportunity to show what we can do.”