The playoffs, much more than the regular season, are about matchups, adjustments and strategy. Seven game series take on the form of a chess match played between the coaches. The series is usually decided by the talent on the floor, undoubtedly, but coaching can swing a game or two in either direction. Doug Collins is the ace up the Sixers sleeve.
A few weeks back I said I thought Doug Collins would win at least one game in the first round series simply by devising a game plan, communicating it to his players and getting them to execute it. I stand by that assessment. We've got a ton of examples to fall back on from the regular season. Collins might have the best basketball mind in the league in terms of strategy, he's an excellent communicator and his players believe in him. He's known who his opponent will be for long enough, he's had time and he's had practices. He's going to have a serious wrinkle to throw at the Heat, and when it comes to adjustments to be made between games, Collins gets the edge as well.
In Miami, at times, the inmates have been running the asylum. Spoelstra seemed to lose the respect of the locker room after their slow start and I'm not sure he ever fully regained it. Spoelstra has had to manage some monster egos and less-than complimentary skill sets. Things settled down when the team started winning, but when things go bad in Miami, they snowball. Spoelstra lacks the cache to be able to pull his group together in tough times and provide a foundation for them to lean on.
I'm giving Collins the edge here, I don't know how it's going play out throughout the series, but I do think if this thing isn't just completely lopsided on talent early, the Sixers will gain strength behind Collins and Spoelstra will have trouble keeping his stars from trying to win it on their own.
Neither coach has a particularly good record in the playoffs. Collins is 15-23, with one trip to the conference finals. Spoelstra is 4-8 and he's never made it out of the first round.
Check out the entire positional preview series
here. Tune in at 1pm tomorrow for a special SixersBeat episode to kick off the playoffs and check back around noon for my series preview.
Collins awaits early Heat surge:
http://ow.ly/4BDHM
If Collins' wrinkle (traps/presses/whatever) can steal a game in Miami, there will be a monster backlash from the media on Spoelestra and the pressure will mount. His players have responded fairly well in these situations but it would still make things very interesting going back to Philly.
TRy to get pumped for these games. Haven't talked myself into it yet.
About a month ago really wanted to see a series against the Heat. It would be a showcase for the oft ignored Sixers where most of the country would be behind them. Wanted to see Iguodala show off his "list" and they young guys get some national exposure.
Unfortunately, its the right series at the wrong time. They've fallen apart over the last few weeks and look ready to be steamrolled. While Miami is the reverse, and have been effectively masking their weaknesses. But who knows, things can change quickly now that the games count again. That is wahat happened 2 and 3 years ago when the Sixers roared out the gate in their series... But UI'm just not feeling it right now.
Yeah, I'm feeling the same way. I mean, it's gameday and I'm typically rather pumped when that time arrives but this morning it's just sort of like blah. After witnessing the last two weeks my optimism has dampened quite a bit. I'd assume some of that had to do with Lou's absence and some to do with the youth of the team in the sense that they just aren't as aware or dedicated to how important it is to be in tip-top shape to make it through the grind of an 82 game season and some to do with Iguodala being hobbled on an important limb. Whatever the case, it hasn't been pretty in the slightest when comparing it to some of the better statement victories just weeks prior to the collapse.
Just never wanted any part of the Heat cause I feel they will turn it up quite a few notches from their regular season performance.
As for today's opener, thinking back to the last meeting vs them, we have to have much better helpside defense and rotations over when the perimeter defense has been broken down. They had countless forays to the rim for layups and dunks with no challenges or hard fouls given. I didn't blame that on our perimeter guys (Jrue, Meeks, Andre) but moreso on our backline guys (Brand, Hawes especially, and Thad).
Team defensive principles and rotations will be so key when executing the scheme that Doug is going to employ and probably alter on a whim if the Heat go on any lengthy runs.
Maybe Brian can provide a glimmer of optimism on sixersbeat;) cause my usual is gone, gone, gone...
No reason to not be excited - we watch all 82 games, follow summer league games, preseason fluff to be in the playoffs.
Lou getting hurt took a lot of steam out of the sails here but with him back and this coaching staff - I could see the switch being flipped and these first two games being pretty fun.
I guess that's a good way to look at it. I parked my rear in that recliner and watched 79 full games (only missed 3 to other obligations) plus whatever summer and preseason games that got coverage. This is what you want as a fan - to just get in the dance and hope our steps are in sync.
Screw it, I'm pumped! however long it lasts..
I'm so pumped I had butterflies LAST NIGHT. NBA playoff season is one of my most favorite times of the year...all geeked out in my Sixers t-shirt(well, one of my Sixers t-shirts) and getting Ready for Chicago-Indiana. Hoping for a ridiculous game from Rose, love to watch him