NBA Playoffs: LeBron, D Wade, Heat Can Thank Larry Bird for a Dirty Series
LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have each had their fair share of playoff battles prior to these playoffs. The rough-and-tumble Pistons and Celtics in the rounds of the Eastern Conference and the savvy and experienced Spurs and Mavs in the Finals. But there have, perhaps, been none quite like this series.
Last night's Game 5 foul-a-thon featured more than just some fantastic play by D-Wade and James, but some flagrant behavior by Pacers forward Tyler Hansborough that drew blood from Wade and the ire of Heat forward Udonis Haslem and center Dexter Pittman who appeared to "respond" (read: retaliate) with flagrant fouls of their own. The "You kill my dog, I kill your cat" tenor of this series reached its peak during the Heat's 115-83 Game 5 victory.
"I took a shot that I thought was uncalled for at that time. Obviously my face is not the ball."
These Eastern Conference Semifinals have gone from testy to heated to just plain ugly, but this series really should never have gone in this direction. It was supposed to be about the Miami Heat playing a young, deep team that didn't get nearly the attention it deserved during the regular season. A team that played great defense, had a talented, balanced offense and that finished the month of April in a flurry heading into the playoffs.
The series started out that way, but the Pacers quickly shifted the focus from their play to trash talk, premature celebrations and unnecessary shows of on-court aggression.
Of course, who could blame them? Indiana came into the series with a point to prove. That it was a good team? That it wasn't underdogs? That it was more than capable of playing with the ballyhooed Miami Heat?
No.
Apparently, that point was that they are the heavyweight champions of the world.
Some of the credit for that belongs to their manager/head coach, Frank Vogel, who hasn't exactly been a church mouse since taking over the sidelines for fired former Head Coach Jim O'Brien. In fact, Vogel's on court demeanor is no mystery to NBA referees. He was fifth in the league amongst coaches in technical fouls with six, and his fiery, "them-against-us" style of leadership was contagious, since Granger, West and Hansborough alone combined for 16 techs during the regular season, with Granger leading the way at eight (tied for fifth in the league with Rondo and Nowitzki). At some point, apparently, the Pacers decided to find other ways of making points on the court besides with their play--ways like using WWE-caliber intimidation tactics.
With the way things were going in Game 5, it wouldn't have been a surprise to see John Cena, the Big Show or maybe even Hulk Hogan come off the Pacers bench when Granger left with an injured ankle.
It's been that bad. The Pacers' decision to show the Heat how tough they are has taken the flavor of the series from mild to caliente.
But this mindset didn't come from just anywhere. Could it be that the real culprit behind the Pacers Bad Boys imitation is not on the bench? Look no further than the front office, where the man in charge is none other than Larry Legend. And a legend he is.
Bird is a winner.
No...not like just "champion" winner. He's seriously a winner.
He has won at every level since he's been in the NBA. Check out his resume:
- 1980 NBA Rookie of the Year
- Three-Time MVP
- Three-Time NBA champion
- 12-Time NBA All-Star
- Nine-Time First Team All NBA
- Three-Time Three-Point Shootout champion
And that's just some of what he accomplished...as a player.
Since retiring, Bird has continued his winning ways, bringing home the NBA Coach of the Year in 1998, leading that Pacers team all the way to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Recently, Bird added the 2012 Executive of the Year to his trophy case for his slick wheeling and dealing with the Pacers.
This places Bird in rare air, making him the only person ever to win the MVP, Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year. Obviously, there's no questioning Bird's credentials; he knows how to win. All that's left is for French Lick's finest to lead his upstart collection of talent to the Larry O'Brien from the comforts of his office. And he's probably trying to get these young Pacers to do it the way he and his Celts of yesteryear did. By playing and talking tough.
Bird, a notorious trash-talker during his playing days (see picture), has done a fine job of amassing talented pieces for the Pacers to include a great young coach in Vogel. Now he's in the Pacers' kitchen trying to mix in those old Bostonian ingredients to help develop some championship grit.
The only problem is that these baby Pacers are a lot like a kid who first learns how to use crayons—their excitement can take them from the coloring book, to extremes...like the living room wall. The Pacers are like those first time crayon-users, majorly going over the lines with their new-found toys of toughness, trash talk and posturing. [Like Danny Granger, for example. If he goes nose-to-nose with one more Heat player, they'll probably have to either take out a restraining order or respectfully deny his request for a date.] They're trying to fit the mold, but the problem is, it's just not their true identity.
It's funny, but isn't it strange that none of this machismo surfaced as the Pacers easily disposed of the Dwight Howard-less (has a certain ring to it, doesn't it?) Orlando Magic in the first tound? Robert Parrish wasn't walking through that door. Kevin McHale wasn't walking through that door and Larry Bird? Well, he could have, but he knew that he didn't have to.
The Heat, however, is not the Magic. If honesty prevailed, there would probably be one or two Pacers who would admit that, despite all the showmanship and peacocking, they were a little scared entering the series with Miami.
Simply put, these Pacers are not Bird's Celtics, and no "How-to-be-a Tough Guy-in-48-hours" crash course is going to change that. They are walking around in Uncle Larry's Cons, and the Heat are starting to show them how hard it can be to try filling them for 48 minutes against the reigning Eastern Conference Champs.
Danny Granger's recent talk of feeling disrespected sounds more like an old Celtic mind trick by Master Bird than genuine offense, designed to ignite the Pacers to come out and shock the Miami Heat and the world with ultra-aggressive play.
Now, the trick that was supposed to put them over the top against LeBron and Co. has put them under to the tune of a 3-2 series deficit, facing the strong possibility of being eliminated in front of the Pacer faithful. Now Bird is using trash talk again, but toward his own team to motivate them, calling the team "soft" after their 32 point loss to the Heat. What does this mean?
Well, it means that Bird has pulled a page from the book of other great fight promoters like Don King and Vince McMahon and set the stage for more bush-league play in Game 6. The series has already been chippy, but short of league office intervention, the worst could be yet to come.
Bird called his teammates "sissies" during the 1984 Finals after a loss to the Lakers. They responded with a win in the next game and eventually took the series. Now he's hoping for a similar response.
Hopefully for the Heat, and for the NBA as a whole, Indy's response will have more to do with its play than with point-proving shenanigans. Otherwise, there could be very little left for Bird's Pacers to say besides "goodbye" at the end of Game 6 in Indianapolis.
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