Ilgauskas could have helped us beat Dallas

TheTriforce · Post #1 » by **TheTriforce** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 1:48 pm

I think Ilgauskas could have helped a ton in the half court offense and offensive boards. The pick and rolls and pick and pop and all that he ran well with Lebron would have been a real big boost to our stagnant half court offense. It also opens it up a lot more for our 3 stars.

Think of all the times we settled for bad last second shots. Ilgauskas would have hit the mid ranger and/or forced Tyson to move outside away from the rebounds and allow others to drive in easier.

Also, Ilgauskas is a very good offensive rebounder and great at tip ins. something we needed a lot more of in critical moments of the game. Dallas got so many important offensive boards in crucial moments and we got very few.

Yes, Big Z plays poor defense, but I think what he would have done on the offensive boards and opened up on offense would have outweighed his minuses.

Heat_team02 · Post #2 » by **Heat_team02** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 2:13 pm

I think Dampier could have helped despite popular opinion. Dampier was a body capable of boxing out Chandler, he used to play for Dallas, he could catch a pass and he rebounds enough for the spot minutes he would have given for Joel to rest. We relied on the small lineup to our detriment.

Post #3 » by **DefenseWins** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 2:20 pm

I also think he would have been good for the zone.

Joel brought nothing to the table. Nothing. I hope he works on his offensive game. It was terrible watching him miss 5 tip ins in a row.

Golabki · Post #4 » by **Golabki** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 2:34 pm

I thought Ilgauskas was the 4th best player on the Heat going into the season. He was fairly solid all year.

Two questions for heat fans.

1. Why did Spo stop using him?

2. In the '09 and '10 seasons Big Z shot 42% from 3, with over 50 attempts. He attempted 1 3 all '11 season. Why?

Lord Hades · Post #5 » by **Lord Hades** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 2:38 pm

I certainly don't think it would have hurt to give he or Damp some limited run, just to see the result. I mean, Juwan Howard played on a somewhat regular basis for ****'s sake.

Joel brought nothing to the table. As much as I've bellyached about his limitations throughout the season, I don't particularly blame him. I blame the guy who continues to put him in positions that exceed his capabilities.

Heat3 · Post #6 » by **Heat3** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 2:46 pm

Spo's rotations have always been horrible. He yanks people in and out of the line up like they can turn a switch on. A guy is hot, take him out. A guy hasn't played in months, give him big minutes in the ECF. You gotta give people some play to get them in rhythm.

It would drive me crazy when Beasley got hurt and instead of moving Haslem up to the starting spot he moved up James Jones or someone so that Haslem can stay in his normal rhythm. Sometimes he over values rhythm other times he doesn't seem to care about it :lol:

SweetTouch · Post #7 » by **SweetTouch** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 2:58 pm

I will not blame SPO for not playing washed up centers

FlashTheKilla · Post #8 » by **FlashTheKilla** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 2:58 pm

SweetTouch wrote:I will not blame SPO for not playing washed up centers

Neither of those guys is good enough to be a series changer.

We really really need a center in the offseason, much more so than a PG.

TheTriforce · Post #9 » by **TheTriforce** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 2:59 pm

Yea this really bothered me. Ilgauskas and Dampier are similar to the veterans that Dallas had, guys that have played so many years and come up short. Guys that are going to give you 110% in the finals because they know they will probably not be back.

I feel like they didn't get a shot to say "I left it all out there and gave it my all."

Especially Big Z, he is our most talented C by far even with his age and defensive deficiencies and did not play 1 minute in the finals.

Hopefully next year we have a real starting C and PG, this 3-4-5 man rotating door at those positions is what really killed us in the finals. Spo had no confidence in most of them as he never played House(til too late), Big Z, Dampier, and he got rid of Arroyo, benched Bibby.

Each one played big minutes for a while in the season, so nobody really was the true starter at PG or C and none were comfortable in the offense. In the end it hurt us bad.

SweetTouch · Post #10 » by **SweetTouch** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 3:01 pm

FlashTheKilla wrote:
SweetTouch wrote:I will not blame SPO for not playing washed up centers

Neither of those guys is good enough to be a series changer.

We really really need a center in the offseason, much more so than a PG.

I said it before the series. It was the battle of the worst center rotation to the best center rotation. People forget why Heat won in 2006.

C is the biggest need

Lord Hades · Post #11 » by **Lord Hades** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 3:05 pm

Heat3 wrote:Spo's rotations have always been horrible. He yanks people in and out of the line up like they can turn a switch on. A guy is hot, take him out. A guy hasn't played in months, give him big minutes in the ECF. You gotta give people some play to get them in rhythm.

It would drive me crazy when Beasley got hurt and instead of moving Haslem up to the starting spot he moved up James Jones or someone so that Haslem can stay in his normal rhythm. Sometimes he over values rhythm other times he doesn't seem to care about it

Reminds me of that Hornets game when Haslem was out and Spo chose to start Diawara and still play Beasley off the bench ("to keep the integrity of the rotation")... then proceeded to play him 48 straight minutes (OT included). This was somewhere around AsthmaGate. Ahh, Spo. 8-)

Just think about how many times we'd see Z or Damp start a long string of game, then suddenly disappear into the shadows of the pine. Hell, Bibby got the starter's nod in 4 games in the Finals, then played about a combined 10 minutes of the last 2. How can a guy be resistant to change and mercurial in the same breath? It's like a combination of stubbornness mixed alongside throwing **** against the wall. I don't know what to make of it. :lol:

Post #12 » by **DefenseWins** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 4:30 pm

the funniest thing about Spo is that he keeps a player on the bench for months then plays them and expects them to be a big impact. This is why I like coaches who were players, they understand about rhythm and stuff. You can't just do that.

Eddie was bad in game 5 but was good in game 6. I mean he isn't good defensively but he hit 3 3's, that's good.

But all of a sudden he gets playing time?

the 3 point champ just sitting there rusting on the bench. he was suited up, it means he is freakin' ready.

BadMofoPimp · Post #13 » by **BadMofoPimp** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 4:42 pm

I thought Big Z could have helped out in some situations. Especially, with the way Dirk was able to get around Haslem.

Todd3 · Post #14 » by **Todd3** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 9:19 pm

I didnt understand why he never played either. I thought they needed him against CHI, but Spoelstra ended being right in that series, so maybe he wouldnt have done much against DAL anyways.

However, when you look at one of the main reasons they lost, it was key rebounds to Chandler, and key fouls called on the heat big men in trying to get those rebounds. As well as not having someone long enough to contest Dirks fade-aways.

Thats how Rasheed Wallace was the only big man able to defend Dirk, because he was long enough to contest those fade-aways and was comfortable playing on the perimeter. Ironically, Big Z was one of the the few big men in the league that could defend Rasheed for those same reasons. Dirk/Sheed were very similar in that they both were 7 footers with unstoppable fade-aways because they were so tall/long. Big Z could've done a decent job on Dirk, imo.

I was thinking early in the series, if MIA only had another long, 7 footer to match up with Chandler and contest Dirks shots, they would have a great chance to win. I honestly forgot Big Z was even on the team.

I'm not sure they would've won anyways, but I think he definitely could've helped.

RJM · Post #15 » by **RJM** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 9:40 pm

I don't know too much about Z; he wore down and seemingly ran out of gas close to the end of the season. That foot infection turned out to be a death knell for him, it seemed.

DrVanNostrand · Post #16 » by **DrVanNostrand** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 11:32 pm

Lol @ thread title

desert_scar · Post #17 » by **desert_scar** » Thu Jun 16, 2011 11:07 pm

Strange Z and James Jones were two of the most efficient players for the Heat outside of the Big 3 all season. James Jones also played well in the playoffs, the best shooting Heat. It was understandable to not play him vs Chicago when all hands on deck were needed for boards--but that wasn't the problem vs Dallas (as it wasn't vs Phily or Boston). Totally baffling why they didn't play against the Dallas zone. They were better options than Howard and House (who was OK, but never quite as consistent as Jones).

Post #18 » by **mopper8** » Thu Jun 16, 2011 11:11 pm

Z really struggled down the stretch; his old legs just gave out on him. I for one am not sorry to have seen him with the DNP-CDs in the Finals, he was giving us nothing for a couple months. You guys couldn't get him out of the rotation soon enough back in the 1st round lol.