As the NBA on TNT crew was winding things down after Oklahoma City eliminated the Lakers, Charles Barkley said something very interesting. As a promo aired about the next night's Game 5 showdown between the Heat & Pacers, Barkley talked over the audio and said "Oh I'm watching that, that's a big boy game right there. Kobe says wear your big boy pants, well the Heat and Pacers better wear there big boy pants."
Now as we all woke up Wednesday morning, Miami wore there big boy pants, Indiana wore there undies. Pacers President Larry Bird said his Pacers went "soft, s-o-f-t, soft", which is exactly what happened. Now you could say "HEY, did you not see Hansborough's foul on Wade?!", well yea, that's one play and there is a difference between fouling hard and playing hard. The Pacers look defeated, deflated, and out of it, especially when Danny Granger sprained his ankle in the 3rd and was out the rest of the game. Who knew that Danny Granger was such an important part of the Pacers offense? I mean yes, Danny Granger is probably Indiana's best player but he's been shooting 36% from the field, your not an elite team if your "best" offensive player is shooting that from the field, I don't even want to know what he's shooting from beyond the arc. The Pacers looked bad on offense, especially in the half-court, in the 1st half and then just looked absolutely lost in the 2nd half once Granger went down.
Defensively in Games 1-3, the Pacers looked as good as the Heat on the defensive end of the floor. The Miami Heat were making Roy Hibbert, who is an average player, look like a superstar. Thanks to the Miami Heat Roy Hibbert will absolutely get overly paid one day soon. Offensively, I'm not really sure what Frank Vogel is doing, he's channeling his inner-Vinny Del Negro. It's not that hard, give it to 6-10 David West and 7-2 Roy Hibbert and pound it down low against 6-9 Joel Anthony and whatever other Miami Heat minions happen to be in the post. The Pacers are making the entry pass look like the hardest pass in basketball to make and it upsets me to watch them. Hopefully for all of our eyes sake, Danny Granger and David West are at full strength for Game 6 or we will be watching some ugly basketball again from the Pacers.
I said right when Chris Bosh went down that I thought LeBron and Dwyane Wade were good enough to beat the Pacers by themselves (now down the road in later rounds? we'll get to that some other time). I look right so far and I think the Heat will end it in Indianapolis in Game 6 but soak this in: Shane Battier outscored the WHOLE Indiana Pacers team last night. THE WHOLE TEAM!!!! Yes that Shane Battier, the Shane Battier that averaged 4 points this season. Yes the Shane Battier that had more points in the 1st quarter last night than he had in the whole series combined. Yes the Shane Battier that is shooting 28% from the field this postseason. That Shane Battier outscored every player on the Indiana Pacers, a team that we, myself included, thought could beat the Miami Heat. As Barney Stinson would say, HaYeaRight.
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