http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/basketball/heat/ sfl-heat26aapr26,0,7756600.story?coll=sfla-sports-heat Heat learns a lesson after taking its lumps in Game 3 By Ira Winderman Staff Writer Posted April 26 2004 NEW ORLEANS -- Heat coach Stan Van Gundy is not one to rub things in his players' faces, but he is confident future messages won't get lost in the translation. "Every coach does the, 'I told you so,'" Van Gundy said Sunday after guiding his team through practice at AmericanAirlines Arena, where the Heat returned for the two idle days between Games 3 and 4 at New Orleans Arena. "What we said is basically, 'Hey, we told you about this for three days. Now you know what we're talking about.'" The issue was the intensity needed to win in the playoffs on the road, a message that clearly did not take in the early stages of Saturday's 77-71 loss to the Hornets, a setback that reduced the Heat's lead to 2-1 in this best-of-7 series. Ultimately, it came down to his players having to experience the playoff road for themselves, many for the first time. "I think that's true, to some degree," he said. "Hearing about it from other people and watching it on TV from other teams is a little bit different in anything than actually going out there and playing it." Those who set their TiVo before the one-day trip to New Orleans got the message even before Van Gundy pulled out his own tape Sunday. "Miami played like a young team, and they came out with no intensity," TNT's Charles Barkley said on the cable network's coverage. "They spent the whole game trying to catch up. And once you get behind a team so far, you give them confidence." Sunday, the players said they had learned their playoff lesson. "We have a lot to learn from that game, and I think we did," guard Dwyane Wade said. "Now we know what to expect going on the road. And I think we'll be better prepared to handle it going through the adversity." While Van Gundy was visibly disappointed about his team not heeding his initial message, he warned that attitude alone won't be enough to force a quick resolution to this first-round series. "I think they fully understand what it's about," he said. "Now, the other part of it is being able to execute and play against that, and that comes down to how good you are, both as a team and individually." Van Gundy said once the desperation set in Saturday, the Heat reverted to playing one-on-one. "We had a lot of guys try to take over individually, and I think it just led to more frustration," he said. "We haven't been that type of team all year. We certainly have guys who are individually very talented and we've taken advantage of matchups at times, but when we try to play the game individually and one-on-one, particularly against big physical teams, we are not very effective." Among Van Gundy's disappointments in the Game 3 loss was that when the Hornets stopped the Heat fast break, they stopped the Heat offense. "New Orleans made a very concerted effort and did a great job of getting back and taking away our fast breaks and making us set up and play the game," he said. "But we want to play the game at a little quicker pace, even if we don't have attacks in transition for layups. We'd like to move the ball a little bit better and try to attack before their defense is set." Over the past week, with each game followed by two days off, the Hornets were left to ponder their series deficit. This time the question becomes whether the Heat's confidence will be lost during these two days off, or whether the latest doubts will create greater incentive. "I really don't know how to look at that. It could be either way," Van Gundy said. "Our guys have not been a group that has gotten very negative. I'll get negative, but it's pretty much been an upbeat group." Said forward Lamar Odom, "We can't feel like we've lost control. It's just one game." Van Gundy then took a backhanded shot at the scheduling, which could leave Indiana idle for 10 days before it faces the winner of Heat-Hornets, a series that would end no sooner than Friday's 7 p.m. Game 5 at AmericanAirlines Arena. Of his team having the extra time off, Van Gundy said, "I think they'll just go back to work and try to play a better game Tuesday in the NFL, once-a-week playoffs." Copyright c 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel --

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