http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1083839619115330.xml Ice-cold offense burns Hornets against Heat Thursday, May 06, 2004 By John Reid Staff writer What happened to the constant movement, screen-setting and repeated ball-sharing? That offense was perfected by the Hornets earlier this season, but when it counted most -- in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Miami Heat that ended with Tuesday's Game 7 loss -- it wasn't seen enough, and in some games not at all. For the second consecutive season, the Hornets are home watching the second round of the playoffs instead of participating. They scored more than 90 points only once and shot a lackluster 38.4 percent for the series. That's not the full scope on why they were beaten by a younger team. It happened because too many of Coach Tim Floyd's play sets featured Jamaal Magloire as a stationary post player underneath the basket, instead of having him positioned at the top of the free-throw circle or on the baseline, away from the post. He needed to drive to the basket to get a better shot. If nothing else, it would have gotten him to the free-throw line more. But with Magloire's back to the basket and stuck in the post like he was standing in sand, the Heat easily surrounded him with three players just about every time the ball went to him. Give Miami Heat coach Stan Van Gundy credit. His plan worked. Magloire averaged 11 points after averaging 21.7 in the final seven regular-season games. Regular season is not playoffs, so it should have been the objective from the start to show variations in the Hornets' offensive sets. It didn't happen, though. Something else that didn't happen enough was inserting backup point guard Shammond Williams in the game. Williams appeared in just three games and averaged six minutes. And Williams was healthy; backup point guard Darrell Armstrong wasn't. Armstrong's sprained right ankle limited him from being able to stop Heat backup guard Rafer Alston from repeatedly driving past him to the basket. Armstrong's ankle problem also kept him getting any lift to make jump shots. He shot 23.5 percent in the series, and went 5-of-25 from behind the 3-point line. Williams isn't a scorer, but he penetrates. He throws beautiful passes just when his teammates break open. He breaks down a defense, and on several occasions late in Game 7, that ability was apparent as he went right through the middle of the Heat's defense. In eight minutes in Game 7, Williams scored seven points, had four assists and a steal, despite having not played in 13 days. While we're on the backups, what about veteran Steve Smith? Those 25 points he scored in Game 7 came from making tough perimeter shots against tight pressure. Just think of the possibilities if Floyd would have given him more playing time instead of the 9.2 minutes he averaged in five games. Shooting is what Smith does best. Having him in the game more would have limited the need for George Lynch to make so many jump shots, when his primary strength is defending. Something else the Hornets didn't do was win Game 1 in Miami. That game probably would have given the Hornets the momentum for the remainder of the series. The biggest coaching blunder of the series came in that game on the final play. Floyd's mistake was having Baron Davis defend Dwyane Wade with a foul to give, but Davis couldn't give it. He had five fouls and would have fouled out with the score tied and overtime looming. In that situation, Davis should have been on the bench or away from the action, allowing someone else to foul Wade and most likely force overtime. Wade easily ran around Davis untouched to make the winning shot with 1.3 seconds remaining to lift the Heat to an 81-79 victory. Another reason the Hornets are at home for the remainder of the playoffs was because of their dismal third-quarter play. Only in Games 6 and 7 did they score more than 18 points in the third. They were held to 10 points, tying a playoff record, during the quarter in Game 2, and they lost by 30 points. At New Orleans Arena, the Hornets were tough defenders. They pressed their will on the Heat and forced the Miami players to miss shots. At AmericanAirlines Arena, the Heat got its desired fast-break shots and just about everything else. The Heat scored 18 fast-break points in Game 7 and averaged 18.0 in the first two games. All those games were played at home, where the Heat went unbeaten. . . . . . . . John Reid can be reached at [email protected] or (504) 826-3405. --

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