Miami Heat vs. Boston Celtics Game 4: Why Conspiracy Theory Holds No Weight
Posted by admin | Posted in miami heat | Posted on 04-06-2012-05-2008
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The Boston Celtics host the Miami Heat tonight in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals, and the conspiracy theories continue to fly. Anyone who uses Twitter can see those who believe commissioner David Stern wants the Heat to win and is using his influence to encourage officials to make it happen. not only is this asinine, but it’s totally illogical. and here’s why.
Celtics are the better story
This is one angle that people don’t seem to understand. If it’s about what is best for the NBA, the better story would be the Celtics. Boston is the seventh-biggest television market while Miami is just 16th. If it’s about money, it would benefit the NBA to have the larger market win.
The Heat didn’t do anything wrong by having three superstars decide to align themselves and take less money to play together, but it’s definitely not what the NBA wants. It’s really bad for the NBA to be extremely top-heavy because superstars sell tickets and without superstars in small-markets, they will really struggle (see Bobcats, Charlotte).
LeBron James is bigger, stronger and faster than anyone who guards him
If a high school player tried to guard a college player, it would be a huge mismatch. The only way the college player would be stopped is by being fouled; otherwise, they would run roughshod over the smaller, weaker and slower defender.
The same thing is happening in the NBA right now with James. he is 6’8″, 250 pounds and is faster than most players in the NBA. He’s stronger than most of his defenders and it makes sense that defenders would foul him more often than if they were guarding a smaller player.
Jared Wickerham/Getty Images
The Heat were a plus-two in free throws in Game 1, plus-18 in Game 2 and minus-six in Game 3. A big reason for that is that James has been focused on getting the ball into the paint. Over the span of the playoffs, James has taken 126 shots inside nine feet and 125 shots from outside nine feet. less outside jumpers lead to more free throws.
Superstars are smarter across the board and don’t get themselves into foul trouble
A fascinating stat from last night’s San Antonio Spurs game against the Oklahoma City Thunder shows that Kevin Durant and Tim Duncan were called for zero fouls combined. they were on the floor for 79 combined minutes yet were called for no fouls. is that a conspiracy, too?
Detractors will point to the fact that Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett are leading the playoffs in personal fouls, so that must mean it’s a conspiracy. they are 34 and 35 years of age, respectively, and trying to guard players in their primes. they have taken a public stance to be harder on the Heat, as Rajon Rondo vowed to make them “hit the deck.”
The bottom line here is that the Heat are younger and more athletic than the Celtics. Boston can’t just let Miami run all over them, so they choose to be more physical, and that’s going to lead to more fouls. The Heat can use their athleticism to stay with their man and don’t have to be so physical and, naturally, won’t be called for as many fouls.
There’s no conspiracy here. It’s just that one team is better than the other.
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