WEBVTT - Will the Celtics Make History, is Game 6 Must Win for the Heat?

0:00:01.720 --> 0:00:05.360
<v Speaker 1>Welcome into NBA Polster production of iHeartMedia and the NBA.

0:00:05.519 --> 0:00:08.360
<v Speaker 1>I'm Syracusetock, NBA analyst for the Yes Network, and today

0:00:08.520 --> 0:00:12.160
<v Speaker 1>is Friday, May twenty six, and we got a special

0:00:12.160 --> 0:00:16.840
<v Speaker 1>guest on this Friday, South Florida Zone, ESPN Zone Israel

0:00:16.920 --> 0:00:20.119
<v Speaker 1>Gutiras and Is. It's a thrill to have you on

0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:24.440
<v Speaker 1>here with us because what a series this has been

0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:28.000
<v Speaker 1>for the Miami Heat in the Boston Celtics. Is Boston

0:00:28.280 --> 0:00:31.160
<v Speaker 1>now stays alive? But first of all, great to have

0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:33.159
<v Speaker 1>you on and great to see you well.

0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:34.320
<v Speaker 2>Thank you, thank you. It's funny.

0:00:34.360 --> 0:00:38.120
<v Speaker 3>I was just texting with a friend who grew up

0:00:38.120 --> 0:00:40.240
<v Speaker 3>down here in Miami but now lives up in New York,

0:00:40.280 --> 0:00:42.680
<v Speaker 3>and he was all nervous and saying, man, what do

0:00:42.720 --> 0:00:44.280
<v Speaker 3>you think the Heat's going to do in Game six?

0:00:44.320 --> 0:00:47.960
<v Speaker 3>And I'm just like, Hey, isn't this fun? Like did

0:00:47.960 --> 0:00:51.080
<v Speaker 3>you really expect this to happen? So don't be nervous,

0:00:51.320 --> 0:00:54.320
<v Speaker 3>just kind of see what happens. And I think that's

0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:56.480
<v Speaker 3>kind of where I'm at with this run. It's just

0:00:56.520 --> 0:00:59.000
<v Speaker 3>a lot of fun to watch and it's just surprising

0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:00.800
<v Speaker 3>that it happens to be team in town.

0:01:01.320 --> 0:01:03.680
<v Speaker 1>Well for Miami Heat. Yeah, Miami Heat fans probably a

0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:06.319
<v Speaker 1>lot more fun a few days ago, the fact that

0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:08.600
<v Speaker 1>the Heat jumped out to that three to zero series lead.

0:01:08.720 --> 0:01:11.880
<v Speaker 1>Never in NBA history has a team come back from

0:01:11.959 --> 0:01:13.920
<v Speaker 1>three to zero. But by all accounts, you got a

0:01:13.920 --> 0:01:15.520
<v Speaker 1>lot of people and a lot of chatter coming out

0:01:15.560 --> 0:01:18.240
<v Speaker 1>of Boston hoping that this could be the team. And

0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:22.160
<v Speaker 1>they certainly looked like a team that had changed their

0:01:22.240 --> 0:01:25.920
<v Speaker 1>attitude and changed their mentality, in particular last night at

0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:33.840
<v Speaker 1>TV Garden one ten ninety seven win. Two times, people comes, Tatum, comeside.

0:01:33.240 --> 0:01:35.000
<v Speaker 2>Snort teams.

0:01:36.800 --> 0:01:39.560
<v Speaker 1>And from the start they were excellent. Jump out to

0:01:39.600 --> 0:01:42.319
<v Speaker 1>a thirty five to twenty first quarter lead, and whether

0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:44.440
<v Speaker 1>it was a three point shooting, once again, the pace,

0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:47.400
<v Speaker 1>the fast break points turning Miami over. Obviously the Heat

0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:51.080
<v Speaker 1>playing without Cape Vincent Kyle Lowry getting the starts, but

0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:53.520
<v Speaker 1>a lot of facets in this game, of which the

0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:56.160
<v Speaker 1>Celtics started to look like the team that had them

0:01:56.240 --> 0:01:59.240
<v Speaker 1>is one of the favorites entering the playoffs in what

0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:01.960
<v Speaker 1>they could do in postseason. What stood out to you

0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:06.200
<v Speaker 1>with the way that Boston was able to play against

0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:09.680
<v Speaker 1>this Miami team that really has exceeded a lot of

0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:12.960
<v Speaker 1>people's expectation throughout the course of this playoffs and in

0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:14.240
<v Speaker 1>particular the series.

0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:17.520
<v Speaker 3>Well, there's two things that stood out to me. One

0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:22.400
<v Speaker 3>was the defensive pressure. Nothing, no pass was easy for Miami.

0:02:22.800 --> 0:02:25.000
<v Speaker 2>No you know, dribbled.

0:02:25.120 --> 0:02:28.440
<v Speaker 3>No, you know, Marcus Smart just clean steals a couple

0:02:28.480 --> 0:02:30.960
<v Speaker 3>of times of guys off the dribble, and so that

0:02:31.280 --> 0:02:34.959
<v Speaker 3>was a lot more intense, a little surprised that the

0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:38.520
<v Speaker 3>heat kind of looked like they didn't expect that. You know,

0:02:38.520 --> 0:02:40.359
<v Speaker 3>there weren't a lot of backdoor cuts. There weren't a

0:02:40.400 --> 0:02:44.079
<v Speaker 3>lot of relief buckets against that pressure, and so that

0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:47.000
<v Speaker 3>was something that the Celtics just had in their favor

0:02:47.240 --> 0:02:51.280
<v Speaker 3>pretty much the entire game, and you know, Miami didn't

0:02:51.360 --> 0:02:54.840
<v Speaker 3>really adjust to it, whether it be strategically or just

0:02:54.880 --> 0:02:58.240
<v Speaker 3>in terms of, uh matching that effort. And then the

0:02:58.280 --> 0:03:00.480
<v Speaker 3>other thing is the Celtics and this was a good strategy.

0:03:00.600 --> 0:03:03.240
<v Speaker 3>They decided to make all their shots at least early

0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:06.240
<v Speaker 3>enough to where you know, Derek White just looked like,

0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:08.800
<v Speaker 3>you know, you cannot leave him open for half a

0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:16.560
<v Speaker 3>second off to White. You know, Jalen Brown went from

0:03:17.200 --> 0:03:21.720
<v Speaker 3>odd airball like free throws in game four or game

0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:24.560
<v Speaker 3>three four, and then you know, an airball in his

0:03:24.639 --> 0:03:27.280
<v Speaker 3>first shot in game five to all of a sudden

0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:35.040
<v Speaker 3>looking like his normal self again. And then I'd say

0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:37.440
<v Speaker 3>the last thing that sort of stood out was Jason

0:03:37.520 --> 0:03:42.240
<v Speaker 3>Tatum not forcing the issue. I feel like so many

0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:44.400
<v Speaker 3>eyes were on him in game three, he didn't really

0:03:44.440 --> 0:03:48.360
<v Speaker 3>perform Game four, he returned, and you would think, based

0:03:48.440 --> 0:03:51.160
<v Speaker 3>on his history that that meant this was going to

0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:53.880
<v Speaker 3>be a high volume shooting game for him in game

0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:56.240
<v Speaker 3>five to carry the team, and it wasn't. It was

0:03:56.280 --> 0:03:58.480
<v Speaker 3>a high assist game. It was an eleven assist game

0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:01.640
<v Speaker 3>for Jason sure comes Tatum twelve in the first quarter,

0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:05.560
<v Speaker 3>score was in the second one to three.

0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:08.360
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, why is absolutely on fire?

0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:11.320
<v Speaker 3>And he played great and all those you know turnovers

0:04:11.320 --> 0:04:14.200
<v Speaker 3>that looked like there was some sort of ghost pushing

0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:16.400
<v Speaker 3>the ball out of the Celtics hands in Game three,

0:04:16.760 --> 0:04:18.920
<v Speaker 3>that was now happening to the heat in game four,

0:04:18.960 --> 0:04:21.839
<v Speaker 3>in game five, where it seemed like any time bam

0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:24.840
<v Speaker 3>Adebayo put the ball on the ground it was Heat players,

0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:28.640
<v Speaker 3>it was Celtics players rather swiping at it and getting

0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:32.479
<v Speaker 3>a turnover. And that's basically what Miami has been doing

0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:37.400
<v Speaker 3>all postseason leading the NBA postseason teams, and deflections in

0:04:37.600 --> 0:04:41.640
<v Speaker 3>loose balls recovered in charges taken as well, and so

0:04:42.080 --> 0:04:43.240
<v Speaker 3>those things weren't really there.

0:04:44.200 --> 0:04:46.280
<v Speaker 2>And I also think just because.

0:04:46.040 --> 0:04:48.480
<v Speaker 3>I'm mentioning the charge is taken thing, I feel like

0:04:48.600 --> 0:04:51.599
<v Speaker 3>that is the only place where Joe Mizzoula is going

0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:54.680
<v Speaker 3>to use his challenges just to kind of kill the

0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:58.159
<v Speaker 3>mythology of hey, they don't take a bunch of charges.

0:04:58.240 --> 0:05:00.440
<v Speaker 3>You guys just call a lot of charges for them.

0:05:00.480 --> 0:05:03.440
<v Speaker 3>So watch when I challenge them, You're going to overturn everyone.

0:05:04.040 --> 0:05:06.880
<v Speaker 1>Well, and you mentioned it, Joe Missoula had been under

0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:09.680
<v Speaker 1>a lot of heat, a lot of scrutiny throughout the

0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:13.720
<v Speaker 1>course of those first couple of games, and his seemingly,

0:05:14.000 --> 0:05:15.600
<v Speaker 1>you know, push some of the right buttons, I think,

0:05:15.640 --> 0:05:17.479
<v Speaker 1>but also just as players playing harder, I mean you

0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:20.160
<v Speaker 1>talked about it, the defensive pressure. Twenty seven points off

0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:24.800
<v Speaker 1>turnovers for the Celtics, Jason Tatum with eleven assists, there

0:05:24.839 --> 0:05:27.640
<v Speaker 1>was nice balance and they did an excellent job too,

0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:30.080
<v Speaker 1>I think to your point of just how they were

0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:32.280
<v Speaker 1>able to flow into the offense. And when you look

0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:36.039
<v Speaker 1>at Miami, going back to South Beach, they get to

0:05:36.080 --> 0:05:38.520
<v Speaker 1>go home Game six, they still do have this three

0:05:38.560 --> 0:05:42.000
<v Speaker 1>to two series lead. But what do Eric Spolstro, Jimmy

0:05:42.000 --> 0:05:44.440
<v Speaker 1>Butler this group, what do they need to do differently

0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:47.880
<v Speaker 1>in game six to get back to playing the way

0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:50.600
<v Speaker 1>that they were early on in try and close out

0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:51.160
<v Speaker 1>this series?

0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:52.000
<v Speaker 2>Well?

0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:56.560
<v Speaker 3>For starters, you know, everybody seems to want Bam out

0:05:56.560 --> 0:05:58.320
<v Speaker 3>of Bay or at least those who want the Heat

0:05:58.360 --> 0:05:58.880
<v Speaker 3>to do well.

0:05:59.080 --> 0:06:00.280
<v Speaker 2>They seem to what bam.

0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:03.680
<v Speaker 3>Out of Bio to translate into a score all of

0:06:03.680 --> 0:06:07.240
<v Speaker 3>a sudden, And when you look at yesterday's game, he

0:06:07.320 --> 0:06:10.440
<v Speaker 3>would have been just as helpful, if not more helpful,

0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:13.800
<v Speaker 3>if he'd just kept, say Al Horford off the boards

0:06:14.600 --> 0:06:17.120
<v Speaker 3>because a lot of again you look at the Heat

0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:20.040
<v Speaker 3>shooting percentage fifty to fifty one percent in that game.

0:06:20.400 --> 0:06:22.080
<v Speaker 3>If they don't turn the ball over, if they don't

0:06:22.080 --> 0:06:25.120
<v Speaker 3>give up offensive rebounds, the Celtics don't get those extra possessions.

0:06:25.160 --> 0:06:27.640
<v Speaker 3>And then you know, obviously they shot better than fifty

0:06:27.640 --> 0:06:29.880
<v Speaker 3>percent as well, so you know they've got to look

0:06:29.880 --> 0:06:33.400
<v Speaker 3>at it as Okay, Bam, I want you to score it.

0:06:33.400 --> 0:06:35.560
<v Speaker 3>Don't get me wrong, but two things wou'd rather you do?

0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:37.680
<v Speaker 3>A not turn the ball over. So if you need

0:06:37.720 --> 0:06:40.280
<v Speaker 3>to kick it out, kick it out and be rebound

0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:43.200
<v Speaker 3>the basketball in their defensive end, and we when the

0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:48.919
<v Speaker 3>heat close those possessions out there, they can sort of

0:06:49.040 --> 0:06:50.800
<v Speaker 3>organize the offense. They can run if they need to,

0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:52.480
<v Speaker 3>if they have the opportunity, but if not, they can

0:06:52.480 --> 0:06:54.440
<v Speaker 3>at least organize the offense, get Jimmy the ball, maybe

0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:55.520
<v Speaker 3>get him to the foul line.

0:06:55.680 --> 0:06:57.240
<v Speaker 2>And so I think that's where it starts.

0:06:57.240 --> 0:06:59.719
<v Speaker 3>It starts with, you know, Bam not necessarily being an

0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:02.960
<v Speaker 3>offense presence, but being a rebounding presence and being a

0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:06.800
<v Speaker 3>defensive presence where kind of reminds him. Maybe they show

0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:10.040
<v Speaker 3>him the tape of the Atlanta play in where Clint

0:07:10.040 --> 0:07:13.280
<v Speaker 3>Capello was just grabbing rebounds all over the place, and

0:07:13.320 --> 0:07:15.760
<v Speaker 3>as Iron Eagle said on the call, it's just the

0:07:15.760 --> 0:07:18.360
<v Speaker 3>same highlight over and over again with the Hawk players

0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:21.119
<v Speaker 3>getting rebounds and kicking it out for another bucket. Well,

0:07:21.240 --> 0:07:23.200
<v Speaker 3>that's what Bam needs to avoid him this one. And

0:07:23.640 --> 0:07:26.320
<v Speaker 3>Al Horford and Robert Williams can't have that big of

0:07:26.360 --> 0:07:28.800
<v Speaker 3>an impact of a game, you know, And then you

0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:32.560
<v Speaker 3>just need something from those outset, from those perimeter shooters.

0:07:32.560 --> 0:07:36.160
<v Speaker 3>If you gave Vincent'll be back if he gets hot again,

0:07:36.280 --> 0:07:38.520
<v Speaker 3>or Duncan Robinson or Max Steus, any of those guys

0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:40.160
<v Speaker 3>to sort of just maybe take a little bit of

0:07:40.160 --> 0:07:42.520
<v Speaker 3>the attention away from Jimmy and then let sort of

0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:46.360
<v Speaker 3>Jimmy operate while the defense has to worry about everybody

0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:49.280
<v Speaker 3>else on the court, because that in this series, that's

0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:51.920
<v Speaker 3>what's worked best. It hasn't been just Jimmy going off

0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:55.040
<v Speaker 3>for twenty straight points. It's hey, let's see what other

0:07:55.280 --> 0:07:59.680
<v Speaker 3>role players can't force the Celtics defense attention away from Jimmy,

0:08:00.240 --> 0:08:02.720
<v Speaker 3>and if they don't, hey, they're going to be wide open.

0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:05.160
<v Speaker 3>And so far, you know, guys like Gabe and Caleb

0:08:05.240 --> 0:08:08.120
<v Speaker 3>Martin have have taken advantage of that. So I think

0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:09.520
<v Speaker 3>you're going to see a lot more of that. I

0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:10.840
<v Speaker 3>think you're going to need a lot more of that

0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:14.200
<v Speaker 3>from Miami. And I think when you talk about Eric

0:08:14.240 --> 0:08:17.120
<v Speaker 3>Sposter needing one or his turn, would you say to

0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:19.920
<v Speaker 3>make the adjustments and you're going into a home closeout game,

0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:22.920
<v Speaker 3>I think that's probably the perfect scenario for Miami. They're

0:08:22.960 --> 0:08:26.000
<v Speaker 3>going to be sort of ahead, one step ahead theoretically

0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:28.160
<v Speaker 3>in the game plan, and then they know if they

0:08:28.240 --> 0:08:31.200
<v Speaker 3>just play with effort. They'll probably get a few home

0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:35.200
<v Speaker 3>court calls and you know, ideally pull out this victory

0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:38.240
<v Speaker 3>and have the Celtics looking back at Game two at

0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:40.680
<v Speaker 3>home really regretting how they ended that one.

0:08:40.840 --> 0:08:42.560
<v Speaker 1>Well, with that being said, is he that I'm going

0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:45.200
<v Speaker 1>to put you on the spot a prediction both for

0:08:45.280 --> 0:08:49.080
<v Speaker 1>Game six and also just your perspective and how desperately

0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:53.080
<v Speaker 1>Miami does need to win Game six if they want

0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:54.120
<v Speaker 1>to win this series.

0:08:55.400 --> 0:08:58.240
<v Speaker 3>I've watched this team enough the last four years to

0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:00.560
<v Speaker 3>say they don't have to win Game six because they've

0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:02.880
<v Speaker 3>gone into Boston and just done some amazing things, or

0:09:02.920 --> 0:09:05.520
<v Speaker 3>on the road in general and done some amazing things

0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:07.520
<v Speaker 3>even in the playoffs or in the postseason the last

0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:11.199
<v Speaker 3>few years. But I think they desperately want to win

0:09:11.240 --> 0:09:13.440
<v Speaker 3>it at home. I think, you know, part of the

0:09:13.440 --> 0:09:15.840
<v Speaker 3>pregame speech from Eric Spolster is going to be like, Hey,

0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:18.199
<v Speaker 3>this is going to feel just like last year's Game seven,

0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:21.400
<v Speaker 3>and that one ended not in our favor, very close,

0:09:21.440 --> 0:09:24.520
<v Speaker 3>but not in our favor. So to avoid that, avoid

0:09:24.520 --> 0:09:27.360
<v Speaker 3>the close game situation at the end, really make it

0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:29.920
<v Speaker 3>one of those Game three type of situations where it

0:09:29.960 --> 0:09:33.000
<v Speaker 3>seems like an avalanche where for the Celtics and there's

0:09:33.040 --> 0:09:34.640
<v Speaker 3>nothing they can do about it. That's kind of the

0:09:34.720 --> 0:09:37.400
<v Speaker 3>feel they need to get. Fortunately for the heat, though

0:09:37.400 --> 0:09:40.000
<v Speaker 3>they've been involved in more close games than anybody in

0:09:40.040 --> 0:09:42.080
<v Speaker 3>the league this year, so if it comes down to that,

0:09:42.679 --> 0:09:45.960
<v Speaker 3>you know, they still are well positioned. But I think

0:09:46.040 --> 0:09:49.240
<v Speaker 3>Miami will win Game six. I think, you know, big

0:09:49.280 --> 0:09:52.400
<v Speaker 3>performances from guys like Caleb Martin and then like I mentioned,

0:09:52.440 --> 0:09:55.199
<v Speaker 3>the defensive and rebounding performances from Bam. If you do that,

0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:58.240
<v Speaker 3>there's not all the pressure on Jimmy, and Jimmy will

0:09:58.320 --> 0:10:02.240
<v Speaker 3>probably find ways to get his points. So I think

0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:06.520
<v Speaker 3>it's funny because we've been sort of selling the Celtics'

0:10:06.559 --> 0:10:10.440
<v Speaker 3>motivation as rebounding from last year's finals, such a painful loss.

0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:13.000
<v Speaker 3>I don't think they had the most painful loss of

0:10:13.040 --> 0:10:15.120
<v Speaker 3>the postseason. I think that was Miami at home in

0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:18.240
<v Speaker 3>a Game seven, with a shot by Jimmy Butler to.

0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:21.480
<v Speaker 2>End it, and that was the memory that.

0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:25.439
<v Speaker 3>They're going to use as their fuel in this game.

0:10:25.679 --> 0:10:28.440
<v Speaker 3>And I don't know if the Celtics have that same

0:10:29.200 --> 0:10:32.280
<v Speaker 3>fuel to match, because if they did, I don't think

0:10:32.320 --> 0:10:34.359
<v Speaker 3>they would have been down oh three Frankly.

0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:37.720
<v Speaker 1>Get out the popcorn. I know we're already Saturday Game

0:10:37.800 --> 0:10:41.200
<v Speaker 1>six at Miami that's at eight thirty pm on TNT.

0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:43.640
<v Speaker 1>And this has been a fun run, but there was

0:10:43.640 --> 0:10:46.800
<v Speaker 1>a glorious four years in Miami Heat history from twenty

0:10:46.840 --> 0:10:49.480
<v Speaker 1>ten to twenty fourteen. You are the host of a

0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:52.600
<v Speaker 1>new podcast, Four Years of Heat. We will get to

0:10:52.640 --> 0:11:01.920
<v Speaker 1>that right after Welcome back to be Paul Sarahkhustak joined

0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:06.080
<v Speaker 1>by the great Israel Gutierra is ESPN's own NBA reporter.

0:11:06.160 --> 0:11:08.320
<v Speaker 1>On your personality, you do it all and now you

0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:12.439
<v Speaker 1>also host an extraordinary podcast called the four Years of Heat,

0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:15.720
<v Speaker 1>and it's about the four years Lebron James spent with

0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:18.679
<v Speaker 1>Dwayne Wade Chris Bosh. You grew up in South Florida.

0:11:18.720 --> 0:11:21.880
<v Speaker 1>You cover the Heat for both ESPN Miami Herald during

0:11:21.920 --> 0:11:23.880
<v Speaker 1>the course of that time. I know we all loved

0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:28.240
<v Speaker 1>watching that team and just all the different parts of

0:11:28.360 --> 0:11:32.160
<v Speaker 1>how it came together and also what they accomplished. The

0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:36.840
<v Speaker 1>first episode is already out. What have you now learned

0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:39.120
<v Speaker 1>covering the Heat and sharing with it, but even just

0:11:39.160 --> 0:11:41.240
<v Speaker 1>starting this podcast and things that you'll be able to

0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:45.360
<v Speaker 1>share with listeners about that great time for Miami Heat.

0:11:45.600 --> 0:11:47.280
<v Speaker 3>Well, one thing I learned is that if you stick

0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:49.200
<v Speaker 3>around long enough in the business, people call you things

0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:51.679
<v Speaker 3>like legend, so thank you, but just been around for

0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:57.559
<v Speaker 3>a while. True, Sure, I've learned that, you know, living

0:11:57.679 --> 0:12:00.920
<v Speaker 3>here through that while still covering it. You know, I

0:12:00.960 --> 0:12:04.520
<v Speaker 3>started off with the Big three air out stilt the

0:12:04.559 --> 0:12:07.120
<v Speaker 3>Miami Herald as a columnist at the time, and.

0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:10.480
<v Speaker 2>So it felt so intense, so.

0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:14.960
<v Speaker 3>Hyper local, but also like us against the world type

0:12:15.000 --> 0:12:17.520
<v Speaker 3>of situation, you know, even though you know, as an

0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:20.720
<v Speaker 3>objective journalist, I'm not thinking or feeling that way. But

0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:22.520
<v Speaker 3>you see it all around you, right, you hear it

0:12:22.559 --> 0:12:24.480
<v Speaker 3>all around you. I listen to, you know, sports radio

0:12:24.520 --> 0:12:27.680
<v Speaker 3>all the time, and so it was just fiery all

0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:30.200
<v Speaker 3>the time. And it wasn't like what we're used to,

0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:33.480
<v Speaker 3>which is that in a football season where you sort

0:12:33.520 --> 0:12:35.880
<v Speaker 3>of discuss things as the week goes on and you

0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:38.480
<v Speaker 3>sort of bubble up to the Sunday. This was like

0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:41.560
<v Speaker 3>every day, every time there's a game, it's like, oh, no,

0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:44.080
<v Speaker 3>you know what's gonna happen, or oh yeah, look what happened,

0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:47.200
<v Speaker 3>and it was it was it was crazy intense. And

0:12:47.240 --> 0:12:50.320
<v Speaker 3>then when I switched over to ESPN. I realized that,

0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:55.120
<v Speaker 3>and everybody is covering this team this way, and going

0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:58.800
<v Speaker 3>back through it all makes me just kind of realize

0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:03.840
<v Speaker 3>the fervor that was around that team. The kind of like, honestly,

0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:06.440
<v Speaker 3>going back with the stories with the players and stuff

0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:08.640
<v Speaker 3>is you know, it's always fun, right, especially guys that

0:13:08.720 --> 0:13:10.959
<v Speaker 3>want to talk about these things and want to get

0:13:10.960 --> 0:13:13.920
<v Speaker 3>into the finer details. But a lot of the time

0:13:13.960 --> 0:13:16.600
<v Speaker 3>you look at just the perspective and the way people

0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:19.560
<v Speaker 3>were thinking at the time, and man, we would cover

0:13:19.640 --> 0:13:23.960
<v Speaker 3>this team so differently if it was today. In fact,

0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:27.160
<v Speaker 3>I think the team itself would be handled so differently

0:13:27.440 --> 0:13:30.440
<v Speaker 3>if it happened today, because this was ten years ago, right,

0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:32.040
<v Speaker 3>And you think of load management, and you think of

0:13:32.040 --> 0:13:35.000
<v Speaker 3>guys playing, you know, currently maybe thirty seven thirty eight

0:13:35.040 --> 0:13:37.320
<v Speaker 3>minutes to lead the league, Like you had a Heat

0:13:37.360 --> 0:13:39.960
<v Speaker 3>team where Eric Spolster in his third years playing their

0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:44.600
<v Speaker 3>Big three forty five minutes in like a November December game,

0:13:44.640 --> 0:13:46.800
<v Speaker 3>and it's just like, what are we doing? That never

0:13:46.840 --> 0:13:50.120
<v Speaker 3>would have happened in twenty twenty three. So just those

0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:52.880
<v Speaker 3>little details kind of put you in a place that

0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:55.440
<v Speaker 3>you realize it's it's different than it was than it

0:13:55.480 --> 0:13:56.040
<v Speaker 3>is now.

0:13:56.360 --> 0:14:00.400
<v Speaker 1>What was what was? Obviously we know the talent, we

0:14:00.480 --> 0:14:03.800
<v Speaker 1>know the success they had, but with the way that

0:14:03.800 --> 0:14:08.880
<v Speaker 1>that team came together, what was unique about those stars

0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:13.160
<v Speaker 1>that group? Eric Spolstra, pat Riley. We continue to see

0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:16.880
<v Speaker 1>this and talk about Heat culture, but what was unique

0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:18.800
<v Speaker 1>about that group in particular?

0:14:19.280 --> 0:14:22.480
<v Speaker 3>Well, it's why it's so funny because this Heat team

0:14:22.480 --> 0:14:26.240
<v Speaker 3>has won a championship with almost a pressure free like

0:14:26.280 --> 0:14:29.240
<v Speaker 3>that was pressure for Shaq, but you know, yeah, not

0:14:29.360 --> 0:14:29.720
<v Speaker 3>as much.

0:14:29.800 --> 0:14:29.960
<v Speaker 2>Right.

0:14:30.040 --> 0:14:31.680
<v Speaker 3>We wanted to see if Dwayne Wade could be that

0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:33.840
<v Speaker 3>partner for him. You weren't sure. Boom, they did win

0:14:33.840 --> 0:14:36.520
<v Speaker 3>a championship felt great because you had you knew you

0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:40.120
<v Speaker 3>had another decade plus of Dwayne Wade, and that feels great.

0:14:40.400 --> 0:14:45.040
<v Speaker 3>This one it was entirely different because it was championship pressure,

0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:48.280
<v Speaker 3>not just like one, but multiple championship pressure placed on

0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:53.360
<v Speaker 3>them right away. And if you really look back at it,

0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:56.440
<v Speaker 3>was it pressure on everybody or was it just to

0:14:56.440 --> 0:15:00.200
<v Speaker 3>get Lebron his championship? Like that was he was the

0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:04.840
<v Speaker 3>main character in this story. He was who everybody would say,

0:15:04.840 --> 0:15:07.920
<v Speaker 3>if we win a championship for Slash with that guy,

0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:09.160
<v Speaker 3>then we all win.

0:15:09.600 --> 0:15:11.080
<v Speaker 2>But really they.

0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:13.760
<v Speaker 3>Wanted for him, meaning the media of the world, the fans,

0:15:15.000 --> 0:15:18.000
<v Speaker 3>and that was just an intense level of pressure. And

0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:21.400
<v Speaker 3>what I think was unique about this team was they

0:15:21.400 --> 0:15:23.720
<v Speaker 3>took what you mentioned the Heat culture, the Heat way

0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:28.000
<v Speaker 3>of sort of facing everything up front, eye to eye,

0:15:28.080 --> 0:15:30.240
<v Speaker 3>face to face, don't sweep anything under the rug, don't

0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:32.840
<v Speaker 3>mumble under your breath, like, let's just handle our situations.

0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:38.800
<v Speaker 3>And early on Lebron had to sort of figure out

0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:42.800
<v Speaker 3>what that dynamic meant. And what that meant was, Hey,

0:15:42.880 --> 0:15:46.160
<v Speaker 3>you and your teammates are peers. We're all in this together.

0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:48.880
<v Speaker 3>It's the only way we can have this bunker mentality

0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:52.320
<v Speaker 3>is if we're all honest with each other. And they

0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:55.120
<v Speaker 3>sort of grew to understand what the mission was, and

0:15:55.280 --> 0:15:57.720
<v Speaker 3>Lebron was like, all right, I know for me not

0:15:57.800 --> 0:15:59.840
<v Speaker 3>to be selfish, but everybody has to look out for

0:15:59.880 --> 0:16:00.640
<v Speaker 3>themselves first.

0:16:00.680 --> 0:16:01.680
<v Speaker 2>And so Lebron's like.

0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:05.240
<v Speaker 3>For me, I need to win, and if I believe,

0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:08.680
<v Speaker 3>if you believe that this is the way to do it, cool, fine,

0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:11.480
<v Speaker 3>Eventually I'm in. It might have taken him twenty games,

0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:14.240
<v Speaker 3>thirty games, whatever, but he was in. And then you know,

0:16:14.280 --> 0:16:16.120
<v Speaker 3>they went through their stumble at in that in that

0:16:16.200 --> 0:16:20.000
<v Speaker 3>eleven Finals and where it could have crumbled a little bit,

0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:25.720
<v Speaker 3>they instead, meaning Duaye Lebron, James, Eric Spolstra, all those

0:16:25.760 --> 0:16:28.200
<v Speaker 3>who felt like they could have done more, looked internally

0:16:28.680 --> 0:16:31.960
<v Speaker 3>that offseason, and then sort of repaired themselves the next season.

0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:35.960
<v Speaker 3>And I think the big takeaway that I take from

0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:41.600
<v Speaker 3>revisiting this is the patience that you need to build

0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:46.680
<v Speaker 3>something that great like no matter how good the players are,

0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:50.440
<v Speaker 3>it takes so much to win an NBA championship, And

0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:53.640
<v Speaker 3>if you don't have sort of the game plan, the blueprint,

0:16:53.880 --> 0:16:57.040
<v Speaker 3>the mentality and the ability, you're just not going to

0:16:57.080 --> 0:17:00.560
<v Speaker 3>finish the deal. And they had that far finally that

0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:03.720
<v Speaker 3>second year, and to just to tie it into this

0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:07.800
<v Speaker 3>year's team, nobody wanted the Heat to run it back.

0:17:08.200 --> 0:17:11.040
<v Speaker 3>They didn't want just to have Hey, Caleb Martin, you

0:17:11.080 --> 0:17:14.040
<v Speaker 3>take PJ. Tucker's place, Let's do this again. They watched

0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:14.920
<v Speaker 3>through the regular.

0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:16.199
<v Speaker 2>Season and said, see, I told you so.

0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:20.320
<v Speaker 3>But what Eric Spoltzer and the Heat are saying right

0:17:20.359 --> 0:17:22.720
<v Speaker 3>back to everybody else is no, we told you so,

0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:25.200
<v Speaker 3>stick with it, believe.

0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:26.600
<v Speaker 2>In our process.

0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:29.280
<v Speaker 3>If you will not to steal anything from Philadelphia, and

0:17:29.680 --> 0:17:31.720
<v Speaker 3>in the end, you're going to get the best out

0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:34.840
<v Speaker 3>of who you are. And back then it took the

0:17:34.880 --> 0:17:37.280
<v Speaker 3>best out of the best player in the world to

0:17:37.320 --> 0:17:39.360
<v Speaker 3>win two championships and make four finals in a row.

0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:42.280
<v Speaker 3>And right now it's taking you know, the best out

0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:45.000
<v Speaker 3>of a guy who's probably the biggest competitor in the

0:17:45.040 --> 0:17:47.280
<v Speaker 3>league right now, Jimmy Butler and a bunch of you know,

0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:50.840
<v Speaker 3>really gritty guys around them. So the process, the mentality

0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:53.800
<v Speaker 3>remains the same, just the pieces are different.

0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:55.600
<v Speaker 1>Is you got me hype?

0:17:55.720 --> 0:17:56.560
<v Speaker 3>You got me hype?

0:17:56.960 --> 0:18:00.520
<v Speaker 1>Four years of Heat. As I said, episode one is

0:18:00.600 --> 0:18:04.400
<v Speaker 1>already out. Episode two will drop on Tuesday. A great

0:18:04.480 --> 0:18:06.760
<v Speaker 1>table setter as we get set for Game six as

0:18:06.800 --> 0:18:10.000
<v Speaker 1>this Heat team leads the Boston Celtics three games to

0:18:10.040 --> 0:18:13.040
<v Speaker 1>two in the Eastern Conference Final. It's real, Gutierre, as

0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:15.000
<v Speaker 1>you really are the best. We appreciate your time and

0:18:15.119 --> 0:18:18.440
<v Speaker 1>we look forward to hearing, seeing, listening to you as

0:18:18.480 --> 0:18:19.600
<v Speaker 1>these finals continue.

0:18:19.760 --> 0:18:20.240
<v Speaker 2>Thank you, sir.

0:18:21.480 --> 0:18:23.439
<v Speaker 1>NBA Pulse with Sarahu Stack is a production of the

0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:26.119
<v Speaker 1>NBA and iHeart Radio. Please rate, review, and subscribe on

0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:28.879
<v Speaker 1>the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.