OKLAHOMA CITY – Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has kept his thought
process much to himself when it comes to power forward Chris Bosh
heading into Game 1 of the NBA Finals here in Oklahoma City.
Bosh missed nine postseason games with an abdominal injury going
back to Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, returning in Game 5
of the conference finals against Boston. After playing limited minutes
in his first game back, Spoelstra upped Bosh’s minutes off the bench in
the next two games, and he responded with 19 points and eight rebounds
in the Heat’s Game 7 win.
That, though, was not enough to get Bosh back into the starting lineup in this series. When Spoelstra handed in his lineup card to NBA officials just before game time, his starters at forward were LeBron James and Shane Battier, with Udonis Haslem at center and the guard pairing of Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers.
“I considered everything, gave it a great deal of thought, and talked to everybody,” Spoelstra said. “We’re not holding any secrets right now. It’s just about our guys focusing on the game plan. The eight guys that are going to play will not be a surprise.”
The other three guys are headlined by Bosh, with Mike Miller and Joel Anthony the likely candidates for the rest of the reserve minutes. In Game 7 against Boston, however, no other reserve besides Bosh played more than four minutes. Spoelstra did add that, though Bosh is not starting, he will have no cap on his minutes.
Asked whether there is any advantage to withholding his starting lineup until right before game time, Spoelstra gave an interesting answer—basically, he said, he didn’t want the media chattering about the decision. “I’d be willing to tell Oklahoma City,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a competitive advantage. I just, one of the few times that hopefully we can control a little bit of the noise out there, we don’t have to get into the debate about the pluses and minuses before the game. The guys can just focus in, get into their iPads and focus on the game.”
Bosh missed nine postseason games with an abdominal injury going
back to Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, returning in Game 5
of the conference finals against Boston. After playing limited minutes
in his first game back, Spoelstra upped Bosh’s minutes off the bench in
the next two games, and he responded with 19 points and eight rebounds
in the Heat’s Game 7 win.
That, though, was not enough to get Bosh back into the starting lineup in this series. When Spoelstra handed in his lineup card to NBA officials just before game time, his starters at forward were LeBron James and Shane Battier, with Udonis Haslem at center and the guard pairing of Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers.
“I considered everything, gave it a great deal of thought, and talked to everybody,” Spoelstra said. “We’re not holding any secrets right now. It’s just about our guys focusing on the game plan. The eight guys that are going to play will not be a surprise.”
The other three guys are headlined by Bosh, with Mike Miller and Joel Anthony the likely candidates for the rest of the reserve minutes. In Game 7 against Boston, however, no other reserve besides Bosh played more than four minutes. Spoelstra did add that, though Bosh is not starting, he will have no cap on his minutes.
Asked whether there is any advantage to withholding his starting lineup until right before game time, Spoelstra gave an interesting answer—basically, he said, he didn’t want the media chattering about the decision. “I’d be willing to tell Oklahoma City,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a competitive advantage. I just, one of the few times that hopefully we can control a little bit of the noise out there, we don’t have to get into the debate about the pluses and minuses before the game. The guys can just focus in, get into their iPads and focus on the game.”
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