indiana did not disappoint me

that's why i love jermaine o'neal and the pacers with their deep bench and strong d.

but it surprised me how close the game was...

even WITH shaq gone out...

ditto w/most of the game, when shaq was in...

so i guess miami really is for real; the former all-stars on this team know they need to play roles, not superstar stuff; payton knows like alonzo, his role is as a defensive stopper. etc.

one more thing before i go to sleep

dennis rodman was on best damn sports show period, and he was kind enough to give a demonstration of how he rebounds so well.

so pay attention; i'm writing down what i remember. it may not come out exactly like he said it and showed it, but i'll try.

basically, he gets near the baseline, on the side away from the shooter. tries to get further and further away from the opponent ie towards the baseline.

then he tries to read how the ball lands on rim; ie will it come to him or not.

if he thinks he's got a chance to rebound it, he'll come in on his opponent(the one guarding him or boxing him out), and then put his arm under the opponent's arm, the arm closest to him(remember, he's trying to be on the baseline), and then levers up on their armpit or upper arm area, something like that.

by doing this, he can box out the opponent, even when they had better positioning beforehand. physical i thought, but then after thinking about it, there is no soft in rebounding.

so i'm sitting here and thinking about that; it sounds like it could work really well on the offensive end, but it's not a good idea on the defensive end; you want to be on the inside, getting positioning; if you play like a big man like i do, and do that on the defensive end, lingering on the far baseline, you leave the bucket wide open. also, it might not be that good of an idea all the time even on the offensive end; dennis was a pure rebounder. not saying that's bad, but if you're trying to play a well-rounded game, you're not always going to be lingering near the baseline.