Miami Heat Podcast: The Eastern Conference Finals Comes to Miami 1-1

Bloggers from the Miami Heat Index, Hot Hot Hoops and HeatFreak.com review Games 1-2 and preview Games 3-4 of the Eastern Conference Finals with fellow blogger and Chicago Bulls fan, Big Shot Ron, from the Section 357 Show.

You can listen to the podcast right here or three other ways:

• By downloading it (Part 1 and Part 2),
• Subscribing to the RSS feed or 
• Going to iTunes. 

The Cast:

• Mosi Platt from the Miami Heat Index
• Danny Martinez from Hot Hot Hoops
• Alfredo Arteaga from HeatFreak.com
• Big Shot Ron from the Section 357 Show

The Synopsis:
The first part of the podcast began with a review of Games 1 and 2.

• Did it look like the Heat quit in Game 1? 
• After Game 1, Barkley said the Bulls have the best defense he’s ever seen. Here’s a list of teams with the best defensive ratings in the three-point era. The 2011 Bulls defense ranks 50th. 
• Would the Heat have won Game 2 without Udonis Haslem? Arteaga said he’s always been a winning player, going all the way back to high school. 
• If Haslem’s foot bothers him when the schedule moves to just 1 day’s rest between games, then can the Heat win the series without UD? 
• Scheduling impact - Chuck Swirsky, Bulls’ play-by-play man, blamed layoff for Bulls performance in Game 2. Will the schedule impact the Heat in Game 3? 

The second part of the podcast reviewed the five points raised by Big Shot Ron before the series began:

• Who’s the Fourth Man? — Haslem filled that role in Game 2 but Mike Miller has actually been the fourth-most productive Heat player with an estimated 0.2 wins produced after two games. Derrick Rose has been the fourth-most productive Bulls player. Can Ronnie Brewer, Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer produce in Miami at the same level they produced in Chicago (they combined for 0.9 estimated wins produced)? 
• Spo vs Thibs — Which branch of the Pat Riley coaching tree has won the coaching match-up so far? Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau has given 71 percent of the minutes to the six most productive players. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra has given 73 percent of the minutes to the six most productive players. 
• Bosh vs. Boozer — Bosh has been the most productive player in the series after two games, slightly more productive than Boozer on a per-minute basis and more productive than Boozer in the series overall because he’s played 27 more minutes. 
• Defending Rose — Arteaga posted the following statement in his recap at HeatFreak.com after Game 2, “Derrick Rose was ‘confused’ with what the Heat was doing, and that is being generous.” He explained in detail what the Heat defense did to confuse Rose in Game 2 and the bloggers discussed whether it would work moving forward. 
• Home-court Advantage — Big Shot Ron didn’t believe the Heat could beat the Bulls in the United Center but they did. The Heat now have home-court advantage. Will they hold onto it? How? If not, why not? The bloggers gave their opinions and predictions for the rest of the series. 

This podcast was inspired by E.J. Fischer.