Thursday, April 23, 2009

Back From the Dead?


I always hate Wednesdays without Lost. But this Wednesday, we got our Lost fix with the Heat's game 2 victory over the Hawks. Dead man who comes back to life: check. Mastermind who is one step ahead of everyone else despite seeming behind: check. With the Heat game, we got all the drama we expect from Lost on a weekly basis.

Last night, all the pieces were in place. Jermaine O'Neal played the role of the dead guy who came back to life, as he played a pivotal role in the Heat's game 2 win. He was the initiator of the Heat offense, as the ball went into him at the beginning of almost all the Heat sets. He passed well out of the post and effectively took the pressure off D-Wade as the focal point of the offense. Wade and other scorers were given the opportunity to move off ball and not have the sole attention of the defense on them while they were creating shots. The question remains though: did he die and come back to life like John Locke, or is he some kind spirit incarnation like Christian Sheppard? We'll have to see if he can keep it up in game 3.

As for the mastermind, Erik Spoelstra did a tremendous job of filling in for Ben Linus Wednesday. He may have taken his beatings in game 1, but he bounced back strong in game 2. It helps when you shoot the way the Heat did, with a record 14 threes, but credit has to be given to Spoelstra for the changes he made in game 2. My theory is that most of the adjustments he made for game 2, he thought of during game 1. However, he realized that at best, they could have cut the deficit to around 10. So he kept his cards close to his chest to give them the advantage for game 2. The team came out with a completely different midset, realizing that they had to keep the pace they wanted, rather than play into the hands of the Hawks. Also, inserting James Jones into the starting line-up gave them a defensive boost as they were able to effectively contain Joe Johnson.

Lastly, we can't parallel a sports game to Season 5 of Lost without a character being redeemed; and last night, D-Wade did not disappoint. Like LaFleur, he was able to change himself, realizing that he wasn't going to get the calls or a clean path to the basket in the playoffs. Instead, he shot the lights out and was able to lead his team to a victory.

Our last parallel between the game and Lost is with Matthew Fox. Sorry, I forgot. There's nothing interesting about Matthew Fox.

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