Can Riley rally the Heat?

MIAMI — From Dallas, our party of three weary travelers took an early morning flight to land here Monday afternoon as we continue to track the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals.

Solar vice president for production Erick Tam, broadcaster Vitto Lazatin and I left our hotel in Dallas at 5 a.m. to catch the 6:30 a.m. Northwest flight to Miami via Memphis. Erick and Vitto didn’t sleep a wink that night while I got in an hour.

Game 2 finished close to midnight last Sunday and we still had to pack for the flight to Miami after a five-day stay in Dallas.

Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) commissioner Noli Eala arrived in Dallas alone early Sunday morning from Manila to confer with NBA officials. He watched Game 2 and will be at the American Airlines Arena for Game 3 before flying back to Manila this weekend.

It’s no vacation for Eala who’s experiencing his first NBA Finals. He’s picking up a lot of ideas, which may be applicable in the PBA. Eala is constantly on the phone monitoring the PBA playoffs in Manila.

As for our threesome, we could hardly keep our eyes open on the two-leg flight to Florida. Before boarding the plane for the one-hour ride to Memphis, we had breakfast at a Burger King outlet in the Dallas airport. We stayed a little over an hour cooling our heels during the Memphis stopover, enough time to gulp down a Starbucks banana coconut frap, then it was back in the plane for the 2 1/2-hour flight to Miami.

I never even felt our take-off. I was fast asleep as soon as I slumped into my seat and woke up when we touched down in Miami.

Solar program acquisitions manager for sports Chum Cornejo arrived here early Monday morning. She’ll be here up to a possible Game 5. If there’s a Game 6, our threesome will go back to Dallas for the last one or two chapters in the Finals.

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If there’s a coach who can motivate a team to bounce back from a 0-2 deficit in a playoff series, it’s Pat Riley. That’s because he knows how it feels to sink into the depths of defeat, losing in the 1983 Finals via a sweep.

Riley was the Los Angeles Lakers coach when the Philadelphia 76ers capitalized on the absence of injured cagers James Worthy, Bob McAdoo and Norm Nixon to broom the series.

"Instead of focusing on our remaining strengths and letting them blossom even more, we mentally gave in," recalled Riley in his book The Winner Within. "We drank in all the solace that our injuries had elicited from fans and media. With that attitude, it’s easy to understand how we lost four straight, one of the few sweeps in NBA Finals history."

For Riley, overcoming adversity is all about attitude.

"In attacking adversity, only a positive attitude, alertness and regrouping to basics can launch a comeback," he continued. "One thing you learn quickly in the NBA is that losing is just as much a part of life as winning. Be determined to come back stronger next time. Be angry. Be upset. But do not be accepting. People who are negatively conditioned accept defeat. People who are positive don’t."

Riley said lessons from "The Art of War," authored by Chinese military commander Sun Tzu who lived during the Confucius era, will go a long way in mentally preparing the Heat for battle in Game 3.

"Use knowledge and keep your cool is Sun Tzu’s message," said Riley. "His advice stands right up there with ‘be not afraid of sudden fear’ from the Book of Proverbs. Being ready isn’t enough. You have to be prepared. Preparation demands mental and physical conditioning and conscious planning. A player who is just ready and not totally prepared simply increases risk and is a liability to the team."

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It’s not often a four-point play — where a three-point shot is converted plus a bonus free throw on a foul — is recorded in the NBA Finals. The record shows only eight in history, beginning with Andrew Toney’s cluster in 1982. Scott Wedman (1985), Toni Kukoc (1996), Hersey Hawkins (1996), Glenn Rice (2000) and Reggie Miller (2000) also posted four-play plays.

In Game 2 of the Finals last Sunday (Monday morning, Manila), Jerry Stackhouse and Josh Howard joined the elite cast.

Stackhouse accomplished the rare feat with 43.5 seconds left in the second period off Wade’s third foul and it was the highlight of his 10-point eruption to close the half. Howard got his four-point play off Antoine Walker’s second foul with 9:32 to go in the third quarter.

Fouling a jump shooter is something coaches always remind players not to do. So Riley must have been terribly upset when the Heat gave up not one but two four-point plays in Game 2. No wonder he was more disgusted than bothered by the loss.