At Playoff Time, Subtle Strategies Can Mean Victory

The first round of the playoffs showed exactly how a good team can be taken apart, given enough time, by an opponent with skilled players. Or, it’s not enough to be big inside (Boston); you also must be athletic. It’s not enough to be athletic (Cleveland); you also must be big inside.

When it came to crunch time, the opposition was able to pound away at these areas of weakness for decisive fifth-game victories.

“We wanted to run Boston,” Knick assistant coach Paul Silas said. “We wanted to extend our defense so they weren’t setting up where they liked. We knew if we did those things we’d have a shot.”

In Cleveland’s case, the matchups were actually good inside with Boston. But they didn’t seem willing to exchange the punishing blows inside that the 76ers gave out in Philadelphia. And Cavaliers General Manager Wayne Embry is adamant about bringing in some heft for next season, along with Danny Ferry.

All part of the intangibles of playoff basketball.

“It took me three years to learn,” Philadelphia’s Rick Mahorn said, “and we’re trying to put a quick fix in a couple of weeks.”

Detroit’s Joe Dumars went to Tiger Stadium for the first time last week, only to be besieged by autograph requests at his seat behind the visitor’s dugout. He then told ushers that he’d only sign between innings.

“So the kids would just kind of hang around in the area,” he told the Oakland Press. “All of the sudden, it was like strike three and the kids would come running. Wild.”

Net General Manager Harry Weltman resigned Tuesday, after the Nets’ worst season ever. They finished 17-65, with a worse record than expansion team Minnesota (22-60) and second-year teams Miami (18-64) and Charlotte (19-63).

“I feel I made a contribution,” Weltman said during a telephone conference call with reporters. “It was demanding rebuilding with young people. And I knew I would take the blows as anyone would when the team is performing poorly.”

Willis Reed, the Nets’ vice president, could be a candidate for the post, but he also could emerge in the next few days as the leading candidate to fill the Atlanta Hawks’ head-coaching vacancy.

Speaking of the Hawks, ex-coach Mike Fratello met with the Clippers’ brass last week in Los Angeles. In Denver, former Clippers coach Don Casey has been mentioned as a possible director of team personnel, meaning that the Nuggets are serious about keeping Carl Scheer away from the basketball side of operations.

Portland’s decision to add Buck Williams and Wayne Cooper looks mighty prescient now that center Kevin Duckworth may be out for the rest of the playoffs.

“That was one of the things we wanted to change,” Trail Blazer Coach Rick Adelman said. “Last year the emphasis was not on what was going on on court, (but) what’s going on off the court. We wanted to change that. I think with the addition of (Williams) and Wayne Cooper also, it’s really changed. I think both are enjoying this situation.”

Silas, who has seen a few playoff games in his day, saw the fog lifting from the Knicks’ young heads as soon as they were able to finally win a playoff game against the Celtics. After their Game 3 triumph, New York was a different team.

“They were so young,” he said, “and they never really had been there before. This kind of thing helps to bring everybody together, to help them learn their roles. Now they’re beginning to understand. If I play my role, I am an important member of the team and we can play against anybody -- if I play within myself.

“But it’s very difficult to get a young player to understand that. But when he does, it’s like a revelation.”