Strickland Becomes Part of Solution, Not Problem

Before the season, after finally ending a summer spent in free-agent limbo by coming to a contract agreement with the Miami Heat, Rod Strickland sat in front of a group of reporters and gave his usual new-team spiel: Judge me on how I play, ignore the past, the accepted viewpoints are wrong.

In Strickland’s words: “None of you know me, but you are going by what you read or what you heard. It’s like a snowball effect. Hopefully, by the end of the year, you will look at me in a different light.”

Fat chance, Rod. The perception created by four arrests and two convictions in the last five years, his repeated lateness and nonchalance while he was in the waning days of his career with the Wizards last season, and his fights with a teammate and a coach--those will not be wiped away easily.

“Rod gets in trouble,” says one Eastern Conference front office executive. “Whether he means well or what, it does not matter. The guy gets in trouble. People don’t just forget that. Your off-court life matters, too, in this business.”

Maybe so, but on the court, there is little doubt Strickland, 35, is undergoing a revival and, in the process, is resuscitating the Heat’s long-shot hopes at the playoffs. This is the same Heat team that started out 2-14, sunk to 5-23 and began entertaining talk of lottery picks and a new coach to replace Pat Riley. But Miami, for a variety of reasons, no longer is the same miserable group. Center Alonzo Mourning has gotten healthy, and leading scorer Eddie Jones has improved. The players, 10 of whom joined Miami this season, have gotten accustomed to each other.

But the spark for the about-face has been Strickland. After the 5-23 start, the Heat went 22-10, and Strickland averaged 11.5 points and 6.9 assists in that span. He struggled through the first two months of the season, first to get himself in shape after the long summer layoff, and then while he was healing after injuries to his hamstring. Now healthy and “in as good shape as I can remember,” Strickland has pushed the woeful Heat back to respectability, and even into the thick of the playoff hunt.

His style--getting inside defenses, drawing helping defenders, finishing when he needs to and making smart, consistent passes from the paint--is a perfect fit for the Heat offense, which had been an oxymoron much of the season. Strickland sets up shooters such as Jones, Jim Jackson and Kendall Gill on the perimeter and leaves openings for Mourning in the post.

“He is running the show for us,” Jones says. “He gets in there and makes some tough, tough plays for us in transition. He has been doing it for the past few months. We expect that now. He has been living up to what we believed he could be.”

“He is a catalyst for us, driving the ball to the basket, getting layups and breaking zones and making outside shots,” Riley says. “We would not be where we are without him.”

Having a veteran point guard running the offense has been a boost for Riley, especially because, even through the team’s early stumbles, it still has played trademark Heat defense and is the stingiest team in the league.

The Heat does not need offensive fireworks; it just needs a careful, efficient performance on offense. To that end, Riley says he has simplified the offense in the last few months and is stressing mental focus over complex plays. Carelessness with the ball is usually the Heat’s downfall.

“The only time we start going downhill is when we start self-destructing,” Riley says. “We start throwing the ball all over the place. So, to stop that, we have kept it simpler and have emphasized the execution. And we have Rod in there.”

Riley’s faith in Strickland is one reason Strickland chose to come to Miami. Strickland finished last season with Portland after being released by Washington, and he was jobless all summer as teams shied away from his spotty off-court past. At the end of the summer, Strickland was weighing offers for the veteran’s minimum salary from the Heat and 76ers, but Philadelphia wanted to include behavior clauses in his contract. Miami did not. Strickland chose Miami.

Looking around the Heat locker room, Strickland tallies the reasons for the Heat’s stunning ascension in the East: Mourning, Jackson, Riley, the physical defense, the bench contributions. It is suggested that he should be at the top of the list.

“Shucks, I am playing ball, that’s all,” Strickland says. “Shucks. We are just coming together as a team. ... I can’t even explain it. We were 5-23. And we’re (29-33) now. We have to be proud of ourselves now. We could have packed it in. These guys, they didn’t.”

Still, Strickland deserves credit for his part in the Heat turnaround, and he can hope the way he has played will result in a smoother three months when this summer comes around. Like last summer, Strickland will be a free agent, and of course, the perception of his off-court life will not go away. Strickland would like to stay with the Heat, but should the team not be able to squeeze him under the luxury-tax threshold, he will be looking for work elsewhere. He says he holds no grudges against teams who passed on him during the last free-agent period--he just hopes they don’t make the same mistake next time.

“It ain’t about the other teams,” he says. “I wanted to come into a situation where I knew I would be playing for a great coach, I knew I would be pushed by a coach I respect. Coach Riley is that.

“Now, I am glad to be in a situation where I can play good basketball and turn the perception around a little bit. The only way to do that was to play good basketball. Talking about it does not help.”