Payton dissents - respectfully
By Ira Winderman
Staff Writer
Posted November 7 2005
Three games into what is setting up as a challenging season, subtle differences of opinion are emerging from the Heat locker room.
In the wake of Saturday's 105-100 loss in Milwaukee, veteran point guard Gary Payton questioned some of the offensive tactics of coach Stan Van Gundy.
"If I was the coach, I would do it a different way," Payton said after the Heat dropped to 1-2 and turned its attention to tonight's home game against New Jersey.
Payton made his comment while addressing Van Gundy's preference for constant ball movement instead of playing directly to a hot hand.
"If he wants to play that way, then we've got to play that way," Payton said. "That's just the way Coach is. Coach Stan is a coach that wants to get everybody involved."
Payton offered his comments in a patient, measured tone, aware that with four of the 15 players on the roster sidelined, the Heat still is finding itself.
Van Gundy expressed displeasure after his team blew a nine-point fourth-quarter lead against the Bucks, citing players trying to do too much on their own.
"Their way of getting it done didn't work," he said of yet another night with a high turnover count.
Van Gundy's preference is for the ball to rotate until an unencumbered shot can be created.
"That's what he wants to do, so we've got to work with it," Payton said. "And that's what we're doing. We're working with it."
While no concern is as large as the injury absence of center Shaquille O'Neal, other subtle issues are emerging.
With several veterans holding secondary roles, Payton spoke of personal adjustments, such as his first full-time duty as a reserve.
"It's a very hard role for me right now. Some nights I play a lot of minutes, some nights I don't," he said. "He's trying to figure it out."
Payton insisted he would not be an issue for Van Gundy. In fact, he offered his comments in front of an ESPN Radio microphone from a Milwaukee affiliate in an easy-going, non-confrontational manner.
"I can't come up in here and be a menace to him," Payton said.
As it is, Van Gundy has greater concerns, namely surviving as much as a month, or even longer, with O'Neal sidelined by a sprained right ankle that has the center in a hard cast.
Van Gundy began that process Saturday by starting Alonzo Mourning in place of O'Neal and playing the 35-year-old veteran 34 minutes again the Bucks, mostly in six-minute stints.
"I think he can do that pretty consistently," Van Gundy said, "because we didn't leave him in there for long stretches. One thing I tried was try not to run his tank to empty."
Mourning, though, bristled at the notion that he can play only measured minutes.
"Stan did what he had to do. I've got a little bit more confidence in myself than a lot of other people do," said Mourning, who is less than two years removed from a kidney transplant.
"I want to be in there. I wouldn't be a great player if I didn't want to be out on the floor. It was time where he felt as though I needed to take a rest and I felt differently. I think more people look at me as a transplant patient than they look at me as a basketball player."
