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Could Chalmers Stick in Miami?

Mario Chalmers has been all over the map both literally and figuratively in his brief career.

The Anchorage native became a household name when he sank a game-tying 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds remaining in regulation as his Kansas Jayhawks went on to beat Memphis in overtime and capture the 2008 NCAA Championship. Unfortunately, his three ensuing pro seasons haven’t been quite as charmed. Chalmers started 82 games as a rookie, despite being a second-round pick, but has seen a dramatic reduction in starts, playing time and usage in his last two regular season campaigns.

While HEAT fans were celebrating the union of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh at the beginning of this season, Chalmers was suddenly without a spot in the rotation. But by late November he had clawed his way into coach Erik Spoelstra’s good graces, and, thanks to an impressive postseason effort this year, may be Miami’s “point guard of the future” after all.

“My team has so much confidence in me, which gives me even more confidence in myself,” Chalmers told HOOPSWORLD’s Bill Ingram prior to Sunday’s Game 3 victory over the Mavericks. “I’m out there and they tell me to be aggressive and play my game. That’s all I’m trying to do.”

Since the playoffs began back in mid-April (seriously), Chalmers has rewarded his team’s support by hitting 38.2% of his 3-point attempts, while picking up 1.1 steals, 1.6 assists and 6.9 points in 23.3 minutes per game. He hasn’t always been Miami’s rock—James and Wade can handle that job—but his solid defense and timely shooting has been critical to the HEAT’s 2-1 series advantage.

But even if Chalmers’ turnaround has seemed rapid, he doesn’t see it as unexpected.

“I’m the type of person that does what’s best for the team, no matter what happens, what’s going on,” he said.

“That’s the time to get in the gym and keep putting in work, extra work,” he continued. “I mean, eventually your number will be called and when it’s called you just got to be ready.”

Chalmers’ hasn’t been spending those extra hours in the gym alone. Spoelstra and mid-season pickup Mike Bibby helped the 6-2, 190-pound guard as he adjusted to playing with three superstar talents.

“He helps me a lot,” Chalmers said of Spoelstra. “He’s always working with me. After practice we’ve been working together throughout the whole year, just showing me things that can help me on the court and can help me find where I’m getting my shots at.”

While Spoelstra has been a constant for Chalmers, Bibby has been picking and choosing his opportunities to offer advice.

“I just tried to talk to him, but keep it to a minimum because everybody’s in his ear,” Bibby told HOOPSWORLD. “Sometimes you get to the point where you don’t want to hear from everybody. I talk to him. We have little talks here and there, but it’s not too much to think about because everybody’s already in his head.

“He’s doing a good job,” Bibby added.

The tempered advice has been appreciated.

“It’s been good too, just learning from Mike,” Chalmers said. “He’s teaching me some of the things that he’s been through. He’s been playing in this league for a long time.”

Chalmers isn’t starting over Bibby yet. He has gotten more playing time in the Finals than the veteran, but that doesn’t guarantee he’s going to remain with the HEAT when his contract expires after this season. What does bode well for Chalmers is the rapport he’s developing with Bosh, Wade and James. He’s perfectly happy being a role player, as long as that means he’s on a winning team.

“We know that we’re all a team and we know that nobody’s bigger than this team,” he said. “There’s always some superstars on somebody’s team and they’re going to get the attention, but we don’t worry about that. We just want to play to win.

“It’s up to everybody,” Chalmers said about his possible return to the HEAT. “I love playing here. I would love to stay here, but, I mean, I’ve got to do what’s best for me and my family.”

More Ratings Bliss for NBA

Sunday night is big for television audiences around the country, so Game 3′s ratings shouldn’t be taken lightly. ABC, which holds the rights to this year’s NBA Finals, pulled in an 11.1 overnight rating, which marks the 22nd consecutive time a Finals game has been the highest-rated program for a night.

It was the second-highest rated Game 3 since 2005, trailing last year’s Lakers-Celtics matchup; but the last time Miami and Dallas met under the same circumstances ratings were 24.3% lower than Sunday night. That’s a strong indication of just how popular the game has become in the last few years.

Hopefully nothing happens to interrupt that growing popularity.

Somebody’s Getting Bad Advice

76ers director of player personnel Courtney Witte made an interesting comment to Tom Moore of PhillyBurbs.com on Saturday that appeared online Monday morning.

Philadelphia, which holds the 16th overall pick, held a pre-draft camp over the weekend, but not one top-50 payer was present. In fact, Witte is hearing that 20 players expect to be off the board by the time the 76ers make their selection, which means at least five players are going to be pretty disappointed on June 23rd.

“It’s amazing,” Witte said. “I didn’t do well at math, but we’re at 16. With 20-plus, there’s going to be people dropping to us.”

And with so many players declining workouts with teams deemed out of their range, franchises like the 76ers are going to be pressed into making some leaps. Moore pointed out that Andre Iguodala didn’t work out for the 76ers in 2004 because he assumed he wouldn’t last until the ninth overall selection. Of course, he fell to Philadelphia who scooped him up and never looked back.

But not every situation is going to end up like Iguodala’s. If, at the 11th hour, a question arises about one particular player, he’s going to wish he had some impressive workouts under his belt. Obviously there are risks with every workout, but isn’t it just as much of a risk to do nothing?

{AUTHOR_BOX}Isiah Returning to Detroit?

Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News tossed out an obvious, yet extremely controversial candidate to replace departed Pistons coach John Kuester: Isiah Thomas.

Goodwill noted that Thomas still speaks regularly with former teammate and current Pistons president Joe Dumars, and was in his sweet during Dennis Rodman’s jersey retirement ceremony.

After failing as a coach in Indiana and New York (and Florida International aint exactly setting the world on fire), should Thomas get another shot at an NBA head-coaching gig? Drop us a comment below.

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