I wrote last night that the hardest thing to do in professional sports is to hit a major league fastball.  I think I'm starting to change my mind.

In the last three playoff games I've watched, which coincidentally also happen to be the last three games TNT has aired, I've witnessed three separate, errant inbound passes that either cost or could have cost their team the game.

Dateline Monday night...  Spurs led the Mavericks by a point with possession of the basketball and thirty seconds remaining on the game clock.  Brent Barry was slated to safely inbound the ball to a teammate, who would most likely be fouled and sent to the free throw line to give the Spurs a three-point lead.  Instead, Barry's errant pass bounced off Michael Finley's fingers allowing the Mavericks to eventually win the game.

Once again, on Tuesday night, the New Jersey Nets placed the ball in the hands of point guard Jason Kidd, who was unable to complete the pass to Vince Carter, allowing Dwayne Wade to sneak in and knock the ball away.

In Tuesday's late game, the Clippers had an opportunity to win the game by inbounding the ball deep into Elton Brand.  Instead, the pass sailed out of bounds, ensuring that the clock did not start and allowing the Suns one last look at an open basket.

Now certainly it's not only the inbounder's responsibilty to make a good pass.  Inbounding the basketball also requires the player receiving the pass to establish position, as he would in the post, thus keeping the defender away from the ball.  Vince Carter failed to do this.  Elton Brand never had a chance.  And the only thing defending Michal Finley was the sideline, and we all know the sideline never misses a tackle.

So instead of NBA head coaches forcing their roster to shoot jumpers and free throws until nightfall, perhaps they should look at the lost art of inbounding the basketball.  It just might come in handy one day.

Do you think the New Jersey Nets will be looking for a big man in the off-season?

Shaquille O'Neal, along with his newest prom date, Dwayne Wade, advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals Tuesday night with their fourth consecutive defeat of the New Jersey Nets.  Former Gator (note shameless plug of alma mater) Udonis Haslem led the way for the Heat with ten rebounds.  Although the Nets had one last shot at a game-winner with less than two seconds left in the contest, Jason Kidd's inbound pass to Vince Carter was intercepted by Wade sealing the game... and the Nets season.

A lack of size down low and a failure to create any sort of balanced attack was the key to the series, despite the presence of three of the league's superstars in Kidd, Carter and Jefferson.  When training the Mystery Men to take on Casanova Frankenstein, the Sphinx professed "if you can balance a tack hammer on your head, you will head off your foes with a balanced attack."  Obviously, Rod Thorn has not seen "Mystery Men."

Although the discrepancy in rebounds does not show in the boxscores from the series, it was the timeliness of said rebounds, and New Jersey's inability to create any sort of efficient post presence in the series that finished the Nets.  Their starting center, Nenad Krstic, went 0-for-3 in Game 5.  New Jersey's big three took all but sixteen of their shots tonight.

I'd look for the Nets to make a move for a solid rebounding presence in the off-season, a Rodman type that doesn't need to take that many shots to be satisfied.  The Nets have given Jason Collins every opportunity over the past few years to prove his worth but four rebounds and one shot attempt in thirty-three minutes played tonight may have guaranteed himself a spot as New Jersey trade bait.