When the NBA season began, all eyes were on the Miami Heat and how they were going to perform with the new arrivals of all-stars Lebron James and Chris Bosh. Many people figured these guys would win an astounding number of games and even Jeff Van Gundy said they would break the wins mark for a single season. Eventually the season started and they came out of the gates very slow starting 9-8 and that had people talking and wondering what was going wrong. Many people thought Pat Riley was going to wind up on the bench coaching these guys. After the rough start they went on an impressive run winning 12 in a row and 21 of 22 games. As the season has progressed they have turned into the team I thought they would. They are a good team but not a great team. I am going to discuss a few reasons why I think they are still just good and not great.
At first, we all need it would take some time for each player to find where they fit in with the team. The big were each used to carrying a heavy load for their former teams and that was no longer the case. They each had to learn to rely on their teammates more. One of the reasons I thought they would struggle is because D-Wade and LBJ are a similar type of player and until recently they were settling for jump shots especially LeBron and after having watched him in Cleveland, he is a much better player when he is driving the ball to the hoop. So in a sense D-Wade and LeBron were counteracting each other because they have a similar style of play. Chris Bosh is better when he posts up and works one on one. That is what made him an all-star in Toronto and that is what he has gotten away from this season. Bosh is taking way too many jump shots and he doesn’t shoot a high enough percentage to validate him settling for jump shots.
The Heat may have a big three but they don’t have a point guard and that is proving to something that could be their downfall. Look at the Bulls they are being led by Derrick Rose who plays point guard. The Celtics have Rajon Rondo, the Spurs have Parker and the Lakers have Fisher who does just enough to be successful. Let’s be honest does Mike Bibby really still have it. He is definitely not the player he was when he led the Kings to the western conference finals. As good as LeBron and Wade are, they need a true point guard who can create off the dribble and find open teammates.
The main reason I think that Heat are not a great team, is the big three have too much pressure to score big each night. They are expecting each of them to average at least 25 points per game. All three players have the ability to score that rather easily but not on a nightly basis, there just aren’t enough shots to go around. They are trying to score 80 points a game but in order to do so they need the majority of the shots and aren’t allowing the role players to make some shots. The big three have forgotten there are actually five players on the court. For example, in Boston they also have a big three (or big four if you include Rondo) yet their role players play an important role. Big baby Davis, Jeff Green help out a lot more than Bibby and Miller do for the Heat.
The big three for the Heat need to realize that in order to have success their individual numbers may need to decrease a little bit. They are too used to being the main man and I don’t think they have quite let that go yet. There is a way for the Heat to be really successful but that entails the role players getting more shots, but not only getting them also making them. It also entails the big three not needing to score 80 of the teams 100 points. LeBron needs to drive the ball more and not settle for jump shots. Bosh needs to get back to his ways of posting up with his back to the basket. Wade needs to move without the ball and be more active on the offensive end and not stand around when Bosh or LeBron has the ball. The final observation is the Miami Heat need to get out and run in transition. In Cleveland there were highlight dunks every night with LeBron all by himself because they got out in transition.
The Heat have the ability to truly be a dynasty, but they are headed to be one behind the Bulls and Celtics. They need to do the little things if they want to be successful.
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