Breaking Down Miami Heat's Center Position for 2014-15 Season
The Miami Heat are in very good shape at center
Considering that Miami’s center play impressed approximately no one last season, and the franchise made zero upgrades at the position, this is a fairly controversial position to stake out. But I believe it’s the correct one. I’m staking it.
For starters, despite the aforementioned putatively unimpressive play, Miami’s bigs were fine last season. Certainly not stellar, but probably a notch or two below very good. If I were in the habit of grading things, which, in certain moods, I am—it’s an occupational hazard—I’d say their performance was deserving of a solid B.
Miami’s center minutes last season were divvied up among Joel Anthony, Chris Andersen, Chris Bosh, Justin Hamilton and Greg Oden. This group performed capably.
The only member of the bunch who was below league average by measure of Basketball-Reference’s win shares per 48 minutes was Anthony, and he played just 12 games and 37 minutes before being shipped to the Boston Celtics in the deal that brought the Heat Toney Douglas.
Andersen, in particular, was tremendous. He posted a win shares per 48 minutes of .205 during the regular season—105 percent better than league average and, among players who logged more than 1,000 minutes, ninth best in the NBA. In doing so, the aggressively inked journeyman notched a 68.3 true shooting percentage, good for second in the association among centers, and led Miami in block percentage.
“Since signing with the Heat, Andersen has been that spark to ignite the flame, filling in the gaps left open by other teammates, particularly on defense,” Hot Hot Hoops’ Surya Fernandez remarked.
Bosh, of course, did Bosh things. He was a marksman from middle distance and quietly extended his range to the three-point line—he attempted a career-best 218 triples and made good on a respectable 33.9 percent—all while having his centrality to the Heat attack overlooked by casual followers of the sport.
Even the deep bench was sound.
While Oden didn’t exactly enjoy the Lazarus-like comeback some hoped for in Miami, ultimately playing his way out of the Heat playoff rotation, he was a solid backup option in the regular season. Across 23 games, Oden averaged 11.4 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks.
Granted, as Oden had his minutes controlled closely by Erik Spoelstra and the Heat’s eagle-eyed training staff, this came in only 9.2 minutes a night. And the scarcely used rookie Hamilton posted a .105 win shares per 48 figure in 68 minutes in a Heat uniform. That’s more than fine.
Not much changed at the position this offseason. Anthony is, again, in Boston, and Oden wasn’t offered a deal to return to South Beach. But while the personnel are the same, the way they’re deployed could be quite different.
It starts—and more or less ends—with Bosh. With LeBron James in Cleveland, and Bosh set to assume the role of lead offensive creator for the Heat, there’s ample reason to believe the artist former known as CB4 will play a more conventional post-up game than he has in seasons past.
Bosh is a very good mid-range shooter, and that ability was the primary means through which he’s contributed since joining Miami. Not just by virtue of his ability to hit, say, 16-footers with unusual regularity, but the trickle-down effects of this skill.
Opposing bigs—given Bosh’s aforementioned mid-range prowess—had a tendency to stray from the basket to defend him. This opened up additional space for James and Dwyane Wade to make hay slashing to the basket for higher-percentage looks.
But, as any analytics head can tell you, having your primary weapon shoot 18-footers is no way to run an offense. So Bosh will likely return down low this season, playing out of the post like a more typical center. And here’s the thing: He should thrive there.
While Bosh is known, rightly, as a jump-shooter, he’s also fantastically effective inside. According to NBA.com, among players with more than 300 such attempts, he finished fourth in the Association in field-goal percentage from within five feet of the basket. And with stretch(ish) 4 Josh McRoberts added to mix via the Charlotte Bobcats this offseason, Bosh should have a bit of operating room down there despite Bron’s absence.
He alluded to the change of responsibility during an interview with ESPN’s Tom Haberstroh over the summer: "I feel I'm a much better leader and a much better player, and I'm much more prepared for the role, the all-around role, that they need me to fill. That's exciting for me to really challenge myself and step up to the plate next year and make sure we get it done, no matter what happens."
Bosh’s proximity to the hoop should have a propitious secondary effect as well: He’ll become a stronger rebounder. In short: The further away a player is from the basket, the less likely they are to pull down rebounds.
This has been borne out in Bosh’s career. While with the Toronto Raptors, where he played a more conventional big man’s game, Bosh had an offensive rebounding percentage of 8.5. In Miami, that figure has slipped to 6.1.
This is good news for a Heat team that struggles mightily on the glass. According to ESPN, Miami was 29th in offensive rebounding rate last season.
None of this means the Heat should be over the moon about the strength of this crucial position. LeBron is gone, and with him went any realistic hope of adding a fourth banner to the rafters of AmericanAirlines Arena.
But the Heat should, and probably will, be competitive in the enervated East next season. And, in no small part, it will be because of their big people.
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