The Miami Heat's Massive Depth Will Lead to an NBA Championship

If you couldn't tell, the 2011-12 Miami Heat are a lot different from the 2010-11 Miami Heat.

There's no 9-8 start, "bumpgate" or a players only meeting. What you're seeing is how the Heat have been expected to perform since they all joined together. The 10-4 start has had its ups and downs with quality wins and poor showings alike, but overall it's a terrific beginning to the season for a Heat team that has championship aspirations.

So much for this team being unable to beat elite teams as well. Miami's already defeated Dallas, Boston, San Antonio and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Heat were a combined 4-6 against those teams last year in the regular season.

Even without Dwyane Wade, the Heat are performing better than ever. The problem is that Wade and James' games are so similar that it sometimes causes wires to get crossed. Defenses make it more of an initiative to limit their drives because of the lack of quality perimeter threats and it causes Wade and James to work a lot harder to drive into the paint.

The reason why James and Chris Bosh have played so well without Wade is because they've had a three-point threat on the floor in Wade's place. Lately, they've been utilizing Shane Battier and Mike Miller at the 2. Both players have been considerably large boosts from the perimeter as Battier's finally beginning to make his shots and Miller's back into shooting form after recovering from hernia surgery.

However, the main reason as to why the Heat have been playing so well this year is due to the fact that they've been reaching deep into their bench and allowing the majority of the roster to get a shot at some minutes.

Coach Erik Spoelstra is doing the right thing by allowing these role players to get significant minutes as it not only gives them quality minutes to get into a rhythm and boost their confidence, but also gives the big three plenty of rest in time for the postseason. It's most significant at the 2, the spot Wade used to occupy, as Miller, Battier and James Jones have all received considerable playing time.

Everyone on the Heat bench has been receiving quality minutes over the course of the season. Rookie point guard Norris Cole was given a chance to show off his skills and, sure enough, he exhibited them with a huge performance against Boston. Cole has also proven to have a stellar mid-range game, as well as an impressive ability to take it coast-to-coast on account of his speed.

Dexter Pittman has also been receiving some time to play as well. He's mostly receiving it because of the lack of depth at center, but it's still an innovative idea to allow the big man to get some quality minutes in for once. He played in only two games last year, but has already played in seven this season. While he's still incredibly raw, Pittman has at least proven that he's capable of being a big body that can provide some deterrence.

Terrel Harris is just another name to add to the list of players who have gotten the chance to play on account of Spoelstra reaching deep into the bench. Undrafted out of Oklahoma State, Harris was picked up by the Heat thanks in part to his work ethic and his ability to hit from the perimeter. He's only played in seven games, but it's amazing that he's even gotten that much playing time.

His most memorable performance came in the Heat's overtime win against the Atlanta Hawks. The 6'4" Harris had 14 rebounds, seven of them offensive, while also contributing nine points and four assists. Like Pittman, he too is raw but he does have plenty of upside to him since he can hit from the three and provide solid defense on the other end.

If I wasn't so sure, I'd say that the Heat have a top-tier bench. It's not the greatest bench in the NBA, but it's certainly one of the better ones now that Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller are finally healthy. Haslem's work ethic, rebounding and defensive skills are more than meets the eye as he provides what only so few players in the league possess.

You truly didn't realize Miller's importance to the team until his breakout 2011-12 season debut against the San Antonio Spurs. As he rained down six three-pointers on the Spurs, five in the fourth quarter alone, it was finally noted of how much of an impact Miller has on this team when he's healthy and hitting his shots.

No defense will make adjustments for perimeter players like Mario Chalmers or Shane Battier. Chalmers has been playing well lately and Battier has been hitting his shots too, but no defense is going to stop double teaming Wade, James or Bosh just so that they can adjust to defending the three-point shooting of the two aforementioned players.

When you have a team like the Miami Heat with so many key players that spend the majority of their time driving into the lane in order to score near the rim, defenses will adjust to that by simply packing the paint and having their attention solely on the big three. If you limit Wade and James to taking jump shots outside of the paint, the defense is successful.

However, when you add Miller to that mix, you get a three-point shooter who can take that attention off of those three players. He's a career 40 percent shooter who has shot as well as 48 percent, which occurred only two years ago in the year before he joined Miami. He's been one of the league's most consistent threats from deep and he is a player that defenses will adjust to so that they can limit him.

We all saw what happened against San Antonio. That's not a fluke or a one-time thing, Miller is capable of doing that if he's continually left open. With his thumbs back in working condition for the first time in his Heat career, he's going to easily shoot over 40 percent for the season because of all the open opportunities he gets.

Also, we can't forget about the return of Eddy Curry, who had a fantastic showing in his first NBA game since December of 2009. He was widely considered to still be ineffective and uncommitted even after dropping the weight, but he has proved many of his doubters wrong thus far after racking up six points and three boards in only six minutes worth of action.

Curry had a beautiful layup, a tip-dunk and converted on two free throws for his six points. I don't want to get hasty after one short stint, but Curry looked terrific for a guy who weighed nearly 400 pounds only a year ago and hasn't played in over two years. In time he'll become more conditioned and more basketball ready—what we saw last night was a precursor of what's to come from the big man.

One of the most important things to have during a postseason run is depth. As evidenced by the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals last year, it becomes significant to have depth when a star player isn't playing up to par. Don't you think it would have been a delight to see Miller hit some three-pointers or Haslem hit some open jumpers, instead of seeing James jack up shots and average 17 points per game?

With this depth and if all of the key players off the bench maintain their health and can remain consistent as well, a championship should be all but assured for the Heat. With a number of quality three-point shooters, defenders along the perimeter and post and big men to surround the big three, the Heat have no excuses as to why they shouldn't win a championship this year.