Miami Heat: 5 Biggest Hurdles in the Way of the Heat Winning the 2012 NBA Title

One of the biggest parts of reaching your goals is understanding what obstacles or hurdles stand in your way, and that's exactly what the Heat must do if they plan on reaching their preseason goal of winning the NBA title in 2012.

The Heat haven't really "struggled" this year, currently sitting at 13-5, but the Heat haven't necessarily dominated their competition either.

There are lessons to be learned from the Heat's wins and losses this year, like the ineffectiveness of the coaching staff to the Heat's inability to close out close games against playoff caliber competition, and that leads us to understanding what stands in the way of a Heat championship in 2012.

Ahead is a list of the five biggest obstacles that stand in the way of LeBron getting his first ring and the Heat winning the NBA title in 2012. 

Tom Thibodeau an the Chicago Bulls

Jan. 29th is fast approaching, and that means the Bulls and the Heat are on a collision course to prove who's on top in the Eastern Conference.  

Sure there are teams like Orlando, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Indiana that are playing at a high-caliber level, but there's no doubting that the battle for the top spot in the east comes down to the Bulls and the Heat.

You could make the argument that the Bulls won't be the same team without Luol Deng, who will be out "a while" after suffering a torn ligament in his wrist, but with Tom Thibodeau on the bench, there's no doubt that the Bulls will still be an extremely dangerous team even without Deng in the starting lineup.

While it's arguable who has the offensive and defensive advantage between the Heat and the Bulls, there's one thing that's certain, which is the fact that the Bulls have the definitive advantage when it comes to coaching.

One of the Heat's biggest weaknesses this season has been the lack of leadership coming from head coach Erik Spoelstra.  The Heat's offense lacks structure and depth, which is one of the major reasons why the Bulls are considered to be the better of the two teams.

No matter how you feel about the kind of team the Heat are, there's a high likelihood that a 2012 NBA title for the Miami Heat is going to have to go through Chicago, much like last year.  

The only problem is that this year, the Bulls are even more dangerous than last year, which poses a legitimate threat to derailing the Heat's title hopes in 2012.

Complacency

The Miami Heat are sitting pretty with a 13-5 record overall, with a couple impressive wins against teams like the Lakers, Spurs and 76ers.  On the flip side, while the Heat have only lost one of their last three games, their performance in those games has been all but underwhelming.

Against the Bucks, Cavaliers and Pistons, all sub .500 teams, the Heat have managed to play like they just don't care.  Sure, they're 2-1 in those three games, but their performances in each of those games simply displays the complacency that defines the Heat at times.

The Heat suffer from consistently playing down to their competition, which isn't something that will keep them from making the Eastern Conference playoffs, but it will result in losing games they shouldn't, which will keep the Heat from earning the top spot in the east for the second year in a row.

Complacency isn't the worst thing to struggle with, but when you've named yourself the Heatles and every NBA team is gunning for you, complacency simply can't become something that is tolerated within the Heat's locker room.

If the Heat want to make a serious run at the 2012 NBA title, they have to stop playing down to their competition and instead attack for four whole quarters of every game.

Inability to Close Out Big Games

When you look at the Heat's five losses this season, without the duds they dropped against the Nuggets and the Haws, the one commonality between all of those losses is that the Heat struggled to close out the game.

The Heat allowed the Milwaukee Bucks to go on a 7-0 run at the end of the game to close them out just a few days ago.  In the Heat's showdown with the Clippers, they couldn't hit free-throws when they needed to down the stretch to keep the Clippers at bay, resulting in a difficult loss.  Finally, against the Golden State Warriors, the Heat suffered from missing clutch shots and playing lackadaisical defense, which resulted in a tough road loss.

Sure, the Heat are able to closeout games against teams like the Detroit Pistons, the Cleveland Cavalier and the Charlotte Bobcats, but the Heat need to start learning how to close out games against playoff caliber teams, not just the bottom feeders of the NBA.

I know a lot of Heat fans say that the regular season doesn't matter, but the reality is that the Heat aren't all of a sudden going to start closing out games against top-tier teams if they don't start to do so throughout the regular season.

Remember in the 2011 NBA finals when the Heat couldn't close out the Mavericks?  Yea, if they don't start to show us that they can actually close out playoff caliber teams in the regular season, the Heat will undoubtedly fall to the same fate this year as they did last year. 

Nagging Injuries and Health

While the Miami Heat are 8-1 without star guard Dwyane Wade in the lineup, and LeBron and Bosh seem to do just fine without him, there's no doubt that the Heat are a better and more complete team with Wade in the lineup.

Wade has been suffering from a bruised calf, a sprained ankle and a nagging bruised foot, which has sidelined him for half of the Heat's games this season.  While all seems well in Miami, with Wade getting to rest his injuries and the Heat still winning, the fact that Wade has been injured for half the season has to be a major concern.

In addition to Wade's injuries, that could pop up throughout the season if not treated effectively, the Heat have to be concerned about the health of sharpshooter Mike Miller. Miller has been injury prone over the last few years of his career, dealing with an injured shoulder in 2009, a broken thumb in 2010 and now a sports hernia in 2011.  

Miller underwent surgery on that hernia this offseason, and while he's "fully" recovered, there's no doubting that the tough-nosed, all-hustle way he plays the game could result in reaggravating that hernia.

There's a high possibility that within the next week, the Heat's roster will be back to full health, which is great, but the Heat have to be careful to not rush players back into the roster, risking injuries popping back up later on in the season.

A Heat team at 100 percent is hard to beat, and if they can manage to stay at full health, a 2012 title is a realistic goal.  If they can't stay healthy, however, a 2012 NBA title will be hard to achieve. 

Their Own Half-Court Isolation Offense

This final hurdle that could get in the way of a Heat title in 2012, is the ridiculously one-dimensional isolation offense that the Heat play night in and night out.

The problem that exists with the Heat's isolation offense, is that it exemplifies two other of the Heat's glaring weaknesses mentioned in this article, which are their lack of coaching intuition and their tendency to become complacent against weaker competition.

Miami has a lot of talent on it's roster, and it's easy to become comfortable with the idea that they've already become the best team they can be.  That concept is reinforced when the head coaching staff fails to consistently challenge the players with a continuing development and growth of an offensive game plan.

Watching the Heat play in their half-court offense is about as exciting as watching paint dry, and that's entirely because they lack movement, energy and creativity on the offensive side of the ball when they're not running the fast break.  

Instead of utilizing each of the big threes strength in some type of high-low/motion offense, Erik Spoelstra seems to think that the Heat are better off playing in an offense that resembles what you'd see in a pickup game.

For the Heat to take their talent, and their game, to the next level, they have to abandon the half-court isolation offense that they rely on.

If they fail to change, they'll end up being the same team they were last year, an unstoppable team in the fast break but a manageable team in the half court, which ultimately will keep them from winning the 2012 NBA title.