2012 Miami Heat: The Franchise's Best Ever?

The lofty expectations surrounding the Miami Heat's anticipated return to the 2012 NBA Playoffs have also brought intense scrutiny to one of the NBA's elite teams.

In addition to evaluating this year's Heat against other high profile NBA teams like the Chicago Bulls, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers, basketball pundits on South Beach and elsewhere have also compared this season's Miami squad to other successful Heat teams in the franchise's 24-year existence. 

When the Heat played its first game on November 5, 1988, South Florida basketball fans immediately embraced its new NBA franchise. Since its 1988 inaugural campaign, the city has relished the success of the Heat's eight division titles, two Eastern Conference Championships and 2006 NBA Championship.

The 2011-12 Heat roster is poised to compete for this year's NBA Championship but so have five of its predecessors.

Let's determine which Heat team is the hottest in a head-to-head comparison.

The 2011-12 Heat Compared to the 2010-11 Heat

In spite of reaching the NBA Finals last season, the Miami Heat would probably not consider their 2010-11 season to be the ultimate success the team originally envisioned.

After signing perennial All-Stars Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh in the greatest free-agent signing coup in NBA history, it appeared to be a foregone conclusion that the Miami Heat would be undeterred in securing the franchise's second NBA title.

With the athletically dominant Wade, James and Bosh, the Heat were run away favorites to win last year's title. However, a surging veteran squad in the Dallas Mavericks bested the Heat in six games in last year's NBA Finals, much to the chagrin of the Heat's Big 3.

Last year's 58-24 Heat team was good but not as good as this year's.

In addition to retaining the nucleus from last year's squad, Heat management in the off-season added a few key resources that have subsequently made the Heat better.

Locker room leader, capable three-point shooter and shutdown perimeter defender Shane Battier brings additional athleticism to an already athletic Heat. Rookie Norris Cole spells the super-quick, fearless Mario Chalmers and brings energy and strength off the bench.

In addition, Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller return healthier and supply valuable support. Active defender Joel Anthony will team with Chalmers and Haslem as well as with Wade, James and Bosh as arguably the NBA's most athletically gifted defensive team.

Last year the Heat finished first in the NBA in Simple Rating System, which calculates point differential and overall strength of schedule, and this year's stronger Miami team is on track to finish either first or second in the league once again. 

Though the 2010-11 Heat completed last year as the NBA's second best team, expect this year's 2011-12 Heat to finish first and capture the franchise's second NBA Championship.

Advantage: 2011-12 Heat.

The 2011-12 Heat Compared to the 2005-06 Heat

The 2005-06 Miami Heat may have won the 2006 NBA title, however, they were certainly not as talented, athletic or skilled as their 2011-12 counterparts.

Without doubt, the 2006 squad should be congratulated for bringing the Larry O'Brien Trophy to South Beach, but the older, more lumbering Pat Riley-coached team of six years ago would not win a game in a playoff series against the current Pat Riley-managed team, coached by his protege Eric Spoelstra.

Let's face it, the game was different a half dozen years ago, and bigger, more powerful players patrolled the paint. The 2006 Heat had an aging Shaq, a physically limited Alonzo Mourning, a very slow-footed Antoine Walker and even slower-footed backup bigs in Michael Doleac and Wayne Simien. 

The Heat finished the year with a pretty good 52-30 record and ranked fifth in SRS but struggled defensively as the league's 14th rated defense. 

With a suspect defense, the 2006 Heat would never be able to guard the likes of Wade, James, Chalmers, Bosh, Battier and Anthony...especially in the open court.

Advantage: 2011-12 Heat. 

The 2011-12 Heat Compared to the 2004-05 Heat

The 2004-05 Miami Heat finished the NBA season with a sterling 59-23 record and ranked third in SRS.

However, the Heat's struggles at point guard, a less athletic frontline and an injury to star guard Dwyane Wade derailed Miami's playoff run, as they lost to the Detroit Pistons in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Though this 2004-05 Heat team ranked high in just about every statistical NBA category, the 2011-12 squad is without doubt deeper as a group, more accomplished defensively (yielding nearly three points less per game) and much, much younger, which makes a huge difference on older, weary legs in June.

Any basketball fan would agree that Joel Anthony, Chris Bosh, Udonis Haslem and LeBron James running the floor late in the game during an extended playoff series would trump the likes of Shaq, Alonzo Mourning, Christian Laettner and Michael Doleac.

Plus, the 2004-05 Heat relied more heavily on Udonis Haslem as a primary scorer as opposed to his being the fourth or fifth option with the 2011-12 Heat, who simply possess far more offensive weapons.

Advantage: 2011-12 Heat.

The 2011-12 Heat Compared to the 1998-99 Heat

With the arrival of new coach Pat Riley in 1995, expectations soared for the Miami Heat franchise, which floundered in the early 90s.

The defensive minded Riley had enjoyed huge success with the Los Angeles Lakers and his resume bode exceptionally well for the Heat's future.

Riley surrounded stalwart defender Alonzo Mourning with a sound nucleus of other rugged and fairly athletic defenders like Ed Pinckney, P.J. Brown, Voshon Leonard, Jamal Mashburn and Dan Majerle.

During the 1998-99 strike-shortened season the Heat finished with the NBA's best record at 33-17 and entered the 1999 NBA Playoffs as the number one seed. The Heat's SRS ranked fourth.

However, the 1998-99 Heat's Achilles heel was its limited offense as the team finished 23rd in the league in scoring.

With a woeful ability to put the ball in the basket, even with All-Star guard Tim Hardaway playing the point, the 1998-99 Heat could never compete with the high-octane offensively minded 2011-12 team, which according to the NBA SRS ratings system would easily outscore its predecessors 101 to 93.

Advantage: 2011-12 Heat.

The 2011-12 Heat Compared to the 1997-98 Heat

The 1996-97 Heat compiled a franchise best 61-21 record and an SRS ranked fifth.  The season ended in the Eastern Conference Finals in 1997 to the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls.

The Heat's exit exposed a changing of the times in the NBA as the Bulls showcased a more open game with relentless defensive pressure, especially on the perimeter of the floor.

The Bulls team, with its relatively easy series win over the 1996-97 Heat, foreshadowed the newly arranged Heat team of the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons—long and athletic with exceptional quickness on both ends of the court—the Bulls of the late 90s, much like the Heat of today, transformed the game of basketball. 

If today's 2011-12 Heat played the 61-21 team, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and company would easily have their way just like Jordan and Scottie Pippen did in 1997.

Advantage once again: 2011-12 Heat.

2012 NBA Finals Celebration: Advantage 2011-12 Miami Heat

Expect a similar scene, as pictured above, to take place again on the Heat's home court in the American Airlines Arena in Miami this coming June.

However, don't count on the Dallas Mavericks to be hoisting the coveted Larry O'Brien Trophy for a second-straight year.

No, don't even think about Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant savoring his sixth NBA title or Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant feasting over his first.

Forget about seeing Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and the rest of the Bulls partying because they'll have already been eliminated.

But, expect the "king without a ring" to finally get his bling, along with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh and an expertly assembled complementary group of teammates.

The 2011-12 Heat are not just better that any previous team in the Miami franchise, but they're more talented than any team in the NBA this season. Period. And, the Heat will prove it once the NBA Playoffs commence in May.

In addition to an SRS ranked second and a deeper bench, the Heat's length, superior athleticism, ability to guard the perimeter and the interchangeability of multiple positions on the floor at any given time make them better as a team than any other in Heat history.

Whether comparing the 2011-12 Heat to any other team in franchise history or evaluating them against any current team in the NBA this season, once again I say:

Advantage: 2011-12 Heat!

Straight talk. No static.

MIKE - aka Mike Raffone - thee ultimate talking head on sports!

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