Miami Heat Projected Statistical Leaders for 2010/11
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Now that the roster is nearly complete, let’s have some fun projecting which heat players will lead the team in specific statistical categories. Winning is the only stat that really matters. Don’t forget that!
Scoring
With Lebron James playing a point-forward role for most of the game I think his scoring is naturally going to take a little dip. Dwyane Wade’s role on this team will not really change. His job will be to put the ball in the hole and he’s one of the best pure scorers in the league.
Chris Bosh is the dark horse because he’s going to have an insanely high amount of dunks and put backs off of penetration by Wade and James.
Scoring Leader: Dwyane Wade (27 PPG)
Rebounding
Chris Bosh is going to receive the most minutes down low and he’s already the best rebounder on the team. Udonis Haslem is great on the boards as well, but he won’t play as much as Bosh, so his numbers will not be as high.
Rebounding leader: Chris Bosh (12 RPG)
Assists
First of all, there is no chance a point guard leads this team in assists. Not with the ball in the hands of Wade and James for most of the game. It’s amazing that James is as good a passer as he is a scorer. His ability to see the play before it happens is similar to points guards like Steve Nash and Jason Kidd.
James is going to be more of a facilitator than Wade next year so he will lead the team in dimes. He is going to set a career high in this category because of the plethora of talent around him.
Assists Leader: Lebron James (10.5 APG)
Field Goal Percentage
Typically a team’s field-goal percentage leader is a big man because of his percentage of shots coming from inside the paint. I think it’s going to be between Bosh and Joel Anthony.
The reasoning behind Anthony is that a high percentage of his shots will be on dunks. Bosh has an outside game so he will take more mid-range jumpers.
FG Percentage Leader: Joel Anthony (53 percent FG)
Three Point Percentage
The Heat have three shooting specialists on this year’s team with the signings of Mike Miller, Eddie House, and James Jones. Miller shot 48 percent from deep last year on a Wizards team that didn’t have any great passers around him. With the ability of James and Wade to get into the lane at will, Miller will make the defense pay from the perimeter.
3FG Percentage Leader: Mike Miller (45 percent 3FG)
Free Throw Percentage
James Jones is a career 86 percent free-throw shooter. Nobody else comes close to his efficiency from the stripe. I would like to see James and Wade both shoot in the 80 percentile this year though.
FT Percentage Leader: James Jones (85 percent FT)
Blocks
Wade and James block a decent amount of shots for their respective positions. Anthony, however, is one of the best pure shot blockers in the entire NBA. He was third in the league in blocks per 48 minutes with 3.95, a true measure of block efficiency.
Blocks Leader: Joel Anthony (2.5 BPG)
Steals
James, Wade, and Mario Chalmers are all great at disrupting passing lanes which inevitably lead to steals. Wade was in the top five in steals in the NBA for the last two years.
Steals Leader: Dwyane Wade (1.85 SPG)
