Miami Heat Have Golden Opportunity, Enough with the Hate

Since the now famous/infamous (depending on where your allegiances lie) July 8th announcement by LeBron James, everyone outside of Miami doubt the Heat. It seems that every day a new article is written claiming Miami will not win a championship this season and will even struggle to make it out of the Eastern Conference.

While I am not here to crown Miami as the next dynasty of the league—although the Heat fan in me hopes for it—I cannot understand where all of this hate comes from. Is it because those saying the Heat will not win are simply jealous that the team they root for could not sign any one of these players, let alone all three? From what I gather, I believe that is the case.

Let us break down the three top reasons why those outside of Miami insist that the new Big Three will not win.

The first sign the doubters point to is Miami’s talent at the point guard and center positions. The way the critics are talking, it leads to believe that the Heat will start cardboard cutouts at these positions. Since when does a team need a superstar at every position to compete for a championship? These two positions will be filled by committee.

Mario Chalmers and Carlos Arroyo will take care of the 1 while the 5-spot will be manned by a combination of Joel Anthony and Big Z, while Magloire/Pittman will be used sparingly.

Chalmers and Arroyo had averages of 8.6 PPG/4.2 APG and 6.1 PPG/3.1 APG, respectively. While neither of these players can compete with a Rajon Rondo or Chris Paul alone, collectively they can hold their own. And when these superior point guards attack and get past Chalmers and Arroyo, they have Dwyane Wade and LeBron James waiting for them. This is a team sport for a reason.

This same concept applies to the center position. Offense will not be a major concern for whoever is playing the 5. Defense and big bodies is the key here as Anthony fills the defensive need. With an average of 3.96 blocks per 48 minutes of action last season—which was better than Dwight Howard and Kendrick Perkins by the way—Joel will continue to experience success. These two positions are filled by serviceable players.

Just like the Bulls teams of the '90s filled with Luc Longley, John Paxson, Steve Kerr and Bill Wennington, they relied on Jordan/Rodman/Pippen; so will this Heat team rely on Wade/James/Bosh.

The second knock on this team is the lack of depth. I’m sorry, but are you kidding me? Udonis Haslem, Mike Miller, James Jones and Eddie House in addition to the above-mentioned players are a great bench filled with the role players necessary for a championship team. Udonis Haslem is a double-double-a-night guy. Even with his reduced role last season playing behind Michael Beasley he still managed to put up 10 points and eight boards per game, impressive averages for a backup power forward.

Haslem is also a much underrated defender. Udonis held Dirk Nowitzki to 39 percent FG shooting in the 2006 NBA Finals, compared to his average of 48 percent for that season.

The three-point shooters on this team, led by Miller, will also have a big impact while on the court. The sheer amount of open looks they will have will undoubtedly raise their game. If you do not think that will make a difference, I offer you these numbers.

The last two good three-point shooters Miami had were Jason Kapono and Damon Jones. Kapono is a career 44 percent three-point shooter compared to the 51.4 percent he shot while playing with Wade and Shaq. Jones is a 39 percent career three-point shooter compared to his 43.2 percent with Wade and Shaq. These higher numbers were not a result of lucky seasons. The double-teams the Big Three will command will make for a lot of open looks for these three.

The last, and perhaps most annoying reason people are coming up with that will prevent this team from winning big is an ego clash. I believe it is a pretty obvious sign that this is something made up by the haters to this team. If egos are such a big concern, I highly doubt Wade/LeBron/Bosh would have gotten together in the first place. Winning is the ultimate goal for these three, not individual statistics. Had it not been then it would not have made sense to team up in the first place.

I find it laughable that there are so many chemistry questions floating around. Was chemistry a problem for the 1992 or 2008 Olympic teams? I didn't think so.

Those opposed to this team are raising concerns out of pure hate. And while Miami will have their hands full with the Lakers come this June, there is no reason they cannot win multiple championships. Hate comes along with greatness, and that is something this team will forever have to put up with. But it is not something a few rings won't heal.