Miami Heat's Extra Helping: Grading the Team's Role Players
Nearly one week of Miami Heat basketball done, a whole lot more to go.
In the span of a roller coaster ride of a week, the Heat have gone from front-runners to disappointments to overrated to dominant and ending at extravagant with a 101-78 win over the New Jersey Nets on the road. The team has run off three straight double-digit victories with wins on the road against the Nets and Philadelphia 76ers and a dominating performance in the team's lone home game, a 26-point win over the Orlando Magic.
Their eight-point loss to the Celtics was the one blemish, as Wade and Bosh struggled and were forced to play catch-up for the entire game. LeBron James's 31 points were not enough, as Boston was able to prevail thanks in part to the play of their big three. The Heat get a chance at early redemption when the C's come to town on November 11th.
The big three are just beginning to develop a chemistry with each other, as each player has seen their stats drop significantly. Wade is currently leading the team in points per game at 22, James leads the team in assists at six per game and Bosh is currently second in rebounding at a little under seven per game. Following breakout games by Wade and James, Bosh had his best game as a member of the Heat when he scored 20 points on 8 of 10 shooting in their win against the Nets.
Surprisingly though, it has been the supporting cast that has been stealing the spotlight. Coming into the season, the point guard and center spot as well as the entire bench was criticized as being too inadequate to run the same floor as Wade, James and Bosh. The "other guys" were deemed as either too old, not up too par or not ready to develop a chemistry with the big three.
After the Boston game, those might have been valid points to make. After the following three games, those points are now null and void, as the plethora of three-point shooters and defenders off the bench have provided a major impact in the team's three wins.
While other articles praise the big three, this one in particular is to show respect and admiration for the players who don't get the respect they deserve because of the attention the big three receives and commands. With that being said, we will now grade each roster player who has received significant minutes over the past four games.
Carlos Arroyo
1 of 6
2010-'11 Statistics
7 points, 3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.
Prior to the start of the regular season, the point guard position was already being deemed one of the weakest positions for the Heat. The fact that the team had no true quality point guard was an obvious cause for concern as Carlos Arroyo, Mario Chalmers and Eddie House headed up a less than stellar depth chart at the one spot.
With Chalmers hampered by an injury, Arroyo was given the starting role and has adjusted quite nicely. He shares time bringing up the ball, usually with LeBron, and has benefited off of the big three with a number of easy open jump shots that he has been automatic with since joining the league. He is looked off by the opposition as a non-offensive threat compared to the big three and has proved critics wrong with his seven points per game on 50 percent shooting.
The aspect that has surprised us the most, though, has been his defense. With a new philosophy in mind, the Heat's defense has been lock-down, as they lead the league by a significant margin in the points allowed category at only 81 points per game. The team overall has yet to allow over 88 points in a regulation game.
Arroyo has had to defend quality point guards as well in Rajon Rondo, Jrue Holiday, Jameer Nelson and Devin Harris. Rondo was able to have his way with Arroyo through constant penetration on his way to 17 assists, but from there it's been lock-down defense from Carlos, who has made three quality point guards look like they were being defended by Gary Payton.
Holliday was limited to six points on 2-of-9 shooting while giving up five turnovers, Nelson finished with 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting with three turnovers and the usually electric Harris only finished with 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting while also allowing four turnovers.
So much for a weakness thus far.
Grade: B+
Joel Anthony
2 of 6
2010-'11 Statistics
0.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game.
That's as awful as a stat line as you will ever see from an NBA starter. It's hard to believe that a team could receive less than a point per game from their starting center and yet still be 3-1.
The center position, along with the point guard position, were deemed to be the weak spots in the Heat's starting lineup. It appeared that way as well when the Celtics Shaquille O'Neal had a quality game and the Magic's Dwight Howard and the Nets Brook Lopez appeared to be on their way to dominating performances, as they each scored more than 15 points in the first half.
Neither finished with more than 20.
Joel Anthony might be the worst offensive player in the NBA, but he certainly can defend and has done so with a number of quality outings against some of the NBA's best. He must be drinking the water from "Space Jam" over halftime, because Howard and Lopez were non-threats over the final 24 minutes. Anthony kept both players out of their comfort zones and away from the basket and each player had their share of struggles.
Even though Anthony currently averages less than a point per game, he has still become an important factor in the way the game is run. The Heat heavily rely on the pick and roll for their offense and Joel has been utilized as the pick to Wade or James's roll. He has come a long way over four games, as he was either constantly whistled for illegal screens or not setting them solid enough to create a play in the team's loss to Boston.
Over the past three games, however, Anthony has been setting more solid screens and has allowed the Heat offense to run more fluently since the season-opening disaster. His 1.5 blocks per game should come as no surprise either, as he has always been a quality part of the last line of defense for the Heat over the past three seasons.
Grade: B-
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
3 of 6
2010-'11 Statistics
6 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 0.3 assists per game.
Who would've thought that a 35-year-old Zydrunas Ilgauskas would still hold a significant impact on an elite team?
On 56 percent shooting, Ilgauskas is quickly becoming a spark off the bench, as he has become one of the team's best jump shooters. Opposing centers usually either give up or fail to leave the paint and attempt to guard the 7'3" Lithuanian who has been punishing defenders for their lack of commitment in guarding Big Z. His 10-point outing against the Nets was easily his best, as he shot 5-of-6 with all the makes coming from his irregular comfort zone of 20 feet.
His rebounding has also been surprisingly helpful, as he already has nine offensive rebounds in four games. He is currently averaging more rebounds on the offensive side than the defensive with his strongest performance coming against the Magic, when all five of his rebounds came off of offensive caroms.
His on-court chemistry with LeBron James has also been a contributing factor with James finding him in spots in which other Heat players have yet to get used to finding him. Much like the combination of Udonis Haslem and Dwyane Wade, Big Z and LeBron are entering their eighth season playing together and it has shown how well they know each other's games, as James has periodically found Ilgauskas for shots that made him a local hero in Cleveland.
Now with the Heat, Zydrunas is quickly earning a strong roster spot, as he has shot 9-of-16 over the past two games while receiving more than 16 minutes in each contest. His ability to space out the floor while adding another offensive threat is just what the Heat need when Joel Anthony is in foul trouble or needs to be rested.
Grade: B+
James Jones
4 of 6
2010-'11 Statistics
10.3 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 0.8 assists per game.
There are only so many words to describe just how astounding James Jones has played over the past three games:
Amazing, precise, elite, just to name a few.
At 3.3 three-pointers per game, James Jones is fifth in the league at makes per contest and is currently averaging 52 percent from beyond the arc. The resounding stats can be most attributed to the fact that not only Wade is finding him for easy opportunities, but so is the rest of the team, as nearly every player that is on the same floor as Jones can find him somewhere open for an easy three.
Following a disappointing season opener where he shot 2-of-7 from beyond the arc, Jones was the spark the Heat needed against the 76ers when he tied a career high for three-pointers made in a game with six. He had no intention of taking his foot off the gas either, as he shot 3-of-5 the next night against Orlando and then 2-of-4 against New Jersey.
The 20 points against the Sixers was his high as a member of the Heat and was the driving force in the teams 97-87 victory. The team was originally struggling before Jones made a plethora of three-pointers in the second quarter to give Miami their first double-digit lead of the season that they would keep the rest of the way. James has certainly filled in the shoes of the intended original sharp shooter off the bench in Mike Miller, who is now out until January after surgery, and has no intentions of relinquishing the position even when Miller returns.
As long as he keeps shooting like this, Miller can take off as long as he wants.
Grade: A
Eddie House
5 of 6
2010-'11 Statistics
7.5 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 2 assists per game.
Much like James Jones, sharpshooter Eddie House is also quickly earning a roster spot following a number of impressive outings from beyond the arc and across the court overall.
House has been the more consistent of the two, with four quality shooting outings at 50 percent on the season thus far. House is also sometimes a better choice to shoot the three rather than Jones, thanks in part to his extremely quick release which most defenders cannot close out on. Eddie had his first double-digit scoring game as a member of the Heat with an 11-point outing against the Nets where he shot 1-of-3 from beyond the arc and 5-of-8 overall.
When he's not shooting the three ball, he's defending and hastling opposing point guards. The combination of Arroyo and House are quickly converting the point guard spot from one of the weakest to one of the strongest on the defensive side, as House's constant hustling sometimes overwhelms the players he is defending. His quickness and agility on defense has already led to a number of fast break opportunities for the Heat.
Eddie was one of the more unheralded pick ups of the offseason for obvious reasons and is not only a defensive minded, three-point shooting specialist, but also has the playoff and NBA Finals experience that can benefit the team in the long run. House was a staple of the Celtics in their various championship runs and is already looking like the same player on this Heat team.
Grade: A-
Udonis Haslem
6 of 6
2010-'11 Statistics
6.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
It's strange to believe, but Udonis Haslem actually has zero assists in nearly two games worth of minutes.
Nevertheless, Haslem is still doing his part as the Miami Heat's reliable, blue collar worker who always gives 110 percent on both sides of the ball. His 39 percent shooting is disappointing, and his jump shot hasn't been as automatic as it always has been, but his game is measured in his tenacity, defense and rebounding ability, which all remain as one of the Heat's best.
His 8.5 rebounds per game actually leads the team, an impressive feat for someone that spends half the game on the bench and is on the same team as Chris Bosh and LeBron James. Still, he easily remains as the Heat's hardest worker and has the hounding defense to prove it, as each player he has defended against has had their fair share of trouble scoring on the undrafted eight-year veteran.
Udonis's drop in points can be attributed to the fact that he is no longer the sole offensive provider for a Heat team that would sometimes go minutes without points over the past two seasons when Dwyane Wade wasn't on the floor. With the resurgence of Jones and the additions of House and Ilgauskas, however, Haslem no loner has to work as hard for his points and no longer also has to facilitate an inept offense.
Working with at least one or two members of the big three at any given moment on the court is a significant help as well.
Grade: B-
