Miami Heat: Early Reasons For Optimism And One Giant Concern
The first week of the season saw the new-look Heat facing their two primary challengers in the East.
On opening night, they fizzled against the Boston Celtics and three days later, a more cohesive looking group crushed the Orlando Magic by 26 points.
While the season and this team are still young, playing two of the league’s best teams does give a glimpse into the strength and weaknesses of the most talked about team in the recent history of the NBA:
Strengths:
-Shot-creating: The Heat have the best penetrators in the league at the 2, 3 and 4 positions. James, Wade and Bosh all have the quickness and ball-handling ability to get to the rim, which is one of the most valuable offensive skills in the NBA.
-Team defense: The Heat’s Big Three are also some of the fastest and longest players at their positions too. Their wingspans: Wade (6’11), James (7’0) and Bosh (7’3). All have averaged around a block a game over their career. When those three are active defensively, they shrink the court, making it a lot easier for them to double back and recover. Against two of the top offenses in the NBA they gave up 70 and 88 points.
-Pick and roll offense: James, at 6’9, might be the most effective P/R player in basketball. Swarming the pick is pointless because he can see over the top of the double-team and deliver the correct pass in the 3-on-4 situation. Play off the screen and now he has a driving lane at the basket. Wade is very effective as well, utilizing his ability to hit outside shots and split a double team.
Weaknesses:
-The other two starters: Miami is playing 3-on-5 with their starting lineup. Carlos Arroyo, who averaged only one three-point attempt a game over his career, no longer has the same foot-speed to attack the basket and is taking up space on the floor. Joel Anthony, somehow, is worse. The Celtics literally ignored his presence on the court offensively. Anthony showed absolutely no willingness to exploit the fact that he was not being defended by looking to quickly get rid of the ball rather than shoot. The Heat can get away with one offensive non-threat, but playing two against a defense like Boston’s is asking too much.
-Defense at the point: None of the Heat’s current options at the 1 (Chalmers, House or Arroyo) has the foot-speed to stay with the new breed of lightning-fast point guards; as evidenced by Rajon Rondo being able to go wherever he wanted on the court.
-Defending the low post: None of the Heat’s three centers can defend the low post. Anthony and Haslem are too small while Ilgauskas doesn’t have the strength or athletic ability.
Where they go from here:
-Play their most effective unit more often: Their strongest line-up is the Big Three plus the currently injured Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem. That lineup pairs their shot-creators with two jump shooters, and the defense has to respect. Defensively, it puts Wade at point guard, which allows him to work the same way Kobe did to make up for Derek Fisher’s lack of foot-speed against quicker guards in the playoffs.
-Find a defensive-oriented seven-footer: The only real weakness in that lineup is defending the low post. The only answer they had for Dwight Howard, who had 19 points in the first half, was getting him in foul trouble by attacking the basket. Around the league there are several defense-oriented centers who can’t get minutes because of their lack of offensive ability, which wouldn’t be an issue in Miami. Someone like Charlotte’s DeSagana Diop, who performed a similar role for the ’06 Mavs in their run to the Finals, could be had for a song.
-Replace Arroyo with Mario Chalmers in the rotation: Arroyo’s most valuable with the ball in his hands, which is a pretty silly idea considering the Heat’s other starters. If their other guard is just going to be spotting up on the perimeter anyway, Chalmers, a 34.6 percent career 3-point shooter, would be a much better fit.
Miami has the talent to win a championship, but they are going to have to win it unconventionally. The only play they will need on offense is the pick and roll, especially when it involves some combination of the Big Three.
Against the Celtics, Miami resorted to isolations when their offense was stagnant. LeBron and Bosh left their previous teams because they didn’t have enough help. So there’s no need to make their new teammates bystanders. A pick and roll keeps more players involved in the offense and prevents them from dribbling the ball into the ground.
Taking the ball to the heart of the defense and drawing fouls will be crucial for the Heat. All of the Big Three members have a tendency to settle for fade-away jumpers; staying aggressive offensively is their best defense against low-post scorers.
Give them a defensive-minded center like Diop, or even Grizzlies bust Hasheem Thabeet, and there would be no stopping them. However, the absence of a true PG gives hope to Orlando, Boston and LA.
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