Lebron: What Should I Do? 5 Reasons to Take Your Talents to the Post in Miami
The Miami Heat are off to a 5-3 record and on pace for about 55 wins. Not bad, but let’s face it, this team was supposed to go 82-0, score 150 points a game, and win more rings than they have fingers and toes. Add in the fact that they’re only 1-3 against playoff bound teams and one can see how they’ve been a bit underwhelming.
Defensively, they’ve been stellar, leading the league in points allowed per game, but offensively is where things get a little dicey. Admittedly, we’re only eight games into the season and the players are still gelling on what is almost an entirely new roster, but the problems on offense aren’t problems that appear to be going away anytime soon no matter what kind of chemistry develops in the future.
The Running Game Isn't There.
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Good teams know how to take away your strengths. Against Boston and New Orleans, Miami had a combined total of 12 fast break points. Part of this is a commitment to the game plan of limiting fast break opportunities, but a closer look at the Heat roster reveals there’s more to the story.
At first glance, it would seem like a team with Wade and James would be ideally suited to run. It’s like having two cheetahs on the hunt, ready to sprint at any moment. Unfortunately, they’re surrounded by a giraffe, a possum and a small clueless bear (I apologize to all you Joel Anthony fans out there as I will be picking on him frequently).
This is a problem.
In order to have a true running game, one needs at least three if not four runners putting pressure on the defense. Bosh is not exactly a gazelle in the open court, especially when being asked to rebound and Joel Anthony can’t throw a stone in the ocean no matter where he is. Outside of that, no one on the team has the athleticism to run and finish efficiently.
This problem is only exacerbated by making Lebron the point guard. The most fundamental fast break formation is with the playmaker in the middle with the finishers on the wings. But with Lebron acting as the point, it forces the only other potential runner in Arroyo or whatever point guard is on the floor to be a trailing three-point shooter or wing finisher, which he is not.
Giving the point guard the ball to push with Wade and James on the wings would be a much more lethal attack. Don’t get me wrong. Wade and James will have their share of open floor plays because of their ability to force turn overs, but an entire running team like Phoenix they will never be.
In the Half Court, Heat Struggle.
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It was thought that the talented Miami trio would overwhelm opponents taking “turns” dissecting defenses with their individual talent in the half court. While this might work on lesser teams, good defensive teams know how to stop one on one play, which is why they’ve had only limited success against tougher opponents thus far.
In the first two games, Wade and James would swap being set up on the wings to make plays. The only problem with this is the other would just stand on the weak side when they didn’t have the ball. This not only seems like a colossal waste, but doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, considering neither is a very good three-point shooter. In hopes of integrating the two talents better, Eric Spoelstra put the ball in Lebron’s hands to take advantage of his court vision and also to keep him involved while setting up Wade.
This might seem like a good idea, but there are multiple problems with this approach. For one, it takes possibly the most imposing and athletically gifted player the league has ever seen and relegates him to setting up other players. Genius! Spoelstra must be the most liked coach in the league for making everyone else’s job easier.
Two, it keeps Lebron at the three-point line, which highlights the weakest part of his game (shooting) and away from the basket, which is his strongest. This, in turn, prevents him from getting to the basket and the free throw line as well as from getting offensive rebounds. As a result, we’ve seen a dropoff in free throw attempts and rebounds ever since this brilliant move.
Bosh Hasn’t Fit.
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Poor Chris Bosh. Just a season ago, he was one of the most productive big men in the league, now reduced to being a screensetting jump shooter who cleans up Wade and James’ misses. You’d think it odd to take the most finesse big man in the league and ask him to be the enforcer, defensive anchor and only low post presence of the team, but that’s exactly what the Heat’s coaching staff has done.
The results have been less than spectacular as Bosh is averaging lows in points and rebounds and probably highs in minutes spent venting to his sports shrink about his growing resentment towards “those other two guys.” His favorite spots to operate are at the high posts. Unfortunately, because everyone is so perimeter oriented including big Z and Haslem, it makes it extremely easy to double him from this position without having to cover much ground as a defender.
Combine that with the fact that Bosh often takes so long to make a decision with the ball he may as well be using his famous tweeting to tweet defenders “come load up your defense against me” and it explains his struggles in the offense.
There just isn’t good spacing on this team with five guys hanging out at the perimeter and no one underneath the basket. It’s clear he needs a banger center next to him which may not happen this year (though it could have with Shaq. Way to hold a grudge at the cost of your team, Riley).
Who Needs the Post?
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With such superior talent on the perimeter, why need a post presence? Can’t blame anyone for thinking this, except that no team in NBA history can claim they won a championship without some sort of back-to-the-basket play. Jordan’s Bulls could have the closest argument, but even then, Jordan himself was probably the best post player in the league.
Having a post presence preserves spacing on the floor. It usually gets you a close shot at the basket and is one of the most effective spots to pass out of the double team. Bosh has shown little interest in playing down low as he prefers to face up from the elbows.
Big Z and Haslem are both jump shooters and Joel Anthony as referenced before has not yet discovered the offensive end of the floor. This basically leaves five players on the outside making it much easier for opponents to defend.
Player Profiling the Post.
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Post play requires strength, size and power. With that in mind, one can see how none of the Heat's bigs are really suited for it.
Bosh is one of the weakest bigs in the game, frequently tossed around like a rag doll by anyone on the floor. Big Z retired his post game a few years ago and moved onto his spot up shooting pension plan. Joel Anthony is Joel Anthony and Haslem is undersized at times, even at the PF position. Wade will post up now and again, but really there’s only one player on the squad with the right combination of post attributes who could create a mismatch against almost any defender in the league.
Hmmm, it’s a tough one I know. Miraculously, even Lebron hasn’t figured it out yet, but the fact of the matter is every coach would tremble at the thought of him in the post. Not only would it increase his free throw attempts, rebounds and shots close to the basket while lowering his shots on the perimeter, it would make the rest of the pieces on this team finally fit into a cohesive half court offense.
Lebron would still be able to use his superb court vision when team’s inevitably double him in the post, Wade already knows how to play off a post presence having won a championship with Shaq, and Bosh’s game would open up now having the spacing to operate from the high post and defenses actually having to worry about a presence down low. It would also make the point guard relevant again and able to make plays instead of standing around as solely a three-point shooter.
This would put their best playmakers on all parts of the floor: post, mid-range, and perimeter, providing a more diverse set of passing angles. Can you imagine Lebron at the basket, no longer bailing defenses out with long jump shots, but instead using that massive football players body of his to punish smaller forwards at the rim?
With Wade cutting down the lane, Bosh in the now better spaced high post, and three-point shooters getting open off double teams down low, the full potential of this talented Miami Heat squad could be realized.
Of course all this is predicated on Lebron actually developing a post game, something he has for whatever reason been reluctant to do. But Heat haters beware, when the King actually figures out what the rest of the league probably already knows (that he’d be unstoppable in the post), he’ll be bringing more than just his talents to South Beach. He’ll be bringing a championship as well.
