10 Reasons Why LeBron, DWade & C-Bosh Will Not Win An NBA Title In 2010-11
When LeBron James and Chris Bosh made their decisions to "take their talents" to South Beach and join Dwyane Wade, Las Vegas oddsmakers made the Miami Heat the favorites to win the 2010-11 NBA championship.
THE VECCHIO FACTOR SAYS there are 10 reasons why the Heat and the "Big Three" WILL NOT win the NBA title this year, and lists the reasons why.
COACHING INEXPERIENCE
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1. Coaching Inexperience. First and foremost, Eric Spoelstra is a 3rd year head coach, who has not had enough NBA head coaching experience, in the playoffs or the Finals, to prove that he has the requisite coaching experience to guide the Heat deep into the playoffs, otherwise known as the NBA's "Second Season."
Secondly, he has to prove that he is able to mesh the "games" and egos of James, Wade, and Bosh into effectively playing together, as well as with other team mates, as part of a12 man unit.
These two points raise questions as to whether the "Big Three" can fully respect, trust, and be coached to sacrifice their individual games by someone who simply doesn't have the experience or stature of a Phil Jackson, Pat Riley, Greg Popovich, or Jerry Sloan.
Sacrificing individuality is just one aspect; finding the right system to play effectively in together as a team is another.
The ability to successfully coach them deep into the playoffs and win a championship "right out of the box" is still another!
OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SYSTEM
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2. Offensive and Defensive System. Other than "pick and roll," and transition offense, there seems to be a "freelance," "one on one," individualistic approach to the Heat's offense, i.e., the lack of a disciplined offense to run effective team plays within a system, such as the "Triangle."
Defensively, they don't have the scheme, nor the size and strength at the 4 & 5 positions, to stop interior scoring from quality, elite team opponents. This inside weakness only heightens during the playoffs, especially when facing front court power teams like Boston, Chicago, Orlando, and LA.
LACK OF A
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3. Lack of a "Big Man" Presence. Simply stated, the NBA is a "Big Man's League." Historically, every team that has won an NBA championship has had at least one solid "big man" or "big men" down low to score, rebound, and defend the paint.
From Mikan to Russell to Chamberlain to Kareem to Laimbeer and Mahorn to Chicago's "3 Headed, 7 ft. Monster" during MJ's era to Shaq, to Duncan to KG and Perkins to Gasol and Bynum, BIG MEN dominate and win NBA championships!
Miami simply does not have the front court personnel to defend penetration in the paint, block/alter shots, and score and rebound, all necessary components to compete with elite teams who possess a solid, "Big Man," front-court presence,
This is an absolute "must have" in order to win an NBA championship.
INJURIES
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4. Injuries. Already, we have seen the Heat lose important players like Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem, LeBron, Wade, and Bosh to one form of injury or another.
If any one of the "Big Three" go down with a serious injury for an extended length of time in the coming months, it will spell doom for Miami's playoff seeding, and home court advantage.
BENCH
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5. Bench. Who are these guys? Re-treads and aging players, close to or past their prime like Juwan Howard, make up the Heat bench.
This "mish-mash" of hastily acquired players to fill out this year's Heat roster is not exactly the right mix to spell their starters.
The drop-off from the "Big Three" to the other starters and reserves is simply too great to overcome for Miami to win an NBA championship!
TEAM CHEMISTRY
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6. Team Chemistry. As good as LeBron, Wade, and Bosh are individually, by coming together quickly in a matter of just a few months, the Heat's entire roster can't possibly have had enough time to blend together as a team, chemistry-wise.
Compare this to teams such as LAL, Boston, Dallas, Utah, Chicago, San Antonio, etc., all contending teams who have core roster players who have played together for years, and by virtue of that have an established team chemistry.
Because of the absence of not having played together over time, it's easy to see that the NBA championship goal for the Miami Heat this year is a long shot!
PRESSURE AND EXPECTATION
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7. Pressure and Expectation. Miami has great individual talents in James, Wade, & Bosh, but the excitement generated by the media and the public to win NOW, and echoed by the "Big Three" (primarily James) prior to training camp when LBJ said they were going to win 5, 6, 7 NBA championships, was just too much pressure to put on themselves, their coaches, Heat management, and their fans, especially since they had never played together as a cohesive team unit.
Although Pat Riley pulled off a "coup" in landing the "Big Three," knowing Riley he expects this team to win immediately.
The expectation to win it all right away is just too much for any team to bear, especially when the offensive and defensive contributions come mostly from three players, with little or no help from the rest of their roster.
LEADERSHIP
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8. Leadership. So far, this team lacks experienced leadership, coaching-wise and player-wise. No one has emerged as THE team-leader, such as a Jackson, Riley, Magic, MJ. Kobe, KG, Nowitzki, Duncan, etc.
Moreover, no player on the Miami team has consistently exhibited "late game-winning," shot-making ability nor the championship leadership experience of a Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan.
The fact that DWade has won an NBA championship might make him the best candidate of the 3 to take over the leadership role in late game, pressure-packed situations, but certainly James and Bosh have yet to prove that they can consistently hit late game, pressure-packed shots with the game on the line.
HISTORY IS AGAINST THE MIAMI HEAT
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9. History Is Against The Miami Heat. Since 1957 only two impact, super-star players have led their teams to NBA championships in the first season with their team.
Only Boston's Bill Russell in 1957 and the Lakers' Earvin "Magic" Johnson in 1980 have accomplished this feat.
Both players won in their rookie seasons, but their respective teams had veterans such as Bob Cousy and Bill Sharman for Boston, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Norm Nixon, and Jamal Wilkes for the Lakers.
The fact that Boston and LA had players that had played together for a number of seasons provided valuable support to Russell and Magic.
This "support system" of veterans is not present with the first year, "Big Three" of the Miami Heat.
MATURITY
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10. Maturity. In today's "electronic media" world, there are numerous distractions that can face those with celebrity status.
LeBron, DWade, and Chris Bosh are all mid-20's celebrity athletes making millions of dollars, and as a result face many outside influences daily.
In order to win championships in any sport, there has to be a "lazer" focus and commitment to block out most, if not all, diversions that could potentially sidetrack the goal of winning a league championship.
LeBron and Wade have had personal "issues" already this season, and the jury is still out on whether or not the "South Beach Three" has the maturity to accomplish their stated multi-NBA championship goal.
