Do Lebron James and the Miami Heat Lack "Mental Stability?"

At the start of the fourth quarter, while being interviewed by Doris Burke, Miami Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra stated that his team needed to show “mental stability” in the fourth quarter.  Maybe Coach Spo was giving away the secret to the series, as the Heat folded once again in the fourth.

The Heat simply lacked the “mental stability” to win.

Dallas gave the Heat several chances to force a Game 7, but  the Heat were unable to capitalize on their opportunities time after time.  The Mavericks uncharacteristically missed some free throws, yet the Heat couldn’t hit their free throws or clutch shots down the stretch.

Not only did the Heat players lack the mental toughness needed to win, but so did Coach Spoelstra.  When you look at the Mavericks bench, did the Heat not have anyone that could match Brian Cardinal, Ian Mahini, and DeShawn Stevenson? 

While Coach Carlisle was able to push all the right buttons for the Mavericks, the Heat players regressed during the series. Mike Miller, Joel Anthony, and Mike Bibby all saw their roles lessened in the series, and James Jones (current NBA 3 point champion) never stepped on the court.

In Game 6, Mike Bibby, who had started throughout the playoffs, did not play one minute while Eddie House was asked to pull off a miracle. House actually played pretty decently for someone who had seen little playing time, but he missed crucial shots down the stretch.

The question should be: why were Mario Chalmers and Eddie House taking crucial shots down the stretch? Where were Lebron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh during crunch time?

During a timeout with the Heat trailing 85-77, Spoelstra once again implored his team to have “mental stability”.

The Heat responded by passing the ball around the perimeter until Mario Chalmers took an ill advised 3-pointer.

Dwayne Wade lost the ball twice when he dribbled the ball off his foot out of bounds and mishandled the ball, leading to a Jason Terry breakaway. Wade also received a technical after an obvious charging call earlier in the game.

Lebron James was unwilling to shoot from the outside and passed the ball even when he had open looks.  The chosen one had no impact on a closeout game, yet Dirk Nowitzki, having one of the worst first halves in his career, still stepped up big in the fourth quarter and knocked down dagger shots.

Mental Stability?

Coach Spoelstra was unable to find any sparks on his team and only got production from six players in the final game of the series. Carlisle was getting significant production from nine players including players like Cardinal and Mahinmi, who had received very little playing time during the postseason.

The Heat will have a lot of soul searching to do this off-season as they look to retool for next year. On the bright side, the Heat had a chance to be up 3-1 in the finals without any production from the center or point guard position and a bench that shrunk with each game.

This Heat team will suffer over the 2011 series much like Dallas smarted over their 2006 loss to this Heat franchise. Most Maverick supporters feel like they let one get away in 2006.

Dallas got that bitter taste out of their mouth by winning the championship. Miami will be desperately trying to get back next year and show they found some “mental stability”.