Two Observations From Last Night's Heat Game

[guava_wrench]

One observation I will make is this. Miami missed a LOT of wide open jumpers. This might be like a version of the Magic where istead of a post presence allowing a dramatic inside out game, you have two dominant slashers who will be kicking out to open shooters. They might have to live and die with those shooters. Given the final score, Miami could have easily won that game last night if they converted those easy looks.

At the same time, the Celtics can also  play alot better so I am NOT saying that Miami has the better team. I am merely commenting on the style of play you can expect out of the Heat this year.

  Orlando tries to have Howard and 4 shooters on the floor. Miami will have LBJ, Wade, a center and hopefully 2 shooters on the floor.

Miami is going use Bosh, Haslem, LBJ, Wade, insert shooter as their closing line up.

I think it'll work just fine.

  But that's not really going to give the kind of spacing that 3-4 three point threats will.

No it won't but Wade/James aren't awful 3 point shooters. They're not bad at all if you throw out the stupid pull up 3s they both jack up way too much.

Plus Bosh/Haslem both can hit the 18 foot shot from their spots, I think they'll have plenty of spacing on offense.

You can't eliminate their pull ups since that is almost all they take. Neither is a catch and shoot 3pt shooter. They shoot off the dribble.

You can only evaluate them based on what they actually do. I'm sure they could learn to catch and shoot like Pierce has the past two years. Lebron did some catch and shoot midrange in the first quarter last night.

[Fafnir]

One observation I will make is this. Miami missed a LOT of wide open jumpers. This might be like a version of the Magic where istead of a post presence allowing a dramatic inside out game, you have two dominant slashers who will be kicking out to open shooters. They might have to live and die with those shooters. Given the final score, Miami could have easily won that game last night if they converted those easy looks.

At the same time, the Celtics can also  play alot better so I am NOT saying that Miami has the better team. I am merely commenting on the style of play you can expect out of the Heat this year.

  Orlando tries to have Howard and 4 shooters on the floor. Miami will have LBJ, Wade, a center and hopefully 2 shooters on the floor.

Miami is going use Bosh, Haslem, LBJ, Wade, insert shooter as their closing line up.

I think it'll work just fine.

  But that's not really going to give the kind of spacing that 3-4 three point threats will.

No it won't but Wade/James aren't awful 3 point shooters. They're not bad at all if you throw out the stupid pull up 3s they both jack up way too much.

Plus Bosh/Haslem both can hit the 18 foot shot from their spots, I think they'll have plenty of spacing on offense.

You can't eliminate their pull ups since that is almost all they take. Neither is a catch and shoot 3pt shooter. They shoot off the dribble.

You can only evaluate them based on what they actually do. I'm sure they could learn to catch and shoot like Pierce has the past two years. Lebron did some catch and shoot midrange in the first quarter last night.

Sure you can eliminate those, especially when considering spacing. They keep stats on open shots you know, that's the real difference between a poor shooter and a good one, how many open shots will they make in a game.

For the purpose of spacing the floor you can't just leave them unguarded at the 3 point line.

[BballTim]

One observation I will make is this. Miami missed a LOT of wide open jumpers. This might be like a version of the Magic where istead of a post presence allowing a dramatic inside out game, you have two dominant slashers who will be kicking out to open shooters. They might have to live and die with those shooters. Given the final score, Miami could have easily won that game last night if they converted those easy looks.

At the same time, the Celtics can also  play alot better so I am NOT saying that Miami has the better team. I am merely commenting on the style of play you can expect out of the Heat this year.

  Orlando tries to have Howard and 4 shooters on the floor. Miami will have LBJ, Wade, a center and hopefully 2 shooters on the floor.

Miami is going use Bosh, Haslem, LBJ, Wade, insert shooter as their closing line up.

I think it'll work just fine.

  But that's not really going to give the kind of spacing that 3-4 three point threats will.

No it won't but Wade/James aren't awful 3 point shooters. They're not bad at all if you throw out the stupid pull up 3s they both jack up way too much.

Plus Bosh/Haslem both can hit the 18 foot shot from their spots, I think they'll have plenty of spacing on offense.

You can't eliminate their pull ups since that is almost all they take. Neither is a catch and shoot 3pt shooter. They shoot off the dribble.

You can only evaluate them based on what they actually do. I'm sure they could learn to catch and shoot like Pierce has the past two years. Lebron did some catch and shoot midrange in the first quarter last night.

  Also, you have to consider what you're defending against. The Magic get the ball into Howard and he passes back out to an open teammate when he gets doubled. LBJ and Wade start their moves from outside the 3 point line. If Bosh is 18 feet from the basket the guy covering him will be near the ft line. You can try and funnel James towards the middle and whoever's covering Bosh is right there to cut off his drive. That's what was happening last night.

[LarBrd33]

Heat will be fine.  They looked like a team that had never played together.  They haven't.  Wade missed the entire preseason.

[mgent]

Witness:  Goaltending.

It was pretty obvious.

[BballTim]

Heat will be fine.  They looked like a team that had never played together.  They haven't.  Wade missed the entire preseason.

  I thought they looked a lot like some of our USA basketball teams. They'll kill you in transition, but struggle in the half court because they can't do much beyond 1v1 isos.

[Prof. Clutch]

I think the Heat will figure it all out at some point, but last night I thought Lebron and Wade's similarity at slashers hurt them.  In this same way I think Ray, Paul, and all of our starters' differences as players make them a stronger team.  I think Lebron and Wade's lack of outside shooting hurt them, as neither seemed effective without the ball in their hands.  They're gonna have to learn how to work off the ball better.

Something neither have ever had to do. It wont happen overnight and I am not sure either of these guys would buy into it. It took Doc years to conviinve Pierce to play a more efficient offensive game where he doesnt dominate the ball as much. these guys might also be in their 30's when they decide to play differently.

You're absolutely correct.  TP.  I think so much of Miami's success will come from how much they respect and listen to their coach (another huge question mark.)

[anthony83]

 Go Celticsss¡¡¡¡¡

 We are the CHAMPIONS RITLEY,yes, Pat Riley, do you regret now not getting Allen Iverson?

 Miami will not win anything this year,GO CELTICS¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡

[Celtics18]

Heat will be fine.  They looked like a team that had never played together.  They haven't.  Wade missed the entire preseason.

  I thought they looked a lot like some of our USA basketball teams. They'll kill you in transition, but struggle in the half court because they can't do much beyond 1v1 isos.

And that's the rub right there.  They'll kill alot of teams in transition throughout the course of the season.  They'll overpower people and rack up their share of highlight filled blowouts a la Team USA vs. Belarus or The Ukraine.

Even as the Heat gain confidence throughout the season, I think their recipe will be more or less the same come playoff time, and I think we're to tough and to smart a defensive team to get overpowered like that just because they have Wade and James.

 Those two really do neutralize each other in the halfcourt sets.  Neither of them is a very good off-the-ball player, and they can't both have the ball in their hands at the same time.

[Jon]

While I think Miami will improve, there are still 3 glaring questions.

First, will they all actually defer to each other?  I think the answer is yes, but if they get off to a bad start, will finger point ensue and this whole thing fall apart?

Second, can their games actually compliment each other?  I'm less sure about this one.  Unlike Paul, Ray, and KG who all function well without the ball in their hands, historically all three have needed to dominate the ball to be effective.

Third, assuming they two parts one and two, the question is whether they can be effective in these roles.  Even if Wade and Bosh embrace shooting the 18-foot jumper, can they do it when they don't touch the ball for the first 18 seconds of the play?  And before you smirk at that notion, keep in mind that Ray Allen struggled with this his first year here.  Many of us were perplexed as to why Ray was missing wide open jumpers.  And the reason likely was that he wasn't used to not being involved in plays and essentially functioning as a role player 75% of the time. 

I'm not sure Miami's Big Three can overcome that. 

They may.  It's way too early to know.  But I think that could be their downfall. 

[Jon Niednagel]

three observations from last night's heat game
lebron james had 3 offensive fouls called the other way, I don't think they were even close
2 fouls called on pierce and one on davis which was the worst of the bunch
give "the king" those fouls and see how different the game would have been never mind silly technicals

Just got a TP from me. Those charges were so blatant, almost as blatant as his goaltending on Rondo. I felt getting away with those charges allowed him to get into the swing of things in the second half. That, and having Paul go out for a bit with the hurt back.  I see LBJ will still get all the calls. I think the refs realize they won't be able to give all three of them the calls now, so it will be interesting to see how Wade deals with that. He looked pretty surprised about being called for palming and traveling last night, something he has gotten away with his entire career.

[Celtics4ever]

1) They have a glaring lack of post offense.  Bosh is a jump shooter.

2) All their stars need the ball to dominate.

3) They dribble too much and pass too little.  LeBron might have kept them in the game but his dribbling antics hurt the offensive flow. 

4) They lack a PG.  LBJs 8 TOs to 3 assists. DWade had 6 TOs to 6 assists.

5) They are talented but not committed to defense or rebounding.


I think the Miami Hype can and will be beat by us in the Eastern Conference race.  I think Orlando can probably beat them too.  They are third best in the Eastern Conference.

[footey]

Cleveland had 7 years with Lebron, and built the team around him quite aggressively. All they have to show for it was one trip to the finals, where they were swept.  Lebron is terrifically exciting and physically dominant, but his play off the ball is pretty weak.  This is a problem when you are trying to build a championship team.  A guy like Lebron (or Wade) could will their team to the finals, or even a championship, in a weak year (which is what Wade did a few years ago), but the stacking of talent like the Lakers, Celtics and even the Magic make such a run improbable. 

I think Miami will only succeed if it commits itself to becoming, like the Celtics, a defensive oriented team. Lebron and Wade are both excellent defenders, but the team lacks the schemes, or the commitment, to play defense at Celtic level.  The Lakers won the championship last year primarily because they committed themselves to becoming a better defensive team.  They played excellent defense in game 7.

[Celtics4ever]

I concur but I am not sure he has what it takes upstairs.  This kid is more worried about his image than winning games.  He isn't that mentally tough and showed his usual run off the court when he loses but I don't think he cares or knows what it takes. 

What do I want LeBron to do.  Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline. and play some ball.

[Celtics18]

Cleveland had 7 years with Lebron, and built the team around him quite aggressively. All they have to show for it was one trip to the finals, where they were swept.  Lebron is terrifically exciting and physically dominant, but his play off the ball is pretty weak.  This is a problem when you are trying to build a championship team.  A guy like Lebron (or Wade) could will their team to the finals, or even a championship, in a weak year (which is what Wade did a few years ago), but the stacking of talent like the Lakers, Celtics and even the Magic make such a run improbable. 

I think Miami will only succeed if it commits itself to becoming, like the Celtics, a defensive oriented team. Lebron and Wade are both excellent defenders, but the team lacks the schemes, or the commitment, to play defense at Celtic level.  The Lakers won the championship last year primarily because they committed themselves to becoming a better defensive team.  They played excellent defense in game 7.

I absolutely agree that D will be their best chance at success.  As dominant as Wade and James can be on the wings, they don't really seem to have erasers on the front line.  Bosh will really have to commit to protecting the tin.  I don't know if he can do the job adequately.