One more win to prove all the Miami doubters right?

[MBunge]

It's certainly possible that Miami is going to crank out two more wins and take the title, but I think it's clear that the folks who doubted the Heat from the beginning have at least had their criticisms justified.  As great as LeBron and Wade are, they are not magic wands who can just wave away the obvious weaknesses of their team.

Riley's dream of Bron and Wade slicing through defenses while Miller and Bosh spot up for jumpers and Haslem does all the dirty work has become the reality of a small, relatively unathletic team whose offense badly sputters at times and suffers from almost as many match up problems as it creates.  If you want to know what's really wrong with LeBron, a lot of is has to do with the difference between asking him to guard Derrick Rose for the last 5 or 6 minutes of the 4th quarter and asking him to chase Jason Terry around for 20+ minutes a game.

Now, you could put Bron and Wade on the court with Avery Bradley, Troy Murphy and Semih Erden and they could probably win 50 games and this team could still win the title this year.  However, I don't think the roster Riley has assembled and is largely stuck with is ever going to be the dominant force so many expected.

Mike

[Thruthelookingglass]

We will see how it turns out, but I hope that you are right.  The NBA has tried to drive itself with "star power" and the agents negotiated a deal that served the interests of the very few elite players.  In the final year of this contract we see what that has wrought -- focus on individual stars.

And I hate that.  I want to see a team game, more players in rotation, fewer isos and more passing.  I want to see team defense.  To me the Heat are the epitome of what's wrong with the current CBA and the current focus on star power.  They are top heavy and unbalanced.  I'd love to see the NBA move away from that and a Heat championship would only help perpetuate the star-driven brand of ball that the NBA has been offering of late (certain teams like our C's and the Spurs excepted).

[jdz101]

As much as I'd love to agree with you I'm gonna have to do the opposite. Miami made it to the finals in their first year together, and despite their team's construction spitting in the face of a traditional 5 man unit, they have managed to beat teams like Chicago and Boston that have that structure.

They did this on raw talent at three positions and fillers. Imagine what Miami could be capable of with a couple of consistent role players and a coach with a clue.

[LB3533]

Miami is 3rd ranked offense in the league this year and 5th ranked defense.

The Mavs are 8th ranked in both.

These teams are no "cupcake" teams.

Prior to the Finals, the Heat went 12-3 with Miller (who is still hurt) and Haslem returning from injury...this Heat team is still not at full strength.

I don't think anything was proven "right" or "wrong" about this Heat team...other then they are a "top heavy" team.

[MBunge]

As much as I'd love to agree with you I'm gonna have to do the opposite. Miami made it to the finals in their first year together, and despite their team's construction spitting in the face of a traditional 5 man unit, they have managed to beat teams like Chicago and Boston that have that structure.

They did this on raw talent at three positions and fillers. Imagine what Miami could be capable of with a couple of consistent role players and a coach with a clue.

As I said, any team that has Bron and Wade on it is going to be very good.  Add Bosh and it's going to be borderline great.

My point is that we are now seeing Riley's vision of the team in action and I think there's plenty of evidence that the flaws people saw from the very beginning are still there and don't just disappear because of overwhelming talent.

For instance, does anybody think this Heat team could beat last year's Lakers team with both Gasol and Bynum playing well?

Mike

[Fafnir]

Sure they're right I mean they only got to the Finals and have played a competitive series (that isn't over yet), what failures!

[ACF]

In Dirk We Trust.

[Roy H.]

I'd say the Heat experiment has been a success to date.  They're two home wins away from a title, which by almost any measure is a success for a team that finished 5th in the East last year.

The Heat are definitely thin, but this isn't a one year experiment.  If we get an immediate hard cap, the Heat may have some issues adding to their team (depending upon how low the cap is), but if the rules stay similar, they'll be able to add to their team again next year with the MLE and bi-annual exception. 

If the Heat fall short, I'll be glad; it's always nice to see Goliath lose.  However, I wouldn't draw many conclusions about Riley's plan yet, or the future of the Heat; I'm sure they're going to be fine.

[Steve Weinman]

As much as I'd love to agree with you I'm gonna have to do the opposite. Miami made it to the finals in their first year together, and despite their team's construction spitting in the face of a traditional 5 man unit, they have managed to beat teams like Chicago and Boston that have that structure.

They did this on raw talent at three positions and fillers. Imagine what Miami could be capable of with a couple of consistent role players and a coach with a clue.

Well said.

-sw

[greenpride32]

As others have said MIA is 2 wins away from the title, and at the very least will be the 2nd best team this year.  If the Heat were eliminiated in the first round or got waxed in the second round you might have something.  Also with key role players Miller and Haslem missing significant time this year, the team is only going to get better if those guys can return healthy

[BballTim]

As others have said MIA is 2 wins away from the title, and at the very least will be the 2nd best team this year.  If the Heat were eliminiated in the first round or got waxed in the second round you might have something.  Also with key role players Miller and Haslem missing significant time this year, the team is only going to get better if those guys can return healthy

  So the Heat were a Wade takedown on Rondo away from proving all their doubters right?

[Roy H.]

As others have said MIA is 2 wins away from the title, and at the very least will be the 2nd best team this year.  If the Heat were eliminiated in the first round or got waxed in the second round you might have something.  Also with key role players Miller and Haslem missing significant time this year, the team is only going to get better if those guys can return healthy

  So the Heat were a Wade takedown on Rondo away from proving all their doubters right?

Eh...  As much as we all hate to admit it, we were down 0-2 with a healthy Rondo.

[BballTim]

As others have said MIA is 2 wins away from the title, and at the very least will be the 2nd best team this year.  If the Heat were eliminiated in the first round or got waxed in the second round you might have something.  Also with key role players Miller and Haslem missing significant time this year, the team is only going to get better if those guys can return healthy

  So the Heat were a Wade takedown on Rondo away from proving all their doubters right?

Eh...  As much as we all hate to admit it, we were down 0-2 with a healthy Rondo.

  True, but we'd have been 2-2 with a healthy Rondo and more likely than not up 3-2. Two wins didn't assure the Heat the series any more than they're assured of beating the Mavs.

[csfansince60s]

As much as I'd love to agree with you I'm gonna have to do the opposite. Miami made it to the finals in their first year together, and despite their team's construction spitting in the face of a traditional 5 man unit, they have managed to beat teams like Chicago and Boston that have that structure.

They did this on raw talent at three positions and fillers. Imagine what Miami could be capable of with a couple of consistent role players and a coach with a clue.

Well said.

-sw

Perhaps, "well said", granted, however, while Chi and the Cs may have had the structure of a more "balanced" team, the Cs were spent and not very deep or effective due to injuries (esp. Rondo)and the lack of cohesiveness that introducing 5 new players into a sophisticated defensive and offensive system creates.

The Heat were a very bad matchup for the Bulls, obviously especially at the 2 and 3. Call the 4 a wash and the 5 also, because Anthony was just the type of athletic, energetic but otherwise weakly skilled center who could neutralize Noah.

 Add James' athleticism helping to neutralize D. Rose in both assists and scoring and the terrible lack of quality depth of this Chi team is exposed, and that's an easy (I know this is in retrospect)path for the Heat.

[dtrader]

As others have said MIA is 2 wins away from the title, and at the very least will be the 2nd best team this year.  If the Heat were eliminiated in the first round or got waxed in the second round you might have something.  Also with key role players Miller and Haslem missing significant time this year, the team is only going to get better if those guys can return healthy

  So the Heat were a Wade takedown on Rondo away from proving all their doubters right?

Eh...  As much as we all hate to admit it, we were down 0-2 with a healthy Rondo.

  True, but we'd have been 2-2 with a healthy Rondo and more likely than not up 3-2. Two wins didn't assure the Heat the series any more than they're assured of beating the Mavs.

Saying that you would have "more likely" won 3 straight games against a team that had just beat you twice in a row seems a little unrealistic.  Especially when the variable expected to yield those 3 straight wins, is the healthy of a player who was healthy during the loses =/