Random Thoughts About Miami

November 11, 2010

I write this not as an anti-LeBron Clevelander, or a pro-LeBron Clevelander, but just as a fan of the game of basketball.

Before the season, I was as big of a believer in Miami as anyone I know personally. Right now, however, the Heat are only 5-4 - which is worse than the “new look” Cavs started each of the past two seasons. In truth, I thought the Heat would roll off about twenty wins in a row after they destroyed Orlando a couple of weeks ago. But that win was earned because of a suffocating defensive presence … a presence that has more or less faded. As a result, Miami hasn’t finished games against good teams. You know what happened at home against Utah. You probably saw what happened against Boston tonight. Without defense, the Heat’s offense simply isn’t good enough to carry them to victories.

Hold on a second. Did I just write what I meant to write, or was that an accident? The Heat’s offense - with arguably the two best perimeter players in the league and a top ten PF - is bad?

Yep. Right now, it’s bad. And I’m beginning to have my doubts about whether it will actually get better or not.

Stats heads love Miami. I believe in data. I believe in statistics. I also believe that numbers don’t tell the entire story. Basketball is a team game. The way the pieces fit matters. Miami, I realized, could have issues because they had two guys, in LeBron and Wade, that played essentially the same role. Ball in hands. Get to the rim. If the lane gets clogged, make a play or get to the free throw line. This is basic basketball…

What I also knew was that LeBron and Wade were going to have to learn how to be effective off of the ball. I thought they could figure it out and figure it out quickly. At the moment, I’m not so sure.

It’s important to remember that both LeBron and Wade have been playing a specific way - the way we saw them both play last year - not just for the past 7 years, but probably for the past 15 years, at least, for as long as they’ve been playing basketball. It’s not easy to simply wake up, step out onto the court, and suddenly make yourself into a different player. It would be like if Tim and I abruptly started writing poetry instead of movies…

Ugly.

The problem I see with Miami, so long as they’re not going to play defense, is that when LeBron or Wade plays their usual role, i.e. high pick and roll with the 5 or the 4, the other superstar is turned into a spot up shooter. In this way, Dwyane Wade or LeBron James becomes Anthony Parker. Which is just a total waste because LBJ and DW are actually far worse shooters than AP. Miami certainly shouldn’t be paying Wade what they are to take spot up 3P shots.

This is, I think, why the Heat’s defense has, in spots, been better than their offense. Individually, Wade and LeBron can both do what they’re use to doing on defense, and the team will still be effective. It’s on offense where they have to change their games - and, I would argue, perhaps for the worse - that they look lost. And they should.

This was the fundamental problem the Cavs had for the past couple of years, trying to build a team. Analyst after analyst would scream at the Cavs for not having a second superstar … but, in reality, LeBron was too good of a playmaker and scorer for the Cavs to have another superstar. Why get Dwyane Wade just so you can turn him into Mo Williams or Jamario Moon?

Short answer: you don’t. You pay Anthony Parker $2.9M and you smile about it.

I’m not sure how Miami can attack this problem. The easy answer, and maybe the best answer, is to start playing consistent, lockdown defense. When it comes to offense, however, Wade and LeBron can only adjust so much. Their games have been built on fundamental skills that have made them great. You can’t just tell a player to stop being great, to try to be average, to make spot up jumpers when they know they’re capable of far, far more.

In actuality, my theory that the Heat should trade Dwyane Wade is only gaining support. I would love to see how the Heat would look right now with just Bron and Bosh and not Wade (I’d love to see Bosh and Bron playing together on a slightly adjusted ‘09 - ‘10 Cavs team even more, but I digress…). Miami has LeBron. They don’t need Wade. Really, Mike Miller is a more appropriate player for this team than Wade is.

If the Heat continue losing, this could get really ugly. I will be very, very curious to see how LeBron reacts if - somehow - Miami’s record stays around .500 for several more games.

Nine games down. Seventy two to go. Man, it’s fun to jump to conclusions.

9:36pm | URL: http://www.josemesaisdead.com/post/1549985341/random-thoughts-about-miami
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