People forget the stars make the role players. Who was Fisher before he won a championship with Kobe and Shaq? Who was Bowen before he won a championship with Duncan? Who was Haslem before he won a championship with Wade? I can keep going. These role players were pretty much nobodies. All these role players gained their fame AFTER they won a championship not before. They became great role players playing with great stars.
I think the challenge with this team will be to stop their transition game and to get their stars in foul trouble. The Celtics big three worked because Garnett won DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR . The old adage defense wins championships still applies and this team still has a lot of holes in their frontcourt defense. Granted, Wade and Lebron and solid defensive players and they can help their front court they will be more likely to fatigue and wear down if they have to work on both ends of the court. They can certainly score but the issue is can they also stop the other team from scoring? We must also remember that even Team USA didn't blow out Team Spain in the world championships ( or was it the olympics?) which means they were very beatable despite all the talent. ( and note they had dwight howard as center instead of bosh) It took some late game heroics from kobe before Team USA sealed the deal but there was a strong challenge from spain.
Bottom line is Miami will be s*** hot next season, whether they can win it all so soon, only time will tell. However, they are better than Houston already and they only have 4 players officially signed...
The NBA and the TV networks will be promoting the Heat like madness. They will be nationally telelvised every week. They will probably get calls by NBA mandate (if they need it). They will still have a tough time vs. the Magic and Celtics this year, at least. It will be interesting to see if the Cavs can sign a star and keep moving forward. I'm interesting in seeing the Rockets all play together healthy this year. There is a lot of potential and firepower on the team, so it'll be fun to watch it all unfold. Totally health, I still believe we can give any team a run for the money. The best NBA teams have talent, chemistry, and luck - so we'll see who has the most of those three ingredients this year. The lockout is just around the corner, so it's time to kick ass!
Puncher's chance? Hahahaha. We never got passed the first round with the puncher's chance buddy. Without that so called "puncher's chance" we finally got to the 2nd round with Yao and took the Lakers to game 7.
No one really considered Bosh a "superstar" until now (the free agency craze), LeBron and Wade are definitely future HOFers...but Bosh is just overrated (but a good player, none the less). I still think we'll turn out to be title contenders, Aaron Brooks has blossomed, Kevin Martin is underrated like crazy, he kind of reminds me of HOFer David Thompson, Trevor Ariza is a solid role player, Luis Scola is already a third tier all star caliber player, and Ming is definitely the best 5 in the entire L when healthy. We shouldn't worry too much about Miami, sure they have two future HOFers and an All Star side kick...but remember, this is a TEAM game, the best TEAM wins. Remember the Lakers roster of Shaq, Kobe, Gary Payton and Karl Malone (I know Payton and Malone where aging but still All Star caliber)? That lineup didn't produce results for the Lakers.
For the Miami Asterisk to win, LeChoke will have to embrace being Wade's sidekick. Does anyone honestly believe that's going to happen?
Hello, Yodels. That "experiment" of a "big two" as you called it, failed from my perspective for a lot of reasons. First, if you can't keep that "big two" healthy enough to stay on the court together for extended periods, then you're probably dead in the water anyway, and just like the sound of your own oars paddling in the water. Second, you need the players you plug in around those guys (ESPECIALLY the ones who are going to garner the most playing time and minutes) to get their jobs done. The legendary coach John Wooden, who passed away recently, did something with his great UCLA teams that I never knew before: he NEVER scouted the opposing teams, searching for weaknesses to exploit. That was amazing for me to read about. He didn't believe in scouting the other team. He thought it was a monumental waste of time and effort. He believed that if his team focused on doing the things that made THEM successful, and played a fundamentally sound game and played together and with effort and passion, that they were going to win. Wooden had already done the job of acquiring the talent he needed. You win competitive sports with talent, Yodels. Whatever the pedigree of those players may be. After you get the players, you focus on playing the game on your terms. Not anybody else's. If you subscribe to the theory that your two "star" (which actually means your most consistent) players are going to draw defensive attention and create easy and open scoring opportunities for your other players, and that doesn't work, it doesn't have as much to do with the competition you face as it does with the execution of that attack by your players. That's arbitrary at the professional level, to me; you can't go blindly charging into battle without at least considering what you're going up against, but the premise is sound. The game is still the game. The court is still 94' x 46'. The rims are still 10' high. 5 players play against five players. The ball is still round. 2 points are still two points. If you have an idea of how you want to win the GAME based on those factors that don't change, then it's up to you to make that happen, Yodels. The Rockets that won their titles (especially in 1995) had this mindset. They were going to do what THEY did best. And it didn't matter what anybody did to try to stop them. Hakeem Olajuwon was going to destroy you. If you tried to stop him or take the ball out of his hands, then somebody else would make you pay for it. Wash, rinse, repeat. It was so simple because of the players involved. Which is why so many players who came to the club during that time and won were so callously dismissed as "nobodies". They won. That makes them somebody. To me, at least. Too many players during that time couldn't score enough to make that approach work often enough to win ONE game in 4 seasons. You know who I remember having the most impact for the Rockets during the playoffs from 2005 to 2007, Yodels? 3 PLAYERS. TOTAL. In THREE PLAYOFF SERIES. Bob Sura SAVED Game 2 for the Rockets against Dallas in 2005. Late in the game, the incomparable Ryan Bowen (who was Shane Battier before Shane Battier) was on the floor, and his lack of offense was legendary even then. The Mavericks had managed to close the lead the Rockets (Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming) managed to build by double-teaming the McGrady/Yao pick and roll, forcing the ball into Bowen's hands, who even beings from other planets knew couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a rocket launcher at 10 feet. One of the few times in his entire tenure when Van Gundy was conscious, he got Sura back into the game to take Bowen's place. Sura promptly takes advantage of the same shots Bowen missed (2, I believe), setting the table for McGrady to close the game and win it because the Mavs finally had to play McGrady and Yao honestly. Simple, but easy to forget around here. Game 6 of the same series. Yao Ming gets into foul trouble in the 4th quarter. Dikembe Mutumbo comes in. Doesn't score a point, but changes the game defending the basket and rebounding the basketball. Essentially giving the Rockets a game they would not have won without his effort. Game 2 in Houston against the Utah Jazz in 2007. Late in the fourth quarter of that game, the Jazz have the ball in transition and are about to score the go ahead basket with seconds left on the clock. Chuck Hayes takes a charge on Derek Fisher, essentially sealing the win for the Rockets. That's it Yodels. 3 players. 3 instances. Nothing else of note after that. I don't count the 2008 playoffs because the Rockets weren't supposed to get there in the first place, and the guys who could have helped were rookies then (Luis Scola, Aaron Brooks and Carl Landry). Those three actually made that series closer than it looked. People are very quick to criticize those "stars" we had (or in Yao's case have), saying they're not like this or they don't do enough of that. I guess that's easier to do than point out the obvious: that nobody else around them was worth the laces in their sneakers. That's why, ultimately, that proved to be an "experiment", Yodels. You don't "experiment" with an opportunity to win. You seize it by the throat. Everybody does what it takes, when you know what you have to do. People STILL underestimate the Rockets that WON with Hakeem Olajuwon around here, even when the Dream himself DIDN'T. People still fume at whatshisname and Yao, and lavish praise on a Shane Battier or anybody else just because they had the privilege on being in a Rockets uniform. A simple game with simple premises, made complicated and downright ridiculous by misplaced sentiment and imaginary contributions (or imaginary contributions, take your pick). I don't think, as it stands now, Yodels, that the Rockets are too far away from contending. But it will take much more than what the Rockets have now to contend with the Los Angeles Lakers. The fact that the Rockets gave the Lakers all they wanted in 2009 is believed to be something it wasn't, like their 22-game winning streak the season before: a barometer of how close they were to winning. The Lakers were better in 2009, and played down to the Rockets, much more so than the Rockets played above their heads. Since then, the Lakers have matured and gotten tougher and better. But the Rockets have finally improved, too. Even at full strength, and a healthy Yao, the Lakers would beat the Rockets. But the time is NOW to get as many bullets in your gun as you can if Yao's anywhere near ready to give you something, Yodels. The Lakers are currently the team to beat. Not Miami. They may be next season, when the can more aptly fill out their roster. But the Rockets wouldn't see the Heat in the championship round anyway before they saw the Lakers. In spite of Coach Wooden's masterful and correct approach to the game, Yodels, you have to at least take notice of the competition and respect them. And to respect them, you have to play your game better than the opposition is playing theirs. The Rockets can't determine that until they know what they have in Yao Ming. I hope and pray the big fella comes back healthy and ready to go. Yao can be the difference. And he'd need to be. He would wear ANYBODY the Lakers have out like bad fashion. That's where you start to win, Yodels. But only time will tell......
punchers chance gone but now we can have a realistic chance with a great team assembled.. its not always about the great playerson a team but how the entire team plays as a unit, Im not stressing we have a great team.. all we really need is another star 4 or so and we'll be ok.. lebron cant hurt us hes like Rondo all u have to do is play off him and force him to makke jumpshots, Bosh is lite in the pants Scola and Yao will eat him up especially with no C to watch his back (ironic Bosh said he didnt wana play C but go to MIA thats lacking a productive one) and the only person that can hurt us is Wade where we can send double teams at him to slow him down a little but Ill live with him getting his and limit the other 2 strengths and also they wont sign any1 good to minimum contracts so the role players wont be very good, our overall team will destroy theirs 1-9 so Im not going to panic I have full faih in our team, Coach, FO and Owner
You're still ignoring the salary cap issue. When the teams you mentioned had multiple stars, they weren't all getting paid as much money as the Heat are paying. Most of the teams had up and coming stars that were not sucking up all the cap space. Just because you've never heard of someone doesn't mean they suck. A star might bring out the best in someone, but there's got to be something there to bring out in the first place. There is a difference between a role player with a few significant tools (lacking in a few areas) and some one-trick pony scrub.
The Heat will be a good team for the 1st couple of months maybe, they will have to figure out who is which option. Since they're in Miami, Wade should be Option #1, Lebron would be Option #2 (which he will take at first, but then will get tired of), Bosh (I guess) will be Option #3. Bosh is highly overrated, but each player needs to shoot at least 18 times a game, which 2 players are going to have to give up. Bosh's numbers will drop by half, Lebron's will drop, considerablly enough for him to get upset, because let's face it, he has the biggest Ego in sports. Lebron's 1st priority is not a Championship, it's to be famous, if he cared about winning a championship as much as Wade, he wouldn't have quit on his team in games 5 & 6. They will implode once they start loosing, because when that happens, they will change around who is Option #1 and Option #2, and that won't sit well with either. I hate the Celtics, but I would take a Healthy Celtics team over the Heat any day, also keeping in mind that Lebron's numbers go down the closer he gets to the Finals. I wonder how Wade will feel once Lebron and Bosh start their choking routine.
Not really. It is just in vogue right now to say they suck (90 percent of the posters in this thread are going at the angle). Everybody seems to be saying everything about how Miami is going to be bad. It just sounds like everyone is scared of how good they can be. We are 11 deep in our rotation with great chemistry, and I would still rather have the Heats roster (and all 5 players). Lets break it down though, because their lack of cap space is where we should destroy them. We have 36 million tied into 3 of our main players (yao, martin, ariza). The Heat have 42 million tied into 3 of their main players. Advantage us, with that extra 6 million we get Battier (big four, more depth, utimate team ball). Bosh and Wade get paid as much as Yao and Martin. Our advantage is that Ariza "only" cost half of what Lebron does (SCORE!). And while two of their players have played in more finals games than our entire roster has in the past decade, we saved an extra 6 million in cap by not having three stars, opting instead for the constantly injured star and semi-star combo plus a role player. I think we got this... I would sure trade Yao and Martin for Bosh and Wade. I would crown Morey the true king if he turned Battier, Brooks and Ariza into James. But we still have guys like Hill, Patterson, and Scola you say? Yeah, you guys are right. The Heats would love to swap teams. Look, if anyone could hand pick their roster, almost everyone starts with Wade and Lebron. I think they will compete in the East next year. And they will beat deeper teams with better chemistry (in fact every team they face will be in that category, because they didn't "sacrifice depth" for stars. Plus in Miami, everyone would be relatively new to playing with each other, as this is basically a creation of a team from scratch). So do you think team ball and depth (every team that faces Miami, except for a few teams) will beat star power? Do you think Miami will have losing record. I would bet you on that one.
It's arguable, at best, that Gasol is a top ten player. The Celtics in 2008 probably did not have 2 top ten players (if any). Those 2 won the last 3 titles. Outside of Hakeem, I don't think the Rockets had any top ten players. I don't think there are any magic formulas.
ahhh the ignorance of people on this board baffles me, sounds like a case of loser denial... just like when some people question something that morey does and think he is making a mistake, people say "you think you know more about basketball and what it takes to win than morey?, gtfo you=ignorant fan, morey=GOAT gm" well do many of you think you know more about basketball than pat riley, cuz ill tell you one thing, he has 6 rings to back up what he has done, morey doesnt have jack... lebron has said before he loves passing, he has shown he can be that magic johnson type player, he tried to in cleaveland, and everyone hated on him. not one person is going to be their closer, hell many of their games might not even be close enough that theyll require a "closer" sure i wish this experiment doesnt go exactly as planned, because it is going to be tough to beat this team, we still have to worry about beating the lakers first. not sure why some of you think we can't compete, consider the team that took the lakers to 7 games last year...the only part of the team we have lost is artest and landry, we have added ariza, martin, buddinger, hill, and now patterson! did some of you think we had a chance against the lakers last year, i know i did and we are so much deeper than at that time, we still need a back up center to handle their size advantage but we are close!
the heat better fill out a roster first, hell the heat are in the east, i do not give a damn, its all bout the west fools!
Two things. The Heat are obviously going to be good. The Rockets will be in the mix in the West. The extreme let's-just-crown-them-now (Heat) and sky-is-falling (Rockets) proclamations, however, have no place in reality. While the Heat will have a shot at championship(s); they will not be World-Beaters. And the Rockets do not need to stick their heads in the sand for the next 6 years; they can and will contend. Besides, the path to the Finals for the Rockets is now WIDE OPEN. The Lakers lost Farmar!
