With Tracy & Yao as a combo, we had >>arguably<< the best inside/outside combo for a couple years. The experiment failed, but the pursuit (as Van Gundy called it) was interesting to watch. Now, with the star power Miami has assembled, it will be really difficult to win a title in the next 5-6 years. If the goal isn't to be a top-6 team, but to actually win the title, we have a lot of work to do... I'm a believer in team ball and star power can be defeated with a good scheme and some nasty competitors (see 2004 Pistons vs Lakers), but the 3 stars for the Heat are in their prime, more team-oriented, less flawed than the Lakers stars of that time.
Not to mention that Karl malone got hurt. If he had been healthy throughout the duration of that finals, the results may have been different. We, meaning the Rockets, are gonna try our hardest and give those Miami boys a run for their money. Hopefully it will be enough, but the cynic in me believes what is in my sig. Either way.....Go Rockets!!! :grin:
The Miami Big 3 aren't as complementary as the Boston Big 3 were - finesse big man, slashing guard, slashing forward compared to the perfect combo of defensive and passing big man, slasher, and shooter. Miami has a lot to prove. Btw, we're in a different conference so Miami is the last of our worries.
You're right about that. Yes, the heat have an amazing amount of talent, but I believe they will not be able to compliment each others game as well as the celtics big 3. Besides, with james and wade on the court, there wont be any spacing since both are not great 3 point shooters. Also, if there whole half court game plan is simply lebron, wade, and bosh taking turns dribbling, isolating 20 ft away from the basket, while everyone else is just standing around, they will not win a championship.
you need at least two of the top 10 players in the nba to have a chance at the title. its very hard to get a superstar in the nba, not to mention 3! lets be realistic. we aren't going to win a chip in the next 5 years, because heck, i dont see any team in the west dethroning the lakers any time soon.
i still think TEAM basketball is tough to beat. if we play better as a team we can beat miami. we have enough talent to hang with those guys.
Did the pistons have any top 10 players when they beat kobe and shaq's lakers? In 2002, the sacramento kings did not have any top 10 talent. They relied on their high basketball iq, teamwork, and the princeton offense. They were the best team and if it wasnt for the obviously fixed game 6, the kings would have been champions.
While the Heat are going to be a difficult team to beat, we still couldn't meet them until the finals, and if we're in the finals, that gives us a "puncher's chance" anyway. But we gotta get by the Lakers and they gotta get by the Celtics and Magic before any such meeting would occur.
COMPLETELY disagree....we dont even know how good miami will be...i sure wish people would stop talking about them as if they knew how the team came together.... We dont know if it'll even work at all. If it does work, we dont know how long it'll take for them to be of championship quality (could take longer than a season) We dont know how injury may affect them. If one is out for a significant amount of time, can the other two carry the team? Are they going to have to play 45 mins a game to be the great team everyone expects, and will that wear them down by the time the playoffs come around? You say we have a lot of work to do? Far from it. You sound as if we're way behind, but we're further ahead than over half the league. The worst part is youre focusing only on the heat, as if they are our kryptonite, but the Lakers are our real kryptonite. They have size and we dont have enough to consistently overcome theirs. Bosh is a great player, but he's one guy in the front court. There really isn't another skilled big that they can add. Shaq , big z, pittman...yeah they're big, but bosh pairing up with them won't do more damage than a frontline of Odom/Gasol/Bynum has done to houston. I'm mostly refering to rebounding here, since that's been our biggest weakness when trying to beat LA. Yao can handle any center they bring in and although bosh is really good, he's no Karl Malone or charles Bakley. I dont feel as if he can dominate our PFs. As for Lebron/wade....wade has killed us many many times...but we've shown we can handle Lebron. Therefore, having Lebron next to wade may actually be toward our advantage, since he'll definitely take away touches from Wade. Bottom line is they still can't shoot, and we do a great job of making teams shoot tough jumpers. We're lucky enough to have 2 of the best wing defenders, and Taylor isn't bad defensively either. He may actually turn out to be a solid defender on Wade. And that's just how our D matches up with their offense....looking at the other end, who's going to guard yao? Yeah, free throws all night. Eventually they'll have to throw bosh in there to guard him because their back up center will get eaten alive. What if we put PP at the three point line? More free throws for Yao. Think Wade will double yao, leaving Martin wide open? Will lebron double team him, only to have Ariza slash to the rim for a dunk? How about their PG, is he going to leave Brooks open? That either means more FTs for Yao or we're having a big 3pt night. Yeah, that may be how i see it playing out on paper. They still have to go out and play, but i think our team is actually better prepared to play miami than anyone else, except for maybe LA who can throw Ron and kobe at lebron/wade and their frontline will be too big for bosh alone.
I know this video is a couple of years of old and has an ex-rocket on it, but I think the underdog concept still applys.... <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9_PoLB8_cWw&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9_PoLB8_cWw&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> Favorite line: "The theory of competition say's just because their the strong doesn't mean they can't get their asses kicked!!" ...... --RB
Except the miami big three are way more talented. PP or Ray allen have never been considered the best player in the league, LJ and wade have. I think KG is better than bosh, but bosh is still pretty good.
All three are talented and selfless, and they have a guy in Wade to take the last shot. They will have chemistry. They just need some size or Dwight Howard will tear them up.
Boy, people already writting this team off and crowning a team that hasn't even filled their roster. Talk about front running fans.
I don't think this statement is true. Who else on the Lakers (other than Kobe) would you consider a Top 10 player? Granted, you can't have 1 superstar and scrubs, but all you need is 1 superstar. Before deciding to freak and give up hope, remember there's only 1 ball. The Heat are going to have trouble keeping everyone involved. Additionally, all 3 superstars are going to want significant minutes. That means 1 or 2 of them is going to get tired because they'll have to play significant defensive minutes too. The nice thing about role players is they play 15-20 minutes a game and can stay fresh by rotating in for each other. With only 1 or 2 superstars, the role players in the other positions can pick up the slack and help on defense. When you've only got 2 role players on the floor most of the time, these superstars are actually going to have to help on both ends. Having 3 superstars isn't going to be gravy for the Heat. They're going to have to work through some major logistical issues.
Our true chance was 2 seasons ago when we had Yao, Mcgrady and Artest, and we had all our role players for cheap. But we know how it turned out.
LeBosh Wade took about 44 mil of the team salary. Good luck spreading the rest of the money among nine quality role players. I'm probably in the minority but i'm more scared of LAL and OKC than of LeBosh Wade and scrubs.
Because the Pistons in 04 had 2 of the top 10 players... Because the spurs had 2 of the top 10 players (Tim duncan was a top 10 but are you going to tell me Tony Parker or Ginobli was?) comon now
This. A lot of you guys are severely underestimating the big 3. They're gonna have awesome chemistry together and won't care who will get the touches. When you watch Wade and LeBron they're all about getting their teammates involved. Ya'll are just silly and are in for a HUGE surprise when the Heat take over the NBA. Think they'd sacrifice 15 mil each and care for their stats? NO! They're about winning. And those people talking about how it's more important to have a "team" than a team with 2-3 stars and cite the Pistons and Kings as examples... brilliant. only what? twice that they have won a championship in 30 years? You can have your team of great role players and great scheme but give me 2 superstars in their prime instead and watch them soar and kick ass over the next 8 years...
