Good point, but I dont see teams are going to stop Bosh/Wade/Bron, so it will equal out. Orlando, will struggle defending Wade, and with Bron driving in the paint, Dwight could end up with early foul troubles. But, im saw Riley knows about there Weakness, and will do everything to address it. There are going to be some great games coming up in the NBA, really looking forward to it.
So, unless I am mistaken, their lineup is: Chalmers Wade Lebron Bosh Haslem (possibly Shaq or Big Z) That means their bench will probably be: Mike Miller maybe Haslem Possible minimum vet contracts: Tracy McGrady Allen Iverson Juwan Howard On paper...not bad, but on paper we were the champions of 08.
Big 3 took paycuts to allow Miller and Haslam to stay on. I have a feeling Haslam will play center, as he has played that postion before.
Lakers Bynum + Gasol + Odom+ Artest + Kobe+ Fish/Blake The best starting lineup with team chemistry and so happens to have the best clutch person in the game with a coach who has won 11 championships Heat are currently a team with really really good pieces, too bad some of those pieces are sort of redundant.
Im saw eveyone will be waiting to see this game. Will be huge! Btw, dont discount that Riley will be coaching the team this year...
Chalmers/Wade Wade/Miller Lebron Bosh/Haslem Big Z/Haslem Damn. At this point their roster starts looking really scary. Ugh.
I just think people are too quick declaring the Heat to be in the finals. When the Celtics got their Big 3, every single playoff game for them was a 7 game series (they had lady luck on their side in some of those games). They also happen to have 1 of the best defenses in the league. Heat looks set on the offensive side, once they figure out what LBJ, Wade and Bosh are going to do. But on the defensive side....I see them as average to below average (especially when they have no center, even if they got Big Z or Shaq (both are old))
Boston seemed to gel will in their first year, and this was also with a young PG. And these 3 have played in the Olympics together.
I expect teams to zone these guys. You need knock down shooters. Miller shot 48% last year and that wasn't with a ton of wide open looks. I don't think you realize how many wide open shots this dude is gonna get.
If Riley comes back, it won't make a difference. The reason why he won the championship with the Heat was because SVG already developed the defensive and offensive sets and Wade and Shaq had another year under their belts. LBJ, Wade, Bosh 1st year together and they won't face a choking Mav's team.
Oh yeah...forgot about T-Wack....he could actually go there and succeed. Play 15-20 min a game and have zero pressure on him. That may be the best scenerio for him along with San Antonio and Boston....
Wade, Lebron and Haslem are good defenders. And we don't even know who their centers are yet. Put it like this, last year the Cavs won 61 games and the centers were Shaq/Z. And that was just with LeBron and role players. Give them those same two (just assuming) and add Wade and Bosh, and a real shooter in Miller (not a streaky one like the Cavs had). How can they be worse?
Boston gel because their big 3, knew their roles Pierce - Slasher/closer Allen - 3 point shooter KG - post/Defense anchor They so happen to have Rondo who turn out to be a GEM and I don't see Chalmers turning out to be Rondo. They also let Rondo set the offense. Which is not something we are going to see with Wade/LBJ. It also helped they had Tom T. who was is one of the best assistant defensive coaches in the league (coach now) They may Gel but its not going to be till the 2nd season when we really see what they are capable of doing it.
I think you are dead wrong. Their perimeter defense will be the best we've seen in years. It will bring back memories of some of MJ's Bulls teams. It will more than make up for whatever weakness they have defending the post. If they somehow get a C than can defend the post decently, the Heat's defense will be absolutely sick once they get used to playing together. Keep in mind Wade and LeBron single-handedly wreak havoc on teams when they focus on defense. With neither guy having to carry 75% of the load on offense, they will be able to play harder on the other end of the floor, regularly. I completely agree with you their 2nd and 3rd years together will be better than next season. No doubt about it. If the Heat are ever to make a run at 72 wins, it won't be this season.
