I'm pretty interested to see how the rockets match up with them. Defensively, we should be able to at least slow them down with ariza/battier/hayes (at least on paper) but that lineup is so bad offensively itll be interesting to see how adelman decides to deal with their 'dream team'
i dont think we'll need hayes out there to contain bosh...some strong hustle by scola/hill + Yao's presence should be enough. As for lebron/wade, im not sure Ariza has had a lot of success against either. Battier has done well against lebron, so i'd match those two up and throw a double team at wade, but only to keep him from driving.
the heat have no bench if the heat are beating the rockets by 10 in 6 min or less our bench can probably catch up easily
funny how a few years ago everyone hated flopping and now our team is one of the most flopping teams in the league
Bench thing is overblown. 1. Heat will get a lot ring chasers playing cheap. 2. Heat will leave 2 of the big 3 on court all the time. They still have a weakness, a big hole in the middle though.
Like what other people barring any major changes we do match well against the Heat. Unlike other teams we have lockdown defenders at ALL positions-Lowry, Hayes, Yao, Battier and Ariza are all great defenders. With Wade and LBJ, what's important is you clog the paint so they'll have to rely on their outside shot, Yao does that better than anyone else in the league because of his size. You also need some good defenders to stick close to them, so Ariza, Battier and Lowry can take turns guarding Wade and LBJ. Finally Bosh looks like the type of guy that Chuck Hayes shuts down with ease-he's perimeter oriented, and really really thin, so he will just be pushed around by Chuck like what happened with Dirk. And the thing is, on offense we rely on our C, PFs and PGs to score more than the wing positions, so Wade and LBJ's defensive talents will be wasted, while Yao, Brooks and Scola/PP will face either scrubs or Bosh's D. So in short I'm actually more worried about our matchup with the Lakers than the Heat. Yes, the heat might have more top talent, however We match up really against them and unlike the Lakers, they don't have a lot of versatile wing scorers to throw at us.
Exactly. To win a championship I'm sure a lot of people would be willing to take a paycut. Especially because they'd still be getting millions of dollars per year regardless of how they play. I think not having a solid frontcourt will eventually be their downfall. That and chemistry. Dwight will tear them up, and Perkins + Davis will just be too much to handle.
umm i dont see yao flopping .. and battier never flops .. scola does but u cant put yao and battier in the category ..battier is a smart player who anticipates where people are going and rockets are a smart team that realize that a charge in the lane is as good as a block shot
Their starting 5 is set. Center Bosh Power Forward Haslem Small Forward Lebron Shooting guard Mike Miller Point guard Dwayne Wade Yeah I know Wade is really a 2 but someone has to be the facillitator. And Bosh can say he wants to be a PF but will never get anyone this year that comes close to being as good a center as he is. Haslem will play the center spot when it makes sense and they will find a backup big to play for the minimum so Bosh can slide over alot. That team looks great on paper. But it's toilet paper in my book and it's for ****! I hate the heat already.
Uh Wade doesn't want to play PG. And Bosh hates to play C even more. I doubt Bosh chose the heat just so he can play a position he doesn't like for the next 6 years. Also expect Miller to come off the bench, no sense having all of your relevant players playing at the same time, you'll have 5 dleaguers playing 10 mins. C-Haslem PF-Bosh SF-Lebron SG-Wade G-Chalmers? Bench-Miller, vets, dleagues etc. Makes for a great NBA 2k team :grin:
This. Throughout Yao's NBA career his most formidable obstacle was not the NBA bigs thrown at him by other teams nor the elaborate defensive schemes that other teams design to stop him. The officiating and certain refs are the best weapons against him in the NBA. Others may argue against this observation and throw out stats and quotes and alibis. Just watch the games and see how Yao is officiated, then draw your own conclusion.
i seriously doubt that'll be their starting 5. They'll won't play bosh at the 5 full time. If they do, then they werent as serious about winning a ring as everyone though. I'm pretty sure he made it clear he wasnt playing the 5 before committing. It puts him at a disadvantage and lowers his effectiveness. Lebron is better suited at the 1 than wade, but i doubt either gets the job. through this lineup you're sucking up their depth. They're better off starting a true point or at least one with a J. At center Shaq or big z (or both) is much better for them. They can each play 24 mins effectively and one of their young centers may also help. The 2/3 spot is covered with a rotation of lebron/wade/miller, with miller on the bench. Shaq/Z/pittman bosh/haslem lebron/miller/butler wade/miller FA/chalmers/House i thinkt they'll end up with AI starting at point though...
Miami will have a great team. That includes the bench. They will have one of the best shooters in the league in Mike Miller, better than anything Houston has or will have during the Yao era. Yao obviously is a huge mismatch. Houston will have the advantage at the 5 no question, just as Orlando will have Howard. The one weakness that Miami will have will be in the middle. There is no elite center that they can get that can hold a candle to Yao on offense or defense. In certain ways, Miami is constructed specifically to counter LA.. star power to dilute Kobe's benefit from NBA officiating at the end of games, and 2 superstar wings to spread the floor for LA's bigs. Houston is also specifically constructed to beat LA (which they have a very good chance if Yao is healthy) but doesn't match up as well against the heat. For one if they use Lebron like a point-forward RA will have to make some hard choices about matchups. Lebron obviously can play like a guard and Bosh is also an extremely versatile player from mid-outside range and also going to the hoop. The one area that is of concern is that Wade + Lebron is going to get a ton of calls... Yao is likely to foul out in pretty much every game if Wade and Lebron just run up to him and bounce off him. Bosh also gets a ton of free throws going to the basket. Morey values FTs at the end of games but Miami is one team in the league guaranteed to have a distinct lead in that area as long as $tern runs the league
funny how everyone was so skeptical about yao ming and whether he was gonna be healthy and how much he would play and how much he would play before he got hurt... now with this super team formed everyone is assuming yao ming can make a healthy run to the finals and hell be our anchor should we face the heat in the playoffs and crush them...
