People had bad D for different reasons. Harden just let people go by without even trying. Lin tried to play good D but he's not good at fighting through, or even being aware of, picks and he helps too much on D, to the point of leaving his own man too open. Beverley was just a defensive spaz in the Toney Douglas wave-your-hands-franctically mode. All these are fixable, I think.
Having Howard and Asik are key. We will be a team that plays solid defense but have spurts of excellent defense, which should lead to "runs" that all contenders must be capable of. The heat are too reliant on "grinding" and "energy". The fact is that you cannot expect players, even elite ones like Lebron and dwade, to play at 100 percent intensity all the time, even in the Finals. They wear down and we saw that against a very disciplined San Antonio team that moves the ball on offense and forces you to spread, help and recover multiple times. Jeff van gundy teams, and thibibeaux teams, thrive in the regular season by out working teams. But that margin evaporates in the playoffs. Same with the Heat philosophy. That's why dominant big men are so valuable and paid so highly, event just competent ones. It allows you to operate at a good baseline for defensive performance, without requiring your players go all out all the time. Then, your team has another defensive "gear" it can hit with max energy and effort, to deliver the signature runs of championship teams. That extra gear, coupled with a dominant center, is a proven wining formula. Now, you can't be a team that cares nothing or little about defense and expect to just "turn on the switch" at the playoffs. You do have to develop a defensive culture and mindset. But not one that's based on out hustling the opponent for 48 mins. That's not going to win a title.
Rockets were a top 10 team last season with Asik on the floor. They were as bad as it gets when he was not on the floor.
