Why are last years Cavs better than this years Heat?

Valid point, but the Cavs have played one of the easier schedules in the NBA thus far. They had a 3-game winning streak over Washington, New Jersey, and Philadelphia... not to mention, they've already played NJ and Philly a total of 4 times. They're clearly a better team than most expected, but I'm eager to see if they can stay strong on the path to mediocrity, or if they'll eventually break down in the middle of the season. I predict the latter.

 

That is a fair and courteous reply.

Let's see how this all shakes out.

 

ya true

but i really want them to succeed. not cause i hate lebron or anything, i just feel sorry for the organisation. They literally put all they eggs in the Lebron basket, and got smashed big time.

I feel sorry for their fans and the city of cleveland. I really want to see them win a couple of playoff games. Think it will really help them get over this whole lebron circus offseason.

 

This is simply due to the current meta-game of basketball. The rules currently favor iso ball and ball domination at the hands of a superstar player. Specifically, a perimeter superstar. It in effect makes Wade and Lebron semi-redundant, because they can't both be a star player on any given play.

To me, what's surprising about the Heat really is how poorly Bosh has played. This is a guy that everyone thought could play off the ball. Someone who would flourish with Wade and Lebron getting all the defensive attention. Yet he's done nothing. He also could not prosper in the post given the lack of other inside presence. And why I believe the Heat has not really clicked.

I've always though Wade/Lebron insured that at any given point, the offense can run through one of them, insuring a high percentage shot EVERY single times down the court. Obviously, that has not happened.

 

More surprising than last year's Cavs was the team before that, which had one of the better records in the last decade and was nearly undefeated at home, all without a real big man (similar to this year's Heat). That is a testament to LBJ's play, a perfect set of role players, and what I can only imagine as a relatively injury-free season.

The season is still young but so far the Heat have been a disappointment for sure (I don't think even the many LBJ/Heat haters had them losing to Indiana or Memphis). I think this is unfortunate because the league has not been very competitive and I was looking forward to some classic feuds between the Celtics, Heat, and Lakers (I consider Orlando a pretender) this season and beyond. It's the same reason I'm hoping the Spurs continue their hot run so they can provide more than a speedbump to the Lakers. Otherwise there's just not much point to the season and we may as well just pen in the Lakers vs Celtics again.

From the games I've seen, although the Heat have lost their games on the defensive end (letting PGs abuse them), their main problem is that they aren't exploiting their obvious offensive advantage. I think what Mike D'Antoni would do with them and I just feel like they'd rule the league (even with everyone saying "defense wins championships"). You put LBJ at the PG and have Wade and Bosh on the wings and run a fast breaking offense even on made baskets. It would be entertaining and indefensible. Instead, they are playing this plodding half-court game without any interior presence and basically nullifying their mismatch. While I applaud Spoelstra for getting these guys to play very good defense-- and I think the team is a lot better than the record (going by the fact that they've been in every game and almost all of their wins are blowouts)-- this is one case where I truly believe they'd be better focusing on offense.

BTW, I think Mike Brown made the exact same mistake last year when he, too, went with a "defense wins championships" approach and played an inside-out game with Shaq against the slow, old Celtics. If he had gone the other route with Hickson and ran the C's to death, I think Cleveland would have easily advanced. It's the same reason why the young guns in Atlanta gave the Celtics trouble. Sometimes-- most of the time-- it's better to force the opponent to matchup with you instead of the other way around.

 

If you really believe this is LeBron's team, history is not on your side. LeBron's team has only won once against 50 win teams in six tries. If they don't get at least 2nd seed by the end of the season, it's a doom. They won't get 25 more FT than opposition in a playoff road game, that's almost a guarantee.

 

Actually, Bosh has turned it around. He has been beasting it the last three games or so. He had 36 points one night. 20+ and 10+ the other two games. It looks like he's figuring it out.

 

cavs still would not have won a championship IMO.... they are just a regular season team. once they got up to playing the elite of the nba, none of the role players were good enough to step up and make shots.

heat dont have much chemistry right now and gaping holes at PG and center. maybe they should just run n gun cuz they look terrible in half court. wade and arroyo cant shoot from 3 so they dont do a good job of stretching the floor unless james jones and eddie house are out there.

there is still plenty of time to adjust so im not really that worried about the heat.

 

spoelstra coaches like it's lebron's team. the moment the team looks unstable, lebron goes right back in the game. he doesn't use wade or bosh like that; they get their normal rest. it's up to coach.

 

So it's on coach now? Was Doc River an elite coach before Celtics won the championship? Who was Phil Jackson before he led Bulls to championship? Who was Rudy T before 1994?

LeBron James has got the most talented team ever, most ridiculous star treatment from refs ever, and now it's on coach? How about learn some C&S and post up this team desperately needs? LeBron is never at fault. It is because Bosh's exposed, Wade's overrated. For the record, LeBron was LeBronze in Japan 2006 with an all star lineup too.

Maybe LeBron can start making teammates better once his fanboys run out of excuses.

 

Because Cleveland doesn't have a ball hogger now and everyone actually moves instead of standing still for the wide open shot!

 

Why is their record much worse than last year's then?

 

If Mike Brown was still coaching the Cavs they probably would not have won as much as they have so far.


Mike Brown was the biggest reason that team failed in the playoffs the past few years.

Byron Scott > Mike Brown

 

Lol, true.

If Miami Thrice loses to Orlando tonight, they'll have the same number of losses as the Cavs. :grin:

 

The cavs this year are what the rockets were last year

 

The Cavs have also had one of the easiest schedules in the NBA so far. They will win 20-25 games, tops.

 

i've watched a few miami games and i think the following are their flaws:

- they don't play an uptempo game which is something wade and lebron excel at as it maximizes their talents. they like slowing things down and running halfcourt sets with lebron at the top of the key but that negates some of wade's and bosh's strengths. as a result, their offensive efficiency takes a hit.

- their spacing isn't bad at the moment but will considerably improve with mike miller's return.

- interior defense and rebounding are certainly questionable but they might get better if dampier lives up to his reputation as a good post-defender and bosh picks up his rebounding.

as for why the cavs were better? i think it's rather simple. they played a team game and everybody knew their role. mike brown gets clowned on for having no offensive sets but he was a great defensive coach. lebron could dominate the ball and be effective with excellent floor spacing. defensively, they had some weaknesses like interior defense and inability to defend the pick-and-roll which got exposed in the 2009 and 2010 playoffs.

they were still good enough to win 60+ games, though.

 

Cav's losing by 20 against the Pacers tonight..

 

I think Miami will turn it around once Mike Miller becomes healthy. Looks like Bosh is responding to all the pressure and criticism by posting up good numbers again.

 

Injuries.

But really its early.

Wait until the end of December.