The Miami Heat's Title Chances

[Frank Breakfast Styleham]

The Heat have lost not 2...not 3...not 4...but 5 in a row, losing to Portland convincingly on their home court tonight.

Christ Bosh - 7 points on 3-11 shooting.

Mike Bibby suddenly looks really old and possibly even a downgrade from the guy they threw out (Carlos Arroyo).

Mike Miller has been Oliver Miller from behind the arc so far this year.

...This team was just thrown together during the summer and it's one of the oddest teams we've ever seen.

Nonetheless, I am NOT writing them off for this years title.

Most people have long ago forgotten but consider the 2006 Heat.

They started the year off 10-10.

64 games into the year they were 43-21.

The 2010-2011 Heat's record at the moment?

43-21.

The playoffs are a whole different animal.

With Cry Gate and Bosh being labeled as soft and this team hideously failing to live up to expectations is skewing your thinking. The 2005-2006 Heat were failing to live up to their expectations and they won the championship.

History might just repeat itself again.

 

[WindyCity7]

so they would have to deal with NY in the first round & then us........... yeah we will see about that

 

[BigP50]

Slim if they cant beat the best. But with the Big 3 they are scary

 

[X]

The Heat have a better chance than probably 80% of the playoff teams...you put them in a 7-game series with us, boston, LA, SanAn? They can win any of those...

 

[Glide2keva]

The Heat have a better chance than probably 80% of the playoff teams...you put them in a 7-game series with us, boston, LA, SanAn? They can win any of those...

Funny that they only have 1 win against all those teams you mentioned, and are 0 for chicago, boston, San Antonio, and dallas

 

[X]

Funny that they only have 1 win against all those teams you mentioned, and are 0 for chicago, boston, San Antonio, and dallas

as true as that is...the playoffs are an entirely different animal than the reg. season...typically, solid PG and C play is crucial in the playoffs, and the heat have neither...but if Wade and Lebitch are on, they can beat any of these teams.

 

[Frank Breakfast Styleham]

Again, right now, it's easy to scoff at the Heat and say they won't make it out of the second round alive.

But what do you do with the identical 43-21 record the 2006 NBA champion Heat had that the 2011 Heat currently have?

What do you do with the fact that this team has a whole lot more talent, All-Star appearances, MVP awards, Finals experience, scoring champs and has 4 guys who have received MVP votes?

I mean, we thought the Heat were star studded when they had Wade, an old Shaq, Antoine Walker and Jason Williams! Think about that! Think about how silly that looks when you compare the star power to now and you see those 3 guys come walking out on the floor at the beginning of the game.

They have not fared well thus far in individual games against the elite franchises. That is indisputable.

But in a 7-game series when you have to play a team with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and company night after night after night after night and you only have them on your roster 2...3 times in a week? That can be an entirely different picture.

The playoffs are an entirely different game (just check the Arizona Cardinals playing for the Super Bowl title like 4 weeks after getting blown out by New England).

That's all I'm saying.

Regardless I'm right or wrong; whether you are right or wrong, it will be very interesting to see what happens.

 

[WindyCity7]

as true as that is...the playoffs are an entirely different animal than the reg. season...typically, solid PG and C play is crucial in the playoffs, and the heat have neither...but if Wade and Lebitch are on, they can beat any of these teams.

they dropped 69 together against portland and still lost so we will see........

 

[Frank Breakfast Styleham]

How many times have we seen the Lakers (who I famously called the Fakers from 2000 to 2003) just coast throughout the regular season...do enough to get a good seed in the playoffs...Kobe plays 67 games 4 years in a row...Shaq plays 66...67 games a year...

Then all of a sudden, when it's time for the playoffs, IT'S A MIRACLE! Everyone is healthy! And the Fakers are the best team on earth suddenly and start playing like they give a crap.

The playoffs are different.

The Lakers have gotten blown out by really bad teams this season but why do I have a feeling that come June, Kobe will be jumping up on the scores table holding up 5 fingers on his right hand and 1 on his left?

That's what bothers me about Kobe.

When did Jordan ever sit out 15-20 games a season 3-4 years in a row to "rest" and "save himself for the playoffs?" Even when he was 40 playing pointless games for the Washington Wizards he played all 82 his last season.

Whether it was game one of preseason or the last game of the Finals, he was out there giving it 1,000 percent, giving the fans their moneys worth EVERY...SINGLE...TIME.

Kobe's great but he will NEVER be MJ.

 

[X]

they dropped 69 together against portland and still lost so we will see........

that's the same portland team that put up 109 against the Bulls in a 'Blazers win not too long ago...

 

[Rush]

Im not impressed by the Heat to be honest. I honestly, with no bias, do not see them competing at a high level in the playoffs because they have yet to play true, meaningful games against the better competition in the league. Playoff chances? Sure. Title chances? Nope.

 

[X]

Im not impressed by the Heat to be honest. I honestly, with no bias, do not see them competing at a high level in the playoffs because they have yet to play true, meaningful games against the better competition in the league. Playoff chances? Sure. Title chances? Nope.

Once you're one of the last 4...everything's a crapshoot...I can see the Heat getting past 2 rounds of the PO's....

 

[Rush]

Even a less talenedt team can take them in a series because, they are playing sporadic enough to allow them to creep past them. Dropping 5 in a row is pretty bad. The way LeBron/Wade/Bosh are playing in the final minute of the game is abysmal. There is a graphic around somewhere where the combined 3 of them in last 30 second shots or something like that, they are 1-16 with LeBron hitting the 1. The clutch factor isn't there.

 

[pinkizdead]

Call me crazy, but i'd rather see NYC than the 6ers. If the big 3 of NYC are struggling, whose going to beat you? Fields? Whoever they're going to start at center? Tony douglas? When the big 3 are struggling to score, the rest of the guys just look awkward trying to initiate the offense. Their defense is horrendous.

Gimme a team that plays terrible defense, and has a predictable offense with no bench. I think we would sweep the knicks in a playoffs series. On the other hand, transition defense is one of our weaknesses. The knicks love pushing the tempo.

I'd love to see if the heat can play against the 76ers. Hopefully, i'm right about them being the tougher matchup for them and us.

 

[X]

Even a less talenedt team can take them in a series because, they are playing sporadic enough to allow them to creep past them. Dropping 5 in a row is pretty bad. The way LeBron/Wade/Bosh are playing in the final minute of the game is abysmal. There is a graphic around somewhere where the combined 3 of them in last 30 second shots or something like that, they are 1-16 with LeBron hitting the 1. The clutch factor isn't there.

I've seen it...the 3 are, like you said, 1-16...the team is 1-18 when down 3 in the final 10 seconds...I think that's the stat....

but, it also makes you wonder, w/ James and (more-so) Wade showing the "clutch" factor before, how long before they start hitting all of these shots? How long before Spo stops running iso plays in the final seconds?

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

I have been saying since the off-season that the Celtics' and Lakers' title chances were astronomically higher than those of the Heat. And I was laughed at by a lot of people.

Patience is a virtue.

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

Call me crazy, but i'd rather see NYC than the 6ers. If the big 3 of NYC are struggling, whose going to beat you? Fields? Whoever they're going to start at center? Tony douglas? When the big 3 are struggling to score, the rest of the guys just look awkward trying to initiate the offense. Their defense is horrendous.

Gimme a team that plays terrible defense, and has a predictable offense with no bench. I think we would sweep the knicks in a playoffs series. On the other hand, transition defense is one of our weaknesses. The knicks love pushing the tempo.

I'd love to see if the heat can play against the 76ers. Hopefully, i'm right about them being the tougher matchup for them and us.

I have to disagree with you. I'd much rather play the 76ers than the Knicks because the 76ers also don't have any real defensive stopper to speak of down-low. All they really have in their front-court is Brand, Young (under-sized 4), Speights (who barely plays), and Hawes. Meeks is a good shooter but he isn't that great at anything else, really. Evan Turner is still a raw talent and I don't envision him getting a lot of PT in the Playoffs. Lou Williams, Iguodala, and Meeks should end up their main wings along with Jrue Holiday as the PG.

The Knicks have a better PG, SG, SF, and front-court player (Stoudemire>Brand) than Philadelphia.

The Knicks' have three stellar man-to-man defenders in Billups (especially), Fields, and Anthony (who's biggest flaw is his weak team defense).

The New York Knicks actually scare me more than the Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks do. They might even scare me more than the Miami Heat do (which I never thought I would say).

Sure, the Knicks' defense is well below the league average overall. But they aren't nearly as bad as a team like the Toronto Raptors or Washington Wizards on defense.

 

[Frank Breakfast Styleham]

Alex Rodriguez "wasn't clutch" until he was. Peyton Manning "wasn't clutch" until he was.

LeBron isn't considered "clutch" until he puts up a big shot that wins the game (as he's done a few times in the past in Cleveland) and becomes...clutch.

I think the more they play together the more dangerous they'll be.

They aren't going to win 5...6...7 as he ludicrously predicted last summer but I can see them winning as many as 2 or 3 at least. Possibly a fourth.

My mind keeps taking me to two main mistakes they made this year:

1. They shouldn't have surrounded the 3 with all these old guys. Ilgauskas. Juwan Howard. Erick Dampier. Or even with all these mediocre players. Carlos Arroyo. Mario Chalmers. etc.

2. Chris Bosh is good but not for 6 years 110 million. Chris Bosh is getting paid exactly what LeBron is. Couldn't the Heat have gotten at least two decent big bodies for that price tag, either through free agency or trades (salary-wise)?

Doesn't help either when Mike Miller is out half the season and they lose a key member in Udonis Haslem.

If they won't make it to the finals this year, I think we'll see all the old and mediocre guys being shuffled out.

Even a less talenedt team can take them in a series because, they are playing sporadic enough to allow them to creep past them. Dropping 5 in a row is pretty bad. The way LeBron/Wade/Bosh are playing in the final minute of the game is abysmal. There is a graphic around somewhere where the combined 3 of them in last 30 second shots or something like that, they are 1-16 with LeBron hitting the 1. The clutch factor isn't there.

 

[Shawon0Meter]

The Heat will win the title. They've been getting laughed at and hated on more than ever these last couple of weeks and it's the perfect set up for them to win it all. I don't know half as much about the NBA as most of you guys, that's just my gut feeling and the way sports often works.

 

[pinkizdead]

I have to disagree with you. I'd much rather play the 76ers than the Knicks because the 76ers also don't have any real defensive stopper to speak of down-low. All they really have in their front-court is Brand, Young (under-sized 4), Speights (who barely plays), and Hawes. Meeks is a good shooter but he isn't that great at anything else, really. Evan Turner is still a raw talent and I don't envision him getting a lot of PT in the Playoffs. Lou Williams, Iguodala, and Meeks should end up their main wings along with Jrue Holiday as the PG.

The Knicks have a better PG, SG, SF, and front-court player (Stoudemire>Brand) than Philadelphia.

The Knicks' have three stellar man-to-man defenders in Billups (especially), Fields, and Anthony (who's biggest flaw is his weak team defense).

The New York Knicks actually scare me more than the Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks do. They might even scare me more than the Miami Heat do (which I never thought I would say).

Sure, the Knicks' defense is well below the league average overall. But they aren't nearly as bad as a team like the Toronto Raptors or Washington Wizards on defense.

i don't want 76ers games, so i'll take your word for it. I'm just s aying i'm not afraid f the knicks.