I am talking about you making it sound as if the Heat faced a bunch of depleted teams, which they didn't. Every team they played had better health than they did.
How? Miller and Haslem didn't play against Philly (If Miller did it was miniscule, I don't even remember) Haslem played about 7 minutes against Boston and Miller was barely in rotation. Haslem returns Game 2 against Chicago. Miller returns to full rotation minutes in Game 3 but James Jones gets put on ice. Philly had no one injured. I think Lou Williams may have been a little banged up but he played and played well. Rondo was injured in Game 3 with the Celtics already down 0-2. He played relatively well. Celtics had no other injuries that I recall. Chicago was completely healthy until Asik got injured in Game 3 or 4. Dirk had his minor issues in the Finals. In short, unless you think Omar Asik was the key to the bulls/Heat series, the Heat beat 3 compelte teams on the way to the Finals.
Rajon Rondo was legitimately injured. And I didn't get to see that series, but his numbers dropped from 14pts, 9.5 assts, 6.5 rebs in games 1 & 2, to 7.3 pts, 6.3 assts, 2.3 rebs in games 3-5. Was he really playing THAT much better that those numbers don't tell the full story? Not that it mattered, Boston was a mess. I re-read my original post and I can see where it looks like I was discrediting the Heat for how they got to the Finals - I meant it more like all the teams they beat should legitimately get better in the coming year. That isn't to say the Heat won't. Just saying that other than the Bulls. the East was weak this year, and I would expect most of those teams to shore up their issues. (Please don't twist this to make it sound like the Heat won't get better. Of course they will. Just trying to discuss their competition and road back to the Finals.)
True, but he was out for so long that it wasn't a surprise when they got to the playoffs. They had already learned to play without him and play quite well.
Well, for one Rondo had basically been injured all season aside from the first 3-4 weeks. Shaq was just coming back from his Achilles which later put him out IIRC, but he missed the end of the season and made only a brief appearance in the playoffs. I don't think Pierce was healthy either, he rarely is nowadays late in the season. The Celtics were injured, and Shaq's injury after we had traded away Perkins left us with Erden and the other O'Neal as even being worth a damn as a big man, Scallabrini I won't count basically because his game is akin to a small forward IMO. The Celtics were not necessarily healthy. I'm not using it as an excuse, but to say the Celtcis weren't facing injuries is a bit much, especially considering the age on the roster.
Note to the entire Heat organization: make sure you actually win something (anything) before celebrating like you've won not one, two, three, four or five championships.... And some of you wonder why they're hated nationally? Give me a break. Somebody call the Wahmbulance.
I guess I missed the part where somebody held a gun to your head and made you watch the welcome party. As it took place on a Friday night at 9:00 pm, I would've assumed a non-Heat fan would have found something better to do with his time. I didn't realize ESPNews was appointment viewing on a Friday night. And it was ESPN who simulcasted the footage. The Heat didn't ask them to. And perhaps you were unaware, but when the Heat traded for Shaq, he arrived at the AAA on an eighteen wheeler sitting in a throne and shooting water pistols at the adoring crowd. He then received the key to the city and promised a championship. Funny, I don't recall a single media report slamming the Heat for the Shaq welcome party. Couldn't have anything to do with people being jealous and pissed at LBJ could it? Nah, people aren't that small and petty. And by the way, LBJ, Bosh and Wade are here for another 4 years at least. I'm pretty sure they'll make good on a championship or two, or three, or four..see what I'm doing here.
I thought it was 4 yrs guaranteed, with options for years 5 and 6 - meaning there are three more years guaranteed.
Dude..not only are you wrong...but you don't even know who was on YOUR TEAM. Scallabrini has been in Chicago all year, and Erden was traded earlier during the Perkins and friends exodus. AGE is not an injury. The Celtics were healthier than the Heat. The Bulls were Healthier than the Heat. Philly was healthier than the Heat. Only Dallas had some injuries of any consequence..going into their series.
BTW Conficus, The big guys that were on your team were Nenad Krystic, who Danny Ainge traded for, Jermaine Oneal who was signed in the offseason, and Shaquille Oneal, who died of natural causes several years ago and somehow re-animated to play this year in Boston. The Boston injury report the day the Heat, Celtics series started read as follows: Boston: Shaquille Oneal (Out) Achilles Miami: Udonis Haslem (Out) Foot Mike Miller (Questionable) Knee/Ankle Erik Dampier (Out) Knee Mario Chalmers (Probable) Ankle the Heat's 4th and 5th best player finally joined the Big three together in a lineup for the FIRST time ALL YEAR in Game 2 of the of EC Finals. think about that when you compare health.
You are not an idiot..far from it. You are just in Bermuda. (Just say that news travels slow there..always a good excuse)
I don't get the excuse making here, the Heat were as stacked a team talent-wise as any recent NBA finals team. Dallas outcoached and outplayed the Heat, made shots when it mattered and were the better team. I don't know what the upside is the Heat here, I don't see the team getting a lot better in the offseason. I don't think they need to get much better talent wise, I don't think holes in their lineup or talent was a major issue at all. Thats why I would be worried as a Heat fan, this team basically crumpled on the biggest stage, it was a choke job, its hard to come back from choke jobs. And as far as the criticism they are getting, its fair, you can't make the moves they did, talk like they did and not expect a backlash when you fail miserably. None of the big three were particularly impressive down the stretch, you don't have 3 superstars on your team fold in big games and just walk away without fans giving you a ton of grief. There isn't going to be less pressure on this team next year or the year after and they didn't handle the pressure very well in the finals.
puhleeze. they will get better. in case you didn't notice, as it was said earlier..their best 5 players first saw court time together in the EC Finals. They will add chemistry and a few more pieces. In case you haven't noticed, the Dallas Mavs had 30 million more in payroll than the Heat. As for choking, Wade played great and Bosh had 3 very good games including a game winner. They were outplayed. "Choking" is a bit much. they will get better, and win a few as predicted.
Exactly. The whole point of the Big 3 was to have the chance to win multiple titles. That chance still exists and is a near certainty in my eyes. The Heat isn't like Boston or Dallas that had a small window. Theoretically we could be competitive for another 7-8 years (although a transition away from wade would take place sometime prior to that)
Funny how before the season started everyone was practicing their championship speech but now its "Dallas has a bigger payroll" "They need a seven footer" "Next year we'll add the pieces", cmon this team marched right through the East and met a team that gave them a hard time and choked. It was a complete, total and utter choke, they had more talent than the Mavs and should have won that series. There isn't much of an explanation needed, if they had gotten big games from Lebron in the 4th Quarter we'd be congratulating the Heat fans.
I'm at a loss as to how saying the Heat is stacked needs an explanation. This is silly, that team has more talent than any team I've seen in the Finals since Magic's Lakers teams. Nothing but a choke job stopped them from winning, they have more talent than any team in the NBA.
Then why did I and more importantly Pat Riley say that this was a 18 month project? Why did Pat Riley say that it would take two offseasons? Why did I say that Boston could beat them in the EC Finals and that I was picking the Lakers to most likely beat the Heat in the finals? You see..this is the whole point. They ALMOST did it in their first year, missing a couple of pieces. they were as good as advertised and will be better. "choke" is overused. they were outplayed.
Even if we added nothing, except whoever next year's version of Big Z is, we'd still be the favorites to win it all and likely would depending on the match up. Dallas just ended up being a tough match up for the Heat once they started hitting shots. The Heat let them off the hooks one too many times. It happens. And Dallas also proved to be a tough individual matchup for LBJ. When you take all 8 games, including regular season, his numbers were way down against Dallas. I hesitate to perform revisionist history, but if the Heat plays the Lakers or OKC, I think they probably win in 5
thats the thing, it is scary to think when they do actually get a guy who just rebounds and plays good defense, and then some shooting depth, how actually goo they are going to be....If Bron doesnt fade in the last 2 games of the year, they are champions in the first year of this thing wtf??!?!? IMO the only 2 things that could hold them back is.... 1) Pressure......... 2) an injury to D-Wade......like a season ending one....
They certainly weren't any more talented than this season's Lakers. If there were only 3 players on each roster, your statement would be accurate.
Choke isn't overrated. Its kind of silly at this point for Heat fans to claim they didn't have enough talent or that they are missing pieces, there wasn't too many people out there myself included, that gave the Mavs much of a chance to beat the Heat. Now the talk is of next year and more talent? I'm sorry but I don't buy for a second that this team was built as a 2 year project thats just a load of crap to be frank. The Heat choked, there isn't any real deep analysis needed, they needed 4th quarter execution in close games, they didn't do it and lost.
Even if they "choked" they still amde it to the Finals in their first year together with holes at the two positions where Dallas could exploit them and they did. None of this has anything to do with the team moving forward. If you want to continue to bet against the Heat because you think they are "chokers" be my guest. You will lose alot of money.
The Heat didn't really "choke". They win that series if LeBron plays like LeBron and not Andre Igoudala (or worse). And he didn't necessarily "choke" in the sense that he missed shots and didn't perform. He just disappeared. I don't know that counts as "choking". But the rest of the team played great. There weren't any glaring holes, the role players played great (even Eddie House had some big shots). And to me, that might be the issue with the Heat. They couldn't ask for much more out of their role players. Even with an offseason of upgrades, I don't know what you're going to get that is better than Haslem's toughness, Miller's shooting and rebounding and Anthony's defense. Chalmers played extremely well in the Finals as well. It all comes down to the Big 3. This series showed they need all 3 to play to their normal levels to win. LeBron failed to show up this time - will he figure out whatever held him back? Wade has some injury history in the past and is getting older, can he stay healthy? Bosh had some great games and some disappearing acts (especially on defense). Obviously, it comes down to the same question for every team. I'm just trying to say that adding more role players, in my mind, isn't going to make a huge impact. The Big 3 are still going to do the heavy lifting and need to perform. This series brought up questions about that.
Actually, by my calculations, instead of $30m apart, they are $22m apart with a full roster. And Dallas is only approx $5m higher if you look at the players who played in the Finals only.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5159192 So there ya go. from the Horse's mouth. as for that late game execution...Uh, they seemed to execute fine down the stretch in the two games they won. So the Heat now is not allowed to be outplayed. They need to have labels like "choked" put on them. MEGA SIGH.
22 million is only the salary of a guy like Dwight Howard. LOL. My point stands. or broken down, can get you 4 Udonis Haslem's, or 3 Lamar Odom's. It's a massive difference.
Joel Anthony was a disaster in the Finals. there is your hole. they need to use him off the bench and get a real 7 footer to start. there is where they need improvement. You also forgot that Mike Bibby had the worst playoff run for ANY PLAYER in the PER (His per was the lowest of any player in 26 years) era. I would say that two starters are a "major hole" to fill.
