[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

I just wanted to throw down a list of championship contenders right now. To me, this race is incredibly wide open, and I do not remember a time where their was really more jeopardy at this point in the season as far as who would be representing each conference. With that being said, here is a list of the teams I see as legit 2011 title contenders. This is of course, barring a lot of things going right in their favor:

West: Lakers, Spurs, Mavericks, MAYBE: OKC

East: Heat, Celtics, Bulls, MAYBE: Magic

I see these 8 teams, and that is a lot more than usual, as I tend to think about 4-5 teams will compete for the chip each year. I wanted to speak a few words really about the Heat, who are my ride or die choice to win it this year. Honestly, their have been points where I have wanted to say I believe another team will win it, at the beginning of the year I would say that my heart wanted the Heat, but my mind said the Lakers. Well, my mind does not know what to say at this point, so I am still rolling with my black lifeless, more than likely undead heart (which is what people probably think since they feel I am cheering for a monstrosity).

The way the Heat have been playing, it is really hard to see them winning a championship. They have played pretty poorly against about every team on this list other than the Lakers, and they still have to play them once again. They were awful against the Mavericks, have sucked against the Celtics, gotten outplayed by the Bulls and while they have displayed flashes against the Magic, they completely blew it last night to have that series at 2-2 for the year. Not only that, but they have not been the strong home team I expected them to be. Their record is solid, though incredibly underwhelming for the talent they possess and they go through periods of the game where you wonder how they are going to get their next basket. This should not happen on a team with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. This would happen when those three players were off the floor, but not when they are playing, which one usually is at any point of a 48 minute game. They have very little help, no real consistency off of the bench and glaring holes at the PG/C regarding either side of the ball. In other words, they have defense without offense or offense without defense, really little in between.

With all of this being said, I still have faith in this team for a number of reasons. The Heat have been relatively awful at maintaining leads and closing out games, this was evident last night when they blew a 24 point lead. I was dead tired, and decided too fall asleep after the first half, as I thought their was no way to stop the Heat with the way they were playing. Wade and LeBron were in a zone and they were doing a great job of distributing the ball. But, I am sure I can tell you why they probably lost. IndianaBasketball is one of the people that constantly says this, and he is right, but LeBron is a ball stopper. I do not think LeBron is the only one at fault here, as Dwyane Wade does the same thing, but I think the team is at its best when they have the ball moving constantly. If they are just running ISO’s and moving from Wade to LeBron, the offense becomes incredibly predictable and they do not score points. A team with two of the top offensive talents in the NBA, who are arguably the two best finishers at the net in the entirely league, not to mention incredibly talented overall scorers, struggles to put the ball in the basket. It is so aggravating to watch, and usually leads to the Heat being off of their defensive game as well. They start to play out of position and they slow the game down, which is when they give other teams a chance of beating them.

So, why any optimism whatsoever? Well, for quite a few reasons as well. My biggest thing with the Heat is that while they have been horrible at closing out games and in close games, it is still difficult to ever count them out. They have two players who can take over a game at any time, and Chris Bosh is someone I feel is incredibly slept on when it comes to his potential impact. He was never on the level of LeBron and Wade, but neither would any other free agent in that class, much less many other players in the league. The Heat show flashes of playing incredible team basketball and great team defense. Also, they have integrated an entirely new team together to gain some sort of chemistry, which you see in flashes as well.

People point to the Heat’s rebounding or a lack of post scoring, but I do not think they are a team that is consistently outrebounded beyond control. Dwight Howard will grab boards against you, but Chris Bosh is not as poor a rebounder as people think and the Heat seem usually be in the rebounding battle. Post scoring is definitely a weakness for the Heat, as no Center has stepped up and they never run post plays for Chris Bosh, which could be all his fault or an unwillingness to play there, but I do not think that is necessarily the case. When you have two guys that tend to get too the foul line and attack the hoop, having Bosh in the high post gets you a number of easy and open baskets. It is not necessarily essential to have post scoring as much as it is too have defense and rebounding. The Heat do tend to play great defense, while they did not last night, they usually do. Rebounding is not always going to go in the Heat’s favor, which could leave an opening to other teams, but I certainly feel they will hold their own and not get pounded on the boards.

The Heat do indeed look a ways away from competing for a title, and them playing badly against the Celtics and Bulls definitely is a cause for concern. Nonetheless, I believe the Heat still have a chance against those teams because of the fact that they will have the two best players in either series. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade may have similar styles, but those are still styles that few teams have consistently stopped over time. Also, while teams may key in and stop one, you rarely stop both. The Heat may have a difficult time closing games, or winning close games, but in the end, they are more than likely in any game they play due to the talent of the "Big 3". Certain players on their team have had setbacks or have had difficulty getting consistent minutes, but I think come play-off time, they could have a potentially powerful unit that plays very well together. This is easily the most criticized and picked apart team in the NBA this year, and they set themselves up to be just that.

Their are glaring weaknesses on each team and circumstances that could derail their title hopes in an instant. The Spurs are old and might not be able to play people they need huge minutes come play-off time, the Lakers are inconsistent and have chemistry issues, the Mavericks are still going to be slightly soft at the end of the day, the Celts are old as dirt and are relying on incredibly old players to be healthy, the Bulls are incredibly inexperienced and have trouble scoring consistently and the Magic have a team full of streaky volume shooters and Dwight Howard. These are just an outline of some of the problems other teams have, and they are maybe more minor than those the Heat have shown. Still, in a 7 game series, when you have two players with the ability of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, plus Chris Bosh and a number of post fouls and three point specialists, you are going to make some noise. I could see the Heat self destructing, and I am still unsure whether they have the team necessary to beat the best teams in the league because, well, they haven’t to this point. But, I still have faith in them to atleast contend for the title and possibly surprise a lot of people in the play-offs. It could be my cold black heart talking, but my mind seems to agree with it.

[ShekiruBoomParticipant]

 and the shooters gotta make their wide open shots. you have no idea how frustrating it is to watch "sharpshooters" Mike Miller, James Jones, Eddie House and to a lesser extent Mario Chalmers miss wide open 3 pointers. The jury is still out on Bibby but he wasn’t so hot in the game vs Magic either… only 1 of 4. All these offensive problems will become much easier to solve if the shooters do what they are supposed to do and knock down open 3s for Lebron and DWade

[ShekiruBoomParticipant]

 and the shooters gotta make their wide open shots. you have no idea how frustrating it is to watch "sharpshooters" Mike Miller, James Jones, Eddie House and to a lesser extent Mario Chalmers miss wide open 3 pointers. The jury is still out on Bibby but he wasn’t so hot in the game vs Magic either… only 1 of 4. All these offensive problems will become much easier to solve if the shooters do what they are supposed to do and knock down open 3s for Lebron and DWade

[ShekiruBoomParticipant]

sry double post

[ShekiruBoomParticipant]

sry double post

[PlatypusParticipant]

 The heat are great in the quarters 1 through 3, but they suck in the 4th because they don’t have a closer, for example against the Magic Chris Bosh shot the game tying 3 point attempt

[PlatypusParticipant]

 The heat are great in the quarters 1 through 3, but they suck in the 4th because they don’t have a closer, for example against the Magic Chris Bosh shot the game tying 3 point attempt

[SteroidParticipant]

It’s the job for the other guys not LeBron and Wade to hit wide open shots, but I’m sure them standing around not involved and receiving hockey-esque assist passes don’t really help, which aren’t good assists in my mind. The better assists are assists with a couple of passes before it. It would help if these shooters were more involved in the offense, which is hard to do because they are offensively limited.

 

[SteroidParticipant]

It’s the job for the other guys not LeBron and Wade to hit wide open shots, but I’m sure them standing around not involved and receiving hockey-esque assist passes don’t really help, which aren’t good assists in my mind. The better assists are assists with a couple of passes before it. It would help if these shooters were more involved in the offense, which is hard to do because they are offensively limited.

 

[Author]

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