Five Myths About The Miami Heat

A lot has been said about this Miami Heat team, everybody likes to look for reasons as to why they will not succeed. Most have been rightly turned off by the infamous ‘Decision’ and the joke of an introduction that soon followed (see picture below). A few common misconceptions have consistently reared their heads this season; the following are four of the biggest:

Myth One: Depth is Important.

Team depth is something that can allow you to cruise through the vigour and grind of the regular season. It allowed the Spurs to rise to the top of the Western Conference standings, but come Playoff time – it is a star driven league. A common misconception is that depth wins titles but when the bright Playoff lights come on and the big boys come out to play, the supposed team ‘depth’ is riding the bench. While many believe that depth is a major aspect to a teams title chances, most people would also agree that star players see a major increase in minutes come Playoff time. When you think about it, those are two very different and conflicting ideologies. How can depth be so important to a teams title hopes, but it is conceded that come Playoff time, the stars will see an increase in minutes? An interesting stat to look at is the difference in minutes of the players on the 2010 NBA Championship Lakers when comparing the regular season to the Playoffs.

		Regular Season	Playoff
		Minutes	Minutes	Difference
Starters
Derek Fisher		27.2	32.8	5.6
Kobe Bryant		38.8	40.1	1.3
Ron Artest		33.8	36.5	2.7
Pau Gasol		37.0	39.7	2.7
Andrew Bynum		30.4	24.4	-6.0
STARTERS TOTAL:		167.2	173.5	6.3
Bench
Lamar Odom		31.5	29.0	-2.5
Josh Powell		9.2	3.1	-6.1
Shannon Brown		20.7	14.1	-6.6
Sasha Vujacic		8.6	7.6	-1.0
Jordan Farmar		18.0	13.1	-4.9
Luke Walton		9.4	6.0	-3.4
DJ Mbenga		7.2	4.0	-3.2
BENCH TOTAL:		104.6	76.9	-27.7

A then-injured Andrew Bynum is an exception to the example as he saw a decrease of six minutes during the Playoffs. Lamar Odom also skews the statistics, as he is a starting calibre player and is playing starters minutes. The best six players on the 2010 Championship Lakers team accounted for 203 of the available 240 minutes each game in the Playoffs. When looking at this current Miami Heat team, LeBron saw his minutes increase from 38.8 to 43.4. Wades’ minutes increased from 37.1 to 39.5, while Bosh also saw an increase in minutes from 36.3 to 39 when the Playoffs began. Assuming the best six players on the Heat team are LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Joel Anthony, Mike Bibby and Mario Chalmers, the best six account for 198 of the available 240 minutes. The lack of depth on this Heat team may explain why they “only” won 58 games, but being extremely top heavy is the reason as to why they are yet to be challenged in the Playoffs.

Of course this formula is not applicable to all good Playoff teams – see Dallas Mavericks. The Heats best six players account for 82.5% of the available minutes in the Playoffs, and when three of those six best players are to the calibre of Wade, James and Bosh – who needs depth?

Myth Two: The Supporting Cast is Terrible!

Sure, a team consisting of Zydrunas Ilagauskas, James Jones, Eddie House, Joel Anthony, Juwon Howard, Mike Miller and a finished Mike Bibby who can’t guard your grandma is underwhelming. There is not too much to get excited over on this Heat team outside of the big three, but at the same time they have some of the most perfect role players for what they need. Joel Anthony is impossible to keep off the boards, he may not get every rebound but he will get his hand to every loose ball. His defensive strengths make him a great frontcourt partner to Chris Bosh. Offensively, he contributes almost nothing, but when you have three players on your team contributing a combined 68.2 points per game, it’s probably not going to hurt you too much.

Shooters are often the x-factor of a Playoff team; a lot comes down to if they hit their shots when it counts. Being a shooter on this Miami Heat team is a dream job for any role player. Not only do shooters get more open looks than on any other team, but Wade and James are able to deliver a pass under pressure or while being double-teamed right to the shooters chest. So far these Playoffs, the shooters have been white hot (excuse the pun). James Jones and Mario Chalmers are shooting a combined 38% from 3 in the Playoffs. Mike Miller is only playing 5mins per game and Mike Bibby has only made 8 of his 34 3pt attempts. Amongst those role players that are playing considerable minutes, most are giving the Heat exactly what they are asked to, with the exception being Mike Bibby.

Myth Three: Miami Can’t Win This Season.

The Heat are ready. They proved during the regular season that they are already a force to be reckoned with. Although they suffered a few embarrassing losses, they also had some very imposing wins. Amongst the worst of the losses are those to the Bucks, Cavs and Knicks (twice). On the contrast, they had some very memorable wins including a 30point demolition of the then-top-seeded Spurs and a thumping of the Lakers in LA on Christmas Day. There are always odd examples of really good teams losing to terrible competition during the regular season; this can be because of a variety of reasons. With a long Playoff push in the forefront of the organisations mind, lapses are inevitable against very underwhelming competition. Reducing the minutes of star players and saving them for the Playoffs is often more of a focus and priority then winning 65 games.

Further to this, Dwyane Wade knows what it takes to win an NBA Championship and LeBron has just addressed the demons of his past as the Heat coasted past the Celtics in 5 games. Regardless of if you think Chris Bosh is good enough to be the third best player on a Championship team, Wade and LeBron are almost good enough by themselves to beat the remaining teams in the Playoffs. Anybody that watches this team play can’t deny that Wade and LeBron look ready.

Myth Four: They Have No Closer. 

Earlier this season this had some legitimacy and there was the stat thrown around where the Heat had shot 1/10 in late game situations when the result was still in the balance. We often grant teams the ‘adjustment period’ when they are learning to play with each other, but amidst the overwhelming hope that this team would fail, we did not grant the Heat that luxury. It has been some time since that argument has been given. The Heat are extremely vulnerable to criticism no matter what happens in late game situations. LeBron was canned earlier this season for passing up on a potential game winning shot, against the Thunder, to Eddie House – which he hit. Fans still want to see LeBron or Wade go one on five even though there is evidence to show that Chris Paul is much more efficient in late game situations as it is better to have an amazing playmaking point guard rather than a Kobe-like superstar shooting a contested fade-away jumpshot over a double team.

Theoretically, closing games with two players such as LeBron and Wade should be quite easy, they are two players that can get to the rim or free throw line whenever they want. The Heat are also equipped with a great pick-and-pop player in Chris Bosh. When you factor in the dead-eye shooters on the perimeter, they sound almost impossible to guard. While this has not been much of an issue in the past couple of months, it is definitely something Miami were attacked over earlier this season. It is yet to cost them a Playoff game, and until it does, I won’t consider it a problem big enough to stop them winning it all.

Myth Five: The Money Spent On Bosh Could Have Been Better Spent.

This is one of the more ludicrous claims that have been said about this team. It is often argued that Bosh should not have been signed, and the heat should have instead used that money to sign 2-3 very good role players to surround Wade and LeBron. Outside of all the star players that were free agents last summer, the 2010 free agent class was terrible – and that’s a compliment. Chris Bosh earned $14.5m in his first year with the Heat, is there another way that money could have been distributed to other Free Agents? If Miami had not signed Bosh, their needs would have obviously been to shore up their frontcourt, and perhaps add more shooting or another wing player to play backup minutes behind Wade and LeBron and maybe even carry the offense for a couple of minutes.

What was the Heat supposed to do? Sign Marcus Camby ($4m), Wesley Matthews ($8m) and Fracisco Elson ($2m)? Or maybe Raymond Felton ($7m), Kyle Korver ($5m) and Nazr Mohammed ($2m)? None of those 3 player combinations are even close to the calibre of Bosh. Even if the Heat decided to go in a different direction in the future, Chris Bosh is a much bigger trade asset then any of the previously mentioned players. Although Bosh is not up to the standard of LeBron or Wade, he is definitely a better addition to the team then any other available free agent outside of the marquee players that were unachievable. The only improvement that could have been made would be to have offered that same money to someone like Amare Stoudemire, but it was definitely far from a certainty that he would have agreed to it. Another reason as to why Bosh was signed is that this Miami agreement was clearly in place between the three players and had been for a long time. Assuming it all came together that quickly in the free agency period would be naive, Miami bought a three pack – they could not be purchased separately.

Miami are still my pick to win the NBA Championship, in a star driven league they are the team of all teams. Their defence has been proven over the regular season and so far in the Playoffs. Wade and LeBron in their prime somehow have enough energy to play as hard as they do on both ends of the floor. Their role players are providing exactly what they need to, they have a nice mix of veteran leadership and proven winners. And, with the remaining teams being the Thunder, Grizzlies, Bulls and Hawks – is anyone actually good enough to stop them?