Are we at a cross roads with the Heat?

[DJ Fieri]

Sorry. I read the thread title and all I can think of is


I think if you squint hard enough, you can make out the Heat's contender's status up in Heaven with Easy E.

Great song.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

of course the Heat are at a cross roads. They had traded 4 first round picks for James and Bosh- and spent the other ones on guys that did not do much

They have 2 aging all stars and one cant stay healthy, and the other does not like contact and hes 6' 11", and not one player under the age of 25 who projects as a plus NBA player. There GM will be 70 in a few months.

Well, at least in doing so, they won 2 titles and made 4 straight Finals.
Plus, in 2016 they can hopefully become major players again.

Next, for you take shots at Bosh, is borderline insane.
You wrote VOLUMES of pre season nonsense about Love....and Bosh, was and still is the better player.
You ignore his skill set at every opportunity.
69 year old Riley ( what does his age have to do with anything)found, for nothing, the man to do everything you say Bosh can't do, which will only make Bosh that much better.

 

[WiggyRuss]

I understand boshs skill set and agreed that he should be an all star. He is still a very very good player. That doesn't change that he's soft and a poor rebounder and will be making 25m a year in his age 35 and 36 seasons. There's a reason the heat are far and away the worst rebounding team in the league and no small part of that is because there power forward avoids the paint like its radioactive

 

[bksballer89]

If Deng comes back soon we can break 90

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

I understand boshs skill set and agreed that he should be an all star. He is still a very very good player. That doesn't change that he's soft and a poor rebounder and will be making 25m a year in his age 35 and 36 seasons. There's a reason the heat are far and away the worst rebounding team in the league and no small part of that is because there power forward avoids the paint like its radioactive

There's a lot of reasons why the Heat have been a terrible rebounding team. You act like it is some shocking news, or the fault of Bosh.

If you knew anything about the Heat though, you would know they were a terrible rebounding team the entire Big 3 years.
They overcame it mainly because of their defense.

Anyway, Whiteside will change the rebounding stats, but until, if ever, this roster gets healthy, it will just be another meaningless stat.

 

[bksballer89]

If the Heat can have their full team (excluding Josh obviously) for 2 straight weeks this season I'll be shocked

 

[WiggyRuss]

There's a lot of reasons why the Heat have been a terrible rebounding team. You act like it is some shocking news, or the fault of Bosh.

If you knew anything about the Heat though, you would know they were a terrible rebounding team the entire Big 3 years.
They overcame it mainly because of their defense.

Anyway, Whiteside will change the rebounding stats, but until, if ever, this roster gets healthy, it will just be another meaningless stat.

I agree with you and even conceeded the other day I think mcrob would've helped a lot. Don't get me wrong. I think bosh is still really really good if not great. He's battle tested and clutch too. Riley has to bare a good amount of the blame for not addressing depth.

And I know your guys mantra about lebron screwing him over but deng for his price and filling that hole really was an amazing get with how he's played.

 

[trojanfan12]

I agree with you and even conceeded the other day I think mcrob would've helped a lot. Don't get me wrong. I think bosh is still really really good if not great. He's battle tested and clutch too. Riley has to bare a good amount of the blame for not addressing depth.

And I know your guys mantra about lebron screwing him over but deng for his price and filling that hole really was an amazing get with how he's played.

You're talking out of both sides of your mouth (or typing out both sides of your keyboard). You say Riley is to blame for not addressing depth and then praise him for getting Deng. McBob was a great pick up too. A big part of the problem with the Heat's depth is the injuries they've suffered throughout the season. If they can ever get everyone healthy, the Heat have the potential to be a fairly solid team and could make the playoffs.

There is no question that by dragging his decision out for as long as he did, Lebron screwed over the Heat. By the time Riley knew what he was going to do, most of the FA's that could really have helped were already signed or close to it. Whether Lebron did it intentionally as some Heat fans think he did or not, the fact is, he screwed them over. Denying that is just you trying to make him look better because he's on your team. If he had taken as long as he did and chose the Heat, you'd be crying about how he screwed the Cavs over again.

 

[WiggyRuss]

I gotta say - Whiteside looks like a guy who can be your starting NBA center and he will be a definite plus.

That might not be enough credit for some- but considering the guy was universally shunned from the league for maturity issues and most recently playing in a league in Lebanon- that is high praise

The Heat have an absolute STEAL salary wise as he is also signed for next year at little more than the league minimum.

Looking at the Heats roster when healthy

PG- Chalmers/Norris/Napier
SG- Wade
SF- Deng
PF- Bosh
C- Whiteside

that is actually a very very solid starting lineup - Wade and Bosh are of course all stars and among the best at their positions in the league (when healthy), Deng is at worst a middle of the road small forward- hes probably at the very end of the top half of the league at this point in his career- Whiteside is probably right around the middle of the pack as far as starting centers go- and the point guard positionis atrocious.

If they get healthy and pull of a deal for a decent point guard like a Mo Williams, or Randy Foye--just someone that can stretch the defense and make good decisions- they wont be an easy out in the playoffs

their bench is pretty awful...Anderson is probably their best bench player and he cant go for more than 25 a night at most usually, Norris is not very good, Granger is a shell of himself....



As far as their future goes- Whiteside is such a tremendous help because he is cheap and they had to give up nothing to get him and it really lets them focus on the back court-- as they could definitely use a bench scorer like a Waiters or Lou Williams type off the bench that can create on his own.

We saw tonight- that without Wade- their offense is Bosh-and really not much more.


That brings us to the question- what does the future hold?

If Heat fans are content with first round exits- or ,at best, maybe a 2nd round appearance then they should continune on.

Its hard for me to conceive how they put a championship caliber team around Bosh and Wade with the salaries those 2 are drawing- especially as they continue to age.

Is that enough for Heat fans? Is that enough for Riley? those are the questions.

 

[WiggyRuss]

You're talking out of both sides of your mouth (or typing out both sides of your keyboard). You say Riley is to blame for not addressing depth and then praise him for getting Deng. McBob was a great pick up too. A big part of the problem with the Heat's depth is the injuries they've suffered throughout the season. If they can ever get everyone healthy, the Heat have the potential to be a fairly solid team and could make the playoffs.

There is no question that by dragging his decision out for as long as he did, Lebron screwed over the Heat. By the time Riley knew what he was going to do, most of the FA's that could really have helped were already signed or close to it. Whether Lebron did it intentionally as some Heat fans think he did or not, the fact is, he screwed them over. Denying that is just you trying to make him look better because he's on your team. If he had taken as long as he did and chose the Heat, you'd be crying about how he screwed the Cavs over again.

I can criticize Riley was acknowleding that Deng was a great get.....Deng for the most part fell into their laps really. If you remember Deng TURNED down an offer from Chicago for an extension while he was there of 3 years 36 million thinking he would get more.

Everyone pretty much stayed away from Deng as no one wanted to commit long term since he was really run into the ground by Thibs. The Heat all of a sudden needed a SF, had some cap room- and an abundance of playing time- and Deng needed a team and ended up taking a significantly smaller deal (2 years 20- the 2nd year being a player optioni believe)- then he originally got from his home team where he really wanted to stay.

Even if LeBron comes back I think they should have addressed the PG position. Giving Chalmers 4 million i think was a mistake. I dont think anyone else would have paid him that and he makes more than guys like Mo Williams, Randy Foye, DJ Augustin, and some other PGs who I think would have been better fits.

Chalmers shoots 27% from 3, and Cole shoots 24% from three..... I think a scorer and floor spacer would really help out Wade and Bosh and Williams and Foye in particular have proved to be solid 3 pt shooters. I think Mo Williams would have been the right call-he makes similar money to Chalmers and was available really late into free agency- is a vet, can run the offense and would have to be respected from 3. I think Riley and Spo chose loyalty there over making a better basketball move

 

[trojanfan12]

I can criticize Riley was acknowleding that Deng was a great get.....Deng for the most part fell into their laps really. If you remember Deng TURNED down an offer from Chicago for an extension while he was there of 3 years 36 million thinking he would get more.

Everyone pretty much stayed away from Deng as no one wanted to commit long term since he was really run into the ground by Thibs. The Heat all of a sudden needed a SF, had some cap room- and an abundance of playing time- and Deng needed a team and ended up taking a significantly smaller deal (2 years 20- the 2nd year being a player optioni believe)- then he originally got from his home team where he really wanted to stay.

Even if LeBron comes back I think they should have addressed the PG position. Giving Chalmers 4 million i think was a mistake. I dont think anyone else would have paid him that and he makes more than guys like Mo Williams, Randy Foye, DJ Augustin, and some other PGs who I think would have been better fits.

Chalmers shoots 27% from 3, and Cole shoots 24% from three..... I think a scorer and floor spacer would really help out Wade and Bosh and Williams and Foye in particular have proved to be solid 3 pt shooters. I think Mo Williams would have been the right call-he makes similar money to Chalmers and was available really late into free agency- is a vet, can run the offense and would have to be respected from 3. I think Riley and Spo chose loyalty there over making a better basketball move

Much of this has little to do with what I posted, so I'll just go ahead and figure you concede the point and that Lebron, whether intentionally or otherwise, screwed the Heat over by dragging out his decision. I'll also go ahead and figure that you concede that, considering the position he was put in, Riley did a very nice job of putting together what, minus the injuries, would have been a pretty solid team.

As for point guard. Having Lebron back would have meant that the Heat didn't really have to address that position because Lebron was the de facto point guard anyway. The Heat would have needed no more from Chalmers and Cole than they did the previous 4 years, just someone to play defense against the other teams PG.

Had Lebron left, but announced his decision early enough that Riley could have actually gone after some better players, he may have been able to address the point guard position. Instead, he was basically left to get what he could out of what was left over.

 

[tducey]

Got to think the Heat do all they can to stay relevant.

 

[Leking2246]

Got to think the Heat do all they can to stay relevant.

lol