The SPURS were better than any team MJ or Kobe beat

[Davis_Mike]

What don't you understand? Miami only had 54 wins in a historically bad eastern conference. Take that same team & put them in a much tougher conference where they have to play those tough teams more often & frequently during the season & that will add up to fewer wins & more losses. Which would put them fighting for the #6, #7, & #8 seeds in the west. Which there CURRENT record alone puts them at the #6 seed.

It is that damn simple.

 

[LeBronMonsterDunk]

PS: What don't you understand? Miami only had 54 wins in a historically bad eastern conference. Take that same team & put them in a much tougher conference where they have to play those tough teams more often & frequently during the season & that will add up to fewer wins & more losses. Which would put them fighting for the #6, #7, & #8 seeds in the west. Which there CURRENT record alone puts them at the #6 seed.

It is that damn simple.

What don't you understand?

Miami has dominated the West.

It is that damn simple.

 

[Davis_Mike]

What don't you understand?

Miami has dominated the West.

It is that damn simple.

You must be a Simple Jack.

Dominated the west while playing a cake eastern conference schedule & only playing those teams twice while spread through out the season. Do you really believe Miami would have the same 54 wins playing a much tougher schedule?

 

[LeBronMonsterDunk]

You must be a Simple Jack.

No, I'm a Realist Jack.

You see here in the real world, Miami shits on the West.

 

[Davis_Mike]

No, I'm a Realist Jack.

You see here in the real world, Miami shits on the West.

You have a poor understanding of how an NBA schedule effects teams & their possible wins & losses. Miami would go from playing teams like Was, Bkn, Cha, & Atl 4-5 times a year to playing teams like Por, GS, Memphis, & Dal 4-5 times a year. On top of playing SA, Okc, LAL, & Houston more often. There are bound to be more losses. Which would pull them from there already #6 seed in the west to fighting to make the playoffs.

But go ahead & tout there meaningless record against the west while playing an eastern conference schedule. Because playing the top teams only twice spread through out the season while playing in a historically bad eastern conference is the same as playing against those same teams night in & night out in the western conference...

 

[LeBronMonsterDunk]

You have a poor understanding of how an NBA schedule effects teams & their possible wins & losses. Miami would go from playing teams like Was, Bkn, Cha, & Atl 4-5 times a year to playing teams like Por, GS, Memphis, & Dal 4-5 times a year. On top of playing SA, Okc, LAL, & Houston more often. There are bound to be more losses. Which would pull them from there already #6 seed in the west to fighting to make the playoffs.

But go ahead & tout there meaningless record against the west while playing an eastern conference schedule. Because playing the top teams only twice spread through out the season while playing in a historically bad eastern conference is the same as playing against those same teams night in & night out in the western conference...

Miami has winning records against all those teams you just listed.


LOL

I'm not sure why it upsets you so much that Miami absolutely shits on the West.

 

[trojanfan12]

You have a poor understanding of how an NBA schedule effects teams & their possible wins & losses. Miami would go from playing teams like Was, Bkn, Cha, & Atl 4-5 times a year to playing teams like Por, GS, Memphis, & Dal 4-5 times a year. On top of playing SA, Okc, LAL, & Houston more often. There are bound to be more losses. Which would pull them from there already #6 seed in the west to fighting to make the playoffs.

But go ahead & tout there meaningless record against the west while playing an eastern conference schedule. Because playing the top teams only twice spread through out the season while playing in a historically bad eastern conference is the same as playing against those same teams night in & night out in the western conference...

You're wasting your time. Many Heat fans haven't been around the game long enough to grasp concepts such as the difference between playing a full schedule in a tougher conference and only playing the tougher conferences teams 2 times each.

At this point, it's like teaching a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig.

 

[Hornsstampede2.0]

Miami played in a crappy eastern conference in both 2012 and 2013
It did not seem to faze them playing the West in those years.


When the 1980s Lakers lost, did anyone say the West sucked and LA was a fraud unworthy team? Did anyone say that Lakers team would have been only mediocre in the East?
Because the West was a complete garbage league in the 1980s.
And nobody was calling LA frauds when they lost because of their conference stinking.


Each team is an individual entity.
Miami was the 2nd best team in the league PERIOD.

 

[trojanfan12]

Miami played in a crappy eastern conference in both 2012 and 2013
It did not seem to faze them playing the West in those years.


When the 1980s Lakers lost, did anyone say the West sucked and LA was a fraud unworthy team? Did anyone say that Lakers team would have been only mediocre in the East?
Because the West was a complete garbage league in the 1980s.
And nobody was calling LA frauds when they lost because of their conference stinking.


Each team is an individual entity.
Miami was the 2nd best team in the league PERIOD.

Actually, many fans of Eastern Conference teams said exactly that and some still do. As a Lakers fan since 1970, I remember being glad the Lakers were in the West in the 80's. I didn't think they'd have as many finals trips or titles if they had to come out of the East. They'd have still won 2 or 3 titles, but I doubt they'd have won as many as 5 and I don't believe they'd have made the finals 9 times coming out of the East,

Miami is considered the 2nd best team in league because they were the runner-up in the finals. But to say that the Heat would have performed just as well in the West as they did in the East just doesn't seem accurate.

Even the teams in the East that are built to give Miami fits (Pacers, Bulls and Nets) had glaring deficiencies (mostly on offense) that were relatively easy for the Heat to exploit. The Spurs have no such deficiencies and teams like the Mavs, Grizzlies, Clippers and to a lesser extent, the Rockets had far fewer such deficiencies than the Pacer, Bulls and Nets.

 

[Davis_Mike]

Miami has winning records against all those teams you just listed.


LOL

I'm not sure why it upsets you so much that Miami absolutely shits on the West.

You still don't get it...

 

[Black Adam]

You still don't get it...

THAT'S clear at this point...

 

[LeBronMonsterDunk]

You still don't get it...

Get why Miami has shit on the West?

Yea, I get that.

It's simple really.

Miami has been no worse than the 2nd best team in the NBA since 2010.

 

[Davis_Mike]

Miami was the 2nd best team in the league PERIOD.

How do you come to this conclusion? Because they were in the NBA finals? What's to say that OKC isn't the 2nd best team in the NBA? Just because Miami was able to make it to the NBA finals playing inferior teams(all but Indiana would have not made the playoffs in the west), doesn't make them the 2nd best team in the NBA. I would have a problem with even calling them the 3rd best team in the NBA. They are behind SA, OKC, & LAC, who had to play each other to make it to the finals.

 

[Desean12345]

How do you come to this conclusion? Because they were in the NBA finals? What's to say that OKC isn't the 2nd best team in the NBA? Just because Miami was able to make it to the NBA finals playing inferior teams(all but Indiana would have not made the playoffs in the west), doesn't make them the 2nd best team in the NBA. I would have a problem with even calling them the 3rd best team in the NBA. They are behind SA, OKC, & LAC, who had to play each other to make it to the finals.

 

[LeBronMonsterDunk]

How do you come to this conclusion? Because they were in the NBA finals? What's to say that OKC isn't the 2nd best team in the NBA? Just because Miami was able to make it to the NBA finals playing inferior teams(all but Indiana would have not made the playoffs in the west), doesn't make them the 2nd best team in the NBA. I would have a problem with even calling them the 3rd best team in the NBA. They are behind SA, OKC, & LAC, who had to play each other to make it to the finals.

This kid thinks OKC or LAC (or any team not named Spurs) could have beat Miami in a series.

 

[trojanfan12]

Miami finished 54-28. If they played in the West that would have them tied with Houston and Portland. Depending on tiebreakers, they would have been anywhere from 4th-6th in the Western Conference.


To get to the finals, the Spurs beat a 49 win team, a 54 win team and a 59 win team.


To get to the finals, the Heat beat a 43 win team, a 44 win team and a 56 win team.


Yes, clearly the Heat are the 2nd best team in the league. Much like they were "clearly the better team" in the first 2 games vs. the Spurs.

 

[Black Adam]

Miami finished 54-28. If they played in the West that would have them tied with Houston and Portland. Depending on tiebreakers, they would have been anywhere from 4th-6th in the Western Conference.


To get to the finals, the Spurs beat a 49 win team, a 54 win team and a 59 win team.


To get to the finals, the Heat beat a 43 win team, a 44 win team and a 56 win team.


Yes, clearly the Heat are the 2nd best team in the league. Much like they were "clearly the better team" in the first 2 games vs. the Spurs.

shame on you...

do NOT cloud the issue with the facts...

 

[trojanfan12]

shame on you...

do NOT cloud the issue with the facts...

And that's giving them credit for managing to have the same number of wins as they did playing in the east. Considering how much tougher the West was, it is likely that they would have finished with a worse record had they played in the West.

 

[Black Adam]

And that's giving them credit for managing to have the same number of wins as they did playing in the east. Considering how much tougher the West was, it is likely that they would have finished with a worse record had they played in the West.

...which was Davis Mike's point from the git-go...

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

And that's giving them credit for managing to have the same number of wins as they did playing in the east. Considering how much tougher the West was, it is likely that they would have finished with a worse record had they played in the West.

Anyone can twist statistics anyway they want to suit their argument.

Why not approach it this way.
First, the eye test. If you watched many of the games, you could see the Heat played maybe 30-40% (?) of the game with the needed effort to win a lot of them.

Next, instead of talking w/l vs conference, how about win % vs +.500 teams vs -.500 teams.
The Heat clearly played better when the opponent was better.
How about their 6 game West Coast trip when they beat 5 of the better teams in the West, in a row, with their only loss on the trip coming to Utah--the worst team by far on that trip?