Sounds like a stupid question, I know, but it's also a real one. The Heat should be the favorites to win the championship. Forget all that "Lakers are the champs until proven otherwise". Yes it's true, but I don't think the fact that they won it last year gives them anything regarding the future. This is a fresh start and a fresh season. People won't even consider the Heat better than the Magic or Boston. The reason I bring this up is because all these analysts and experts are saying it takes a "team" to win, Heat have no inside game, it's their first year, too much ego, yadayadayada, but this might honestly be one of the scariest teams we ever see play. Ponder this: LeBron James and his Cavs last year won 61 games. Year before that they won 66. LeBron has gotten to the finals before and does indeed show up in the playoffs despite what you would hear from others. He's had amazing showings in the postseasons he's played in. I'm not surprised he has not won a championship with his stint in Cleveland because the playoffs is where star power DOES matter, or should i should star powerS. Now let's do some math. Take that 61-win team with Ilgauskas, trade their coach for Spoelstra (who is probably better than Mike Brown), trade Anthony Parker for Dwayne Wade, and trade Antawn Jamison for Chris Bosh. Then examine the rest of the players that was on that Cleveland team (Mo, worthless Shaq, Hickson, Delonte, Varejao) and compare that to the rest of the current Heat (Chalmers, Miller, Jones, Haslem, Arroyo) and it's arguable that even these scrubs LeBron has now are better than the former group. This should boost that win total to at least 70 in my opinion, health permitting. And then you hear the arguments about the inside. Chris Bosh isn't a real banger, Joel Anthony is a bum, Magloire is not relevant, Ilgauskas is a tall SG, and that the only decent rebounding big man is Haslem. Well I ask the question, how important is that inside game really? The Lakers last year were not really that dominant in the paint. The Magic, when they made the finals, only had Howard. And one team that really sticks out...MJ's Bulls. I was just playing with them on NBA 2k11. Luc Longley? Cartwright? Rodman didn't join the dynasty till later so these guys weren't exactly HoF centers. I don't care how much size the Lakers supposedly have. I don't care how fit Shaq looks. The Heat have three bonafide all-stars that all deserve double teams. With the rules we have today, it's going to be easy pickings for Spoelstra to dissect and create easy offense for this team. -Pierce is getting noticeably worse. KG is not a serious threat on offense. I really doubt Shaq will surprise us with anything. -The Magic still have no go-to guy. Nelson ain't it. VC is late to the party. Rashard is a one trick pony. -If, and it's a big if, Bynum can stay completely healthy and play at a high level in the post season, then I do somewhat like their chances. -If NY forms their Melo, Amare, CP3 trio, it won't compare to the Heat. This one would be a scorefest, with little defense. Oh yeah, the Heat were one of the best defensive teams last year with just Wade and Beasley running things. The bad news? This trio had to form during our trio's prime. Greg Oden must at least meet 75% of his potential for us to ever win a championship in this era.
It's their first year together. They're young, and there's still a very real possibility of chemistry issues. We have no idea how good they're going to be. It's also hard to say if the bench is good enough to win a title. Sure, they deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as the Lakers for the championship, but we simply don't know how good they're going to be. We'll have a better idea after a couple months, I think.
I no longer find James or Wade to be young anymore. These guys know the NBA better than most veterans now. They both have legit playoff experience. They've seen a lot of different playing situations and have had high success in many of them. Honestly, I think LeBron's gonna be better than ever before, and so will Bosh.
I'm thinking more in terms of maturity. LeBron has done some things over the last couple years that would lead me to believe that he has yet to really mature as a man. He still acts like a spoiled brat at times, and that would concern me if I was a Heat fan. Is he willing to sacrifice numbers for the betterment of the team? Will he put the chemistry of the club over his own personal stardom? I'd like to think yes, but that's one of the things we will have to see. It's easy to talk the talk, but what will he do when the cards are on the table? The Heat's future depends entirely on Wade, LeBron, and Bosh being able to thrive together. The reason why Garnett, Allen, and Pierce were able to coexist is because they were all much later in their careers when they were put together, and even then Garnett was the only one who would have been considered top-5 in the league at one time. LeBron may have seven years in the league, but he's only 25 years old (almost 26). That's hardly a wise-old-man.
Well, even if they don't play well together at the beginning of the season, I think they will play well enough to get into the playoffs and by the time playoffs come around, they should be playing very well. I also think their bench is at least average, so maybe they don't deserve to be the favorites now but I think there is a good chance they will be by playoff time.
I'm certainly not underrating the Heat, but I still think the Celtics have a better team. The Celtics are going to body the fuck out of the Heat inside it's not even going to be funny. They're a much tougher team and it will show in the playoffs one again if they stay healthy and adding Perkins back. On top of that I like their depth more. LeBron has been the "king" of the regular season the past two seasons leading his team to the #1 seed. It could happen again this year. Too bad he'll once again not be playing for the NBA championship.
I'm not underrating them. I fully expect the Heat to win rings this year. I would give them better than %50 shot against the field.
I am one of the ones who underrates them. I think a really good BIG man will be the anchor on which a team can beat the Heat. Only real teams I give a shot at taking the heat down in a series are LA if Bynum is healthy, Magic is Howard can control is fouls and VC for once shows up in the playoffs, A healthy Celtics team and of course us with a healthy Front line . Even with a healthy big whirteams are gonna have to face thatlwind that is Heats Big three and it won't be easily done.
Hahahahahaha! The 2010 Lakers whom BECAUSE they were dominant in the paint. All playoffs long, it was their size that prevailed. Look at Game 7 of the Finals. Kobe shot 6 of 24 but they won because they were dominant inside. You can't beat the Lakers unless you can match their size. And that's why Jordan was wayyyyyy better than Kobe is. As you said, MJ won 6 championships without a dominant post presence to throw the ball to. Kobe had Shaq and Pau. MJ had nobody. What MJ did (and Phil Jacksom did) was fucking amazing.
Luc Longly and Will Purdue are extremely insulted by your insinuations about the Bulls inside game... Seriously though, I think Rodman and Horace Grant were both vital to the title runs of the Bulls. Rodman might not have been a scorer, but his rebounding was a key factor for Jordan's final three Championships. The guy dominated the glass.
As for the topic at hand, as far as the East goes, the Celtics are innocent until proven guilty. Say what you want about their age but they made the Finals last year and I consider them the favorites this year. Remember, Allen, KG, and Pierce had all been the #1 man on a team that went to the conference Finals. But the reason they won the title in '08 and came close in '09 is because of the time and effort Doc put in towards making them the best defensive team in the league. That is what MJs Bulls did too. It's all about whether or not Erik is going to get those guys playing together on that end of the floor. As for the Finals, I think the Lakers match up with them very well. Kobe/Artest/Pau is a very very strong threesome. They have the best coach ever. A better center. A great bench. I hate the Lakers but they're great. IMO, there's only one team that can beat them: a healthy Blazers' squad. We're the only team that has the size to match up with them in a 7 game aeries. Maybe Boston too but JO and SO are past their primes.
Oh I do not slight Rodman. He's one of the greatest players to play the game. But he wasn't a guy you could throw the ball into for a score. That's not the type of player he was. Michael Jordan was their perimeter AND post scorer.
On paper I think we're a team that could compete with LA, but in reality I'm not so sure anymore. Our team isn't the "feel good" story that it once was. Until we can prove that we can stay healthy and get all our guys clicking, I'm not so sure we're going to compete for anything.
Who is underrating them? They have a shitty front office when it comes to drafting, so they did the next best thing and bought good talent. They should be the favorites by a mile.
No matter how many scorers, there is still only one ball allowed on the court during play. I still have the Lakers as the favorite, and Orlando should give Miami all that they can handle in the East.
