Now that the Heat knows they won’t finish 82-0, they can focus on defining player roles.
Hands up those of you who thought the Cleveland Cavaliers would have the same number of losses as the Miami Heat after two weeks? Boy, I can just imagine a lot of you out there with raised eyebrows and others with your hands up in the air and your pants on fire.
Yep, 82-0 went down the drain on opening night for Miami in Boston and 41-0 at home bit the dust Tuesday night as the Heat were defeated at home by the visiting Utah Jazz. The loss stings even more for Miami as they gave up a 22-point lead in suffering the its first home loss of the season. Remember the solid Heat defence that people were talking about earlier in the season? Well, not so much Tuesday as they gave up 116 points.
Paul Millsap had a career-high 46 points and did it by making three baskets from behind the arc, a real accomplishment considering he had only made two treys in his entire four-year NBA career before Tuesday. Millsap went to work against Miami's frontline of Chris Bosh and Udonis Haslem.
Seems like some of the questions are starting to be answered and roles are being established in Miami. LeBron James is the offensive facilitator; he had a triple-double against Utah; Dwyane Wade is most likely going to be in scoring mode most of the season and Bosh will be the support man.
But there are some interesting numbers from the Elias Sports Bureau showing that, for the season thus far, the Heat's Big 3 have only outscored opponents by about 12 points when they are on the floor together. When two of the three are on the court -- Wade and James (without Bosh) -- Miami has not outscored the opponents at all.
Wade and Bosh together produce the same result as all three do when they are on the court while Bosh and James on the hardwood together (with Wade on the bench) have outscored the opposition by about 40 points. When all three are on the bench, Miami has been outscored by about nine points. When one of the three is on the court and the other two are on the bench, Wade and LeBron on their own have helped the Heat outscore the opponent by about eight points while Bosh alone on the court without his two running mates has led to a 19-point Miami advantage. Draw your own conclusions.
The glare of the spotlight not only brings attention but it can expose warts as well. Check out these thoughts on Bosh being traded and this was before Tuesday’s loss. As I stated when this much-ballyhooed group was put together, talent is one thing but you don't win on paper and chemistry is a huge factor in the equation. Right now, the Heat is still searching for the right chemistry and players to fit into certain roles. But Heat fans need not worry, there are no rings given out or banners raised in November.
So can you believe Golden State has a better record than the Heat? I know, I know, it's early but these aren't your dad's Warriors. Head coach Keith Smart has this Golden State team playing defence. Yep, I just mentioned “defence” and “Golden State” in the same thought.
Smart was hired by GM Larry Riley who was an assistant with Smart under Don Nelson and knew what he could do if given the chance. Smart says he is still in touch with "Nellie" regularly and his situation with Nelson was very much like Avery Johnson's was with the NBA's all-time leader in coaching wins when those two were together in Dallas.
Much like he did with Johnson, Nelson allowed Smart to run practices, address the team in the huddle during timeouts and allowed him to have a strong voice with the squad. Smart has taken that same approach with his players. It's not unusual to have former Miami Heat player Dorrell Wright talking to the team about something in the video room regarding team defence, having had defence stressed to him in Miami by Pat Riley. Hearing it from a different voice makes a difference, says the head coach.
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