it goes like this:
we're overdoing it, they'll underwhelm, because
-having two great perimeter penetrators on the same team has not been a recipe for success. just like having two great post up players, like barkley and hakeem, they basically take turns, it doesn't add up to something better.
-they are coming into existence in a league that already has three superpowers, and all three of them have massive and talented and tall 4s and 5s, something the heat lack. the lakers are also an all star team, with 4-5 all stars / potential all stars, they're champs and also got better during offseason.
-can mike miller handle the pressure? if he shoots poorly the whole thing drops a few notches.
-they signed juwan howard
hmm. maybe we're under hyping them, and overly qualifying our praise
-when you really think about what they can do offensively it makes your brain vibrate. both wade and lebron, and bosh to a degree, have put up huge numbers against defenses completely keyed to stopping them and only them. now all three players will consistently be getting the ball in good situations, against unset defenses, with cracks and openings aplenty.
-their core three are very versatile and multi-talented, meaning the most diverse and unpredictable offense perhaps ever.
-when you really think about what they can do Defensively, it makes your brain bubble. wade and lebron are probably the greatest shot blocking 2 and 3 in nba history, and extremely good defenders. with less scoring burden on both players they should have more energy for D (bosh too). spoelstra, from riley, is a defense coach, and the heat were quite good last year. a few of the key D pieces are back, chalmers, haslem and joel anthony. anthony is undersized (6'9") but was third in the league last year in blocks per 48m.
-early signs are that lebron will indeed be more of a playmaker, spoelstra said he'll have lebron play some pg and some pf as well. it's looking more like wade and lebron could actually be more complementary than we thought. in the first practice scrimmages apparently lebron led a team of bench players and dominated the other squads, without scoring much himself.
-they have dwayne wade. he can do what lebron couldn't do against teams like boston and orlando - find the seams in their defense and do damage in the midrange, between the shot blockers and perimeter defenders.
-14,000 alley oops
-the chemistry thing, these are chemistry players. they've played together before. wade famously volunteered to come off the bench (!) in the olympics in deference to kobe. lebron was born a team player, never had to be taught to trust his teammates. he transmits his own confidence with each pass, like nash does, and thus increases his teammates shooting %.
-incredible speed and athleticism with anthony and chalmers on the court, or chalmers and miller with bosh at the 5. explosive fastbreak team with the greatest finishers in the world and great passing and great shooters and a big who can run and handle the ball. holy crap my brain is vibrating again.
I like how this blog is turning into a de facto Miami Heat blog....it's as Swen would've wanted it.
ReplyDeleteI think the truth is, the only way they'll match or overwhelm the expectations, or at least turn back the tide of various ill feelings, is if they win the title in resounding fashion. Win 72 games. Anything less will seem somewhat pedestrian, or at least expected. As exciting and thrilling as all of what you talk about is, it doesn't mean they can win it all either. The Suns were the most thrilling team to watch of the last decade, the Kings were a great pleasure, Run TMC was a blast, Dr. J's Sixers were filled with flamboyantly great athletes, and all of them warped our sense of what could be done with a basketball. But none of them have titles. In fact, there are very few title holders out there who do what you describe. I actually hate that about basketball, how rarely the innovators breakthrough. The Lakers of the Showtime era are probably the closest I can think of in my lifetime, and they still had Kareem Abdul Jabbar for crissake! So, for all the innovation of having this huge point guard, when it came down to it, many of their plays involved dumping it in to Mr. Sky Hook. And they had a solid power forward in Rambis, Green, et al. So yes, all of the vibrations you are talking about are entirely possible, but in the end Russell's intensely balanced and homegrown team always kicked the ass of Chamberlain's glittering all-stars.
Doesn't mean they won't get to the finals and win it all, but I think it's also possible to do all the things you describe above in your "under" section and still be a disappointment ultimately. And I like that in the act of describing the "under", you actually go into maximum "over"drive, meaning it's no longer possible for anyone reading this to ever "under" them again.
Imagine it all comes together, though, and here's my dream final: Miami Heat vs Oklahoma City. The humble, hardworking team from nowheresville that wins a gold medal for the U.S. against the flashy, already congratulating themselves geniuses in glamorous Miami. It's like a script that's waiting to be written, like every great "Hoosiers" sports story out there. I'm generally against refs cheating, but if Stern could arrange this, I'd be fine with it.
i'm not sure whether you think of the heat as the flashy glamorous dominator that you'd love to see lose to a scrappy unconventional team, or the innovative team that sadly never gets to win in this league of dominant conventional teams. both work i guess.
ReplyDeleteif okc made it to the finals i would probably root for them. but... them beating the lakers would be a more difficult and more triumphant and morally satisfying feat for sure.
i'm (obviously) not down on miami like most people are, partly because i love the way those guys play the game and love to watch them. but also because the east is dominated by teams i don't like, and the teams i like in the west have no chance of getting past the team i hate most of all. so this new heat offers me some hope, of something else, and something way funner, than lakers , celtics, magic, blah.
i'm also excited because it's not a sure thing, the other three teams plus chicago now are really Really good, so i would expect some titanic battles. i disagree that they have to win 72 and dominate the playoffs in order to meet expectations. most people are still picking the lakers to win again. if heat can beat the lakers it will be an amazing achievement and a delicious one as well.
The first part of my description was of their basketball style possibilities, the finals-imagining was about their narrative storylines. Some innovative teams, like Nellie's Mavericks, I also don't like and root against. And some not-so-innovative teams with great stories, I root for, like the Rockets. Basically, I'm saying innovative doesn't always mean a title, and I hope they don't win one either way.
ReplyDeleteThe story of the Heat, while intriguing to mull over in a larger context, is most interesting as a story of failure, and that's what I'll root for, hoops innovation or not.