Miami BLEED
What went wrong for the "Super-Team" of LeBron, Wade and Bosh tonight? Well, just about everything.
It is way to early to tell how good the Miami HEAT will be this offseason because as Doc Rivers so aptly pointed out in his pre-game pep talk to his Boston the Celtics, the current version of the HEAT will not be the same team as the team that will more than likely cruise to the playoffs months from now. However, Miami's issues on paper translated to the court tonight in a very bad way.The HEAT are just too small and they do not have great rebounders. Boston is not a good rebounding team. They upgraded a bit in that department with the additions of the O'Neals, but their presence won't greatly influence the Celtics in that category. However, Miami's rebounding is poor. While the rebounding differential of +3 to Boston made it seem like it was close, it was not at all when you consider how many of those rebounds were truly contested.
The bottom line here is that LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and James Jones have no business taking several long 2's and/or 3's when they do not have the rebounders to collect the missed shots for second chance opportunities. That's what took the HEAT out of the flow of this game. Whenever they missed a shot they begrudgingly trotted back on defense instead of constantly looking to get that board or quickly get back to the other side of the court to move the game along. They let missed shots get in their head and that affected their work ethic. Their body language was all too clear on the court tonight.
Boston, on the other hand, is full of not only capable 3-point shooters, but they also have veteran players who will do the dirty work. Right now they are playing like a team instead of a group of individuals. It is almost as if Miami's star players expect the other stars or the role players to do the dirty work for them instead of working together as a cohesive unit. And you know what? For this early in the season that is understandable considering how new these players are too each other. However, if that kind of attitude lingers too long the HEAT will be in for a very rude awakening this season. If you are aiming to beat the 72-10 Chicago Bulls' regular season record, you have to work together and know your roles extremely well. And it is not a good sign if you are already 0-1 on the season.
Miami, you have 8 slip-ups to go. If you really think you are that good you need to work on geling fast or there is going to be a lot less HEAT and a lot more BLEED in the red of your jerseys.
