Half way through, Grade the Heat roster so far :

[Paz]

Wade . B-
injury reasons

Bosh. B
inconsistency reasons with a bloated contract.

Whiteside. A+
he's awesome

Chalmers. C+
Inconsistency reasons and bone head plays.

Cole. F--
dude flat out sucks

Napier. F
allowed himself to be neutered by spo

Deng. B
there when we need him. Consistent defense. Injury prone

Bird. B+
great rim protector and hustle player. Gets gassed quickly.

Granger. F
horrible

Williams. D+
fair long ball but inconsistent and one dimensional

Ennis. C+
very raw with bad handles. Hustles hard and brings it when given the chance.

Hamilton. C
nothing spectacular when given the opportunity.

Haslem. D
cold old and full of mold.

Johnson. C
too new to the crew. Needs time to evaluate.

[DWadeno3]

All I'll say is I rate Bosh higher than Wade for two reasons.

1. He's been the better and more consistent defender.
2. He's played more games, which means he's been able to contribute more.

I just wanted to throw some support for him since I don't think people appreciate his efforts enough. He's played through a few injuries we never knew about too.

Bosh has not played well defensively this season. He talks a lot, but his effort on that end has been pissing me off all year long. His man-to-man defense against most bigs was never great to begin with for obvious reasons, but his help defense in the paint has left a lot to desire. He has the length to be a lot more disruptive, but often just resorts to standing there, not even throwing his entire body into the lane. Usually, Bosh would earn the "he needs some credit" card, but not this season.

[Altered_Beast]

unbiased, unabashed review of the team (note i factor in being able to stay healthy when grading because for as good as you are if you dont play you dont help the team)

Wade - B - wade has had a few rough games this year shooting wise but there was a period in december when he was absolutely dominant offensively and looked like the wade of old sans the flash athleticism. however still very inconsistent on defensive effort, still likes to bitch to officials too much and of course the elephant in the room he cant stay healthy. however he is deserving of his all star nod.

Bosh - C - Great start to the season and after getting hurt took a nosedive in production. still needs to be more aggressive and attack the basket, hes regressed his game compared to earlier in the season and seems content with letting whiteside fight for all the boards and shoots too much three pointers

Deng - C - we can flaunt his intangibles all we want, look at our record. deng has been solid on defense all year but severely lacking in the offensive department minus a couple of notable games where he carried us (@dallas, cleveland, @chicago). he needs to look to get to the basket more especially since bosh isnt and our guards are the worst in the league.

Whiteside - A - the saving grace to our season, dominant on the glass and on the block defensively. a huge upgrade to our team every time he sees the floor. needs to calm down with the fouls but hes young. has shown some flashes of offensive potential as well as a soft stroke on the mid range jumper. we need to lock him up long term

Birdman - B - for what hes expected to do he does it. not much needs to be said. hes 35 year old energy big off the bench and when he plays he gives us just that, energy. would like more production but hes been solid minus missing a few games.

the rest of the team - F

[TroubleS0me]

Wade : B+
Hes still efficient, a top 3 SG when he plays. But he has missed too many games.


Bosh : C+
he improve on his 3pt shooting , just needs to be more consistent. He has games where he scores 27pts & then he has
games where he score 14pts .He doesnt get enough blocks/Rebs for PF/C but he is our
best player in crunch time this season.

Whiteside : A+
Rim protection, Rebs, Athleticism , needs more mins
he really came thru for us.


Deng: B-
Defends the best player every night. He does the little things & hustles. I wish he could
create a shot for himself off the dribble & for others.

Mario : D
Occasionally he steps up scoring wise, but hes inconsistent. He had a nice stretch where average 20ppg(in 6gms)
when wade was out early in the season . His 3pt game has dropped dramtically, 38% last
season to 27%. the bonehead plays are still there..

Cole : F+
Horrible & Terrible
Just like Rio his 3pt game has drop compare to last season.
He is a minus when he is out there, this season.

Williams - D
good 3pt shooter but...thats it

Haslem
its time to retire

Napier : D
He is not who he once was when the season started, idk what happen to him behind close doors & being send to D-League. He doesnt play as freely as he did before, doesnt look create his own show but passes more. His defense needs to get better

Granger: D-
He played good towards the end of the year (2014) 3gms. solid 3pt shooter but overral hes inconsistent'

[Flashpoint]

This is breaking down the individual components of an F season.

Wade: B- He's amazing. I have full confidence in him as our leader again... but you have to actually play in the games.

Bosh: C- Just failing as the leader of this team. Doesn't make a big enough impact. The contract is already looking ugly. Loses points for starting to sound like Spo with just mindless, empty nonsense dribbling out of his mouth.

Goatside: A+ Oh not a big deal... JUST ONE OF HISTORY'S BIGGEST **** MIRACLES!!! The only positive this year and by far our best hope for the future.

Deng: B+ Just hard not to like the guy. A dominant defender who fills a specific role for a team. Our team is too terrible to take advantage of that role, but I don't blame him.

McBob: INC Still have no idea what we really have with him.

Birdman: C Age caught him.

Shawne: C+ We're getting something for nothing and considering how desperate this team is for 3 point shooting. He's been decent.

Chalmers: C- His only useful role is as a wildcard combo guard coming off the bench. Playing him out of that role is a disaster, but unfortunately our dire talent level forces us too.

Cole: F Worst player in the league. I used to stick up for him, but his attitude is a rancid cherry on the turd sundae his level of play has been. Please **** off and fulfill your dream of being Lebron's fluffer in Cleveland.

Granger: D- Decline your player option. Please?

Haslem: A He will always get an A for just being Udonis Haslem.

Tyler: A Best PG play we've had offensively and defensively on a team that has been starved for it. Respect so much the way he plays. Other NBA PGs on this team should be ashamed they don't deserve to carry TJ's jock at this point.

Ennis: C Needs to play more. The energy and athleticism is always there. Sometimes beyond the point of his control.

Napier: C- Not a hopeless case, but more is wrong than right. He'll need an entire offseason to transform himself physically and apply that to how he plays the game. While also going back to playing basketball the way he knows and is confident in. His biggest key is completely ignoring Spo on every level.

Riley: C How involved is he in the day to day? Eh probably not so much. But he put people in place who took a chance on Whiteside and that deserves a lot of credit. Signing McBob and Granger then championing it before the season in a way to appeal to Lebron came off enormously desperate and sad. The guard situation we came into this season with was deplorable. But the biggest mistake Riley has ever made in his time with the Heat was the hiring of Spo.

Spo: F- Historically incompetent poser. Zero substance. Legendary demotivational speaker. Insane rotations. For someone desperately imitating Riley, he seems incapable of learning from his mentor's reliance on stable rotations while still reading the flow of the game. Mixed bag as a tactical coach, in that all he needs to be successful is the best player in the world. Completely incapable of developing players. Hell, even Wade got worse, lazier after several years of Spo. I would support any science endeavor to clone Larranaga's old ass and have him coach the Heat. Spo has robbed us of titles we should have won and would have won with another HC. Spo has robbed us of players he was a complete failure at developing. Spo robbed us of the best player in the world because I cannot imagine a scenario where Spo is anything but a negative to someone considering playing for our team. Spo robbed us of a long prime from the greatest Heat player in history, by allowing him to pick up diva like tendencies under his weak watch. It's amazing to witness someone so over their head survive in a position of power for this long. He is nothing but bull **** in every sense of the term and on every level.

[HIF]

Wade : A-

Haters and doubters said He's done, He'll have a massive decline without Lebron. Well, when healthy he's been mostly great. Did get hurt abiut too much so far but as long as he'll be healthy in money time, still top notch SG in the league.

Bosh : B

Started off beasting, then lost some rhythm and lately been floating around too much. Stats are very good but could be expected to be a bit more consistent.

Rio : C-

Worst shooting season of career, 27 YO and still way too inconsistent. Had some nice game when played as a SG, but clearly not a long term starter without Lebron around.

Deng : B+

Solid. Just overall solid. Gives it his all, despite being limited offensively. Brings a defensive edge we need.

Cole : F

Was never really a good player by any statistical indicator, but really regressed this year. Very bad shooting, Not enough positive aspects in his game.

Bird : D+

Lost a step or 2. sometimes looks too old, not as effective as in years past. Got overpaid this offseason due to past performance and currently looks just that - overpaid.

Granger : F

The only thing he really brings to the table now days is his shooting, but he's shooting below 35% from 3. So that's not good enough to cover his lack of defense, energy and mobility.

Williams : C

Gets paid the vet minimum, so shouldn't expect too much. Started off really hot but as time goes by it's clear his shooting is the only thing he does well.

Mcbob : N/A due to injury.

UD : Player/Coach.

Does what he can, he's not around for his on court contribution although can still give spot minutes.

Ennis : C-

Inconsistent like most rookies, but brings good energy, defends and looks more conferrable lately. Expectations seem too have been a bit too high.

Napier : D

Had a very nice November but something went wrong after that. D-league, then struggling hard after he returned. Looks overwhelmed now days.

Whiteside : A+

No need to explain. One of the biggest discoveries in recent NBA memory.

TJ : N/A. Too soon to really tell.

J-Ham : same. 250 minutes played is not enough of a sample size IMO.

SPO : C-

Clear for most fans he's not helping and sometimes hurting us. Weird rotations, VERY slow adjustments, just doesn't seem to get the best out of this roster. Injuries are a real factor that comes to his defense, but it's not enough of an excuse. Might have a turned a corner lately with the youth movement, better late then never.

Riley : C

A couple of months ago it looked like an F. But Whiteside (and TJ) really saved an otherwise horrible summer of team-building. Lebron blindsiding him is a factor that comes to his defense, But our PG/SG situation is totally on him. Without Whiteside it would've looked ALOT worse.


Thoughts?

Very reasonable

I'd lift Cole up to an E - there are several games when he has been the best of a poor guard rotation, he also is the only guard we have who can slow quick guards.

I'd lift Granger to an E - occasionally he looks good but that's rare

I'd drop Williams to a D - same as Granger but slightly more frequently.

I'd lift Spo to a C+ - He hasn't had 5 consecutive games with the same roster let alone 3 games with a healthy roster.