3ballbomber wrote:DWadeno3 wrote:We have one huge problem and that's not having a small forward who can shoot. Walker is too inconsistent, Deng is simply not a good high volume shooter from downtown and other than that, we constantly have play guards at the three for decent spacing and even our guards aren't hitting the three ball well enough. When Whiteside is out and we have to start Haslem at the five, there is no space for Wade and Dragic. Neither of them played well, but we made life as hard as we possibly could for them. Teams don't respect Haslem as a screener and roller because he doesn't finish well inside anymore and teams definitely don't respect our outside shooting so the paint will be packed.
we are a team that's in 'building in progress' mode - this is not who we are. We are merely trying to finish this season out as we focus on making playoffs and get our players some playoffs experience - simple as that. We're not contending or trying to upset teams.....we are merely trying to compete w/ what we have & as you stated we lack alot.....
But that comes w/ a team that is building. We only acquired Dragic 2nd half of the season. We're not going to turn it all around just because we addressed our PG issues & beat some top teams.
- no real back up for Whiteside when he sits or out injured.
- We have no real back up SG for Wade.
- Hell we don't even have a decent back up for Dragic.
- PF issues
- no 3pt specialists
etc.
THese are all the things that need to be addressed for us to be legit contenders. We can't trust on players like Walker, Beasley, Ennis, Shabazz, even TJ simply because they all make simple mistakes that is detrimental to the team, none of them would even break the rotation on most teams - but here we are desperate and must resort to giving them minutes. We won't have room for any of those mistakes once we contend. THe squad we have right now needs to play perfect ball to win on a nightly basis, we just don't have the talent - Ira Winderman has been stating the same thing.
And where did I claim we're a contender? I pointed out a reason for our offensive struggles last night, which was a lack of spacing due to starting with two offensive liabilities on the court and not having anything to punish a collapsing Hawks defense. That alone could improve our team by a lot.
For the sake of it, let's address your points:
PG backup: Chalmers is a decent backup, so there's no need here.
PF issues: Will be fixed next season once Bosh and McRoberts return.
C backup: We usually have Birdman, who is also a decent backup, but we'll need a replacement here due to his age.
SG backup: Chalmers can take some of those minutes as well, otherwise we'll have to watch Johnson's and Ennis' development, otherwise we might have to acquire a veteran here.
3pt specialists: I addressed that above.
Nonetheless, I disagree about the lack of talent, we lack the health to be a better team. Wade and Deng missing time was to be expected, but Bosh and McRoberts being out for a long time and even Whiteside missing games is killing us. Not many teams in this league could survive that. When this team is at full strength and has added a new C backup along with a couple of reliable shooters, we can be a threat out East, even with Wade's health issues.
Once the postseason rolls around, let's face it: If Wade isn't healthy, even when he plays, it's gonna be tough. If he is, we can upset teams.
