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TheDon008 wrote:LOL @ Heat fans On depressed mode after a regular season Dec Loss.

After the last 2 years years you would think we'd have developed some thicker skin.

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“We’re not defending,” James said. “It’s that simple. … It is a cloud for our team because we’re not defending like we are capable of doing. We have some room for improvement. The good thing is we can be great. But right now, we’re not good.”

They’re not, by any empirical measure.

In accepting the current defensive reality, James spoke of not accepting other things, such as the notions that shortcuts are inevitable because the regular season is so long, or that one strong effort Saturday against the struggling New Orleans Hornets will signify a sustainable turnaround.

His contention is that Miami needs to prove it “for a string” closer to a month. Other excuses, such as new additions and altered rotations, or even the one that Bosh offered about the increased offensive pace taking something away on the other end? Over two interview sessions, James swatted all away.

“It’s us,” James said. “It’s us. It’s not like we added 15 new guys. We’ve got a veteran ball club, we’ve got guys who have been here, who’ve defended.”

They have done so in Spoelstra’s system. The coach’s frustration has been simmering, and Friday he was much more pointed. He addressed the growing perception – one some players have acknowledged – that they are struggling to motivate themselves prior to the postseason.

“If that is a reality, then that is a major problem, but we have an opportunity to correct it right now,” Spoelstra said. “If it goes too long, what it becomes is a tendency, it goes longer than that, it becomes a habit. If it continues, by the time you get to the playoffs, that’s who you are. So that’s what we’re trying to change right now.”

What about players changing their tones in interviews?

“Well, good,” Spoelstra said. “That’s part of taking responsibility, of being real about it, of dealing with the reality, and not brushing it aside.”

So where are the breakdowns? Spoelstra noted that seven of the Knicks’ 18 3-point baskets Friday were on unassisted pull-ups, many contested, and not altogether unacceptable. His anger was about what happens earlier in games that allows opponents to develop the confidence to even attempt them: the “layup drill for a while,” the easy offensive rebounds for a team not known for getting many, and the wide-open 3-pointers that he believed contributed to the “karma of the game.”

“And when they need to get hot taking some tough ones, they’re already in a good flow,” Spoelstra said. Blame can flow throughout the Heat roster, although it is obvious that Bosh, Mario Chalmers and Dwyane Wade have not done their best defensive work of late. When asked why Chalmers has developed a nasty foul habit, Spoelstra snapped back: “Everything that we’ve talked about. Early stance, feet first, awareness, alertness, sense of urgency, discipline.”

It was clear that he talked about all of it, over all that silence, long before the media arrived.

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It’s an empirical fact that the Heat are playing horrific defense, but we’re also pretty certain they feature the personnel to play elite defense. There's actual evidence of this somewhere in a glass case inside AmericanAirlines Arena. So how manageable are these issues? Are they merely coasting rather than playing on a string, which is how the Heat characterize their defensive proficiency when everyone is where they’re supposed to be and all five guys moves as one unit in the half court? Would a healthy Battier and a few more minutes of Joel Anthony do the trick?

This time last season, the defense wasn’t exactly locking opponents down defensively. The Heat weren’t running shooters off the 3-point line and they were gambling more loosely than Floyd Mayweather. Miami took some lumps early but privately understood that Spoelstra was engaged in some experimentation. The Heat were trying to figure out if they could morph a fairly conventional scheme into one that could maximize speed and instincts without sacrificing the integrity of the entire defense. It took a while, but the strategy bore a Larry O’Brien Trophy.

Is that what’s going on here in the early going? Is an outing like Thursday night just a symptom of a team that’s futzing around in the laboratory trying to come up with new solutions?

Chalking up bad defense to systematic failures (Defenders aren’t pushing guards down on the pick-and-roll; Nobody is sinking to the level of the ball when it goes inside; etc.) is usually more satisfying than attributing them to generalities like energy motivation, but there’s something that rings true in the postgame statements from James and Bosh about the Heat’s lack of urgency. The game tape looks like a snuff film, but even watching all the Heat’s tactical errors on defense, you find yourself saying, “They know better than this.”

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LuckyLuke007 wrote:is it possible you wrote the wrong date??? isn't the game on 12/8...???

TheDon008 wrote:LOL @ Heat fans On depressed mode after a regular season Dec Loss.

After the last 2 years years you would think we'd have developed some thicker skin.

heat in italy wrote:

TheDon008 wrote:LOL @ Heat fans On depressed mode after a regular season Dec Loss.

After the last 2 years years you would think we'd have developed some thicker skin.

I know, but when you lose by 20 at home to the Knicks ....

Thats one of the thing that separates Jordan from everybody else, I dont remember Jordan in the wining days losing by 20 at home against a team without the 2 best players (Melo and Amare).