Halfway Point-Grading the Heat

[Slot Machine]

Mario Chalmers- D
He's taken so many steps back this year. His defense is as bad as it's ever been, his shot seems to have regressed. I'm aware he's shooting a better 3P% but the outlier game in Sacramento makes it look much better than it should be. He's just been off. Attacks the basket at weird times, still does those stupid baseline drives. I might be rating him a bit too low since I have a bad taste in my mouth from yesterday, but man, he has been absolutely terrible at times this season.

Dwyane Wade- B
Hard to really grade his season since I don't want to include the early parts where he clearly wasn't himself due to the surgery. He's picked it up since but I still feel like the effort on D isn't quite there all the time. Overall, his play has improved as the season as gone along and I think he's been playing very well as of late. Dwyane is capable of much more and I expect he'll have a great 2nd half barring any injuries.

LeBron James- A+
I feel like he's been playing better than last year. Not too much to complain about, his FT % has picked up. Great season thus far.

Udonis Haslem- C
With his shot completely gone, he's been hard to watch on offense but the rebounding is always valuable. It looks like he's more effective in limited minutes. His rebounding really needs to be great(and it has been lately) to make up for him being a complete nonfactor on offense. I hope he can gain some semblance of a jumpshot back but I'm not too optimistic.


Chris Bosh- B+
Effort is another question here. His rebounding dropped off a cliff but in recent games ,it's picked up and I feel like his rebounding isn't really an issue when he sets his mind to it. His midrange shot has been insanely good this year. He was in a slump for awhile but seems to have broken out of it. I want to see more attacks off the dribble or post ups.

Ray Allen- B
His shooting has been great with the expected slumps in between. He helps our closing lineups a lot and has hit a ton of big shots already for us. I'd like him to be run off screens more and have less freelancing with the ball. His defense has been subpar as expected.

Shane Battier- C+
His shot has been way off since he's come back from his injury and I'm starting to think having to check PFs has taken its toll on him. Started off really well but has fallen off since then. His defense has been good but there's just some guys he has no chance in hell at guarding. His rebounding is as you would expect for a SF forced to play PF. I'd like to see him play at the 3 rather than the 4.

Norris Cole- C+
His defense has really improved and we finally have a guy who can check the small PGs who have been terrorizing our defense since 2011. His shot is still awful though. If he could shoot the three at any decent percentage, I think he'd be starting. He's finishing at the rim at a little better and has cut down on the TOs a bit.

Mike Miller- C
Mike can't play the 2 anymore. At all. His defense was always suspect but when he's forced to play SG, it's an affront to humanity. His shooting has been good, passing okay, and rebounding okay. Kind of out of the rotation at the moment. He's healthier looking this year but it hasn't really contributed to any sort of increase in production.

Joel Anthony- C
Defense great as always, offense horrible as always. Same story with Joel as previous seasons. Not a good rebounder. Joel is good in limited minutes but similar to Haslem in that they're both so limited on offense that it's hard to justify over 20 minutes for them.

Rashard Lewis- C-
Great shooter still, but contributes so little in terms of defense and rebounding that he really doesn't deserve PT.

James Jones, Birdman, Jarvis Varnado, Dexter Pittman- Inc.
Haven't had enough minutes to judge.

Erik Spoelstra- C-
Disappointed in the lack of improvement from Spo. Still takes way too long to make adjustments, doesn't alter the rotation so that a player who is hot stays in. Players playing well end up disappearing for halves at a time due to lack of touches. Out of bounds and timeout plays have been underwhelming. Too many minutes for LeBron. His whole pace and space offense has completely disappeared.

What about you guys?

[HeatFan1234]

I generally agree with your grades. For me, Haslem might be a C- or D, because I feel like his rebounding and defense has fallen off as well, though he has been improving that of late, so if he continues on that path that will be great. I think Joel for me is a C+ because I think he has improved his rebounding/catching of the ball in general and can actually do something (albeit still not much) on offense because of this. Dwyane is hard for me to grade because I'm not sure if his inconsistencies have been due to his knee surgery/recovery, or if he has lost a step.

Honestly, I think a few things will be interesting to keep an eye on going forward this season. Will DWade continue to improve or is this the new norm? Should Chris Bosh be the 2nd option on offense if DWade has lost a step? Will Haslem continue to improve or is he actually done? How will The Birdman fit into the team? He looked good to me in the limited minutes he played, and may actually be in the rotation come playoff time if he still has it. Are they saving Mike Miller for the playoffs or is what we see what we will be getting from him?

Good thread.

Edit: One quick thought I just had...It is bizarre that Cole has had such a messed up outside shot this season considering how well he was shooting during the preseason. I agree that he would be a better choice over Chalmers if he could get this down, plus I think Chalmers plays better coming off the bench with that chip on his shoulder (don't think Cole will start but just thought I would add this comment).

[TRG]

In a nutshell...

Big 3: A

Allen: B-

Everyone else: C-D

Our role players have been one giant collection of suck.

[SlowPaced]

Mario Chalmers - D

The name of unsteadiness, a true hair tearer. Used to be known as a solid defender, now is a liability. It's getting pathetic. With defense now gone, only thing he has to do is hit his open jumpers. Hope he'll improve in the second part of the season but I'd like Norris Cole to start in his place, at least he plays defense.

Dwyane Wade - B+

I think many fans are being too harsh on him. He came off a surgery and still averages great stats. He doesn't give %100 effort on the D but I don't think it's a bad signal, I'm sure he'll pick up the slack come post season time. I like his production.

LeBron James - A+

Flawless.

Udonis Haslem - C+

His rebounding is huge for this team, only if it's there, though. I'm not expecting anything from on the offensive end, his shot is lost, just play like Reggie Evans, U.

Chris Bosh - B+

Should be utilized a lot more. He's been productive on the offensive end despite being ignored at times. Great defender in big games and I think it's harsh to call him soft. He seems to be hand-picking games, I'm not gonna complain.

Ray Allen - B

Could be better, I was expecting him to be better. He's shot of course is there but his contribution to the spacing isn't quite there. Love his clutch performances.

Shane Battier - B-

Well, he's trying on the defensive end. He faces up one of the strongest positions in the game despite being undersized and thin for that position. Has to find rhythm on his shot, though.

Norris Cole - C+

Has to improve his jump shooting, get into the starting lineup and save us all from the cancer that is Mario Chalmers. Still, I believe he'd do fine if he were to get Mario's spot instantly, fits much better to the ball pressure system we're playing.

Mike Miller - C-

Meh.

Joel Anthony - B

Should get more minutes, I feel we're much better and confident defensively with him on the floor.

Rashard Lewis - C+

I wouldn't be mad if he had more minutes, I'm not mad that he's not getting them.

* James Jones should've played a lot more, I think he's way more consistent than Mike Miller as a shooter.

Erik Spoelstra - C

I knew he wasn't a good offensive coach, but I believe he's an horrible offensive coach by now. Appreciate his effort and his work on the defensive end but he just can't do work on the offense. I'm getting tired of seeing disgusting plays coming back from timeouts.

[Heat_Fan_87]

Bron-A- I question his decision making sometimes
Wade-B Wish he played with the intensity that lebron does
Bosh-B Half asses it way to much out there
Ray-B Eh, wish he would make more, his defense hurts us
Rio-C Bi polar
Cole-C- Sucks, worst per in the league
UD-C Does what he can
Battier-C Love his effort, needs to make the 3's more
Lewis-D Trash
Joel-B+ If everyone gave the effort joel gives on defense we would be a 65+ win team
MM-C+

[Pimpwerx]

SlowPaced: You do realize we're #2 in ORTG and one of the best crunchtime teams in the league, right? This forum falls victim too easily to "what have you done for me lately" syndrome. PEACE.

[HeatFan1234]

@Heat_Fan_87

How do you give Joel a higher grade than everyone but Lebron? That makes no sense, unless you're grading relative to the individuals potential (which we're not). I'll admit, Joel has brought some energy and has improved, but that is a joke grade. Also, you question Lebron's decision making? Why don't you elaborate on that one because I would looove to hear what you have to say.

[RexBoyWonder]

Staters :

Lebron : A+
Can't ask for anything more.

Wade : B
Doesn't always show up, but with the injury that's understandable.

Bosh : B
Been good on offense, but should step up his rebounding and husstle.

Mario : D
Without the OKC game, it would have been a F. Defense got worst, can't do anything on offense expet be a streaky shooter on wide open shots. just not a real starter in the NBA.

Haslem : D
Was incredibly bad on both sides of the floor up untill around 2 weeks ago, then started to show a slight improvment. still horrible on offense, but looks less lost out there lately. again, not a real NBA stater.

Bench :

Battier : C
Started the season hot, then got injured and cooled off. hard to ask to much from an old SF that's being asked to play PF. being overplayed too.

Allen : B-
Same as Battier, Started really hot, then cooled off some. still does his job.

Joel : C
As Always, our most influential defender, underated as a rebounder but as always bad at everything else.

Cole : C-
Defense looks good, but really needs to start hitting more shots. if he can, could become starter.

Miller : D
Does what he can, which isn't alot at this stage.


Rashard Lewis : C-
Looks good on offense, still adjusting on defense. Might be more suited to play SF at this atage. not a PF with our system and personal.

-------------------------------------------

Spo : D

Still got time to get his act togther, but really disapointed so far. Bad rotations, bad substations, too stubborn with playing small, not creative enough on offense, not adjusting enough on defense and overall.


Overall as a team : B-

Dont really care about us being first in a weak east, that tells us more about our underwhelming competition then about our level of play. We should be measuring ourself against the elite teams in the league and there's not dount OKC, Clippers and Spurs look much better then we do as of right now. we're on pace to a 55win -27loss season.
With the addition of Birdman, im hoping we faze out the Smallball that has been mostly ineffective. I still believe we need to make another move, get another real big man that can rebound, and if possible upgrade at PG. our grades are very telling in the sense that nobody is giving any of our Centers or PG's more then C-. With at least one of those weaknesses adresses (hopefully both) we should be better in the seconed part of the season and ready to go get another championship.

[SlowPaced]

@ Pimpwerx

I don't think our success on the offensive end has much to do with Spo. You always are gonna be one of the best offensive teams in the league when you have guys like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh who are not only skilled as hell but are unselfish and hardworking.

[Heat_Fan_87]

@Heat_Fan_87

How do you give Joel a higher grade than everyone but Lebron? That makes no sense, unless you're grading relative to the individuals potential (which we're not). I'll admit, Joel has brought some energy and has improved, but that is a joke grade. Also, you question Lebron's decision making? Why don't you elaborate on that one because I would looove to hear what you have to say.

Sure. Joel is Joel. When he gets time on the floor, he gives 100% effort, and he usually sparks runs that we have. If you watch the games, you know how dynamic he makes the defense.

After watching 40 games this season, i think lebron can make some better decisions out there. He needs to cut down on the long 2's. And get the ball to bosh if he is playing well. To many lebron homers think he can do no wrong.

[Tony15]

LeBron has gone through stretches where he takes too many jumpers for my liking.....and yes I don't think we utilize Bosh as much as we should. The Boston game was a prime example. The guy finished 7-12 from the floor, would it hurt to get the man some more shots? Wade & LBJ are both responsible for this too, which a lot of people (not on this board necessarily) tend to neglect. .....

If only Joel had a halfway decent offensive game.....

[GameTime_3]

I agree with most of your grades but I would give;

Spo: D-, has yet to get this team on a roll. Still has yet to figure out what am adjustment is. Has shown little creativity in late game sets. Depends wayyyy to much on Lebron and refuses to believe small ball isn't the regular season answer.

UD: D-, lacks hunger and still can't by a shot. Getting to become Joel like.

Chalmers: F, has taken 20 steps back. Bad decision making, no defense and little effort. Mario could be on trade block

[dolphinatik]

team as a whole- C