Evaluate the season before the last game

[GreenHat]

We all know that anything can happen in one game so one game should not completely color your evaluation. Unfortunately that's not the case. Everyone plays the result (some more than others) and its impossible to be completely free of hindsight or confirmation bias. Depending on how this one game goes will almost completely determine how we view the season and all of the major individuals.

Lebron will either be a choker or a guy who steps up when his back is against the wall. Wade will either be done and better left on the bench for spacing or BACK and better than ever. Bosh will either be the "most important player on the team" or a soft, mentally weak player. Ray Allen will either be super clutch or forgotten. People will say "I always knew Miller/Battier/Haslem would come through when it counts, you could just see it in his eyes". They will also say "Chalmers/Cole was obviously better, they should be playing more. "Chris Anderson should have played more/less, you could tell it made a difference in the series". Spo will either be the best coach in the league or should be fired according to many on this board. And overall this season will be a complete failure or we had the title in the bag all year and we just decided to flip the switch whenever we played well.

So lets hear what everyone has to say now before the result creates the narratives.

[marcus_misc]

good thread idea.

personally i think this season will be defined by the 27 game winning streak and the 43-2 run to close the season. this was both a blessing and a curse for this team. a blessing because we finally got to see them live up to their potential - something we had not seen the past 2 years even though they went to 2 finals and won one of them. during the latter half of this season this team was the most dominant team i've seen since the 2001 lakers 15-1 postseason run.

however it was also a curse because it made this team tired. wade reinjured his knee during that stretch and it's affected him ever since. potential rest for lebron couldn't be given because we were gunning for the lakers record of 33 wins in a row.

btw i also hate the idea of narrative. hypo: heat are down 2 tonight and ray allen launches a 3 pointer as time expires. if it bounces all over the rim but somehow goes in suddenly the heat are great, spo is great, lebron is GOAT, etc. but if it goes halfway in but then inexplicably bounces out then suddenly it's time to fire spo, trade bosh, lebron's a choker, etc.

pretty dumb and crazy but that's how dumb the sports media is

[Buju]

I don't want too lol I'd add in my 2 cents AFTER this game to be honest... I don't want to think to much on it as if yet.

I just want to win this game.

[GreenHat]

Lebron was ridiculous during the season. One of the best seasons of all time. He has taken a step back during the playoffs but I think it was how teams were playing him and from fatigue from having to do so much for the team. He also was rattled by how far the Spurs were playing off of him when his jumper was not falling. I hope he keeps driving and posting up in this last game

Wade has lost a step. He still has a high ceiling as a player and can have a big game (especially if his jumper is falling) but we can't expect the old Wade from game to game. If his jumper isn't falling and he is taking a lot of bad shots we should take him out for spacing if the offense isn't working. The thing is his defense/rebounding help when he is active, especially when compared to the other guys.

Bosh is obviously not the most important player on the team and Spo saying that is either ignorance or lying. I wish he would just focus on defense and rebounding. On offense I want him crashing the boards more and cutting towards the basket. I also don't like how high we have him showing on those high pnr plays because then they have a big man rolling to the paint without us having a big near the rim.

Ray Allen completely saved our asses last game. During the season his defense was horrible but lately he's been passable there.

Miller/Battier/Haslem could hit a bunch of jumpers today. So could Neal, Green or Leonard. That's what role players do. I don't know that any of them will have a big game tonight. Battier seemed hesitant to shoot earlier in the series after being benched for so long but now he's shooting it more. Its weird that Battier was so good at shooting the 3 this regular season and then tanked in the playoffs while last year he was much better in the playoffs but not as good in the regular season. Goes to show you how variable outside shooting can be. Haslem has been decent on Duncan but his offense has been nonexistant. I don't understand why he isn't a better offensive rebounder. Miller is the best bet for a big game but I'm not counting on it. His defense has been horrible. The Spurs purposely involve him in pnrs to get him to switch onto a guy and then attack him. I like him best on Leonard because he can't guard anyone but at least he can rebound. Regardless of what he does in this one game he doesn't deserve his contract and it was a mistake.

I prefer Chalmers to Cole and have stood by that even when Cole had those big games where his 3 was falling. He should be playing almost the whole game tonight.

We were under-performing the first half of the year. Then we took off once we got Anderson. He has a bad 10 mins in a blowout and he doesn't play the next couple of games which seemed to be a mistake. He should be playing tonight, especially as the big in the space lineup.

Spo has been ok but far from the best. He takes too long to notice things and has knee jerk reactions to other things. Some of the rotations have been puzzling and he has been out coached strategically in the last two series by better coaches. The team was playing below our talent level the first half of the season and at the end of the season. We have been incredibly inconsistent which is an indictment of the coach. I don't want him fired but it doesn't seem like he is the best coach for this much talent. The problem is Riley will only hire one of his guys. Spo is probably the best choice of those guys now.

Overall I think we under-performed this season. We can still win the title because we have by far the most talent but this should be an all time great team which no longer seems likely because of our inconsistent play. Whether we are 8-6 or 7-7 to close the season it isn't that big of a difference. Both are still under-performance given the roster.

[Time4War]

People take Lebron for granted. #TheEnd

[GreenHat]

good thread idea.

personally i think this season will be defined by the 27 game winning streak and the 43-2 run to close the season. this was both a blessing and a curse for this team. a blessing because we finally got to see them live up to their potential - something we had not seen the past 2 years even though they went to 2 finals and won one of them. during the latter half of this season this team was the most dominant team i've seen since the 2001 lakers 15-1 postseason run.

however it was also a curse because it made this team tired. wade reinjured his knee during that stretch and it's affected him ever since. potential rest for lebron couldn't be given because we were gunning for the lakers record of 33 wins in a row.

btw i also hate the idea of narrative. hypo: heat are down 2 tonight and ray allen launches a 3 pointer as time expires. if it bounces all over the rim but somehow goes in suddenly the heat are great, spo is great, lebron is GOAT, etc. but if it goes halfway in but then inexplicably bounces out then suddenly it's time to fire spo, trade bosh, lebron's a choker, etc.

pretty dumb and crazy but that's how dumb the sports media is

Yeah the second half run showed our potential but it is unfortunate that for much of the last 3 years we have played well below that level.

I don't buy that it caused us to be tired because we had plenty of games to take off before the season ended and we had a huge break before the Indiana series which didn't really help.

And yeah that is how the media and fans are, that's the problem.

[krikor]

game 7 will define our season.

[kyphi]

This season has been stellar: win-loss and home/away records, no major injuries, signed Ray Allen, got Chris Anderson off waivers, the bench was consistent and deep, they had a huge win streak.

I loved it

[Grumpy Heat Fan]

Great season. Birdman is further indication we need a big man to make us really good. Hopeflly we can get a big man in the off-season. 27 win streak was amazing, too bad the chicago mafia referees ruined it by rigging the game against us in that bulls game.

the playoffs were decent, but again the NBA rigging series against us in Indy and now Spurs series was disappointing. i don't want to watch the NBA WWE anymore.

bosh has to go so we can truly be a better team, or else we risk losing to indiana next year. Heat make it too hard on themselves playing a 17 million dollar soft finesse PF/C in bosh.

i really believe chris bosh is holding this team back. if those 17 million was used on 1 or 2 or 3 big men that can REBOUND well and play defense in the paint.... we would be nearly unbeatable.

wade needs to shut it down in the off-season and go to germany for some of those high tech treatments or something.

[Buju]

Great season. Birdman is further indication we need a big man to make us really good. Hopeflly we can get a big man in the off-season. 27 win streak was amazing, too bad the chicago mafia referees ruined it by rigging the game against us in that bulls game.

the playoffs were decent, but again the NBA rigging series against us in Indy and now Spurs series was disappointing. i don't want to watch the NBA WWE anymore.

bosh has to go so we can truly be a better team, or else we risk losing to indiana next year. Heat make it too hard on themselves playing a 17 million dollar soft finesse PF/C in bosh.

i really believe chris bosh is holding this team back. if those 17 million was used on 1 or 2 or 3 big men that can REBOUND well and play defense in the paint.... we would be nearly unbeatable.

wade needs to shut it down in the off-season and go to germany for some of those high tech treatments or something.

If it wasn't for that "soft bosh" we would have been kicked out of the finals by now.

You're hate for Bosh is becoming pure annoying now.

[dshearn]

fantastic thread idea....

I think this team is insanely talented,but does not fit together well.

I think the offensive system fails them and to often the system does not raise their level of play....infact...they bail the system out by making something out of nothing.

I am simply at a loss to explain how cold the O can go with so much talent on board

Sent from my SCH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

[jrdy_rq]

Great season. Birdman is further indication we need a big man to make us really good. Hopeflly we can get a big man in the off-season. 27 win streak was amazing, too bad the chicago mafia referees ruined it by rigging the game against us in that bulls game.

the playoffs were decent, but again the NBA rigging series against us in Indy and now Spurs series was disappointing. i don't want to watch the NBA WWE anymore.

bosh has to go so we can truly be a better team, or else we risk losing to indiana next year. Heat make it too hard on themselves playing a 17 million dollar soft finesse PF/C in bosh.

i really believe chris bosh is holding this team back. if those 17 million was used on 1 or 2 or 3 big men that can REBOUND well and play defense in the paint.... we would be nearly unbeatable.

wade needs to shut it down in the off-season and go to germany for some of those high tech treatments or something.

If it wasn't for that "soft bosh" we would have been kicked out of the finals by now.

You're hate for Bosh is becoming pure annoying now.

That's such a biased argument. Yea he made key plays down the stretch but if he had played better defense on Duncan we might not have been down in the first place. Besides, he caught the rebound without Duncan there and he blocked a guy much shorter than him. Yes, I love Bosh. But for the price it's hard to justify his performance. Same goes with Wade to an extent. I'm entirely certain Wade has a lot left in the tank. I know it. I can see it when LeBron sits and he plays a 2 man game with Bosh. Or even just on random occasions he becomes unguardable. But then there's days where he is passive and not up to his own standards. This team although great as is, has not lived up to its potential. We need to make some changes this offseason win or lose. I don't mean get rid of Bosh and wade. But if we are sticking with the big 3, we need to change the way we approach the game.

[Buju]

Great season. Birdman is further indication we need a big man to make us really good. Hopeflly we can get a big man in the off-season. 27 win streak was amazing, too bad the chicago mafia referees ruined it by rigging the game against us in that bulls game.

the playoffs were decent, but again the NBA rigging series against us in Indy and now Spurs series was disappointing. i don't want to watch the NBA WWE anymore.

bosh has to go so we can truly be a better team, or else we risk losing to indiana next year. Heat make it too hard on themselves playing a 17 million dollar soft finesse PF/C in bosh.

i really believe chris bosh is holding this team back. if those 17 million was used on 1 or 2 or 3 big men that can REBOUND well and play defense in the paint.... we would be nearly unbeatable.

wade needs to shut it down in the off-season and go to germany for some of those high tech treatments or something.

If it wasn't for that "soft bosh" we would have been kicked out of the finals by now.

You're hate for Bosh is becoming pure annoying now.

That's such a biased argument. Yea he made key plays down the stretch but if he had played better defense on Duncan we might not have been down in the first place. Besides, he caught the rebound without Duncan there and he blocked a guy much shorter than him. Yes, I love Bosh. But for the price it's hard to justify his performance. Same goes with Wade to an extent. I'm entirely certain Wade has a lot left in the tank. I know it. I can see it when LeBron sits and he plays a 2 man game with Bosh. Or even just on random occasions he becomes unguardable. But then there's days where he is passive and not up to his own standards. This team although great as is, has not lived up to its potential. We need to make some changes this offseason win or lose. I don't mean get rid of Bosh and wade. But if we are sticking with the big 3, we need to change the way we approach the game.

I agree, but Timmy D is still an amazing PF - I have a hard time grasping any other "big" that we could have had instead of Bosh making Tim slow down - He was actually contesting a lot of his shots and playing great man to man D but Tim's off the glass bank shots are literally impossible to stop regardless of how you play D.

And when I mean by other Bigs I don't mean Howard or Hibbert or w/e since people are suggesting trading Bosh for couple of "bigs" which obviously no team will offer Howard/Hibbert for him.

Yes for the price of 17 mill obviously he isn't worth that much... but when MIA (IF) gives him another contract and obviously cut the price down... He'd be happy to take it. Only reason why he was offered that much is because pre-big 3 he actually received the respected amount coming from Toronto being an 24/10 big and all.

[Flash4thewin]

game 7 will define our season.

Basically this. Win or Lose i feel this team can be so much more but is being held back by Spo.

[jrdy_rq]

If it wasn't for that "soft bosh" we would have been kicked out of the finals by now.

You're hate for Bosh is becoming pure annoying now.

That's such a biased argument. Yea he made key plays down the stretch but if he had played better defense on Duncan we might not have been down in the first place. Besides, he caught the rebound without Duncan there and he blocked a guy much shorter than him. Yes, I love Bosh. But for the price it's hard to justify his performance. Same goes with Wade to an extent. I'm entirely certain Wade has a lot left in the tank. I know it. I can see it when LeBron sits and he plays a 2 man game with Bosh. Or even just on random occasions he becomes unguardable. But then there's days where he is passive and not up to his own standards. This team although great as is, has not lived up to its potential. We need to make some changes this offseason win or lose. I don't mean get rid of Bosh and wade. But if we are sticking with the big 3, we need to change the way we approach the game.

I agree, but Timmy D is still an amazing PF - I have a hard time grasping any other "big" that we could have had instead of Bosh making Tim slow down - He was actually contesting a lot of his shots and playing great man to man D but Tim's off the glass bank shots are literally impossible to stop regardless of how you play D.

And when I mean by other Bigs I don't mean Howard or Hibbert or w/e since people are suggesting trading Bosh for couple of "bigs" which obviously no team will offer Howard/Hibbert for him.

Yes for the price of 17 mill obviously he isn't worth that much... but when MIA (IF) gives him another contract and obviously cut the price down... He'd be happy to take it. Only reason why he was offered that much is because pre-big 3 he actually received the respected amount coming from Toronto being an 24/10 big and all.

That's actually what I'm looking forward to most. I wanna stick with the big three and then offer smaller contracts to Wade/Bosh. If they take it (I fully expect them to), we can then use the extra money to improve.

[MastaKiiLA]

3rd Finals in a row? 27 game win streak? Best record in the regular season? Another Bron MVP? I know it's championship or bust, but there's a ton to be proud of with this team. PEACE.

[Buju]

That's such a biased argument. Yea he made key plays down the stretch but if he had played better defense on Duncan we might not have been down in the first place. Besides, he caught the rebound without Duncan there and he blocked a guy much shorter than him. Yes, I love Bosh. But for the price it's hard to justify his performance. Same goes with Wade to an extent. I'm entirely certain Wade has a lot left in the tank. I know it. I can see it when LeBron sits and he plays a 2 man game with Bosh. Or even just on random occasions he becomes unguardable. But then there's days where he is passive and not up to his own standards. This team although great as is, has not lived up to its potential. We need to make some changes this offseason win or lose. I don't mean get rid of Bosh and wade. But if we are sticking with the big 3, we need to change the way we approach the game.

I agree, but Timmy D is still an amazing PF - I have a hard time grasping any other "big" that we could have had instead of Bosh making Tim slow down - He was actually contesting a lot of his shots and playing great man to man D but Tim's off the glass bank shots are literally impossible to stop regardless of how you play D.

And when I mean by other Bigs I don't mean Howard or Hibbert or w/e since people are suggesting trading Bosh for couple of "bigs" which obviously no team will offer Howard/Hibbert for him.

Yes for the price of 17 mill obviously he isn't worth that much... but when MIA (IF) gives him another contract and obviously cut the price down... He'd be happy to take it. Only reason why he was offered that much is because pre-big 3 he actually received the respected amount coming from Toronto being an 24/10 big and all.

That's actually what I'm looking forward to most. I wanna stick with the big three and then offer smaller contracts to Wade/Bosh. If they take it (I fully expect them to), we can then use the extra money to improve.

Bingo!

I fully expect Bosh to take one as well as Wade. Bosh indicated that he wants to retire here and be a Heat for life.. loves it here and doesn't have any intentions on playing on other teams. So it should mold and workout with these two.

[Grumpy Heat Fan]

Why would Bosh take a paycut when another team would give him the max

[Buju]

Why would Bosh take a paycut when another team would give him the max

Because he loves it here? He can easily get a max from a .500 team and he suggested he isn't interested in going anywhere else.

Why not keep him while getting more money in return thus getting bigs?