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This board is slowly becoming a cesspool with all the whiny "fans" complaining incessantly about Haslem or Lewis or why doesn't Beasley get 4-5 more minutes per game (as if that would make a difference) or asking for Bynum or Dalembert.



So let me try to inject some common sense:

The real reason why the Heat look much worse than last year has nothing to do with not having Dalembert or Bynum, and role players getting older is just a small factor.

The Heat are coasting HARD !!!
And Lebron is the captain, especially on D.

You have too look beyond the box score, but Lebron's D has been horrendous (compared to previous seasons, not to the league average). Not just his blocks, or his on ball D, but his discipline in general. He gambles A LOT for steals, often leaving the rest of the team play 4 on 5, doesn't bother too much to run back on D, doesn't rotate well - or at all (like the time he yelled at Mario when he was the one who had to rotate).

I thought I was seeing things, but recently others started taking notice too (Haberstroh, for example).

Lebron (and the others) not rotating is a big reason why teams have been getting tons of open looks against the Heat this season and shooting sometimes 60% or more for a half.

The difference is HUGE. Lebron was IMO the DPOY last season. Besides being able to defend multiple positions, he was the only elite perimeter defender that didn't have an elite big man defender to back him up. Just think about it: Tony Allen - Marc Gasol, Sefolosha - Ibaka, Avery Bradley - Garnett, Shumpert - Chandler. Lebron - Lebron?. Having a big man defender behind allows you to gamble more on D, be more aggressive, stay closer to your man (cause someone will be there to stop a drive), risk a bit more. Lebron did it without taking gambles, just by being defensively sound.

And you know what ?
I am perfectly fine with it, and so should you.

It's very rare for a team to make 4 finals in a row, and it takes a huge toll, physically and mentally. So the Heat made up their mind before the season started to coast like crazy. You sometimes see the competitive nature of the players during games, but overall they don't give a **** when they lose a game. Even Spoelstra looks on like a child who didn't get his favourite toy for Christmas, but understands that's all his parents afforded. He doesn't even try to push them like he was doing in previous seasons.

This is the best course of action if they hope to be as rested and as healthy as possible for the playoffs. They obviously don't care much about HCA in the ECF or Finals, they are comfortable in the 2nd place in the East and their record is still damn good even with all this hard core coasting.

So just relax and enjoy the ride. Take a chill pill and stop with the panic.
After 3 finals and back to back titles, I think Riley, the players and (even) Spoelstra have earned the right not to be second guessed by random clueless nobodies on the Internet.

I am pretty sure that when the playoffs roll in, we'll see a different Heat team.

I think you can add Wade's name in there too and their lack of motivation to really play balls to the wall on both ends of the floor.

We was against the Pacers at Indy that lock defense ok it was during the first half, they are simply coasting this regular season, i know it's frustrating and i am mad when we allow the Wizards or the Hawks scoring so many points.
We are getting older and you cant ask them to play at a high level on defense, i have accepted even it's tough !

Lebron is the last person to blame on defense considering how this team is playing. If the players arent that interested in the reg season no problem play them less to help get them healthy for the playoffs but lets see last night Lebron plays almost 40 min? Ray Allen 36 min? Was anyone playing defense? If your not going to play defense play players who can score right? Common sense right? Yet here we are

LeBron's averaging like 40 minutes in January. It's complete bull ****. I know he's an ironman, but Spo's said part of the reason 2011 Finals was such a failure was because LeBron was gassed. We're resting Wade so he can be healthy, compensating for that with no legit back up (Miller last year) for him forcing us to play LeBron 40 mpg. What if he's gassed by the ECF or Finals? And Wade's health is not guaranteed. What's the point of Wade being healthy if the rest of the team, especially the best player, is gassed?

MisterHibachi wrote:LeBron's averaging like 40 minutes in January. It's complete bull ****. I know he's an ironman, but Spo's said part of the reason 2011 Finals was such a failure was because LeBron was gassed. We're resting Wade so he can be healthy, compensating for that with no legit back up (Miller last year) for him forcing us to play LeBron 40 mpg. What if he's gassed by the ECF or Finals? And Wade's health is not guaranteed. What's the point of Wade being healthy if the rest of the team, especially the best player, is gassed?

I agree ! We lack a good solution to backup wade when he is out. Roger Mason Jr is not the answer and you cant ask Ray to play 35/40mn he is already gassed !

The priority is not a big man but some young legs in the wing ! Damn even Ennis could have provided something i am sure

I was mad at Spoelstra for running Lebron into the ground in 2011.
Immediately after the finals, when everybody was talking about how Lebron was not clutch or how he choked or how he'll never win, I kept trying to tell people the reason he played so poorly was because Spoelstra stepped right into the trap the Mavs set for him.

They wanted Spoelstra to put Lebron on a perimeter guy (Terry) and they even talked openly about it during the finals. And afterwards Kidd and Terry and someone else again talked openly how they wanted to tire Lebron out. So they got Terry running through screens non-stop, and Lebron was asked to chase him after just doing the same with Rose.

And Spoelstra nearly did it again in 2012 (remember the cramps game ?).

So now I'd rather see them coasting than killing themselves over regular season games, especially since the brand of defense the Heat employs is much more demanding than other systems.

I wish Lebron could play 32 min per game, but my guess is that if he's playing 40 at half speed, it's still better than 32-35 at full speed with lock-down D.

Truth is the team is coasting and people shouldn´t get too caught up into the regular season even if it´s very easily to do so because a huge part of the formula for 3 peating will be not running out of gas. So we won´t get HCA, well again great teams win on the road let Indiana get HCA and lull them into a false sense of security.

Regarding Bron: Lebron is at the level where he is so good that he can enter the game average his 26, 7, 7 with ridiculous efficiency and get his teammates going easily. When he has done that win or lose it is what it is. Do not expect him to put out more than the minimum effort on the defensive side. The funny part is Lebron is so much better but it´s so rarely showcased.

Not many teams going for a 3 peat have had HCA. I don't think any did actually.

Completely disagree. Having no center is the problem. It has been the problem all along. We have won 2 titles despite the extreme disadvantage of no center. We nearly lost to Indy and Boston in 2012 and Indy and Spurs in 2013 because of our lack of center.

You think Lebron can defend Roy Hibbert or Tim Duncan? Even when he tries he cannot defend those 2 well and those 2 are what killed us last year because we had no center.

nbhadja wrote:Completely disagree. Having no center is the problem. It has been the problem all along. We have won 2 titles despite the extreme disadvantage of no center. We nearly lost to Indy and Boston in 2012 and Indy and Spurs in 2013 because of our lack of center.

You think Lebron can defend Roy Hibbert or Tim Duncan? Even when he tries he cannot defend those 2 well and those 2 are what killed us last year because we had no center.

No disrespect to them, but Duncan is old and Hibbert is overrated.

2012: Bosh injured (abdominal muscle)
2013: Wade injured (knee)

And if anyone thinks you can build a team with strengths at every position, you haven't been watching much basketball.

Sure, it'd be nice if a good C fell in the Heat's lap. But that doesn't tend to happen very often.
So till then, the Heat have to roll with what they have.

Coming up with ideas like "let's sign Ivan Johnson so he can defend West (and put Bosh on the bench, I guess, cause you know, Ivan Johnson is that good) is just idiotic. There's no way to sugar coat it. Some people are just plain stupid, and refuse to learn anything before letting that stupidity come out their mouths/keyboards.

This core proved it knows how to win, so trading someone now would be stupid beyond belief, not to mention against everything Riley says the Heat stands for.

I generally agree with the OP's sentiment.

But the fact that we're not playing with full effort doesn't mean lack of effort is our only weakness. Lack of size and headless chicken defense are just HIGHLIGHTING our lack of effort. They're making it worse.

Also, since we are getting older, and teams are adjusting to our defense, more effort might not be enough. It would help for sure, but you don't know if the upgrade will be enough to play championship Defense.

That's why I want to add size :
1) With more size, you can manage better even without giving full effort. this will really help especially during the regular season where effort is an issue.
2) If we start playing with more effort in money time and we're still not stoping teams well enough (Due to reasons mentioned before) - then what? we better not put all our eggs in the "more effort fixes everything" basket.

Oden is part of the defensive insurance we need, but we still need one more sizable piece.

Agreed about Wade too. Both these guys SET THE TONE.

LeBron isn't there mentally a lot of the time... and I think people notice. Sometimes he looks like he's about to take over, then just stands in the corner. When it's go time, he is involved on every play. I mean these days he is complaining about his shots, wtf?

Things are just weird as well right now, and it's from Spo, to LBJ, to Wade, to our cast.

People need to be held accountable too.

Regarding LeBron, he's been a step slower these days, even getting dunked on a lot. Any other year he's blocking that shot. I mean he got dunked on by Ramon Sessions, how does that happen?

If I don't see some improvement by March, I do think the panic button has the be hit.

oh we are blaming Lebron's defense now? The guy who hides all our flaw? cool lololol

This is experimentation time for Spo. He's benching guys from whom he knows what he will get, and giving burn to Mason to see what he can give the team. All these different lineups are him and Riley seeing what works best and what they need to fix. I don't like it in the short term because I want us to go 82-0 and 16-0 in the playoffs, but this is better for the long term. If you never give Mason any minutes you just won't know what you're gonna get from him and if you try to rely on him in the playoffs, you're getting screwed. It's better to be screwed in Jan than April and May and June.

I understand why they are coasting and all that, but it is frustrating as hell to watch. they've lost four of their last six to some very mediocre teams...

Don't really buy it. Our defense was good in November and LeBron and Wade were still coasting/sitting out games then too.

The only thing that passes me off in game threads is when guys start **** on LeBron, like it's no chance we are even in games without him.

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Amorphous Blob wrote:The only thing that passes me off in game threads is when guys start **** on LeBron, like it's no chance we are even in games without him.

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LeBron can get s*** for his play just as much as anybody. I hate how this board is in extremes. Some wanna tear LeBron completely apart, others want nothing but praise for him. Everybody knows how good the guy is, that doesn't mean he's free of criticism and that doesn't mean he can't be detrimental to the team at times.

DWadeno3 wrote:

Amorphous Blob wrote:The only thing that passes me off in game threads is when guys start **** on LeBron, like it's no chance we are even in games without him.

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LeBron can get s*** for his play just as much as anybody. I hate how this board is in extremes. Some wanna tear LeBron completely apart, others want nothing but praise for him. Everybody knows how good the guy is, that doesn't mean he's free of criticism and that doesn't mean he can't be detrimental to the team at times.

I'm talking about the guys who do nothing but complain about Lebron If he misses a rotation sure blame him and criticize him but when he saves our asses which is the majority of the time these people are no where to be seen and are back to nut hugging.

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