The real problem of the Miami Heat

[Riodagoat]

First of all, hello to my fellow RGM members. This last loss made me feel compelled to finally make an account and share my thoughts about this team.

I know I'm probably beating the dead horse and contradicting the consensus at the same time, but the lack of big men is not this team's problem, it's the inability to run set plays during crunch time.

We've all clamored for Bosh to rebound more, and rightfully so, he should and is capable of doing this. The thing is, we all know how this team LOVES to coast and take some nights off until the 4th quarter. If you have noticed, Bosh has amped up his effort in rebounding and you can see this in the last few games. Also if you look back in the Finals last year, we did a pretty decent job of rebounding against OKC. So in my opinion, big men isn't that big of an issue for us. We won it all last year with the same group, and the league is basically recognizing this setup and even copying it as well. ( Melo and Durant at 4)

The biggest problem I do believe is our lack of execution during crunch time. Whether it's the coaching staff or the player's fault, or both, I just don't know. But I just can't seem to understand how we always come out of a timeout with the game on the line, and our team always end up with the same play EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Predictable PnR or isolation by Lebron or Wade.

Now, our team is VERY talented. There are nights when our talent enough covers the lack set plays by this team. Last year, we faced a very inexperienced OKC team, both coaching and player-wise. But ponder this for a moment: If we can't execute or even ATTEMPT a good, solid, play down the stretch in a regular season game, how are we supposed to deal with smart teams, like lets say, the Spurs. I know it may be a long shot, but who can say it will never happen?

Maybe some of you may say this is a knee-jerk reaction, but we've had this problem for the longest time. We rely so much on PnR or iso plays down the stretch, which is NOT always a prob but it makes us very predictable. Even when we won games with this, it will be a problem come playoff time. Remember, it's a 7 game series and teams review the other's tendencies and what not.

Sooner or later, this problem is gonna bite us in the behind.

[cb1]

That was the biggest reason for the loss today. Part of that is Lebron being too passive but what do we expect when all he gets is pick n rolls and they're trapping him and forcing other guys to make plays. Running plays through the post would be nice.

[Riodagoat]

I'm as much of a LeBron homer as the other guy, but I just don't understand how it always takes so long for him to make something happen. Down the stretch, he was dribbling the ball all the way down to 10 seconds before making a play, which makes our offense stagnant and predictable. It usually either leads to a bad contested shot or a turnover. Like I said, I just can't seem to believe that this is what we are supposed to be running when the game is on the line.

Although with that being said, LeBron gave us MULTIPLE opportunities to seal the game during the first and second OT, but the execution cost us the game.

[imchillin]

I'm as much of a LeBron homer as the other guy, but I just don't understand how it always takes so long for him to make something happen. Down the stretch, he was dribbling the ball all the way down to 10 seconds before making a play, which makes our offense stagnant and predictable. It usually either leads to a bad contested shot or a turnover. Like I said, I just can't seem to believe that this is what we are supposed to be running when the game is on the line.

Although with that being said, LeBron gave us MULTIPLE opportunities to seal the game during the first and second OT, but the execution cost us the game.

its called defense, Boston clogs lanes. Lebron was playing all second half. He was tired it was obvious he was...and thats not why they lost. People take little parts of games and blow it up like thats the reason. Its not. We have wade and bosh on this team got dammit. They have no accountability? especially wade.

[Ratchet_Rio]

This is what really puzzles me about this team. Everyone remembers the Lakers game a couple weeks ago, remember down the stretch when the game was tight what we did? LeBron at the point, Bosh and I believe Joel (or Battier i dont remember) set down screens, Wade would curl on one side, Ray would come off the the other side, and Bosh would roll to the flats. In 3 straight possesions against the Lakers we got an open jumper from Wade, an open jumper from Ray, and a 15 foot jumper for LeBron. And I thought to myself during THAT game, man this late game execution is flawless and I can promise we will never see it again this year. Look at the game today..everything iso and perimeter orientated.

[imchillin]

This is what really puzzles me about this team. Everyone remembers the Lakers game a couple weeks ago, remember down the stretch when the game was tight what we did? LeBron at the point, Bosh and I believe Joel (or Battier i dont remember) set down screens, Wade would curl on one side, Ray would come off the the other side, and Bosh would roll to the flats. In 3 straight possesions against the Lakers we got an open jumper from Wade, an open jumper from Ray, and a 15 foot jumper for LeBron. And I thought to myself during THAT game, man this late game execution is flawless and I can promise we will never see it again this year. Look at the game today..everything iso and perimeter orientated.

SImple reason. Boston defense > Lakers defense

[dreamchaser]

First of all, hello to my fellow RGM members. This last loss made me feel compelled to finally make an account and share my thoughts about this team.

I know I'm probably beating the dead horse and contradicting the consensus at the same time, but the lack of big men is not this team's problem, it's the inability to run set plays during crunch time.

We've all clamored for Bosh to rebound more, and rightfully so, he should and is capable of doing this. The thing is, we all know how this team LOVES to coast and take some nights off until the 4th quarter. If you have noticed, Bosh has amped up his effort in rebounding and you can see this in the last few games. Also if you look back in the Finals last year, we did a pretty decent job of rebounding against OKC. So in my opinion, big men isn't that big of an issue for us. We won it all last year with the same group, and the league is basically recognizing this setup and even copying it as well. ( Melo and Durant at 4)

The biggest problem I do believe is our lack of execution during crunch time. Whether it's the coaching staff or the player's fault, or both, I just don't know. But I just can't seem to understand how we always come out of a timeout with the game on the line, and our team always end up with the same play EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Predictable PnR or isolation by Lebron or Wade.

Now, our team is VERY talented. There are nights when our talent enough covers the lack set plays by this team. Last year, we faced a very inexperienced OKC team, both coaching and player-wise. But ponder this for a moment: If we can't execute or even ATTEMPT a good, solid, play down the stretch in a regular season game, how are we supposed to deal with smart teams, like lets say, the Spurs. I know it may be a long shot, but who can say it will never happen?

Maybe some of you may say this is a knee-jerk reaction, but we've had this problem for the longest time. We rely so much on PnR or iso plays down the stretch, which is NOT always a prob but it makes us very predictable. Even when we won games with this, it will be a problem come playoff time. Remember, it's a 7 game series and teams review the other's tendencies and what not.

Sooner or later, this problem is gonna bite us in the behind.

[RexBoyWonder]

It's one of our problems but not the biggest because Wase and LBJ can kind of mask it most of the time.
Still, getting a decent (Just average) PG would really help, a quick guard like Darren Collison would make it alot easier to run plays and take some pressure off of LBJ and Wade, Provide another scoring option and could create for them and for others abit. Also a better offensive coach would help..but that's not going to happen.

like i said in the other thread, a Decent PG would flourish here with defenses focusing on LBJ and Wade, the sad thing is that Mario isn't good enough to take advatange of this great situation. which leaves Wade and LBJ to create EVERYTHING for EVERYONE, and so they get tired, it's all on them all the time, it gets predictable and they're not even PG's.

[Riodagoat]

I'm as much of a LeBron homer as the other guy, but I just don't understand how it always takes so long for him to make something happen. Down the stretch, he was dribbling the ball all the way down to 10 seconds before making a play, which makes our offense stagnant and predictable. It usually either leads to a bad contested shot or a turnover. Like I said, I just can't seem to believe that this is what we are supposed to be running when the game is on the line.

Although with that being said, LeBron gave us MULTIPLE opportunities to seal the game during the first and second OT, but the execution cost us the game.

its called defense, Boston clogs lanes. Lebron was playing all second half. He was tired it was obvious he was...and thats not why they lost. People take little parts of games and blow it up like thats the reason. Its not. We have wade and bosh on this team got dammit. They have no accountability? especially wade.

I'm not bringing down the hammer on LeBron. Like I said, he was the only reason we were in the game and almost won it despite the lack of execution down the stretch. I remember him having about 2 or 3 shots that were half way in. He put us in a great spot to win. If I'm going to be critical, I'll probably put more of the blame on Wade and Spo. Wade had a couple of bad offensive possessions that could have sealed the win, and Spo just made horrible adjustments throughout the game.

Bosh was playing really well during the first half and I don't even remember him having an attempt or play for him from the 4th quarter onwards. Battier was on the floor for too long. Our last possession with 5 seconds left looked nothing like a designed play but rather a get-the-ball-to-wade-or-lebron-and-do-something.

[Pimpwerx]

We're #2 in ORTG, and we've won a lot of close games with clutch crunchtime play. Didn't we win the last game in 2OT by executing in crunchtime? A close game against the Lakers turned into a big win because of solid late-game execution. This has not been a problem with this team since 2011. Boston just played really strong defense all game long. The offensive execution was consistently sloppy all game. PEACE.

[SweetTouch]

I didn't know Rios dad posted on RealGM

[Ratchet_Rio]

[
SImple reason. Boston defense > Lakers defense

That doesnt mean you line up and go iso everytime down the floor, or not get Bosh a touch for 5 minutes. Thats not smart basketball. Sorry folks for the bad paint job I was trying to illustrate that set we ran against the Lakers. As you see LeBron had 2 options (Wade and Ray) coming off screens, or he could opt to take his man off dribble. The two pick guys (Bosh and Battier) can roll to flats for a jumper, or cut to the basket. It's such a simple set yet has many options, I cant believe they didnt go to it.

[imchillin]

It's one of our problems but not the biggest because Wase and LBJ can kind of mask it most of the time.
Still, getting a decent (Just average) PG would really help, a quick guard like Darren Collison would make it alot easier to run plays and take some pressure off of LBJ and Wade, Provide another scoring option and could create for them and for others abit. Also a better offensive coach would help..but that's not going to happen.

like i said in the other thread, a Decent PG would flourish here with defenses focusing on LBJ and Wade, the sad thing is that Mario isn't good enough to take advatange of this great situation. which leaves Wade and LBJ to create EVERYTHING for EVERYONE, and so they get tired, it's all on them all the time, it gets predictable and they're not even PG's.

Whenever a need for a point guard is discussed, people laugh. But i agree. I dnt want lebron to have to create all the time especially when no pg is on the floor. Its too much. This team is weak at the most important positions, and people think we're just coasting. They ignore the weaknesses because we made finals two years straight...but pg play is a big problem for us.

[RexBoyWonder]

This team is weak at the most important positions

Totally agree, it's really amazing on so many levels and it's a testament to how great the Big 3 are.

Still to this day im amazed that after getting the big 3 (SG + SF + PF) we didnt bother to get a decent PG and a Center. that would have made a complete team, maybe without much of a bench but we would have had a killer starting 5. instrad we got another small PF (Haslem) another SF (Miller, the position behind out best player) and left 2 starting positions to bench caliber players (Joel and Mario, or Big Z and Arroyo)

That move still boggles my mind to this day, and we're still paying for it because we still dont have a starting PG or Center.

If we can get another Decent bigman (Dalembert, Okafor, speights) to team up with Birdman and share the minutes at Center, and then also get a Darren Collison type PG, we would destroy teams..just destroy. Everyone will play in their real position, we'll be much more balanced and dangerous.

As of right now, we're playing 3 vs 5 most of time..with guys like Mario pretending to be a stater and Battier pretending to be PF...Miller and Haslem pretnding they deserve the big minutes they're getting.

[LeChosen1]

PG Problem is not as huge as people make it seem, Yes Heat could use a better PG but Mario is alright.

Heats problem is they are starting to play Outside then In, Offense has become completely based on 3 point Shooting.

Its is funny how just last year this team wanted to pound in the paint and wanted to cut back on 3 point attempts

[DefenseWins]

Yeah uh... Boston's defense and how they frustrated and clog up the Heat should be mentioned.

The Lakers don't have a game plan for us like Boston does. Didn't Doc say he talks about the Heat everyday (well.. maybe he doesn't anymore, I don't know), wants Boston to hate us, and whatnot. Doc actually has solid game plans against our stars. We don't against theirs. This might have been a blow out loss if we played this way and a healthy Rondo was out there. Other teams try to stop the team as a whole, like the zone. Very few teams actually try to stop Wade and LeBron, mostly LeBron. And Boston is one of them (in terms of trapping, clogging, etc cause he still dropped 30).

Wade ... can't ball handle at the perimeter when the shotclock winds down. Nothing good ever happens.. this ain't 2008. Not with LeBron out there. I know he has had some good shots, but just... not today...

Mario didn't score today, our freakin' PG. Cole outplayed him.

It was just an overall bad game. Our defense was good, but it could have been better, crazy enough. But our offense against Boston always seems to stink.

LeBron also was passive more so than not, despite having a huge night and lots of FG's. But his perimeter drives looked brutal... like he was taking a lot of hits and just couldn't barrel his way most of the time.

I was really disappointed at that last play. It's like they said "pass it and whoever is open, shoot it". It was very mediocre. A defending champ team would have drawn something up. Then there's the "they didn't have to draw anything up, its just a regular season game!". You prepare for the playoffs from what you've learnt from the regular season... Spo supporters seem to not think this guy relies on the talent of this team, more so than his actual coaching. Not exactly bashing him, but all roads lead to Spo.

It's been awhile since I have never wanted to see Wade touch a basketball in a game. Man was he bad today.

In the end, we are still the number 1 seed... will probably end up 1 or 2. Mostly 2, I wouldn't be surprised.

But this team's offense, despite Allen joining, the last 3 years have been hard to watch when we aren't bulldozing through teams. The Half court sets continue to suck. I remember last year, before the ASG, our offense was amazing and nice to watch. Picks, sets, midrange game, etc. It fell apart, and never recuperated after that. The 3 point shooting then became lights out. Everything fell into place. Despite all of that, we still relied on LeBron's talents. MAJORLY, with some Wade in there.

But it's like our team didn't adjust to what Boston was doing... we'll see come playoff time if we see them in the playoffs. I know we still have some regular season games, but the difference between regular games and playoff games against Boston is night and day.

[SideshowBob]

Unless I'm very much mistaken, Miami has the #1 crunch time offense AND differential in the entire league, so I think making the assumption made in the OP is a bit too reactionary.

[IG2]

Unless I'm very much mistaken, Miami has the #1 crunch time offense AND differential in the entire league, so I think making the assumption made in the OP is a bit too reactionary.

This. Their late-game offense has been spectacular this season, without ever running much "plays". Crunch time is the time you give your stars the ball and tell 'em to win the game period. It's ALWAYS been like that. The teams who call "plays" in this situation are those who don't have very good players to begin with.

Miami lost today because their shooters couldn't make a shot(typical of them on the road), and Wade sucked beyond belief.

[dolphinatik]

Offensive execution has been our main problem. Defense, bigmen, pg play etc etc are all distractions to the fact that in games that we lost our offense was horrendous. Defense? thats not it either. We are just not getting good looks and creating good opportunities. We are not using all our options and that limits us tremendously. Today we did not play team ball esp in the overtimes. Our pace was halted and that is not Bostons D its just poor offense. We need to get back to getting out in front of the games.

[imchillin]

Our offense isn't that bad, carelessness on offense is.

Our defense is worst than our offense. Role players not stepping up is a problem. Bad pg play and no center is a problem. Break down our first line of defense there's no rim stoppers. Rebounding is a problem. Our offense is fine mostly until we get in a tight game and lebron can't bail us out

The turned the ball over alot today. Wade did a bunch of low ow plays . Bad lineups. Spo bad coaching is why we lost