Gamethread: Heat @ Hawks, Jan 20 - 5:30 PM ET

[Gwynplaine]

Absolutely pathetic defense.. Disgusting..
This is why we need young blood and not washed up old **** like Rashard and Mason. Some vets are fine. Too many is a problem. There will lack fire and intensity.

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[Aussie Heat Fan]

Absolutely pathetic defense.. Disgusting..
This is why we need young blood and not washed up old **** like Rashard and Mason. Some vets are fine. Too many is a problem. There will lack fire and intensity.

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Need to get a young 3 & D guy. Hopefully with a young kid out there busting his ass every game on both ends, some of the others might follow.

[heatlespeatles]

we need to find a way to get Faried from the Nuggets

[Gwynplaine]

Absolutely pathetic defense.. Disgusting..
This is why we need young blood and not washed up old **** like Rashard and Mason. Some vets are fine. Too many is a problem. There will lack fire and intensity.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using RealGM Forums mobile app

Need to get a young 3 & D guy. Hopefully with a young kid out there busting his ass every game on both ends, some of the others might follow.

Someone like that Jimmy Butler guy.. But that's not the only problem.. Our 4 position is extremely weak when we go small and it's not LeBron or Bosh playing the position..

[nbhadja]

Lack of center is the problem with the defense. Signing a PG, SG, SF, or PF will make no difference at all.

[Js2k0516]

Absolutely pathetic defense.. Disgusting..
This is why we need young blood and not washed up old **** like Rashard and Mason. Some vets are fine. Too many is a problem. There will lack fire and intensity.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using RealGM Forums mobile app

Need to get a young 3 & D guy. Hopefully with a young kid out there busting his ass every game on both ends, some of the others might follow.

Someone like that Jimmy Butler guy.. But that's not the only problem.. Our 4 position is extremely weak when we go small and it's not LeBron or Bosh playing the position..

Jimmy Butler sucks.

[Aussie Heat Fan]

Absolutely pathetic defense.. Disgusting..
This is why we need young blood and not washed up old **** like Rashard and Mason. Some vets are fine. Too many is a problem. There will lack fire and intensity.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using RealGM Forums mobile app

Need to get a young 3 & D guy. Hopefully with a young kid out there busting his ass every game on both ends, some of the others might follow.

Someone like that Jimmy Butler guy.. But that's not the only problem.. Our 4 position is extremely weak when we go small and it's not LeBron or Bosh playing the position..

Thing is, it should be mainly Bosh playing that position. But instead we have to play him at the 5. I really hope we can re-structure the roster next season. Nothing too major, but try get the Big 3 to re-structure their contracts so we can get our cap situation to a point where we have a MLE for a decent C. Nothing special, just someone who allows Bosh to play at the 4.

For this year it's why I'm a big advocate of signing Bynum. Not only for the fact he'd give us a big guy to put up against Hibbert but it would allow us to play Bosh at the 4 instead of Lewis/Haslem.

[BoshtimusPrime]

We aren't making any notable acquisitions. Bynum probably wants our mini-MLE but he's not worth it I guess. I'm just gonna pray that all this rest will actually help Dwyane Wade's knee come playoff time and enable him to play well 5 out of 7 games.

[homecourtloss]

When you sign 3 max players, this is the roster you get. Everything IS dependent on these guys to score and create while others help them rebound and defend. The problem is that we're not rebounding or defending well enough; the headless chicken defense requires intensity and athleticism. Lebron has been coasting on defense and without him spearheading the defense, we're seeing all these teams exploit us. Nobody is panicked because we seem to rebound better and defend better in the playoffs; I hope we can do it again this year.

One thing is for sure: the constant lineup changes is killing any type if rhythm on offense or defense, especially defensive rotations and communication between teammates.

[daschysta]

I've come to accept The HEAT aren't getting # 1 seed this year. You just have to accept the losses and hope for the best in the playoffs. ECF is a lock at least lol.

Your just now coming to accept the fact that the Heat literally don't give a crap about getting the #1 seed I could've told you that in December. Too many people on here are expecting the Heat to bust out for another 27 game winning streak which just isn't going to happen

This season is nearly a mirror image of the year the Heat conceded the #1 seed to the Bulls who gunned it all year.

Difference is Indy isn't running it's players into the ground like Thibs. PG plays barely 36 per game. They are trying to win obviously but they aren't really pushing anything, they are winning easily and getting plenty of rest.

[HeatNationLA]

OK. Let me break it down for all of you that are blaming LeBron for being too passive as of late down the stretch. LeBron just straight up doesn't give a damn right now. It's the middle of the season and he is playing in 2nd or 3rd gear in complete coast mode. There's no incentive right now to play hero ball and display that killer instinct.

Have you all forgotten how LeBron plays when his back is against the wall or if there is an incentive? For example 27 game win streak last year, remember how he completely went off in some of those 4th quarters? Game winner against the Magic, game winner against the Rockets, game winner against the Celtics, 4th quarter barrage against the Cavs. To me, LeBron is so out-of-this-worldly good that he picks and chooses when he wants to play. He has an on/off switch unlike any other player I've seen. That's what makes him different than Kobe/Jordan. Kobe/Jordan never coasted, maybe to a fault at times. But LeBron picks and chooses his games, and those games where he kicks it up to 6th gear in my eyes, he trumps any former or current player.

LeBron has that killer instinct buried deep inside and he only brings it out when he absolutely must. Eg. 27 game win streak, game 6 of the NBA Finals, even though he bricked two threes down the stretch, he was willing to die by his jumper.

It's only January, real LeBron will show up in the 2nd or 3rd round of the playoffs.

[BballMania47]

I feel like some people are playing for contracts or something, notably Mario. I've never seen him look for his shot and have the ball as much as he has now. Who actually feels confident a good play will be the result? Ray is being straight up selfish, every game, and he constantly looks LBJ off to get his own. I like Bosh being more aggressive but if that means more turnovers then that's never good.
Like others have said their is no consistency in the lineup. Basically I've felt like we've given up wins in order for Wade to rest and that sucks because I am one of those who is skeptical on just how healthy he will be. I just don't want Wade to be the only one showing up in the playoffs because LeBron and Bosh were too gassed from the regular season.

[Gwynplaine]

Someone like that Jimmy Butler guy.. But that's not the only problem.. Our 4 position is extremely weak when we go small and it's not LeBron or Bosh playing the position..

Jimmy Butler sucks.

??? No he doesn't!!! Guy is injured and playing close to 40 minutes without players who can't create. He is bad-ass defensively. Hard-worker and a great kid. He would be a super stud on our team.

[DWadeno3]

A typical loss for us and nothing that justifies the overreactions and whining in here.