No Time To Panic For Miami
While LeBron detractors…haters are falling over themselves to clown the night away on Twitter, they may want to take a moment to reconsider prematurely celebrating. Funny, as most people point to James’ premature ‘coronation’ as their justification for disliking the man. Whatever their reasons may be, it seems like an overwhelming majority of folks are rooting for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Personally, I don’t have a ‘dog in the fight’ as a lifelong Laker fan. That said, I still love and appreciate basketball, and I’m hoping we at least get a good series out of the match-up many NBA fans wanted to see. Predictably, the Heat looked like a tired group on Tuesday night in OKC. Coming off that grueling 7-game series with Boston, that had to have been a concern for Miami fans. James had his moments, but still settled for too many fadeaways, and too many contested jump-shots. More confusing than anything, I’m not quite certain why Dwyane Wade is getting a pass? The 8 assists are nice, but without a few buckets after the game had been decided, Wade (4-15 fg at one point) seemed to be most affected by the lack of rest. Then again, ‘trying’ to chase these young Thunder players around, when already dead tired, might do that to you.
The real trouble for Miami is the fact that OKC got 60% of their scoring (63 of the team’s 105 points) from Kevin Durant 
and Russell Westbrook. If that trend continues, it will be a quick and unfortunate series for the Heat. In a game where OKC only had 3 players reach double-figures, and Miami gets 29 points out of Battier and Chalmers, you’d think a double-digit loss would be unlikely. Trouble is, on a night where Wade is struggling to produce, the Heat are going to need more than 10 points, five rebounds from Chris Bosh. I realize he’s still working his way back from injury, but if he’s able to play 34 minutes, then Miami will simply need more productivity out of him.
Full disclosure, I picked OKC in 6 for this series and stand by that prediction, but still wouldn’t be surprised if Miami were able to get their legs beneath them, and steal Game 2. The battle of coaching adjustments may end up being the difference in the series, as Coach Spoelstra is going to need to make some adjustments to his situational offensive schemes. At times, even in the biggest of moments, Miami’s offense continues to display that look of a lackluster pick-up game. What should be a scary thought for Miami fans is the fact that James Harden was held (foul trouble) in check with just five points, three assists. If you’ve been watching his steady improvement, you’ll know it isn’t likely that he’ll fail to reach double-digits in either points or assists from here on out. Game 2 is on Thursday night. We’ll see if a day’s rest, and some timely adjustments can make a difference for James’ Heat.
Jabari A. Davis
@RealTalkOnSprts on Twitter
5 Responses to “No Time To Panic For Miami”
Trackbacks / Pingbacks
- - June 13, 2012
Very good point for sure. The Heat definitely have some problems though. They’re going to get consistent play from Lebron every night but I’m just not sure Wade is completely healthy. He’s just not getting it done like he normally does and the issue is that the bench just can’t sustain the type of play they had in the 1st half. That was an anomaly in an otherwise anemic bench, that really wasn’t supposed to be anemic going into the season. They’re going to have to fix some things but make no mistake, this is going to be a tight series. Also, you think you could take a peak at my blog cuz I’d love to hear what you have to say http://chrisross91.wordpress.com/2012/06/13/because-of-you/
I’ll actually do you one better, after reading it, now I’ll tweet it, so my followers can (hopefully) give you some feedback. You read that so fast, I thought it was undoubtedly a spam situation!
For the record, this was written specifically for a MIA blog.. I don’t know that I buy the whole injury thing with Wade. I know he may be banged up, but he seemed fine down the stretch of that Pacers series. Is it possible his body has ‘aged’ a bit prematurely…due to the injuries over the years? As a Kobe fan, I witness the pattern…some days Wade’s body let’s him be dominant…while others? Not so much. :p I agree with your thoughts on Durant, and agree MIA is in trouble…just not willing to completely write them off, quite yet. 
The more I see of OKC, the more convinced I become they’re changing the face of basketball. First of all, they are a complete team — and they are deep at all the positions! Not only that, the Thunder is talented like no other team I’ve seen in a long time. Dallas last year was all about Nowitzski and Jason Terry with the role players doing just that, playing their roles and you saw what that did to the Heat. Not only that, but Erick Spoelstra was thoroughly outcoached. But let’s look at Miami, this year. Fact is they have not been impressive, not as a team. They’ve relied, in the main, on LeBron and Wade. Of late, Battier has raised some eyebrows with his 3-point shooting but that’s not going to do it…not by a (no pun intended) longshot. As for Udonis Haslem and Chalmers, they are spear carriers at best and fact is neither would be starting for OKC. I see, in the Thunder (and I say this as a lifelong Lakers fan) a team that has been a dynasty in the making — and it looks as though they have arrived. They came through the toughest slate of playoff opponent starting with Dallas, then the Lakers, and then the Spurs. And handled each one with little to no trouble. When I say “handled,” I mean they took these teams apart not with their vaunted offense (which deserves all the praise it has been receiving, btw) but with a defense that is stifling! Serge Ibaka is Dennis Rodman who can shoot the ball. Thabo Sefolosa is a defender who can (and has) lock down anyone assigned, and then put the ball in the basket. He’s got a great upside. James Harden would be starting, and starring, for any other team in the league and that includes the Heat where Chalmers would be sitting on the bench. Russell Westbrook is the prototype PG of the future — he’s super fast, bigger than Rose and Chris Paul, jumps out of the gym, has a great IQ as they say, and he’s still developing while already being an All-Star. And Kevin Durant is Da Truth! He’s of that one in a generation group who is peerless as a scorer and yet plays lockdown defense. Add to that the fact they are not just super fast, they are young and have a swagger that comes from experience. They know what they have to do and they respect one another. I almost forgot Kindal Perkins, the “Old Man” of the group for whom Miami has no answer in the post. And Scotty Brooks, the leader of the gang, is light years superior to Spoelstra (too bad Pat Riley can’t be down there on the floor). You’re picking OKC is six games. I see five games and no, I don’t see Miami “stealing” Game 2 which is exactly what would have to happen — Grand Theft. It’s not just tired legs, Bruh (they said the same about Dallas, about my beloved Lakers and finally the Spurs with their precision playmaking). I see every GM already on the phone, talkingit up, trying to figure out what they can start doing to build a team that can compete — not with the Heat, but the Thunder. Truth is, I’m hoping the Lakers are willing to trade Gasol and Sessions to New Jersey so as to pickup Daron and give Kobe some help in the backcourt. That would be a start.And after that, everything’s on the table — trade Bynum for Dwight Howard and now you have the sort of team that could compete successfully with the Thunder. They have, quietly, become the new Standard of Excellence. And no matter the length of this series, they will prevail. Their time has come. That’s all an “Old Man” has to say.
I couldn’t agree more, Professors Scott. In fact, that’s what scares me about the future of the Lakers. It may very well be a case of, regardless of what “magic” Mitch can pull off…will it be good enough to offset how deep, stacked, and skilled this young OKC team is? May take several years to reshape the roster to a point where it can truly compete. I’m right there with you, and hope the Lakers realize the necessity of some drastic moves. Simply re-tooling, as some Laker fans are encouraging, will not get it done. The blueprint of the future is right there before us. No time to hold on to an aging roster that simply cannot compete in a full series against this young juggernaut.