# The how are the Heat doing thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 21, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-are-the-heat-doing-thread/561435 "2010-11-21T15:00:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-are-the-heat-doing-thread/561435/21 "2010-11-23T19:13:27Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Because the expectations were about winning championships, not about having a good first one-sixth of the regular season. It goes without saying that very few people thought they’d struggle like this even without the injuries, but most people acknowledge the regular season does not mean very much in the NBA. You can’t put that aside just because Miami is having a mediocre start. Who says the regular season doesn’t mean much? Regular season records mean quite a lot. The league champion almost always has an excellent regular season record; it’s very rare for a team that puts up a respectable but not great record to win it all. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-are-the-heat-doing-thread/561435/22 "2010-11-23T21:02:12Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Who says the regular season doesn’t mean much? Is this really the first time you’ve heard anyone say that? Yes, the best teams win in the regular season, too. It’s also well accepted that their effort, especially in the first couple of months, is spotty. The Spurs were famous for slow starts and focusing more on pacing themselves than on wins, the Celtics acknowledged doing it last year. The issue was stirred up again this year when Andrew Bynum decided to delay his knee surgery so he could go to South Africa to watch the World Cup even though it meant he’d miss a large chunk of the season. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-are-the-heat-doing-thread/561435/23 "2010-11-25T01:07:43Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > Because right now, the differences between the Heat as presently constituted and a Heat team with the best record in the East are an OT loss on a career night by Paul Millsap in which he went 3-3 from three point range to make the third, fourth and fifth threes of his _career_ (he’s one of my favorite players, believe it or not, but you have to admit it’s a little fluky), and buzzer beater by Rudy Gay. That’s it. Those two things break a little differently and the Heat have the best record in the conference despite the injuries and despite all the flaws that you’ve identified for us. Would those two events, which aren’t even in the Heat’s direct control, have meant the doubters were all wrong if they had happened in the Heat’s favor? But such lucky bounces of the ball happens to every team. Sure it’s early, but if prognostication was really such a crap shoot, then you’d have to come up with reasons why the other projected good teams are doing pretty well. The Lakers, Spurs, Celtics, and Magic are currently the tops in their conferences, with a few surprises like the Hornets mixed in. I think most of us believed at one time that with such great players, the Heat shouldn’t have to hope for a lucky shot by Gay or a career night by Millsap: they should have been dominating these teams. For their margin of error to be so small as to be a couple shots away from a good record doesn’t speak well when they go up against the good teams of the league (Boston and Orlando, 2-1 against them with another game tonight against the Magic which I’m expecting the Heat to lose). > [@Marley23](#): > > Which was stupid. I thought I said at the time but maybe I didn’t. It’s dumb to pick any team to win more games than that because anybody can get hurt at any time. And the fact that this is a completely new team makes it that much dumber. It’s not that one-sided. Most people assumes the qualifier of “unless somebody’s injured”. But I think people talk about injuries where they’d have to sit out games, not just a wrist injury that makes Wade go 1-13 and have a historically bad night. The Lakers won with Kobe’s bad knees and Bynum hobbled. The Celtics resembled an ER ward in the last half of the season. The Big 3 can play, and play through their injuries, but they’ve not been able to shed that soft label or be seen as a middling team > [@Marley23](#): > > Most of which are likely to be overcome with time, particularly the chemistry but mostly the injuries. I do think they’ll have to try to pick up a better point guard option and find some more help in the paint. They’re apparently looking at Erick Dampier - which everybody always does. I think the Heat will bounce back and have a respectable record, but not a good record, and certainly not a good record by the lofty standards of preseason ranking projections. Given their struggles and injuries so far, I’d say they are a 57 win team at best. As for Dampier, there’s a reason Dallas got rid of him… > [@Marley23](#): > > Not this year. They noticed it’s gotten harder to turn it on because their team is getting older. Yeah, they are a real shock this year. Richard Jefferson seems to have taken his body back from the ghost of Richard Jefferson last year > [@Marley23](#): > > Right, so your opinion shouldn’t be taken seriously. 😛 So mean! > [@Marley23](#): > > It doesn’t matter if ‘people have confidence’ that they’ll bounce back. If they get healthy, they will bounce back. In terms of talent and stats, they’re a better team than their record indicates. Unless you ignore their softness, lack of size (even with Haslem), and seeming [lack of chemistry.](http://basketbawful.blogspot.com/) > [@](#): > > The most bawful sequence of the night was transcribed by Basketbawful reader Paul in last night’s BAD comments: > At one point in the third quarter things got really weird for the Heat. > > Dwade gets a tech for arguing a call. And you could see it, He was PISSED. > > A couple of possessions later, he is wide open waiting for a LBJ pass, LeBron instead looks for Ilgauzkas but his pass gets intercepted. > > One possession later Ilgauskas turns the ball over and on the following possession Wade is --again-- open waiting for LeBron’s Pass, again LeBron gives the ball to Ilgauskas on the elbow for a missed 18-footer. > > At this point you could see it. Dwade was in FUCK THIS SHIT mode. One possession later Wade has LeBron open but he jacks up a contested 3 instead. > > On the next possession LeBron takes the FUCK THIS SHIT to a whole new level and retaliates by launching three consecutive 3 pointers. > > The whole sequence was kind of surreal, it was my dream come true. Watching the Heat destroy itself against a sub-par team! > This description missed a few possessions here and there, but it hit the salient points. These guys are not in synch. Two Alpha Dogs and an Alpha Dog wanna be without a strong coach that can force them to get their shit together. Speaking of which… ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-are-the-heat-doing-thread/561435/24 "2010-11-25T03:28:13Z")
Heat lose by nine and are now just one game over .500. Three losses in a row. I know it is early but damn. Anyone else think that they may slip under .500 at some point this season? ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-are-the-heat-doing-thread/561435/25 "2010-11-25T14:57:29Z")
James and Wade just can’t play together, according to ESPN they are -44 when both are on the floor at the same time. Last night it was obvious, Wade was a completely different player while Lebron sat. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-are-the-heat-doing-thread/561435/26 "2010-11-25T15:05:08Z")
Bwahaha! Go Magic! ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-are-the-heat-doing-thread/561435/27 "2010-11-25T17:00:40Z")
I made a point to catch the game last night. It did seem a little clusterfucky. Based on my one-game anecdotal sample it seems perfectly obvious to me that it’s Wade whose game isn’t adapting, and not Lebron’s. Wade looked terrible, like he’s lost his sense of when to attack and when not to. He was playing the way I used to play when I got angry at the refs (it should be obvious but just to be clear, playing the way I played at any time is a bad thing for an NBA player to do). But yeah, they don’t look like a very good team at the moment. I stand by everything I said about their chances going forward, but _ew_. It also couldn’t be any more obvious that opposing teams are very tangibly feeding on the animosity against the Heat, which is pretty cool. Jameer Nelson got T’d up because after he busted their asses, he couldn’t resist telling the Heat he just busted their asses. It was an incredibly stupid thing to do but you could tell he just didn’t give a shit because he was enjoying it so much. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-are-the-heat-doing-thread/561435/28 "2010-11-25T18:41:48Z")
Both of them can’t play off the ball. I was reading a story on ESPN or FoxSports that said the team does a lot better when it’s only Bosh and either Wade or James on the floor. Without a good big guy to run the offense through in the post, Lebron and Wade sit around on opposites of the court watching the other. Offense gets stagnant, opposing teams take advantage What I’m wondering, and some guy at ESPN as well, is why don’t they learn some pick and rolls with Wade and James? It seems a no brainer. Wade gets the ball at the top of the key, James sets a screen, then Wade runs off the screen and either beats his own man, creates an opening for James, or defenses collapse and they kick it out to a shooter. But it was noted by the author of the article on ESPN that they never do this! Why?? Freaking egos gotta be deflated with a sub 0.500 team before they look to make some changes Its obvious these guys are unwilling to change their own game. Bosh does well because he knows he’s the 3rd guy, but both James and Wade wants to be #1. Sorta reminds me of how Shaq and Kobe was destroyed by the Pistons, but at least they got to the finals. If Wade and James don’t learn how to play off each other, then they won’t get past Boston. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-are-the-heat-doing-thread/561435/29 "2010-11-25T18:53:38Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > It also couldn’t be any more obvious that opposing teams are very tangibly feeding on the animosity against the Heat, which is pretty cool. Jameer Nelson got T’d up because after he busted their asses, he couldn’t resist telling the Heat he just busted their asses. It was an incredibly stupid thing to do but you could tell he just didn’t give a shit because he was enjoying it so much. I don’t like the new technical rules, i like it when teams show animosity towards each other. For the last five minutes of that game Jameer Nelson was by far the best player on that court for either team, i can’t hold it against him for showing a little over zealousness. Maybe if players went back to hating each other another debacle like this Miami team wouldn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-are-the-heat-doing-thread/561435/30 "2010-11-25T19:05:43Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Freaking egos gotta be deflated with a sub 0.500 team before they look to make some changes There’s a chance that this poor start will end up helping them in the long run. It may force them to figure out the changes you mention, and it may also defuse some of the hatred from the rest of the league. Now that it’s clear that the Heat aren’t the juggernaut some expected them to be, other teams might not treat their games with the Heat as their super bowl. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-are-the-heat-doing-thread/561435/31 "2010-11-25T19:15:18Z")
> [@borschevsky](#): > > There’s a chance that this poor start will end up helping them in the long run. It may force them to figure out the changes you mention, and it may also defuse some of the hatred from the rest of the league. Now that it’s clear that the Heat aren’t the juggernaut some expected them to be, other teams might not treat their games with the Heat as their super bowl. There’s also a chance that it’s just going to make Lebron and Bosh quit on this team like they did for their respective last teams. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-are-the-heat-doing-thread/561435/32 "2010-11-25T19:23:43Z")
If a playoff 27-19-10 is quitting, god help you if the man starts trying. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-are-the-heat-doing-thread/561435/33 "2010-11-25T20:56:23Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > If a playoff 27-19-10 is quitting, god help you if the man starts trying. When he was trying he carried a much inferior team all the way to the finals singlehandedly. You can’t watch the end of those Boston games and tell me he did not quit, he obviously did. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-are-the-heat-doing-thread/561435/34 "2010-11-28T16:03:40Z")
Players only meeting after the Dallas game, Lebron bumping into Spoelstra like he did with Mike Brown during a bad loss…this team seems unraveling 😃 Winning fixes everything though and the next 3 games (Wizards, Pistons, Cavs) are very winnable. Charles Barkley said during last Thursday’s TNT broadcast that he’s puzzled why they don’t play faster. It seems a no-brainer that a team with James, Wade, and a speedy PF like Bosh would be in the lower half of the league in pace. They should be running every other play! As much as I dislike him, Lebron is pretty much unstoppable when he gets out on the floor. Wade too. Then again, this probably stems from their lack of big men and rebounding problem. Can’t get out on the run if you don’t get those defensive rebounds ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-are-the-heat-doing-thread/561435/35 "2010-11-28T19:22:18Z")
Just as an update, the Heat are 9-8 going into today’s game. So since Ike Witt started the thread they’ve lost three of four. I know the regular season isn’t as important just their start blah blah blah, but this was supposed to be a superteam, and superteams don’t go 9-8 over any stretch. They will do better than this but the 72-10 Bulls they most certainly ain’t. ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-are-the-heat-doing-thread/561435/36 "2010-11-28T19:32:11Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Players only meeting after the Dallas game, Lebron bumping into Spoelstra like he did with Mike Brown during a bad loss…this team seems unraveling 😃 > > Winning fixes everything though and the next 3 games (Wizards, Pistons, Cavs) are very winnable. > > Charles Barkley said during last Thursday’s TNT broadcast that he’s puzzled why they don’t play faster. It seems a no-brainer that a team with James, Wade, and a speedy PF like Bosh would be in the lower half of the league in pace. They should be running every other play! As much as I dislike him, Lebron is pretty much unstoppable when he gets out on the floor. Wade too. Then again, this probably stems from their lack of big men and rebounding problem. Can’t get out on the run if you don’t get those defensive rebounds To add onto this, teams with more skilled players should seek to play a game with more possessions, all things being equal, since more possessions = less variance, and the better team should win more. To take this to its opposite extreme, the worst team in the NBA would prefer to play a game in which each team had only 1 possession, as this would increase variation and thus their chance of winning. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-are-the-heat-doing-thread/561435/37 "2010-11-28T19:39:53Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > When he was trying he carried a much inferior team all the way to the finals singlehandedly. You can’t watch the end of those Boston games and tell me he did not quit, he obviously did. In fact I’ve just done so. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-are-the-heat-doing-thread/561435/38 "2010-11-28T20:22:27Z")
What are the chances of violence or a riot when the Heat play Cleveland? They say they are going to have extra security, but I still think it is a very real possibility. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-are-the-heat-doing-thread/561435/39 "2010-11-29T23:14:19Z")
Things just keep getting better and better for the Heat. James shoulders the coach during a timeout and speculation is that it was intentional. It seems that James didn’t like being called out in practice for not being serious enough. I really think that they could benefit from a veteran who would show the big 3 the dedication that is needed to win. In hockey, everyone knew that Mario Lemieux had loads of talent. However, it wasn’t until he played with Wayne Gretzky during the Canada Cup that he realized talent without work ethic is nothing in sports. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-are-the-heat-doing-thread/561435/40 "2010-11-29T23:28:15Z")
The weird thing is that Wade should _be_ that guy. Like LeBron, he’s already carried a team to a title (and to an NBA title, not just a conference title), and unlike LeBron, he’s not a whiny bitch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-are-the-heat-doing-thread/561435.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-how-are-the-heat-doing-thread/561435.md?page=3)