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Overall
Win/Loss Record : 58-24 , first place
Southeast Division
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Last Season’s Rank
1
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Projected 2013/2014
Finish
4
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Last
season’s Team Statistics and League Rank
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Returning
Individual Statistical Leaders
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Projected
Starters Based on Talent, Tenure, and Potential Impact:
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Second Unit Roster Order Ranked on Talent, Tenure, and Potential Impact:
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Analysis:
Every year it is the same old thing when it comes to the San Antonio Spurs--you can almost set your watch to them with 55 to 60 games and finishing among the top two or three teams in the Western Conference; however, last season was very different. This time, the Spurs actually surpassed the expectations of many as they not only reached the NBA Finals, but came within one game of winning its fifth NBA title. It was that game six that really did it in for San Antonio as they led the series over the +Miami HEAT three games to two and when it seemed it was just about over, then a last second three tied the game and sent it to over time. It was miraculous shot after another and once it was all said and done, Miami came away with the win to even the series at three games apiece. Game seven was simply a grudge match that saw both teams stretch to the point of breaking, but in the end the Heat proved to be the more elastic as the Spurs snapped apart in the fourth quarter as Miami went on to win their second straight NBA title. Such a season not only uplifted the Spurs and their fans, but it also gave hope for the future as the Spurs will be returning with the same team that endeared itself to the hearts of many; however, this season the Spurs will have even greater obstacles placed before them and with their roster's advanced age, may not be able to repeat their magical playoff run last season. First off, the Spurs will have enough trouble trying to keep their long standing streak of dominating their Southwest Division thanks to the immense upgrades of one of their neighbors, the +Houston Rockets. When it was announced that Houston had signed the biggest off season prize in free agency, +Dwight Howard, the balance of power suddenly shift as Houston went from being just a marginal playoff team into a true champion contender. Last season, the Rockets barely managed to grab the final playoff spot in the Western Conference thanks to the efforts of their previously acquired off season gem of +James Harden, but now with Howard in the mix, Houston now has possibly the most potent inside/outside tandem in the league. Add alongside Howard and Harden with a supporting cast that consists the massive shot blocking and rebounding presence of +Omer Asik along with sharpshooting swing man +Chandler Parsons and the poster boy of the lockout shortened 2012 season, +Jeremy Lin, the Rockets have the size, depth and the offensive firepower to take the Spurs head on. Winning first place in the Southwest Division will be a blood bath in itself between these two Texas Titans, but that will be nothing once the playoffs arrive and that will be the true test for the Spurs to see if they will have enough left after an arduous 82 game regular season. As if having an upstart Rockets teams threatening their long standing dominance in their division were not enough, the Spurs will also have to deal with two emerging powers in the Western Conference who at one time would not have even considered them a threat a few years ago. Both the +Los Angeles Clippers and +Golden State Warriors have spent much of their history as bottom dwellers of the Western Conference; however that all changed last season when the Clippers won a franchise record 56 games and its first ever first place finish in their Pacific Division while the Golden State Warriors had a magical season of their own. Not only did the Warriors finished with their best record in five years in five years and reached the playoffs, but they shocked the world advancing to the Conference Semi-Finals where they gave the Spurs a run for their money before falling to them in six games. Both teams have return far stronger than they ever were last season with the Warriors acquiring All Star swing man +Andre Iguodala to join their already potent lineup of +Stephen Curry, +Klay Thompson, +Andrew Bogut and David Lee while the Clippers' had an off season that will not only have remain on top of the West this years, but for years to come. L.A started the season by locking down their star +Chris Paul to a long term extension and added more quality pieces to further strengthen their roster by added sharpshooter +JJ Reddick, an athletic wing in Jared Dudley, and a former starting point guard in Darren Collison to back Paul up; however, their best acquisition was the hiring of former +Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers, who had brought the Celts to two NBA Finals and one NBA Championship title. While the rest of the West were stock piling ammunition for the upcoming season, the Spurs remained relatively silent during the off season basically standing pat with their current roster. They bid farewell to backup point guard Gary Neal, who signed to the +Milwaukee Bucks, and beefy front court bruiser +DeJuan Blair, who found a new home signing with the +Dallas Mavericks. At the same time they kept their core intact signing center Tiago Splitter to a five year 50$ million dollar extension while bringing back aging fan favorite Manu Ginobli, who looked as if his best basketball have passed, to another two years at around 15$ milion. The only new addition the Spurs brought in was Italian swing man, Marco Belinelli, a journeyman who has had his share of address changes being on four teams in his six year career. Despite his skills and athleticism, Belinelli has never proven to be anything more than a marginal rotation player and due to his notoriously poor defense, may not find a permanent home in San Antonio. With the new additions and a even stronger Western Conference, do not expect the Spurs to simply lie down and allow themselves to be trampled over; instead, expect the same consistent winning performance that we have all gotten used to over the years. Despite the radical changes, the Spurs still remain as the team to beat in the Western Conference and almost certain championship contender once the playoffs arrive. The question is not whether or not the Spurs make the playoffs, but rather how far will they reach once they get there? After all, much of San Antonio success in the playoffs last season ad to do with the revitalized play of Tim Duncan as he posted some of the best numbers in his career; however, at 38 years old, is he capable of putting up an encore performance? That is one of the many questions facing the Spurs this upcoming season and with the shift of the balance of power in the West, it will certainly be interesting to see how things pan out. |
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Showing posts with label number 4. Show all posts
Showing posts with label number 4. Show all posts
Saturday, November 2, 2013
SDH's 2013/2014 NBA Worst to First Previews and Predictions: 4. San Antonio Spurs
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
SDH Presents the 2013 End of Season NBA's Worst to First: 4. Indiana Pacers
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Overall
Win/Loss Record (At Season’s End): 49-32, first place Central Division
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2
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At
Season’s End:
4
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Taking a Look Back at the Season that Once Was . . .
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SDH Player of the Year:
Lance Stephenson 
During the regular season, Lance Stephenson did not turn that many heads as he averaged a solid yet very unspectacular 8.8 points per game, but he certainly raised numerous eyebrows with his performance in the post season. It was there that he exploded onto the basketball scene as he was one of the primary catalysts in the Pacers' triumphant performance in the playoffs. In the 19 games he played, Stephenson averaged close to eight boards per game which was third on the team and was a terror for his opponents on the defensive end grabbing more than a steal per game. He was certainly a crucial factor in the Pacers' eliminating the heavily favored New York Knicks in the second round as he torched the Knicks in game six posting a double-double 25 points and grabbing 10 boards while shooting .692 from the field. Stephenson was also instrumental in the Miami series which went to the full seven games before the Heat pulled away in game seven and advance to the NBA Finals.
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Analysis:
At the start of the season the Indiana Pacers seemed primed to not only take over their own Central Division but also be the team that would most likely challenge the NBA Champion Miami Heat for the Eastern Conference crown. The Pacers spent most of the off season upgrading the roster which already included an already solid group consisting of All Star center Roy Hibbert, up and coming swingman Paul George, and sharpshooting combo guard George Hill to name a few. First they bolstered their backcourt by signing athletic swingman Gerald Green, who previously had a breakout season while playing for the then New Jersey Nets the previous season along with picking up DJ Augustin, an excellent pass first point guard who had been let go by the Charlotte Bobcats. They then upgraded the backcourt even further by trading away former starting point guard Darren Collison to the Dallas Mavericks for center Ian Mahinimi, who had come off a career year with the Mavs and was expected to be a perfect backup option at center for their All Star Hibbert. Add the fact that they will be in a far weaker Central Division with a depleted Chicago Bulls squad being their sole competitor for the division crown with their revamped roster, many thought the Pacers would not only easily finish with one of the top five records in the league, but also be the sole barrier to Miami's goal to win its second straight championship title.
Unfortunately none of that could be farther from the truth as the Indiana Pacers stumbled out of the gates upon opening tip off ice cold from the field and looked nowhere near like the team that many had anticipated them to be. Their All Star center Roy Hibbert went from being the potential superstar stud he was last season to downright dud as he could not hit a basket to save his life shooting a rather pathetic .378 from the field while averaging just a paltry 9.5 points per game. The team which they had expected to have a more free flowing and explosive offense thanks to their off-season acquisitions failed to live up to expectations as they continued the same plodding half court sets which all but nullified the skill sets and potential contributions of their new acquisitions Green and Mahinmi. Indiana would go on to start the regular season rather poorly losing six of its first ten games before finishing the first month of the season with a rather less than stellar 8-8 record--not exactly very becoming for a team that was expected to the NBA by storm. As the season wore on, it seemed as if the Pacers would be lucky enough to reach the playoffs--forget about winning the Central Division title or facing the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. Fortunately for the Pacers, they were able to bounce back from their awful start first by returning back to respectability and eventually finished the season first place in the Central Division along with the third place seeding in Eastern Conference Playoffs. Unfortunately, the Pacers would not finish as strongly as hoped as they ended the regular season with a less than impressive 49-32 record--which would have been considered good for a mediocre team whose only goal was to make the playoffs, but not for a team that had so much expectations as Indiana had upon them. Indy certainly had plenty of help clinching their division as they had the good fortune of being in a rather weak one where their strongest competitor was even worse on the offensive end than they were in the Chicago Bulls--who dragged their way to the post season without their franchise player Derrick Rose leading them. Add the fact that the Eastern Conference was nowhere near as competitive as the far stronger Western Conference which boasted five teams with 50 or more win compared to the East's two, the Pacers basically came out of their rather lackluster regular season virtually unscathed. Now the Pacers would enter the post season with little or no fanfare and virtually no expectations as many expected much of the same flat and stagnant play that they showed during the regular season; however, to the surprise of many, Indy would actually prove all their doubter wrong and put forth such a spectacular playoff performance that it would lead many dumbfounded. The same team that ranked near the bottom of the league in scoring and field goal percentage during the regular season looked more like the fast paced free flowing team as had been originally advertised before the opening tip off. Roy Hibbert who saw a sharp drop in his performance during the regular season suddenly transformed into the superstar center in which many had lost hope that he would become as his numbers boosted from an anemic 11 points and eight boards per game in the regular season to a whopping 17 points and 10 boards per game in the playoffs. After a hard fought first round series where they downed the Atlanta Hawks, a team that could be seen as Indiana's equal in many aspects, the Pacers went on to shock the world and eliminated the heavily favored New York Knicks in the second round and unlike their first round series with the Hawks, it was not even a contest. The Pacers simply dominated the series as they swept in and took away the Knicks' home court advantage and continued their humiliation of the overall favorite to face the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals as Indy took a three games to one lead. The Knicks would eventually fall in six games, but the story would not end as the Pacers would carry on that momentum against the Miami Heat and have both Heat fans and the entire league holding their collective breath. The Eastern Conference Championship saw Indy take a mighty titan known as the Miami Heat who breezed through the regular season and stormed through the first two rounds of the playoffs and virtually reduced them into the humble status of mere mortals. The Heat's once mighty champion who had been the catalyst of the South Beach domination was reduced to the points of being a timid child who suddenly lost his confidence which brought the team down with him. It almost looked as if Indiana would complete the trifecta and send the Heat packing as they did with the Knicks when the Pacers won game five in Miami giving them the series lead and the opportunity to advance to the NBA Finals. Miami would have also endured a shattering humiliation as well which possibly led to the departure of head coach Erik Spoelstra as they would have had to live with the shame of being beaten by a team that had not even won 50 games in the regular season. Fortunately for the Heat, they would manage to right their ship winning the next two games and thus return to the NBA Finals for the third straight year; however, it still does not take away from the triumphant resurrection of the Indiana Pacers, who many did not see as even having a chance to make it past the first round, let alone take a team such as the Miami Heat to the very limit. Although it brought much joy, pride and even relief to a Indiana fan base who were forced to endure watching their team scratch and scrape through the regular season, it also must have brought much frustration as well as their Pacers should had been playing that way from the very beginning. From opening the tip off, they should have played with the same swagger that got them as far as the Conference Finals because they certainly had the tools to do so. Watching Roy Hibbert come alive as he did in the playoffs must have been met as much joy and relief as disdain and disgust considering the fact that he had played so poorly after having earned his first All Star nod the season prior. Nonetheless, one should point out that it does not matter how one starts a race, but rather how he finishes it and in the case of the Indiana Pacers, they did so in such a triumphant manner that it actually gave their fans hope for the next season. However, Indiana had not better start next season as they did with the last for the Pacers may not be a lucky the next time around. |
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Saturday, May 11, 2013
SDH Presents the NBA's Worst to First for January and and February: 4. Los Angeles Clippers
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Overall
Win/Loss Record (as of February 28th) : 42-18 (first place, Pacific Division)
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1
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This Month:
4
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Team
Statistics and League Rank (as of February 28th)
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Individual
Statistical Leaders (as of February 28th)
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Worst Player
of the Month: Caron Butler
 To think that just a few years ago Caron Butler was one of the league's up and coming young players in the league. Now at 33 years of age he is no longer the factor he once was and has become less and less of a factor in his advancing age. His proficiency and impact on the offensive end has steadily declined throughout the years and he is no longer the lock down defender that he once was. Butler certainly has not lived up to the 8$ million salary that he is currently being paid by the Clips. With his contract expiring at the end of next season, watch Butler become one of the names being circled around in trade rumors as LA would look to part ways with him sooner rather than later. |
First Player
of the Month: Matt Barnes
 How ironic it is that Matt Barnes, a player who shares the same age as Caron Butler and produces as much as he does yet still only makes a fraction of what Caron makes. In what can be considered as one of the greatest injustices. Matt Barnes, despite being almost equal in every way to Butler gets paid only 10% of what Butler will earn at the end of the season. At just 854,349$, Barnes is by far the lowest paid NBA players in terms of what he has been contributing to his team. I doubt that you can find any starter caliber players that contributed 10 points, 5 boards, 2 assists and a steal per game on Barnes' salary. The Clippers certainly got more than their value out of that paltry contract that they signed Barnes to, and hopefully they will do that right thing and offer him more as he certainly deserves it. |
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Analysis:
For the Los Angeles Clippers, it has to be one of the most frustrating seasons in the team history despite this being their greatest season in franchise history. For the first time in franchise history they own first place in their Pacific Division after decades of wallowing at the bottom for so long. What was once considered as one of the greatest laughing stocks in the history of professional sports has now become an elite franchise capable of possibly reaching the NBA Finals. Unfortunately, despite all the hard work and stellar performances throughout the regular season, the Clippers neither get the respect and acclaim it so desperately desires, they still have to play second fiddle to a team that has struggled throughout the season and has been scratching their way to get the final playoff berth. Regardless of what the Clippers have accomplish in what can be considered as a story book season, they still remain overshadowed by their inner city nemesis, the Los Angeles Lakers, which must be one of the hardest pills to swallow.
Before it was not that big a deal as historically the Clippers had been looking up at the Lakers season after season; however, now it is the other way around as the Clippers are at the top of the mountain while the Lakers scratch and claw to keep their heads above water. Yet despite the massive paradigm shift in the NBA, many media outlets still still keep their attention on the Lakers, focusing on all their troubles, rather than showing a little love to the Clippers who after years of futility have finally made it to the upper echelons of the league. Still they remained ignored for the most post, as they always have been, in favor of a team that has been, by all accounts, an utter disgrace after making two off season moves that were supposed to return it to championship contender. What makes this even more maddening is that the Clips are not being upstaged by a team that is better than them, but instead have gotten the cold shoulder in favor for a team that has been their inferior for most of the season. It should be them that should be getting the attention and acclaim that they rightfully deserve, not some overpaid and underwhelming train wreck such as the Lakers. Just look at all the current headlines and see how much of them are devoted to the much maligned Lakers than their neighboring franchise whom they have been literally been eating dust from. In the city of angels and national media, most reports are centered about all the Lakers troubles lamenting on the team's poor performance and lack of cohesion instead of the infectious positive and cohesive team chemistry and camaraderie that Clippers have shown throughout the season. More attention has also been put on this supposed friction between the Lakers' two superstars Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard instead on the in sync connection between the Clippers' Chris Paul and his teammates on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. It is as if the Clippers have been spending the entire season jumping up and down waving their hands and screaming at the top of their lungs "here I am, look at me," while everyone has their focus on a Laker team that has fallen from grace. It is as if the Clippers can never win because win or lose, they will always be forced to take the back seat in favor of the Lakers. In a way, the media cannot be blamed too much for their over emphasis on the Lakers' woes rather than the meteoric rise of the once lowly Clippers because that is the way it has always been. The Lakers historically has always been LA's golden child always excelling and being well behaving winning the approval of the lion share of the Los Angelites. The Clippers on the other hand, were viewed as a screw up sibling who many have considered the embarrassment that people would either ridicule or simply dare not mention. Now the table have turned and now it is the Lakers who are now the screw ups while the Clippers have cleaned themselves up and turned their lives around for the better. Unfortunately instead of congratulating and appreciating the Clippers' turn around, everyone has been focusing on scolding the Lakers and lamenting on how and why their golden child has fallen from their path. Regardless of the lack of attention, this fact remains abundantly clear: the Pacific Division that has spent most of it's history in Laker hands now belong to the Clippers and it is no ways going to change anytime soon. While the Lakers trudge and plod through the remainder on the season trying to get to the finish line in order to qualify for a playoff berth, the Clippers' future has already been set. Short of a cataclysmic event which will see the Clips losing every game for the rest of the season, nothing and no one in the Pacific Division stand in the Clippers' way. So go ahead and fawn over a fallen giant people because while you shed tear and spread blame for the Laker debacle, the Clippers will be on their way heading to a possible NBA championship. Once that happens, maybe just maybe eyes will finally turn on the Clippers as they watch and witness the crowning of a new King of LA, |
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Friday, February 22, 2013
SDH Presents the NBA's Worst to First for December: 4. Miami Heat
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Overall
Win/Loss Record (as of December 31st): 21-8 , first place Southeast Division
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4 |
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Team
Statistics and League Rank (as of December 31st):
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Individual
Statistical Leaders (as of December 31st):
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Worst Player
of the Month: Mike Miller
Here is a perfect example of what many in the sports business consider as "dead weight." For three straight years, Mike Miller has played 119 of a potential 203 games while just producing under six points per game while his minutes have dropped fro 21.0 per game in his first year to under 14 minutes now. And he has been doing all of that while earning close to 6$ million per year and is owed another 18$ million for the next three years. It's obvious that there is no way the Heat can unload such a waste of a mid-level exemption unless they bite the bullet and buyout the 18$ million left on his his contract or hope upon hopes that he decides that he has enough of stealing their money and do the right thing and retire. Unfortunately, it is doubtful that neither will happen laving both parties to grudgingly accept one another for now.
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First Player
of the Month: Lebron James
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Analysis:
It is hard to judge the Miami Heat too harshly for their rather complacent attitude and rather lackluster play over the past couple of months since the Heat have little or sense of urgency to really shift into overdrive. They have no real threats or barriers in their way from loosening their stranglehold on the Eastern Conference, and with no one really standing in their way, the Heat have allowed themselves to slack off a bit in this first stretch of the season. Both the Indiana Pacers and the Boston Celtics, the two teams that fought hard against the Heat in last season's playoffs, have been less than stellar to say the least. Indiana has spent the season sputtering past their opponents due to their rather poor offensive production while the Celtics have looked as old and as tired as their aged roster would suggest. The brand new Brooklyn Nets, despite the depth in their roster, have proven to be rather underwhelming and unworthy opponent as well as they had struggled through much of December forcing the dismissal of head coach Avery Johnson as a result.
Even the Atlanta Hawks, who currently trail the Heat at second place of the Southeast division are far from being a worthy rival as they trail the Heat by a rather large margin and if they were to meet in the playoffs, would provide little or no competition. As for the Chicago Bulls, there are hobbled and hollowed out version of their previous selves who earned the league's best record last season and are just barely treading water. The only real competition that can presumably stand in Miami's way is their one time bitter rival New York Knicks team who have undergone a reawakening and currently trail closely behind in second place in the Eastern Conference. Nonetheless, there still remain those cynical on whether or not the Knicks will provide an adequate enough deterrent for the Heat despite losing quite badly in both of their meeting thus far (11/2, 12/6) by an average margin of twenty points. Altogether there remains no team, at least in the Eastern Conference, that can stand in the Heat's way thus resulting in their rather uninspired play. Although the Miami Heat only lost five games in December, they were all pretty bad ones as they lost by an average margin of eleven points with three of them being against rather lackluster competition to say the least. They got shockingly upset by of all teams, the lowly Washington Wizards, who have one of the worst records in the league on the road (12/4/2012). Afterwards, Miami simply got shamed losing two straight against two Central Division cellar dwellers, the Detroit Pistons by ten (12/28/2012) and unfathomably blown out by the Milwaukee Bucks the following night(12/29/2012). The worst of all those losses had to be the blowout suffered by the New York Knicks on their own home floor where New York held the Heat to scoring just 92 points and shooting .421 from the field. That is pretty impressive on New York's side considering that the Hat league the league in field goal percentage shooting close to .500 this season. Such humiliating losses are certainly unbecoming of the reigning NBA Champion whose roster consists of three of the best players in their respective positions in Lebron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. Not to say that they should win every game, but at least play well enough to not be embarrassed by three of the worst teams in the league along with a potential opponent in the Eastern Conference Finals. Granted, although the Miami Heat did lose badly against teams that they had no business losing to in the Bucks, Wizards, and Pistons, they still manage to win in rather splendid fashion beating all but two teams by ten or more points. The two exceptions were complete contrasts from one another as the first team was their opponent in last year's NBA Finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder, which resulted in being a hard fought Christmas Day battle of the ages (12/25/2012). On the flip side, the Heat had to go through an overtime to narrowly beat the lowly Orlando Magic, who do not nearly have the talent or the firepower that Miami has, by only one basket to enter the new year (12/31/2012). There is no doubt that Miami is by and large, the best team in the NBA, period; however, they are not doing themselves any favors by not playing like it. So far with the way that this team has player, the Miami Heat seems to lack the sense of urgency or killer instinct seen in the other great NBA championship dynasties in the past. Instead of completely separating themselves from the rest of the league and playing to their full potential, they remain content with simply staying and status-quo being among the league's elite instead of pounding them down the way they should be. History will certainly not be kind to the Heat if they continue to stay in neutral allowing themselves to lose focus and lose to undeserving competition as they did in December. So far the Miami Heat have not lived up to their name as they have not been scorching hot, but have performed lukewarm at best. |
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Friday, January 11, 2013
SDH Presents the NBA's Worst to First for November: 4. Miami Heat
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Overall
Win/Loss Record (as of November 30th): 11-3 , first place Southeast Division
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1
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This Month:
4
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Team
Statistics and League Rank (as of November 30th)
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Individual
Statistical Leaders (as of November 30th)
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Worst Player
of the Month: Mario Chalmers
 Last season Mario Chalmers had what can be considered a breakthrough posting his best numbers (9.8ppg, .448 FG%, .388 3ptFG%) since his rookie year and looked to build on that progress. Unfortunately, he has started the season on a rather sour note as all his numbers have dropped across the board (6.7ppg, .405 FG%, .355 3ptFG%) while shooting a rather embarassing .632 from the free throw line. Chalmers certainly no longer resembles that tough confident role player who Run LDC (Lebron, Dwayne and Chris) could count on a corner three if they ever needed to kick the ball outside to somebody. Now that's no longer the case as he has become less of a factor on the team--so much so that it may be time for Miami to part ways with this rather disappointing performer. Hopefully, he can turn things around before Erick Spoelstra decides to finally pull the plug on him shelving him in favor of second year backup Norris Cole. |
First Player
of the Month: Rashard Lewis
 Last season, Rashard Lewis represented the very worst of the NBA as he sat on his backside sulking on the bench for the Washington Wizards. He had no excuse either considering the fact that he was one of the top earners in the league last season earning around 20$ million for doing virtually nothing. When the Heat claimed him off waivers, the news came with quite a few raised eyebrows as Lewis was a player that went totally against the Heat's culture--he was a soft big man who never defended in the paint and whose only weapon in his offensive arsenal was his long range perimeter shot which seemed to be have all but disappeared. Surprsingly however, he has proven his critics and doubters wrong coming off the bench and producing solid numbers of 6.5 points per game for Miami in limited minutes (15.8) while at the same time, shooting a very efficient .509 from the field and a phenomenal .556 from beyond the arc to finish the month of November. For the first time in what can be considered an eternity, Rashard Lewis is finally earning his paycheck--despite it being FAR Less than what he was paid last season. |
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Analysis:
The season has started as many expected for the NBA World Champion Miami Heat as it looked to repeat and continue their championship glory and become one of the great dynasties in not only the NBA, but in professional sports as well. The Heat finished the month of November with a characteristic 11-3 record, but it was not the same dominant performance as many have been anticipated from a championship team of Miami's caliber. For starters, Miami started the season lost their second game by a rather convincing margin to the New York Knicks (11/2/2012), the same team that the Heat simply manhandled in the first round of the playoffs. They bounced back from that rather embarrassing Big Apple Beat-down by winning their next four; however, that four game winning streak ended quite poorly with a 16 point loss at the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies (11/11/2012). And after barely edging a rather weak Houston Rockets team on the road by just three points (11/12/2012) they were then beaten the following night in LA by the Clippers two nights later.
Although they managed to finish November winning their last five games, it was not with the same dominance as many would have expected from a reigning NBA champ. In a schedule that can be considered pretty light by Miami Heat standards, they only managed to beat three of their eleven opponents by convincing margins--the Boston Celtics by 13 (10/30/2012), the Phoenix Suns by 25 (11/5/2012), and the Brooklyn Nets by thirty (11/7/2012). As for the other eight games, those wins were very far from impressive as they barely beat most of them by rather close margin, an average of 4.6 points to be exact--teams that the Heat had no business to allow to come so close. Miami allowed a team like the Denver Nuggets, who should not even hold a candle to the heat, to score 116 points on the Heat's home floor before narrowly scraping past the Nuggets by just three points (11/3/2012) and again at Denver by just five (11/15/2012). The most embarrassing of their wins came at the expense of the Cleveland Cavaliers, one of worst teams in the league, where the Heat allowed the Cavs to score 108 points on them and then barely win by just one bucket (11/24/2012). From what can be seen by November's rather lukewarm performance, the Heat have not played to the standard of a championship team that sports not just, or two, but three of the greatest NBA players in their generation. Add the fact that during the offseason, Miami added one of the league's deadliest three point shooters in former NBA Champion Ray Allen combined with the returning players that brought a second NBA title to South Beach, the Heat should be an even more devastating force than they ever were last season. Unfortunately that has not been the case as Miami, despite boasting the fact of having four potential hall of famers in its lineup, has yet to strike fear in the hearts and minds of their opponents. They certainly do not strike fear amongst their fellow upper echelon peers as can be seen by their drubbing at the hands of the Knicks nor even amongst the best in their conference. They do not even garner any real respect from their own division, which many expected the Heat to own this season as it was projected to be one of the weakest divisions in the league with the four other team either in the midst or on their way to head for a painful rebuild. For starters, the Atlanta Hawks, who were expected to sink like a stone upon entering the season have thus far been nipping at Miami's heels at second place in the Southeast division with just a game or two behind them. In their first matchup, the Heat narrowly edged Atlanta on the Hawks' home court by just six points (11/9/2012) and this was a team that currently has no real go to scorer, nor nearly the amount of depth in terms of size, talent and athletic ability that the Heat supposedly has. Even the Washington Wizards, a team that finished the month November winning just one game, had nothing to fear from the Heat as they started November shockingly defeating Miami earning just their second win for the season. In that game, Miami allowed Washington--a team who ranks dead last in the league in points scored at under 90 per game and at the time shot just .396 from the field--to score a season high 105 points on them and shoot a season's best .486 from the field. That is certainly not becoming of a team whose proclaimed goal supposedly was to finish amongst the greatest NBA teams if all time--in fact, it is downright shameful. If one looks back at all the great Championship dynasties in the NBA, the most common facet of them was their intimidation factor--no one wanted to face because they just frozen in fear when they came to their arenas. Just take a look back at the great dynasties that the NBA has ever seen: the Red Aurbach led Boston Celtics teams in the 1950s and 60s, the "Showtime" Lakers of the 1980s, the Michael Jordan led Chicago Bulls that basically owned the 1990s, and even the "Bad Boy" Detroit Pistons team that finished a decade winning two consecutive NBA titles in 1989 and 1990. These teams were simply unstoppable forces of nature destorying everything in their path divining hoops fans to either look upon them with great awe and admiration or just simply resent them for their invincibility and their home team's inability to stop them. None of that can be said for the Miami Heat, who have played just lukewarm at best so far this season only encouraging fans and opponents alike to simply shrug their shoulders and say "whatever, man!!" Because right now, the Heat have not shown that are deserving of any respect whatsoever, and if Miami continues to play the way they have been, it will no doubt remain so. |
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