Miami Heat, Miami Warm, Miami Cold: Try The Obvious Solution
Posted: Tuesday, March 08, 2011
by Mogama
http://www.mogama.info
The only thing hot right now about the one-time dream team is the reported tears in the Miami Heat locker room. We are left to assume that the criers include Miami’s three Bigs: Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosch, and LeBron James.
With their 96 to 105 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on NBA fan night the Heat have just suffered their 5th straight loss, their longest losing streak of the current NBA season. With more than two minutes left in the game, many Miami home fans began heading for the exits.
Throughout the game, Miami barely got any easy baskets, while basic, simple ball movements landed easy basket after easy basket for the Trail Blazers. It was a win that Portland did not seem to sweat.
The conventional notion is the Heat have height and size but lack depth, the assumption being that there is a missing piece out there that could complete the Heat puzzle. The problem is that a similar solution is almost always prescribed for any talented but losing NBA team. According to this thinking, the Heat’s three Bigs (Wade, James & Bosch) must play their best game every game or they lose. The fact that Portland’s bench outscored Miami’s 41 to 8 is given as proof that there’s a bench hole on the Miami Heat. Really?
I guess I don’t get it, because I am not a sports analyst. I am less than a novice, but common sense is what it is. I can spot a naked emperor when I see one. My thinking is that the Heat probably have all the pieces they need to be an NBA elite team. What they need is a master puzzler who can tame and arrange the pieces just right. I think they are missing the right kind of head coach. They need a teacher of the game to instruct them, then match them up in the right mix for max performance at game time…consistently.
At this point, the once-dreaded Miami Heat have lost their aura, the air of being the East’s team to beat. Now every NBA team can’t wait to cool the Heat at home or on the road. It should surprise no one if they get beaten by the Cleveland Cavaliers, if that match came up. Whatever success the team had recently might have been due to strides by individual stars, but coaching genius must pick up where star power wanes. And that’s a luxury that has dodged the Heat.
Assuming we can now look past this season to the next, here’s the one change that will pave the way for the Heat to become a championship-caliber team. In three words, “Coach must go.”
Does Coach Erik Spoelstra have what it takes to coach such an assembly of all-star talents? To many of us armature fans, the answer to that question has been a resounding “No!” from day one when Wade took the court alongside new teammates James and Bosch. This is not to say there’s anything wrong with Coach Spoelstra. It does mean Wade, James and Bosch need a coach that commands their respect, a coach they can trust with play-by-play decision making, from practice to game time.
It takes more than star players to build a championship team. It takes a champion-like coach, and Coach Spoelstra is not that caliber of leader for this Miami Team. The Bulls’ Michael Jordan took instructions from Phil Jackson as the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant has done, to numerous championships. The same is true of Boston Celtics’ multiple championship Coach Doc Rivers.
It is more than a matter of arrogance or ultra ego when a mega-star athlete does not respect his coach. It is more a matter of trust, and that can be an issue of personality mismatch. The record shows so far that what we have in Miami is a web of mismatch between head coach and his top players. Wade, James and Bosch exude little respect for Coach Spoelstra. Simply put, they do not do not trust his judgment, his coaching calls, and it seems like he’s becoming more and more gun-shy to make those calls.
I will be more than glad to be proven wrong by a turnaround in Miami’s fortunes, especially in this season. Who knows? Perhaps the Heat somehow know what they are doing … just reserving their energy, waiting for the playoffs to reveal their true hand and shock us all. ~mogama~
With their 96 to 105 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on NBA fan night the Heat have just suffered their 5th straight loss, their longest losing streak of the current NBA season. With more than two minutes left in the game, many Miami home fans began heading for the exits.
The conventional notion is the Heat have height and size but lack depth, the assumption being that there is a missing piece out there that could complete the Heat puzzle. The problem is that a similar solution is almost always prescribed for any talented but losing NBA team. According to this thinking, the Heat’s three Bigs (Wade, James & Bosch) must play their best game every game or they lose. The fact that Portland’s bench outscored Miami’s 41 to 8 is given as proof that there’s a bench hole on the Miami Heat. Really?
I guess I don’t get it, because I am not a sports analyst. I am less than a novice, but common sense is what it is. I can spot a naked emperor when I see one. My thinking is that the Heat probably have all the pieces they need to be an NBA elite team. What they need is a master puzzler who can tame and arrange the pieces just right. I think they are missing the right kind of head coach. They need a teacher of the game to instruct them, then match them up in the right mix for max performance at game time…consistently.
At this point, the once-dreaded Miami Heat have lost their aura, the air of being the East’s team to beat. Now every NBA team can’t wait to cool the Heat at home or on the road. It should surprise no one if they get beaten by the Cleveland Cavaliers, if that match came up. Whatever success the team had recently might have been due to strides by individual stars, but coaching genius must pick up where star power wanes. And that’s a luxury that has dodged the Heat.
Assuming we can now look past this season to the next, here’s the one change that will pave the way for the Heat to become a championship-caliber team. In three words, “Coach must go.”
Does Coach Erik Spoelstra have what it takes to coach such an assembly of all-star talents? To many of us armature fans, the answer to that question has been a resounding “No!” from day one when Wade took the court alongside new teammates James and Bosch. This is not to say there’s anything wrong with Coach Spoelstra. It does mean Wade, James and Bosch need a coach that commands their respect, a coach they can trust with play-by-play decision making, from practice to game time.
It takes more than star players to build a championship team. It takes a champion-like coach, and Coach Spoelstra is not that caliber of leader for this Miami Team. The Bulls’ Michael Jordan took instructions from Phil Jackson as the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant has done, to numerous championships. The same is true of Boston Celtics’ multiple championship Coach Doc Rivers.
It is more than a matter of arrogance or ultra ego when a mega-star athlete does not respect his coach. It is more a matter of trust, and that can be an issue of personality mismatch. The record shows so far that what we have in Miami is a web of mismatch between head coach and his top players. Wade, James and Bosch exude little respect for Coach Spoelstra. Simply put, they do not do not trust his judgment, his coaching calls, and it seems like he’s becoming more and more gun-shy to make those calls.
I will be more than glad to be proven wrong by a turnaround in Miami’s fortunes, especially in this season. Who knows? Perhaps the Heat somehow know what they are doing … just reserving their energy, waiting for the playoffs to reveal their true hand and shock us all. ~mogama~
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