Feeling the Heat

The NBA season tipped off a couple of days ago, which meant a fresh start for my Miami Heat. The Heat struggled just to make the playoffs last year and were unceremoniously eliminated in the first round by the Chicago Bulls. Widespread changes were called for, but other than lose three key players from last year's team (Jason Kapono, James Posey and Eddie Jones), the only moves Miami made were to acquire documented head cases Ricky Davis, Smush Parker and Mark Blount, all of whom have talent, although they possess the collective maturity of Larry David. With the season underway and the Heat having limped to an 0-3 start, I thought now would be a good time to take a look at what's going wrong and well in Miami.

The Bad

-With our star Dwyane Wade injured, the Heat are incapable of winning close games. Miami can keep pace until the final minutes, but then opponents pull away. The once-great Shaquille O'Neal is rendered impotent at the end of games due to his poor free throw shooting and the fact that his frequent foul trouble often keeps him off the court. This leaves Davis to be Miami's primary scorer toward the end of games, which is a problem because he tends to get too excited in pressure situations and take bad shots or turn over the ball.

-The Heats scorers run hot and cold. Shaq is still capable of exploding on occasion, but he's lost a lot of quickness, he can't maintain a high energy level, and he struggles with fouls. Davis, Smush, Jason Williams and Udonis Haslem are all capable of making it rain from the perimeter, but they're either on fire or missing every shot they take; there's no medium.

-We have absolutely no point guard depth. Smush Parker must be even more of an idiot than I thought to already be out of the rotation 3 games into the season, especially when the only alternative is Chris Quinn. The under-talented Quinn may end up playing a lot of minutes, particularly due to the fragile health of starter Jason Williams. Step your game up, Smush.

-With Wade's extended absence, the team may go through some rough patches, and that could put them in the position of having to fight just to make it to the playoffs when he gets back.


The Good

-Rookie Daquean Cook looks like he might be able to make an impact this season. Everyone knew he could shoot the lights out, but the consensus was that he was too raw to contribute this season. It's good seeing him get minutes, because coach Pat Riley really needs to have confidence in a rookie to give him a shot.

-Young Dorrell Wright is finally starting to make use of some of his potential. After a horrendous preseason, I was ready to give up on him, but Wright has been solid so far and could get much better. He's athletic, can rebound and has the makings of a good defender, which means he could be very valuable to the Heat.

-Former All-Star Penny Hardaway, who'd been out of the league two years and was widely considered washed up, has had his moments so far. Seeing as how he was a long shot to even make the team, this has to come as a positive.

-Once Wade comes back, the team is better tenfold. Not only is he a great player, he makes everyone else on the Heat raise their levels of play as well. The attention he draws from defenders frees up teammates, getting them open shots. He also fills the role of the fourth-quarter scorer Miami needs.

Miami will definitely struggle until Wade returns from his injury and works his way back into shape, but the good news is, if Wade plays as well as he had the previous two years, Miami instantly becomes a title contender. I'm intrigued to see how my team does over the course of the season.

By the way, expect a lot of basketball posts from now on.