2011-12 Miami Heat Yearly Outlook
Despite making the Finals last year, the Miami Heat felt a huge disappointment after losing to the Mavericks in six games. After adding LeBron James and Chris Bosh last year, the team guaranteed multiple championships and they almost won one last year. After struggling at the beginning of the season, the Miami Heat ended up having the second best record in the Eastern Conference at 58-24. Miami coasted in the first 3 rounds of the playoffs beating the 76ers, Celtics and Bulls but lost in the Finals.
There is no doubt that the heat is on Miami’s Big Three to step up and bring home the title this season. Miami let go of free agents Mike Bibby and Jamaal Magloire to free agency and lost Zydrunas Ilgauskas to to retirement. The Heat did bring in veteran SF Shane Battier, sign Eddy Curry and re-sign Mario Chalmers, James Jones and Juwan Howard. They also took PG Norris Cole with their draft choice.
The Heat’s big three of James, Wade and Bosh totaled almost 71 points of the team’s 102 points per contest last season so they really didn’t need to make a lot of additions in the offseason. James and Wade are two of the top players in the entire NBA; they are not just solid on offense but they are excellent on defense too. Their talent to make their other teammates better is also what makes this such a quality team. James is one of the more well-rounded players in the NBA and he is a triple-double threat everytime he is on the court. He put up 26.7 points, 7.0 assists, and 7.5 boards/game last season. Wade isn’t far behind, as he averaged 25.5 points, 6.4 boards, and 4.6 assists.
After playing as the number 1 option in Toronto for years, Chris Bosh struggled in the offense at times after being relegated as the third option. Bosh averaged a career-high 24 points in his final season in Toronto, and came in having averaged at least 22 points over the last five seasons. In his first year with Miami he scored just 18.7 points/game. Wade and James have to figure out a way to keep him more involved in the offense if they want to go far this year.
Chalmers and Joel Anthony will round out the starting five. Chalmers really seemed to find his groove in the playoffs, as he enjoyed a string of strong performances down the stretch to prove his worth in Miami. Anthony gives the team a solid inside defender and rebounder, who will be asked to do even more with the departures of Ilgauskas and Magloire.
The rest of the squad is made up of a lot of able role players. Battier offers the team a steady defender and a guy who can make the open corner outside shooter, Mike Miller is a accurate 3-point shooter, and Udonis Haslem does whatever the team requires of him on both sides of the court, Two guys that can also shoot the rock and provide a spark on offense off the Miami bench is James Jones and Eddie House.
Rookie point guard Norris Cole is an underrated pickup who can spell minutes away from Chalmers with his defensive ability and poise. Eddy Curry, who was once thought of as one of the promising big men in the game, could be used as another big body in the rotation.
Prediction: 1st Eastern Conference Southeast Division – The Miami Heat is certainly the best team in the Eastern Conference right now, and according to the NBA Finals odds they are even the best team in the entire league. After last year’s disappointing loss in the Finals, this team will approach the new season even more hungry to win what they think is rightfully theirs. Their only concern going forward is their late game situations. It was an area they struggled with all season, as they didn’t seem to know who to give the last shot to. If they can get that figured out, they should be back in the Finals.
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