Hypothetical Pistons-Heat series (breakdown)

The Heat (or Cavs I guess, if LeBron goes back) are going to be the team we're going to have to get past to get to the NBA Finals for the next half-decade or so; So, I really want to break-down how we match-up...what we have, what we lack, etc.

Problem #1: L. James. There's no one on the current roster that comes even close to being able to match-up against L. James. That's a big deal. Fortunately FA-to-be J. Smith is probably the best LeBron matchup in the entire league (Iguodala isn't bad, if he opts out. Muhammad isn't bad either, if he slips in the draft). If for no other reason, that's a great reason to sign him.

Problem #2: D. Wade (or K. Irving). There's not a guard on the current roster that comes even close to being able to match-up against D. Wade (or K. Irving). Don't even talk to me about B. Knight. Fortunately, again, we're in luck - as the perfect match-up for such a guard is projected to be there for our pick, V. Oladipo (the FA market doesn't look quite as good, defensively speaking). Again, if for no other reason, that's a great reason to draft him.

Push: J. Calderon (*if we keep him) vs. M. Chalmers (or D. Waiters). Jose's not the greatest defender, but Mario's not the greatest scorer either; that's not a bad match-up (he might struggle a little bit against an athlete like D. Waiters, but I think B. Knight might be able to more or less handle him, if needed). Given what Jose brings to our offense, I think we should keep him.

Strength #1 and #2: Might as well talk about them together - the front-court. Drummond (with progression) and Monroe are an enormous match-up advantage against Bosh and Haslem (or Zeller and Thompson). Excellent.

C: A. Drummond, V. Kravtsov
PF: G. Monroe, J. Jerebko, *C. Villanueva (amnesty?)
SF: *J. Smith, K. Singler, K. Middleton
SG: *V. Oladipo, R. Stuckey, K. English
PG: J. Calderon, B. Knight
I kind of like the sound of those two simple additions.. Thoughts?

I disagree

Problem #1 - Heat transition defense. Spo doesn't play on the offensive boards. That why you might have noticed that the Heat often get out rebounded but still win. By getting back quickly, they can burn younger teams who are not effective in half court.

Problem #2 - Transition offense. Fast break points are some of the most efficient you can get, and the heat use this to their advantage. Make no mistake, DWade and LBJ are two of the flat out fastest and most athletic players in the league.

Problem #3 - Lebron/Bosh/Wade. These guys are ok at the game of basketball.

To beat the Heat, you make it rain 3 pointers. Their interior defense is just too good.

LeBron isn't going back to Cleveland.

Might have to beat them the same way that Dallas did.

Have Mark Cuban pay off the refs?

I didn't want to spell it out, but yes. Now that we have a new school owner, maybe we'll starting thinking outside the box like that.

Puh-leeease. Gimme a break. The Heat lost that series because Dirk wanted to win the trophy more than Lebron did. And RC is a better coach than Spoelstra. Everything else is sports pundit fodder.

BA, you are putting way too much confidence in rookies. There is NO rookie, including a #1 pick, that can contain the current LBJ. None. Muhammad cannot guard LBJ in a playoff series. Not gonna happen.

The way I see it, the only way you can beat Miami is if you somehow can avoid double-teaming. They kill you by moving the ball very well and finding the open man. You focus on James, Wade sneaks in and gets an easy bunny. You cover them both well, Bosh can create his own shot. You do help defense and contain the big-3, you have Ray Allen, Chalmers et al raining 3-pointers on you. You need to have strong defenders that can take Lebron and/or Wade 1-on-1, a strong paint protector and you gotta throw in some coherent zone defense in an out.

What Nowitzki did in that series is one of the best individual playoff performances in the history of the NBA. The Heat just could not stop him.

You know, the 2004 Pistons get ripped off a lot like this too. "They didn't really deserve it" "Oh, they got a lucky break" blah blah blah. They went out there and kicked everybody's butt. There is always a "what-if" in professional sports. It just irritates me to no end when accomplishments are belittled based on "what could've been" scenarios.

They won because Spoelstra relied on Wade/LBJ isos and because the Mavs ran a zone, killing their driving ops. The Heat had no 3pt shooters and couldn't penetrate effectively.

That won't happen again.

Also, Oladipo will get smoked by Wade and Irving. The NBA is very different to college.

We don't have to worry about getting past Miami, if the kids keep growing.... they will be ready to be a title contender in a couple years and the Heat? They will already be broken up. If not broken up, there going to be in crazy tax zone.

To be fair, almost everyone gets smoked by Wade and Irving.

No team will ever win with Krav in the rotation, ever.

The Heat has way too much accumulated EXCRUCIATING PRESSURE upon their shoulders

1) The Heat's interior defense is good? I don't think so.. In fact, I thought that was their biggest problem.. That's where we could attack in the half-court (in time).

2) Smith and Oladipo could run as well with LeBron and Wade as anyone in the league.

He should consider it. Reputation/historical boost, 1. He still lives there in the off-season, 2. The team would be better ~ Wade and Bosh are on the downslope. Irving, Waiters and Thompson are all like 20 or under.

Right. Smith and Oladipo.

Who doesn't like Slava!??

Too many people on this board feel that rookies can mix it up with the pros. It isn't like that.

Smith is a good perimeter defender, yes. If you can actually get him to play defense. As for Oladipo against Wade, well, thats a wash. Wade will absolutely smoke a 1st year college player all day, every day. Its not even a contest, so lets not pretend it is. He is faster, stronger, has better hands, better shot selection and mechanics and is widely considered as the best SG outside of Kobe Bryant.

The Heats defensive weakness is 3pt shooting. They collapse and play so much help defense behind the 3pt line that you can rain on them from the corners.