Seven games into the season, the Miami Heat have a record of 5-2, with five blow-out wins and two losses against formidable opponents. While opening night in Boston proved to be a rough start to the season and the first loss of the year, the Heat have already improved greatly. Yet there are still things to work on, and if they are not fixed it could lead to trouble at the end of the year.
Overall, the Heat are playing well defensively, as they have held all seven opponents under 100 points. They have been playing aggressively and have been causing turnovers through ball pressure and good defense. This has lead to fast breaks and a good transition game, which means easy offense for the Heat. Yet they need to work on two things specifically on defense.
Against New Orleans, Miami had trouble defending Chris Paul - who finished with 13 points and 19 assists - and center Emeka Okafor - who finished with 26 points and 13 rebounds. These two positions – point guard and center – are where Miami is weakest. Both of Miami’s two losses have shown this, as on opening night Boston point guard Rajon Rondo had 17 assists in the Heat’s first loss of the season.
Miami needs to work on defending against great point guards in order to have this weakness resolved. In three of the next five games, they will be facing great guards - specifically Deron Williams of the Jazz, Rondo of the Celtics again, and Steve Nash of the Suns. If the Heat can’t stop these point guards – either from scoring off of drives or racking up assists by getting the ball to an open man for an easy basket – they may lose these games as a result.
The Heat have also had issues with rebounding this year, as they have been outrebounded in four of the seven games they have played. This could be a direct result of not having a big, solid player in the center position - Joel Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas are outmatched against large centers such as Dwight Howard, Emeka Okafor, Shaquille O’Neal, and so on. Or it could also have to do with the fact that LeBron James has been in the point guard position (both formally and informally) as much as he has the small forward position.
While technically playing the small forward position, James has been playing point guard for the team a lot – both in transition on the fast break, and when he gets the ball from Arroyo just past half court and starts an offensive set. This has worked well so far, as the Heat have been getting good pick-and-rolls and open shots on the outside. At the same time, however, it is taking a good rebounder out of rebounding position and leaving the Heat with smaller rebounders that are overmatched against the players they are trying to rebound over. Last year James averaged 7.3 rebounds per game, but he is only averaging 4.7 so far this year.
Aside from James, Bosh also has not been rebounding well. Last year, Bosh averaged 10.8 rebounds per game. Yet so far, he is averaging merely 5.4 rebounds per game, exactly half of his average from last year. Bosh needs to step up and begin rebounding more in order for the Heat to continue winning games.
These are the two biggest issues facing the Heat right now – defending against great point guards and centers, and rebounding. They need to work on these issues and get better, before it hurts them too badly.
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