Loading ...The Miami Heat won 52 games in the 2005-2006 season, earning them the #2 seed and a first round match up with the Chicago Bulls in the 2006 NBA playoffs. A 50 win season is impressive by most standards but not as impressive when you consider the fact that Miami struggled versus the NBA’s elite.
Miami’s record versus San Antonio, Dallas, Phoenix, Chicago, and Detroit during the 2005-2006 season was 3-10.
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Fortunately for Miami, the teams which posed the biggest threat to their championship hopes resided on the west coast.
The Heat squared off against an inexperienced Bulls team in the first round. The Bulls turned out to be surprisingly resistant before being dispatched in 6 games. Kirk Heinrich defended Dwyane Wade admirably, holding him to a modest 24.7 per game average and a 44% field goal percentage.
Miami steamrolled the Nets in the Conference Semifinals and met the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Championship.
Detroit was the league’s best regular season team in 2005-2006. The Pistons began the season at a torrid pace, they were 37-5 after 42 games and many thought they had a legitimate shot at 70 wins. In celebration of their outstanding team success, four Pistons (Billups, Hamilton, B. Wallace, and R. Wallace) were named to that season’s NBA All-Star team.
Unfortunately for Detroit their regular season pace would prove detrimental to their championship hopes. The team was admittedly fatigued from the extended minutes accessed to their starters by Coach Flip Saunders. Detroit’s postseason play was hardly reminiscent of their regular season domination as the Heat easily defeated them in six games.
Miami captured the 2005-2006 NBA Championship in dramatic fashion. Despite being thoroughly outplayed in the Final’s opening two games they bounced back and defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the series’ next 4 contests.
Dwyane Wade was the Finals MVP and played like a champion. The Mavericks chose to focus their defensive efforts on Miami’s legendary center Shaquille O’Neal. Dallas double and triple teamed the Diesel the entire series. Their strategy was effective in its efforts to stop Shaquille (he averaged a Finals career low 13.9 points and 10.2 rebounds) but essentially laid a red carpet for Wade to single-handedly defeat them.
Defeat them he did. Wade put on a show for the ages. Dwyane averaged 34.7 points versus Dallas, the third highest Finals average in history.
Despite the Heat’s Championship last season, I don’t believe they were a great basketball team then, nor do I believe they are a great team now.
Shaquille O’Neal was forced to the Heat’s injured reserve for over 30 games this season, forcing Dwyane Wade to be their lone offensive option. Without the luxury of Shaquille’s low post presence, Dwyane struggled. Dwyane averaged 27.4 points per game but also led the league in turnovers with a 4.24 average. With D. Wade at the helm and Shaquille on the bench, Miami struggled to stay above .500 in the inferior Eastern Conference.
Dwyane suffered a shoulder dislocation in a game versus the Houston Rockets on February 21, 2007 and many (myself included) thought the Heat’s playoff hopes were all but finished. Luckily for Dwyane and the Heat, ‘Superman’ saved the season.
Shaquille’s return to the lineup instantly rejuvenated the Heat; as they would go on to win 11 of their next 14 games and 9 in a row. O’Neal’s reemergence combined with the Eastern Conference’s mediocrity allowed Miami to claim the 4th seed in this year’s playoffs.
Miami fought hard to secure a middle seed in the playoffs but has failed to consistently raise their play to that of the NBA’s elite. Their 2006-2007 regular season record versus San Antonio, Dallas, Phoenix, Chicago, and Detroit is identical to the 2005-2006 record of 3-10.
http://www.nba.com/heat/schedule/
Although the Heat have shown flashes of their 2006 NBA Final brilliance, their deficiencies remain. They are a weak defensive team. Jason Williams and Antoine Walker are the definition of defensive liability. Shaquille and Gary Payton no longer possess the foot speed to play effective man to man or rotation defense.
Shaquille’s decline in skill was obvious versus Dallas. The Shaq of today can be neutralized. He will be rested and ready this postseason but foul trouble and effectively timed double teams (like Dallas implemented) will ensure that he doesn’t carry Miami to the championship.
It will ultimately come down to whether Dwyane Wade can perform heroically once more and carry the Heat to the championship?
I don’t think he can.
The Eastern Conference, while nowhere near the Western Conference, has improved. Due partly to injury, Dwyane will not be the player he was in last season’s playoffs. Due to the opposing defenses he will likely face, he will not be nearly as effective either.
Last season’s Dallas Mavericks were a very good basketball team but the game of basketball is all about match ups. The Mavericks were routinely abused by opposing star guards that entire season. Dallas’ path to the Finals was much more difficult as well. While Dallas slugged it out with the NBA’s next best teams in San Antonio and Phoenix, Miami benefited from early round opponents Chicago, New Jersey, and the implosion of the Detroit Pistons.
Both Chicago and Detroit stand in the way of Miami’s championship hopes this season and each team has improved. Chicago in particular, has all of the defensive tools to defeat Miami. No one can stop Shaq one on one but the addition of Ben Wallace combined with the length of Chicago’s perimeter defenders will create double teams twice the like that took him out of last season’s NBA Final. Nocioni, Deng, Duhon, Gordon, and especially Heinrich will make things very difficult for Dwyane both offensively and defensively.
My opinion of the Heat is based upon their play in it’s entirety, from the 2005-2006 NBA season to the present. I’ve seen far too much of the Heat team that has for two years, struggled against the NBA’s elite teams and was dominated by the Mavericks in the NBA Final’s first two games to believe there will be a sustained return of the Miami team who played brilliantly in winning the Final’s games 3-6.
The NBA playoffs are a three month test of will and fortitude. Any team can get hot for four consecutive games. This year’s NBA Champion will consistently prove their basketball superiority. They will rise to the occasion and perform like champions.
Without a doubt, Miami will show flashes of brilliance. Those flashes of brilliance will not be enough to carry them through four competitive 7 game series’ and a repeat of last year’s championship.
