MIAMI — Midway through the third quarter of the Miami Heat’s 118-85 victory over Orlando on Sunday, second-year center Dexter Pittman got right in Dwight Howard’s face as though he wanted to start something.
The result of the altercation was a double foul — one on Pittman, one on Howard — and a measure of respect. But it didn’t answer any questions about the Heat’s toughness in the middle.
Miami’s four-headed center — starter Joel Anthony, Pittman, and power forwards Chris Bosh and Udonis Haslem — remains a question mark. Behind them there’s newly-signed Eddy Curry, who, in a shocking development, is out of shape, and veteran Juwan Howard, now is in his 18th season. Yikes.
Elsewhere in the starting lineup, Miami point guards Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole outplayed Orlando’s Jameer Nelson and Chris Duhon. But it wasn’t one of those lopsided, eye-opening beatdowns that you’ll recall as a landmark moment.
So, just as it was a year ago, you wonder if the Heat has enough, specifically at the center and point guard positions.
Those positions aren’t the main reasons the Heat lost to Dallas in the NBA Finals. LeBron James’ fourth-quarter disappearing acts, and Dallas’ zone defense were much bigger issues.
But here’s the point: by not making any moves, the Heat has opted to invoke that familiar refrain from a year ago: “We feel we have enough,” coach Erik Spoelstra said.
There’s a chance Spoelstra is right. Cole, the speedy rookie who was the 28th pick out of Cleveland State, looks promising enough that he might challenge Chalmers for the starting job at some point this season. Cole, who was such a fast-moving blur early in the Magic game that he twice got called for charging, finished with eight points, eight assists and four turnovers.
“It’s no secret I’m pretty fast,” Cole said. “I’ve just got to learn when to go full-gear and when to turn it down a gear. Once I figured out the speed of the game, I was fine.”
Chalmers (eight points, five assists, two steals), was, as Spoelstra said, “solid.” Chalmers’ defense contributed to a terrible night by Nelson (0-for-10 from the floor, one point, seven assists) and a nondescript night by Duhon (three points, one assist).
On Sunday, the Chalmers-Norris combination was good enough to win.
“Those two guys played great,” LeBron James said, “and we’re going to need that out of them.”
Most likely, the Heat will need more. The Chalmers-Norris combination is promising, but it also leaves you with doubts. Neither player is complete. Chalmers is the better defender, and Cole’s speed and ability to penetrate are enticing. You just wonder if it’s enough.
The same goes for center. Anthony is an agile, athletic shot-blocker, but he’s only 6-foot-9 and has bad hands, which means he struggles to grab a rebound and make the pass to start the offense. Then there’s Pittman. He’s promising, but he only played 11 minutes last year as a rookie, spending part of the season in the D-League, where he did quite well, and part of the season injured. At 6-11, and a listed weight of 308, Pittman appears heavy and out of shape; he doesn’t seem ready to contribute meaningful minutes right now. He was manhandled by Anthony in the Red & Black scrimmage held for season-ticket holders.
But teammates offer encouraging reviews of the affable Pittman.
“He’s started practicing very aggressive of late,” guard Dwyane Wade, “really rebounding the ball and carving out space and using what he has.”
There’s a chance the seeming deficiencies at point guard and center don’t cost the Heat the title. After all, neither Chalmers, Anthony, Pittman nor Cole is likely to be on the floor in the closing minutes of a tight game.
If all goes according to plan the Heat’s closing five will be selected among the six-man group of Wade, James, Bosh, Haslem, forward Shane Battier and swingman Mike Miller. At certain times Miami will need Anthony’s shot-blocking, Pittman’s bulk, Chalmers’ defense or Cole’s offense. But for the most part the center and point guard positions will be manned by the highly-skilled veterans.
However, that leads back to the original question of whether the Heat has enough.
In fairness, the Heat had “enough” throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs. They shrugged off Philadelphia’s youth and athleticism, Boston’s toughness and savvy, and Chicago’s tenacious rebounding and amazing depth.
It was a different story, however, when Dallas came calling in the Finals. Center Tyson Chandler gave the Heat fits with his length and dogged defense. Backup Brendan Haywood had more beef than Miami could throw back at him. And point guards Jason Kidd and J.J. Barea tormented the Heat with their play-making ability and 3-point shots
Right now, few teams seem to have the qualities Dallas had last year, the ones that gave Miami so many problems — length, depth, defense, and quality contributors at center and point guard.
The Mavericks gave away the piece that made them unique (Chandler), the Lakers seem to have given away one of the key pieces that made them unique (Lamar Odom), Chicago might not have made enough improvement by adding guard Rip Hamilton, and Boston, which has lost forward Jeff Green for the season to a heart ailment, still hasn’t recovered from the Kendrick Perkins trade. Among those lurking in the shadows: Memphis might be a year away, San Antonio might be a couple of years removed, and Atlanta lost guard Jamal Crawford.
That might leave Oklahoma City as the No. 1 threat to the Heat’s title hopes right now. The Thunder has the center (Perkins), point guard (Russell Westbrook) and star power (Kevin Durant) to rattle the Heat, as well as a wealth of athleticism, depth and length. And they play defense.
Oklahoma City is a scary team. The Thunder is so scary they make you wonder if, in fact, the Heat has enough.
Chris Perkins is a regular contributor to SheridanHoops.com, covering the NBA and the Miami Heat. His columns appear every Tuesday. Follow him on Twitter.
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Um… not for nothing, but this piece totally assumes the Heat are coming out on top in the East. Let us not forget that the Knicks have Chandler now, better players at the 1, and the Wade/LeBron combo are a wash with STAT and ‘Melo.
Why is everyone so willing to just hand Miami the East before a single meaningful game has even been played yet?
You must be a Knicks fan. STAT and Melo a wash with Wade/LeBron? As much as I’d love to see the Heat fail, that’s not even close. STAT and Melo would have to learn how to at least spell defense and I don’t think they’ll learn from D’Antoni. Chandler has his big contract now, and combined with lack of D around him, and no PG like CP3 or Kidd to feed him, expectations in NY may be a tad too high. Better at the 1? Certainly in their prime, but good luck with Bibby and Davis. The Knicks have a shot at feeding off of the rest of the conference, but doubtful they have much chance against either Miami or Chicago in a series.
It’s also worth considering that Davis really might be injured — something that’s going to ensure that he’s out of shape when he hits the court. And as much as I like Mike Bibby, there’s really not much left in the tank.
With no injuries (which can’t be assumed with Amare and Chandler on board) the Knicks should be better than a first round sweep, but you’re right, Chicago and Miami are significantly better.
Yeah Amar’e is a huge injury risk, because if you discount that eye injury he had and you look at the last five years Amar’e missed 6 games. SIX, I mean if he’s gonna keep missing games like that you have to wonder how the team will be able to hold together. /sarcasm
When a guy has knee surgery five years ago and doesn’t miss games at some point you have to stop calling him an injury risk. In his career he had one season lost to knee injury and 20 something games lost to an eye injury. The eye injury was a fluke and the knee hasn’t bothered him in a long time. Time to get off that wagon.
Well, sure. Full disclosure? I’m definitely a Knicks fan. Why that’s of any consequence to this discussion, I don’t know. It should be obvious.
But, anyway…
I’m not buying this myth that Wade and James are such “exceptional” defenders. They get paid to score buckets – and yes, defense is part of the game and is every player’s responsibility – but let’s not get it twisted. Neither Wade or James are lock-down, air-tight defenders. Amar’e and ‘Melo are going to get their looks against that Miami squad and they’re going to put up big numbers. Period.
As far as the Knicks defense? Sure, Amar’e can *definitely* improve, but the word on ‘Melo is simply inaccurate. He’s not a poor defender – he’s an inadequate defender on the weak side. But man-to-man and in double-reams, he’s an above average defender, when motivated, and my sense is that the Chandler addition plus the defensive criticisms from last year will have all the Knicks motivated this year.
So, even if it’s not the Knicks who win the East, Chicago is a viable threat, too, and you always have to consider an underdog team. Miami – as this article clearly articulates – is the same team as it was last year, while other teams have improved. So, all that considered, you can’t crown Miami with anything just yet.
As is often said, this is why they play the season… let the games begin.
Everyone is assuming that the Heat are the #1 seed in the East because they are clearly above everyone else when you look at the rosters. Any team dethroning the Heat as the Eastern Conference champions in a playoff series would be considered an underdog right now.
The Knicks being better at the point guard position comes with the assumption that Baron Davis will show up. We already know that Mike Bibby is done. And there’s no duo in the league that comes close to LeBron and Wade. If Jerome Jordan isn’t ready for primetime, the Knicks will have stretches where they will lose a few games. Chandler and Amar’e are not making it through a tougher 66 game season, playing 36+ minutes a night.
NY’s STAT/Melo combo only compares to Lebron/Wade in terms of salary.
Heck, make one of the two Miami guys Bosh and they’re *still* head and shoulders above STAT/Melo.
On a side note, as much as I loved what he did in PHX, this is a bad sort of season to have D’Antoni as your coach. If the past is any view into the future, he’s going to run his starters into the ground over the course of this jam-packed season. Not so good when one of your stars is so much of an injury risk that he has an uninsurable contract.
Son, sometimes you are going to have to say no to drugs. Now defensively sure you can say that Lebron and Wade are better, but offensively melo/stat did score more last year and will probably do so again. So calling it a wash is really not that offensive. Did the heat win their 4 games against the knicks last year? No, they were 2-2 last year. The Heat are in for a bigger fight than people realize. The East has not yet been won.
I agree PG and C are still weaknesses, but I’d like to believe what they have is an upgrade over last year nonetheless (Dampier, Magloire, Ilgauskas, Arroyo/Bibby. Yuck).
They’re younger and more athletic than last year, though Pittman and Curry might not be on the floor playing Center as much as Juwan Howard/Udonis Haslem. Just having Haslem in the rotation is practically a free agent signing.
I’m worried about Miami’s depth at Center but if they get out and run more, that’ll solve their size matchups in a lot of ways.
And if Curry and Pittman get down to playing weight, so much the better.