5 Reasons Why the Heat May Repeat
If you’ve been livng under a rock you may not have heard that the Miami Heat won the NBA championship last season and are once again the favorites to win it all this season. This article will take a look at 5 reasons why the Heat may repeat.
1.) The Supersonics Connection
This offseason, almost every NBA team added some talent in hopes of becoming a better squad. The Lakers made huge moves in acquiring Steve Nash and Dwight Howard with the hope of challenging the Heat for the title. But the Heat made some strong moves in Free Agency as well.
They added arguably the best 3point shooter in NBA History, in Ray Allen. And then also acquired Allen’s former Seattle running mate in, Rashard Lewis. Allen and Lewis played well together during their stint in Seattle. Although both have passed their respective primes, Allen and Lewis are still great additions to the defending champion Miami Heat.
Both provide the Heat with more assassins from beyond the arc. Given LeBron James’ superior court vision and play making ability, having more three-point snipers on the floor could do wonders for the Miami Heat’s offense. Allen and Lewis may just be what the Heat needed for another repeat.
2.) Bosh’s Transition to Center
Chris Bosh has always been considered as a power forward. He is the 3rd option in Miami, with Dwyane Wade and LeBron James sharing the bulk of the offensive load. But when Bosh was sidelined in the playoffs, he was definitely missed.
Now that is fully healthy once again and given that he added some muscle in order to make the transition from the 4 to the 5 Bosh will now be the Heat’s starting center. How this will work out in East may not be so indefinite given that Dwight Howard is now out West and that Brook Lopez, Tyson Chandler, and the oft injured Andrew Bynum appear as the only a few legit centers in the East. With this in mind let it be no surprise if Bosh holds his own at the position and makes the most out of the opportunity.
Bosh’s speed and long range shooting ability should give him an advantage over the prototype big men in perhaps both the Eastern Conference and the rest of the league.
3.) Derrick Rose and Amar’e Stoudemire’s Health Issues
The Heat are the favorites to win the title, but this doesn’t mean that no one in the East has a shot to dethrone them. In fact, there are a couple of teams in the East that can definitely challenge Miami. The only problem for those teams is that they aren’t entirely healthy.
The Chicago Bulls were legit contenders last season while Derrick Rose was still playing. The Bulls were thrown out of the conversation of challenging Miami once Derrick Rose crumpled on the floor last postseason. Rose is not expected back until sometime in the Spring which definitely places Chicago several rungs under Miami, Brooklyn, New York, and Indiana.
The New York Knicks on the other hand, added a handful of veterans such as Raymond Felton, Jason Kidd, Marcus Camby, Rasheed Wallace, and Kurt Thomas with aspirations of beating the Miami Heat for the Eastern Conference throne. The problem? Amar’e Stoudemire is now 6-8 weeks due to a cyst in the same left knee in which he underwent micro-fracture surgery in 2005.
With relatively serious injuries plaguing both the Bulls and the Knicks prior to even the first tip of the season, the journey for the Heat to obtain a number 1 seed should not be too difficult. In addition to the aforementioned injuries, other injuries that could arise to either the Pacers, Celtics, Nets, or Heat themselves could potentially derail what appears to be a promising NBA season for
4.) The Lakers and OKC may Not be Ready for the Heat
The Lakers are filled with legit veterans and superstars, but this doesn’t mean that they can coast their way to an NBA championship. The Lakers will need to build a fluid and solid chemistry. There is no guarantee that they can all play well together despite their having 4 future hall of famers.
The Thunder also just traded away James Harden to the Rockets for Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb. Losing Harden could be a huge blow to the Thunder’s chemistry and may momentarily emotionally cripple them a bit Additionally Kevin Martin has been a notorious no-shown on Defense through out his entire career and Martin’s addition may also mean less shots for Kevin Durant’ as Martin is not known to pass up what he feels is a good shot. The Miami Heat if healthy and able to knock down seemingly wide open threes may have no problem taking advantage of the Lakers’ chemistry issues and the Thunder’s weaker bench; should the Heat meet either team in the Finals.
5.) LeBron James is the Best Player in the Planet
LeBron James is undoubtedly the best player on the planet who is in the prime of his career with seemingly no one being able to derail the L-Train from doing whatever he wants.
LeBron will continue to play at a very high level, and when he does so, there’s just no stopping the Miami Heat. The only guy who can match LBJ point for point, and even beat him is Carmelo Anthony (historically, Melo has the edge over LeBron) This however means very little as Melo’s wins vs LeBron have come in the regular season and everyone knows the title is one in the Playoffs not the regular season. Additionally for Melo to even have a chance in hell at beating the Heat he needs a healthy Stoudemire. With LeBron playing the way he is now the only specks on the horizon that could potentially stop him from winning his 2nd NBA Title are how the Heat will match up against Brooklyn, whether the Heat could beat the interior super force of the Lakers, and whether the Heat and LeBron manage to stay healthy..