RCF's 2009/2010 NBA Preview - Miami Heat

[Brizzle]

Feel free to nod your heads to this while browsing this preview :chuckles:
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General Manager: Pat Riley

2009-2010 Salary:

Head Coach: Erik Spoelstra

Fast facts:
-Son of Jon Spoelstra, a long-time NBA executive
-Played PG for the University of Portland; earned Freshman of the year honor
-Played professionally for 2 years for Tus Herten in Germany
-Joined the Heat in 1995 as a video coordinator; 15 years with the Heat total
-Youngest current NBA head coach
-First Asian/Filipino-American head coach in the NBA

This game is now about younger coaches who are technologically skilled, innovative and bring fresh new ideas. That's what we feel we are getting with Erik Spoelstra. He's a man that was born to coach --Pat Riley

First…a look back at 2008-2009​

-Erik spoelstra appointed to his 1st head coaching job
-Drafted forward Michael Beasley with the 2nd overall pick
-Acquired 2nd round draft pick PG Mario Chalmers
-Traded Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to Toronto in exchange for Jermaine O’neal and Jjamario Moon
-Dwyane Wade played 79 regular season games, the most in his 6 year career
-Wade won the scoring title averaging 30.2 ppg
-Wade finished 3rd in MVP voting
-Team finshed the regular season with a record of 43-39
-Finished 3rd in the Southeast Division
-Finished 5th in the Eastern Conference
-Eliminated from the playoffs after a 7 game series with the Hawks in round 1

2009-2010​

2009-2010 Roster

No.| |Player |Pos |Height| Weight| DOB| Exp |College
50 |

|Anthony, Joel |C| 6-9 |260 |8/9/82 |2|UNLV|
30|

|Beasley, Michael |F |6-10| 235 |1/9/89 | 1| Kansas State|
25 |

|Beverley, Patrick |G| 6-1| 180| 7/12/88| R| Arkansas|
6|

|Chalmers, Mario | PG |6-1| 190 |5/19/86 | 1| Kansas|
14|

|Cook, Daequan |G |6-5| 210| 4/28/87 | 2| Ohio State|
9|

|Diawara, Yakhouba| GF| 6-7| 225 |8/29/82 | 3| Pepperdine|
4 |

|Dozier, Robert | F| 6-9 |220| 11/6/85 | R| Memphis|
40 |

|Haslem, Udonis | FC| 6-8| 235| 6/9/80| 6 |Florida|
22|

|Jones, James | SF| 6-8| 220| 10/4/80 | 6 |Miami (FL) |
21|

|Magloire, Jamaal | C| 6-11| 265| 5/21/78 | 9| Kentucky|
7 |

|O'Neal, Jermaine| C| 6-11| 260| 10/13/78 | 13| None|
11|

|Quinn, Chris | G| 6-2| 185 |9/27/83 | 3| Notre Dame|
23|

|Richardson, Quentin | GF| 6-6| 235| 4/13/80 | 9| DePaul|
3|

|Wade, Dwyane | G| 6-4| 212| 1/17/82 | 6| Marquette|
1|

|Wright, Dorell | GF |6-8| 205| 12/2/85 | 5| None|

Offseason Losses
-Lost Jamario Moon via free agency to Cleveland
-Traded Mark Blount to Minnesota
-Luther Head remains unsigned

Offseason Gains
-Acquired Quentin Richardson from Minnesota
-Acquired the rights to 2nd round draft pick guard Patrick Beverley who will be playing in Greece with Olympiakos this season
-Drafted 2nd round pick forward Robert Dozier who will also be playing in Greece with Colossus Rhodes
-Re-signed C/F Joel Anthony
-Re-signed C Jamaal Magloire

POSSIBLE DEPTH CHART

PG|SG|SF|PF|C
Mario Chalmers | Dwyane Wade | Quentin Richardson | Udonis Haslem | Jermaine O'Neal |
Chris Quinn|Daequan Cook|James Jones|Michael Beasley|Joel Anthony|
|Yakhouba Diawara|Dorell Wright| |Jamaal Magloire|

Strengths​

Versatility
Miami has some players that can play more than one position—they won’t miss a beat if Wade is running the show at PG or if he’s playing off the ball at SG.

Daequan Cook is being molded into a true combo guard spending the bulk of his summer working on ball handling and point guard skills.

Cook is trying to expand his game beyond being just a shooter during summer workouts, the Miami Herald reports. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra envisions Cook being more of a combo guard, capable of ball-handling duties. The coach wants Cook to run hundreds of pick and rolls this week, see the situations that develop from them and watch him make plays. "He's put in a lot of time. He wants to expand his game. He knows we need him to expand his game. The scouting report is out there on him. The wide-open standstill jump shot where he's checking for the wind -- those are really not available to him anymore. We're expecting him to do more," said Spoelstra. Link

Between smoking kush, getting super bad tattoos and entering rehab Michael Beasley had been honing his small forward skills

F Michael Beasley continues working to hone his small forward skills. Beasley, a power forward, is being viewed by the Heat as someone who can play both forward positions. Link

Defense

Coach Erik Spolestra preaches defense first. Miami finished 3rd in 08-09 behind only the Cavs and the Lakers in defensive efficiency on John Hollinger's team statistics chart:

Miami is filled with young energetic defenders like Mario Chalmers, James Jones, and Wade who have size and long arms to bother the opposition. Their big men Udonis Haslem and Jermaine O'Neal can both hold their own in the post on defense. And O'neal averaged 2 blocks for the Heat last season.

Weaknesses​

Rebounding
The Heat as a team were 28th in the league during the regular season in rebounding at 39.5 rebounds per game. After Shawn Marion, who averaged a season high 8.7 rebounds for the Heat, was traded the Heat’s leading rebounder was Udonis Haslem grabbed an average of 8.2 rebounds. Their starting center, Jermaine O’neal averaged only 5.4 rebounds which was just a hair better than Wade who averaged 5 per game. No additions were additions were added this offseason to address the problem so coach Erik Spolestra is probably hoping that his big men will get tougher on the glass.

Depth
Miami’s bench leaves a lot to be desired.
Jermaine O’neal is one of the most injury prone players in the league he can go down with an injury and miss a string of games at any time. However, he’s their best true big man and they will have to rely heavily on him. He’s capable of putting up all-star numbers now and then as he did last season but he’s inconsistent and definitely not what he used to be.

Their primary back up big men Jamaal Magloire and Joel Anthony, while decent options, don’t bring a lot to the table other than some serviceable defense and decent rebounding. If O’neal goes out, which he likely will, they will be extremely thin up front.

Chris Quinn is listed as the back up PG on the depth chart. He was serviceable in his 14 minutes off the bench averaging 5 points and 2 assists. But the primary ball handling duties in addition to Mario Chalmers belonged to Wade. That isn’t a terrible thing since Wade is a terrific play maker, but judging by Miami’s interest in Jamaal Tinsley and them rumored to be interested in trading for another veteran PG to back up Chalmers, the Heat want Wade to play more off the ball.

No # 2
Wade has no clear cut #2 option. The Heat roster has a lot of role players but no clear star that will step up and help Wade out night in and night out. He’s got the whole team on his back but can’t carry a team on his own. He couldn’t get the Heat out of the first round on his own. As great as he was at times it wasn’t good enough. His team mates were just too inconsistent. This won’t be the case for long. Pat Riley has a master plan to get Wade some help.

Key Players​

Dwyane Wade

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Wade is coming off of his best season as a pro averaging 30.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 7.5 assists, 2.2 steals, and 1.3 blocks all while shooting 49% from the field. He will turn 28 years old this season and is in his prime and has hit his stride. He’s already able to get to the rim at will and when he’s on, his mid-range jumper is beautiful but in 08-09 he added a new wrinkle to his game. He attempted a career high 278 three point shots making a career high 88 of them for a total 32%. That’s not a great percentage but as he continues to work on his outside shot he’ll be virtually un-guardable. I don’t think there’s any question that he’s one of the top three players in the league.

I expect Udonis Haslem to have a really nice season. He's playing for a contract so I expect a boost in his numbers. But contract year or not he's probably the Heat's 2nd most consistant player. He's the exact type of player that championship teams love, a gritty blue collar guy that is willing to do the dirty work.

After Wade and Haslem the Heat roster screams inconsistancy. You can expect Jermaine O'neal to miss time each year. He's supposed to be in great shape from working out with Wade and other NBA players in Chicago this summer...we'll see.

Michael Beasley was soft and lazy in his rookie year. He has all the physical tools to be a star but I can't see that happening until he matures mentally. He's got to toughen up because he seems pretty frail mentally. Good thing for him this is only his second year and after a stint in rehab maybe he'll come out with a chip on his shoulder and his mind clear.

Mario Chalmers was very very solid for a rookie 2nd round PG. His numbers weren't spectacular but he's a nice compliment in the backcourt to Wade. He just needs to get more agressive in looking for his own shot. Wade draws so much attention that Mario gets plenty of chances to create some offense for himself but usually he just takes the open shot, which he hits at a pretty high rate. Once he gets some confidence and experiance he could be pretty tough.

Predictions​

I think the Heat will win around 42 games this year but it may not be enough to make the playoffs. With the Raptors improving, the Wizards getting healthy (for now) and adding depth, and the Hawks adding depth I see the Heat battling for one of the last two seeds in the playoffs with Detroit and Chicago.

But them being a lottery team wouldn't be a bad thing. This season is kind of a wash anyway as Pat Riley is just biding his time until the summer of 2010 when he can snag pretty much any star free agent away from their team to co-pilot in Miami with Wade. The Heat can offer a max contract, the Miami weather and night life, and a chance to play with one of the the top 3 players in the league. I'm sure they can snag one of Amare, Boozer, Bosh or one of the other top free agents.

HEAT Dancers

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Useless Dribbles​

D-Wade divorced his wife/mother of his son:

D-Wade then started being spotted out with this woman...Star Jones :thumbdown:

He's now dating Gabrielle Union :

Atta boy Dwyane!

 

[Snowblind]

Very good preview. Honestly, the heat are going to be fighting for 6-8 spots in the east. It seems like the game plan is just to wait till 2010 FA and then gear up and compete. They have some talent around D-wade, but so inconsistent like you said. Maybe Jermaine will have a above avg year for a center (contract year); if B-easy can get the mental part of the game down then the Heat have found a #2 option.

41-45 wins

BTW....wtf is wrong with her pinky toe?

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

Congratulations Odaymis...truly are the most beautiful Heat dancer. :wipes tear:

I'm going to give the Heat 43 wins.

 

[doughboy90650]

Union > Jones

 

[Randolphkeys]

Did someone photoshop Roseanne Barr's right leg onto that one chick?

 

[Karma]

Wade alone gives this team 40 wins. There is just enough around him to get into the lower half of the playoff seedings, a first round exit and around 47 wins.

 

[Da_James_Gang]

Atta boy Dwyane!

Pip will be jealous...

and not of DWade.

 

[Layne Staley]

Look at them slutty ho's. Cuntalisios

 

[GilbertForPres]

D-Wade is determined, and if Beasley can be mentally ready and if Jermaine O'neal can stay healthy, I see them getting 47 wins.

 

[brooktown]

Did someone photoshop Roseanne Barr's right leg onto that one chick?

First off, I'm kinda pissed you both pointed her leg/foot out because I never would have noticed it and just thought she was perfect from the video (other than that pink heat top with the black pants almost past her belly button). But seriously, the ankle almost looks like it was burned. Then the foot looks weird all fat and veiny and the toe has been broken around 10 times. AHHHHH I still wish I only saw the video of her.

Great preview, loved Will Smith.