If The Heat Had Chris Paul instead of LeBron...

[Fafnir]

That is a good way to put it and I agree that 1 on 5 doesnt work. What i disagree with is that LeBron can help that. I have never seen him run offensive sets. Just isos with the occasional P&R.

I'm afraid you haven't watched a whole lot of LeBron then. He does run offensive sets much of the time.

The Celtics do a great job of frustrating those sets and overloading the strong side to make them more difficult. Then he goes into "f' it" mode and just goes at the C's.

Remember how Ray/Paul/Kevin said "it probably wouldn't have worked when we were all younger". Well you're seeing why now in Miami.

[indeedproceed]

That is a good way to put it and I agree that 1 on 5 doesnt work. What i disagree with is that LeBron can help that. I have never seen him run offensive sets. Just isos with the occasional P&R. You are right that it takes chmistry and offensive schemes. Well we are on team #2 for LeBron with no offensive schemes besides Lebronball. They might find chemistry but Im not sure that offensive "system" will get much more diverse.

Well imagine a pick and roll heavy offense with LeBron as the initiator. They've got pick and pop shooters in Haslem and Bosh, they've got capable finishers in LeBron, Haslem, and Bosh.

Plus, Arroyo might not be a very complex player, but he can put the ball on the floor and score if need be.

THe thing is, I defy anyone to show me any 1 offensive possession where all 5 players had a defined involved role in a fluid possession ending with a score.

LeBron can pick and pop or pick and roll, so can Bosh and Haslem. Wade, LeBron, or Arroyo can all be the ball handlers on a pick and roll.

I just didn't see it on there.

[GranTur]

Simply put, LeBron + Amare is better than Wade + LeBron + Bosh.

[Greenbean]

That is a good way to put it and I agree that 1 on 5 doesnt work. What i disagree with is that LeBron can help that. I have never seen him run offensive sets. Just isos with the occasional P&R.

I'm afraid you haven't watched a whole lot of LeBron then. He does run offensive sets much of the time.

The Celtics do a great job of frustrating those sets and overloading the strong side to make them more difficult. Then he goes into "f' it" mode and just goes at the C's.

Remember how Ray/Paul/Kevin said "it probably wouldn't have worked when we were all younger". Well you're seeing why now in Miami.

We are coming to some common ground. Whoever is at fault, it isnt working right now. I am putting the blame on LeBron personally because he runs the offense and you are putting more of the blame on Wade and Bosh because they have to figure out how to be 2nd and 3rd options. Both are fair points. It will be interesting to see if they get it turned around and if they do, who taylored their game to make it happen.

[Greenbean]

That is a good way to put it and I agree that 1 on 5 doesnt work. What i disagree with is that LeBron can help that. I have never seen him run offensive sets. Just isos with the occasional P&R. You are right that it takes chmistry and offensive schemes. Well we are on team #2 for LeBron with no offensive schemes besides Lebronball. They might find chemistry but Im not sure that offensive "system" will get much more diverse.

Well imagine a pick and roll heavy offense with LeBron as the initiator. They've got pick and pop shooters in Haslem and Bosh, they've got capable finishers in LeBron, Haslem, and Bosh.

Plus, Arroyo might not be a very complex player, but he can put the ball on the floor and score if need be.

THe thing is, I defy anyone to show me any 1 offensive possession where all 5 players had a defined involved role in a fluid possession ending with a score.

LeBron can pick and pop or pick and roll, so can Bosh and Haslem. Wade, LeBron, or Arroyo can all be the ball handlers on a pick and roll.

I just didn't see it on there.

I can get on board with that offensive system working for them. I wonder if Spolestra is looking at changing their approach offensively at all. Oh to be a fly on the wall in their practices.

[indeedproceed]

Simply put, LeBron + Amare is better than Wade + LeBron + Bosh.

I think we'll see that this is not true. I do think though that LeBron + Amare> LeBron + Bosh

But Dywane Wade is tied with Kobe for best shooting guard in the league. The difference is that Kobe has a better coach, an established team chemistry, and a more balanced squad.

[Moranis]

The problem is not Lebron or even Wade for that matter (though they aren't the best fit, which I've said all along).  It is the lack of interior toughness and rebounding.  Bosh is an excellent player, but he isn't a good fit with Lebron and Wade.  He doesn't like to do the dirty work and he needs a lot of touches to be effective offensively.  A guy like Boozer would have been a much better fit or a big man that plays on the outside like say Dirk.  

Lebron wanted to play with his friends, which is understandable, but he probably could have found a better fit from a basketball standpoint.  And don't get me wrong, I think the Heat will get it figured out at some point and be in the ECF against the Celtics, but I'm sure all 3 of those guys thought it would was going to be a lot easier then it has been.

[Greenbean]

Simply put, LeBron + Amare is better than Wade + LeBron + Bosh.

I think we'll see that this is not true. I do think though that LeBron + Amare> LeBron + Bosh

But Dywane Wade is tied with Kobe for best shooting guard in the league. The difference is that Kobe has a better coach, an established team chemistry, and a more balanced squad.

I wonder if Riles looked into getting Amare over Bosh.

[Fafnir]

Simply put, LeBron + Amare is better than Wade + LeBron + Bosh.

I think we'll see that this is not true. I do think though that LeBron + Amare> LeBron + Bosh

But Dywane Wade is tied with Kobe for best shooting guard in the league. The difference is that Kobe has a better coach, an established team chemistry, and a more balanced squad.

I wonder if Riles looked into getting Amare over Bosh.

I think Amar'e would make things even worse. He's been awful in NY, and he struggles in all the areas that the Heat need Bosh to produce. (Post, Defense, Rebounding, Toughness)

[Who]

I think you'd have most of the same problems as far as there being only one ball. CP3 is a PG, but he pounds the ball as much as LeBron/Wade ever have. (probably more honestly)

He'd get Bosh more alley oop looks and other easy dunks, but Wade or LeBron would still struggle off the ball.

Overall I think Wade is a better player than CP3 and in the end a better fit to play with LeBron. He's just had two awful games versus the C's.

Agreed on all counts. Wade over CP3 + Bron and Wade over CP3 and Wade + CP3 would help Bosh more than either Wade or Bro + CP3 is the biggest ball-hog of the three of them.

I think the scariest team to put CP3 would be the Magic. Dwight Howard and CP3 would mesh perfectly and would instantly make the Magic a top 3 offense.

Fortunately the Hornets aren't trading him this year.

Agreed -- that would be terrifying.

The only thing holding Orlando back at the moment is that lack of a shot creator off the dribble. Paul gives them that scoring threat + playmaking off the bounce. With Orlando's shooters and Dwight in the middle, that would be one heck of a difficult offense to stop.

[Who]

I think the bigger problem is Chris Bosh, and its not what people think. Chris Bosh is having the hardest time adjusting to playing with elite players. Without the ball, he doesn't know what to do.      

I would like to see Miami use some smaller lineups over the next few weeks with LeBron at the four and Bosh at center. Four out one in type of offense. Put Bosh in a lot of space and let LeBron and Wade create.

See if those situations, a few minutes here and there during games, help him get acclimatized quicker.

[xmuscularghandix]

I think the scariest team to put CP3 would be the Magic. Dwight Howard and CP3 would mesh perfectly and would instantly make the Magic a top 3 offense.

Fortunately the Hornets aren't trading him this year.

I agree with this.


CP3 and Wade would have the same issues that Lebron and Wade do. All three of them, when successful, constantly handled the ball with good off-ball shooters hanging outside for good floor spacing (Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, James Jones, Peja Stojakovic, Morris Peterson, Marco Belinelli, etc…) Now with Dwayne and Lebron neither of them are great outside shooters so when we load the strong side they have nowhere to go.

I do think that CP3 on the Knicks with Wilson Chandler and Amare would work decent.

[wdleehi]

The difference between Lebron and Kobe the past two seasons is Gasol.



Gasol gives Kobe a legitimate number two option down low with a lot of size.




Give this Miami team a real big man in the C to defend and bang while adding a PG that can defend top PGs, this team becomes very scary.


Right now, they can not stop Rondo, Paul and Williams from ripping holes in the defense.  Throw in the strong low post game these teams have, the holes these PGs are creating are killing the Heat.


If the Heat plug those two holes, they will be better equipped to play with those teams.


Offensively, against the great Celtics defense, only one quarter did they not score over 25 points. 

[MBunge]

Give this Miami team a real big man in the C to defend and bang while adding a PG that can defend top PGs, this team becomes very scary.

When you've got 2 of the top 10 players in the league on your team and add a 20/10 guy to that, you shouldn't need anything else to be scary.  Though if Riley had been smart enough to pass on Miller and Haslem in favor of Raymond Felton or Derek Fisher at point and somebody like Erick Dampier or Louis Amundson at center, the Heat would have been better off.

Mike

[wdleehi]

Give this Miami team a real big man in the C to defend and bang while adding a PG that can defend top PGs, this team becomes very scary.

When you've got 2 of the top 10 players in the league on your team and add a 20/10 guy to that, you shouldn't need anything else to be scary.  Though if Riley had been smart enough to pass on Miller and Haslem in favor of Raymond Felton or Derek Fisher at point and somebody like Erick Dampier or Louis Amundson at center, the Heat would have been better off.

Mike

Those three make them scary offensively.  As a team, they shot 50% against the Celtics last night.


Defensively, they are fine at those three positions.  The problem is the other two positions where they can not stop anyone.  This causes the team defense to have to overreact and against a top PG like Rondo, creates giant holes in the defense he can pick apart. 


Get a guy that can stay in front of Rondo most the time, the holes shrink.

Get a guy that will be there to clean up perimeter mistakes down low, the holes shrink even more.



I bet they have an easier time against the Lakers vs. the three teams they lost to because the Lakers do no have a PG that can hurt them.  (not to say they will beat the Lakers, they will just be better against them)