Go West, Young Men: The Heat’s Failure of Courage
June 12, 2012 13 Comments
Among the reasons the Miami Heat are so easy to hate is that James, Wade, and Bosh chose to play together in the NBA’s weak eastern conference. If the boys considered themselves such hot stuff, why didn’t they join forces in Golden State? Yeah, I know payroll may be part of the answer; to talk about the NBA nowadays, you have to be an accountant. But it can’t be coincidence that the three all-stars thought it would be fun to play together where they could let most of the league’s best teams fight it out amongst themselves, while they sat back, ready to face whomever was left standing.
Miami Heat (Photo credit: Keith Allison)
To represent the west in this year’s finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder had to beat the reigning champs, the previous champs, and the team with the best record in the league, one that had finished the season on a ten-game win-streak it had run to 18 by the time the series with the Thunder started. The Heat’s biggest challenge, on the other hand, came from an aging Celtic team with several players injured. That getting through each round has taken the Heat more games than the Thunder has not been caused by the strength of the competition.
The Thunder had to beat the west’s #1 seed. The Heat had to beat the team that beat the team that beat the east’s #1. The east’s top seed, in other words, was no playoff threat (due to injuries). (And yes, the Bulls tied the Spurs for the best record, but seeing how hobbled they were at the end, I feel comfortable breaking that tie, as I do in the paragraph above, in San Antonio’s favor.) This is not the Heat’s fault, but it does make their reaching the finals less impressive. Nor is the general weakness of the east a surprise; it was clear when the Great Celebrators selected Miami as home.
Eventually the Heat’s annual cakewalk to the finals should result in a championship. It might even happen this year. When it does, the conference the stars chose is among the reasons it will feel tainted.
I’ll disagree and address these points:
1) Why not go to Golden State? Well, the Heat, unlike the Warriors, have a recent track record of success and a hall of fame president/GM in Pat Riley. The Warriors? Eh.. not so much. Also, Dwayne Wade, although a free agent, was more or less a shoe-in to re-sign with Miami one way or another. So really Miami had the infrastructure nowhere in the West had. Also remember, all 3 took a little less than the maximum they could have received elsewhere to play together. In an era where these superstars are excoriated fro chasing money rather than winning, here 3 guys did the opposite and criticized for that. So you’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you do.
2) In a 7 game series, we can argue that the team that goes through the more rigorous conference playoff slate is more beat-up and has “earned” it more. But your argument is self-defeating. The Thunder had an easier time, the Heat scratched and clawed through 3 tough series, each tougher than the last. The Heat will come in more “beat up” than the Thunder. So the “advantage” of coming from the “weaker” East? More or less nullified. In a 7 game series, the better team prevails, regardless of the conference.
3) The big 3 didn’t choose Miami because they are in the east and it’s easier. I think you are confusing better teams with “more fun to watch.” Case in point: How did Mike D’Antoni’s fun-n-gun style work out in NY? He amassed great records year after year with Phoenix, then his teams would flame out in the playoffs, because they didn’t play any defense. Oh look, same thing in NY. And then there’s the LA Clippers. Very fun to watch with CP3 and Blake Griffin. But you want to honestly tell me if they were in the East they win a 7 game series vs. Boston or Miami? No chance.
Finally, no one felt bad for the Heat when they essentially tanked 4 seasons to make this dream team a possibility. In fact, everyone relished the Heat’s struggles then, a lot of it because of hatred for Pat Riley. That’s what this is all about. The “Decision?” Sure, in poor taste. But what if LBJ chose the Knicks, or the Bulls? He’d be a friggin media sweetheart. People see Miami as a paradise.. a place where you can oggle supermodels on the beach, hang out with movie stars, get a tan on Christmas Eve.. why the hell should THEY have a great sports team? And yes, Miami DOES have the worst sports fans in the country. Bandwaggoners and poseurs.. See here:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-heat/fl-miami-heat-for-dummies-0611-20120610,0,5563434.story
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-heat/fl-nba-basics-0611-20120610,0,5033476.story
Yes, they actually put these “stories” in the paper to accommodate the bandwaggon socialites who will be interested now that the Heat are in the finals.
And then there’s me. Born and raised in Miami. Huge fan from the start. Endured 5 or 6 truly wretched seasons in the late 80s/early 90s, when expansion teams didn’t have the luxuries they do now to at least have a chance to be competitive out of the gate. Everyone enjoyed poking fun at the Heat’s ineptitude then. Everyone loved the post-’96 meltdown when Shaq had enough and Wade got hurt. So, I am unapologetic that Pat gamed the system and landed 3 superstars to play side-by-side. Boo-friggin-hoo. Like I said, if the “big 3″ went to Chicago, or NY, the ass-kissing fest would be out of control. Since it’s Miami.. “hate” rules the day. Too bad.
p.s. The Thunder are going to win, probably.
Thanks for commenting.
1) Golden State was a randomly chosen western site. The Great Celebrators could have chosen to compete in the west. They chose the easier route. It was smart and it will help them win championships, but not admiration.
2) The Thunder earned their finals berth by beating stronger teams than the Heat had to face. I hope you’re not suggesting that because the Heat lost more games than the Thunder, the Knicks, Pacers, and Celts are better than the Mavs, Lakers, and Spurs.
3) I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what you’re saying. That the west is, and has been, the stronger conference seems pretty evident to me, and I’m not the first to note it.
If you’re really having trouble understanding why I say being in the east is an advantage, do a thought experiment. Have the Thunder and Heat switch conferences. The Thunder would make it to the finals pretty easily. The Heat might make it, too, but they’d have a much harder time.
More legitimate title contenders are in the west than in the east. This is an advantage to contenders (or, this year, “the contender.” singular) in the east.
I’m glad you’ve got a team you’re enjoying.
1&2) Ok Todd.. You can hold to the “West is the Best” theory.. but you contradict your own theory by stating that since the Thunder breezed through the West easily and the Heat struggled at times, the Thunder are clearly better. If this is so, then the Thunder will win in 5 or 6, and then there’s nothing to argue. There are 500 reasons they chose Miami, but I doubt that “easier path to the finals” was one of them. You still have to win the finals. If you are going to hold than in a 7 game series we don’t get a true winner because one team is in a life or death struggle to get out of their conference and one team has a cake-walk through a weak conference, then I’m sorry you can’t be satisfied with the respective best from each Conference, playing a 7 game series. Works for me. People tried the same argument with the NFL when the NFC dominated every year.. then the Patriots had the gall to win it and people bitched that the AFC was “weak.” Whatever..
3) Just because a lot of people say it, doesn’t mean it’s true. You keep harping on this and conveniently ignore the D’antoni experiment. Wasn’t he going to run roughshod over the East? Ok.. here’s a though experiment for you. alternate reality: Celtics won the East. By some miracle/unlikely set of events they ALSO beat OKC in 7.. win NBA Championship. Wait.. they were just lucky they played in the East. Put an asterisk next to their 2012 championship. Really? Ok..
Ok.. so the Thunder and Heat switch conferences… yup.. thinking about it.. yup, it’s still the Thunder and the Heat. Yup.. Mike Miller still moves like and old man and Chris Bosh maybe still recovering from an ab injury. Heat are MORE exhausted from battling it out and thunder are fresher from cruising through playoffs? Oh wait, that happened anyway.
>you contradict your own theory by stating that since the Thunder breezed through the West easily and the Heat struggled at times, the Thunder are clearly better.
I haven’t said that and I don’t think it. These teams are pretty equally matched. I’ve said the Thunder faced harder competition to reach the finals.
(Actually, I should revise what I said about the thought experiment. Given the Bosh injury, the Heat wouldn’t have reached the finals playing in the west. The Lakers would probably have beaten them, or the Spurs surely would have.–So you won’t accuse me of contradicting myself about the even finals matchup, the same would be true of the Thunder playing without one their top three players.)
We’ll have to agree to disagree about the relative strengths of the two conferences.
Yeah, I’m not a huge Heat fan. I’m not anti-Lebron. I think he’s a good player, but the bottom line is that the team does not have a killer instinct. They want to win, but they are all Hollywood. They complain about calls instead of playing the game. Lebron isn’t going to take the final shot to win a game, Wade will take the shot, but not always make it, and Spoelstra is in over his head as a coach. So if they do win the Finals, I won’t really be impressed, but if they lose the Finals, you can be sure that Riley will fire Spoelstra and all that trash Lebron was talking about winning rings will look even more embarrassing.
“They want to win, but they are all Hollywood. They complain about calls instead of playing the game. Lebron isn’t going to take the final shot to win a game, Wade will take the shot, but not always make it, and Spoelstra is in over his head as a coach. So if they do win the Finals, I won’t really be impressed”
So you state all these reasons why they won’t win.. but if they DO win, you “won’t be impressed.” So they can’t win with anyone. That’s fine.. because if they win, they’ll be champs, despite the haters saying they’re unimpressed.
For the record, as a Heat fan, I don’t think they’ll win, because Wade isn’t 100% and they don’t have a solid veteran backup PG or starting true Center.
Well, I guess my point is that they have the talent to win, but as we know, talent isn’t enough. And I clearly stated that I’m not a Heat/Lebron hater. There are other times with not as much talent who win because they have heart, they have discipline, they have a coach, who would not keep someone like Bosh on the bench in Game 5. All of those are factors in why I think they are less than a great team. The minute a call doesn’t go their way, Lebron and/or Wade are whining. When in fact, they get so many calls, especially, when they are at all. So when I say I’m not impressed if they won, those are the reasons why. They could be a great team, but they let foolishness and immaturity get in the way time and time again.
Yes, they do complain to the refs too much and expect too many calls. But you won’t admit your argument is self-defeating. If they do all those things you complain about (inferior coaching, more complaining than getting back on defense) they won’t win. So your declaration that even winning the championship that they “won’t impress you,” really doesn’t make sense, unless it’s from a position of hate. So don’t tell me you’re “not a hater” then express a laundry list of reasons that are your basic Heat-hate 101. There’s plenty to rationalize, I guess, but at the end of the day, hate is hate.
i.e. I hate the Lakers for a myriad reasons.. i.e. Bryant and Phil Jackson are arrogant pricks.. their role players always seem to be smug SOBs who think they are better than they are riding Kobe’s coat-tails. But when they win it all, as they frequently do, I’m not going to tell you they really didn’t deserve it or that somehow I’m “unimpressed” with their championship effort. The champs are the champs whether we like them or not. To say they are somehow undeserving or “Oh ok, they won it all but I’m unimpressed,” go ahead and spin that any way you want.. that’s just plain old Haterade drinking, friend.
So when the Thunder win it, which they probably will, I could tell you “oh they’re just lucky they have all these young guys before their contract years are up,” or some other crap. But I’ll just tip my hat and say the best team won.. just as I would have done (and nearly did) had the Celtics beat the Heat in the ECF.
Put down the Haterade. Or don’t. Doesn’t change anything.
First off, hate and haterade is so over used that I’m not going to take that seriously. The second you point out a fact that is not a glowing compliment, you are a hater. At any rate, I never said they don’t deserve to win. At all. Not once did I say that. You can go back and check what I wrote. In fact, I said they have the talent to win, but not enough of everything else that makes champions as of right now. If they win the Finals, which is a pretty high possibility because OKC, hands down, had a tougher schedule leading up to the Finals and the fact that the Heat have an advantage of being at the big dance before so they have experience in this type of situation, then hats off to the Heat. I’m not going to boo them for winning.
Let me put it like this: there’s a person I know who is a bully to a lot of people, but has accomplished a decent amount in his career thus far. I don’t hate him, but it’s hard for me to be like, “Wow, that’s so awesome” when I know the awful/immature things he has done. And that’s the point I’m making. The more things you know about a person, the more it colors your view of them. So that’s how I am with the Heat. All the nonsense that they carry on is something I’m not into. Perhaps “impressed” is not the most accurate word. It probably isn’t and my bad for using that word. But all the bullshit they carry on cannot be ignored because all that wasted energy they exert is getting in the way of them (Wade & Lebron) becoming even better players than they already are.
P.S. Thanks for following my blog. Respect.
Whoa whoa whoa. I apologize for using over-used terms.. but when they apply, they apply.
“OKC, hands down, had a tougher schedule leading up to the Finals”
Lol.. ok..based on what? The Heat just had to scrape and claw through a very tough 7-game series vs. Boston. OKC had one less game vs. the Spurs.. and did they get physically or emotionally beat up? They cruised in 4 straight games. Or are we still gonna believe the West is just just that much tougher? Well ok.. Seems to me like an excuse to denigrate a possible Heat title.
“there’s a person I know who is a bully to a lot of people, but has accomplished a decent amount in his career thus far. I don’t hate him, but it’s hard for me to be like, “Wow, that’s so awesome” when I know the awful/immature things he has done”
Hold on a sec.. are we talking about LeBron? Seriously? He “bullied” people? when? How? He got drafted by Cleveland, played his guts out for 7 years, then moved on. If you aren’t over the “Decision,” still, well then ok. Like I said, would you feel that way if he had announced for the Knicks? Tell me yes with a straight face, please.
“But all the bullshit they carry on cannot be ignored because all that wasted energy they exert is getting in the way of them (Wade & Lebron) becoming even better players than they already are.”
Ok.. great. And if they carry on with that stuff too much, they will lose, and you and everyone else will be happy. Or, if they put that away and win, then that becomes moot.. OR, if they are so damn good they do that annoying sh*t and STILL win.. then your argument is “Well, they could have been even BETTER.. like won the championship.. like double.. or something”
Yea.. sorry, I don’t get it. It’s the same argument as to why I don’t like the Lakers, but I’ll never sit here and make up a bunch of crap as to why they aren’t that good, simply because I don’t like them.
no prob in following the blog. Looks good.
Sorry this will be shorter because the original response I had deleted on me. OKC had to play the Mavs, the Lakers, the Spurs. Heat had to beat the Knicks (which we all knew was going to happen), the Bulls, who was without D. Rose, and Boston, who was also an injured team and to be honest, if the Heat played better and was able to close out games, the ECF should not have been a 7 game series for them.
As far as the example I gave, that was an analogy to help illustrate the point I was getting at which is that someone’s behavior will color how they are perceived. Just like someone being a bully with change how you look at them, the Heat’s complaining, whining, inability to close out games sometimes, inability to draw up plays that will close out games are all factors in why I say they are a good team, but not a great one, yet. You can’t whine and moan and complain and not win and be considered great. Sorry. You are not great if that is the outcome. The end. On paper, the Heat are great. In real life, they are not there yet. And I’m not going to affirm their greatness because of their potential to be great. I’m judging them based on where they are, not what they could be if they get their shit together.
As far as the Decision, while I thought it was a ridiculous/funny PR stunt, it never affected me. I agree with his decision to leave the Cavs if he thought he had a chance elsewhere to win. I don’t think he should have gone to the Knicks because he and Carmelo would not mesh well together as Carmelo is just as immature as Lebron is. Not sure why you assumed the Decision had anything to do on my opinion on why I think the Heat are only a good team.
I honestly don’t see the problem in what I’m saying. I’m not saying, as you proclaiming I would if they were to win the Finals, “Well, they could have been even BETTER.. like won the championship.. like double.. or something.” Won the championship double? Come on, as much as we have talked about this thus far, do you think I would say something so ludicrous? I hurt Trosen76.
That’s never been my viewpoint. My point is this, the Heat are good. They have a way to go before they become great.
FYI The Heat played the Pacers 2d, not the Bulls. Anyway, your last point is my point really.
“My point is this, the Heat are good. They have a way to go before they become great.” Ok.. but in your opinion winning the whole damn thing won’t even make them “great.” That sounds to me like some advance rationalization for someone who can’t stomach the idea of a team winning it all that they can’t stand. I get it, because I’ve been guilty of it too. I just call it like I see it.
They barely got past the Celtics and half that team is on geritol and they might not have except for that game two refereeing abomination. I see OKC beating the bejesus out of the heat.