By NICK SLOAN,
NJSloan212@gmail.com
It's interesting to remember the week when LeBron James decided on signing with the Miami Heat.
One of the immediate reactions from basketball analysts and fans would be how the Heat would shatter all of these records. Jeff Van Gundy, who I like as an announcer for ESPN's playoff coverage, said the Heat could win more games than the 1996 Chicago Bulls.
Fans in other basketball cities were panicking about the Heat "taking over basketball" and so on.
Two years later, Miami lost to an old (but good) Dallas Mavericks team in the NBA Finals and are one game away from losing to an old (but good) Boston Celtics team in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Heat still have a great shot at getting to the Finals - it's far too early to dig their graves when you still have two of the best six players in the league - but needless to say, we never thought they would need to win a dogfight.
How did we get here? And how can we fix it?
Here's what I think is needed in Miami. If you will notice, none of it has to do with the whole idiotic "LeBron James is a choker" meme that's floating around because of Skip Bayless and ESPN.
1. Erik Spoelstra is simply not good enough to turn Miami from a great team into a dynasty.
Average to good coaches can luck out and win a title or two. Rudy Tomjanovich won two titles, thanks mostly to one of the best centers ever in Hakeem Olajuwon. However, he didn't do too well in Los Angeles. Spoelstra may win a title this year, but coaching this roster is above his head, or quite frankly, any other young coach's head.
A roster with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade needs to be coached by someone like Pat Riley. What do all great dynasties in sports have in common? A great coach. Vince Lombardi, Phil Jackson, Red Auerbach, Chuck Noll, Joe McCarthy, Bill Walsh and Riley are among those great coaches who have been a part of dynasties. Riley brings the background and presence needed to coach the team.
And if Riley doesn't want to coach again, he should call on Jerry Sloan or John Calipari, two coaches who either know how to win or handle egos. If Calipari can lead a group of 18-year-olds to a national title, he can win titles with LeBron or Wade. Spoelstra could be a good coach one day, but this is not the right job for him to start out with.
Unless they win the NBA title, next year's coach for the Heat needs to be Riley, Sloan or Calipari.
2. LeBron James needs to either play point guard or power forward.
The games of LeBron and Wade are too similar, or at least their goals are. Both players are natural scorers of the basketball and both want to score the ball. In history, the best basketball teams talent wise also had structure.
The 1990s Chicago Bulls had the alpha-dog scorer (Michael Jordan), the defensive stud who could make big shots (Scottie Pippen), the rebounder who did the dirty work inside (Horace Grant and later Dennis Rodman) and a set of three-point shooters (Steve Kerr, John Paxson among others) who could score off of Jordan and Pippen dishing out.
Those great 1980s Los Angeles Lakers team had the greatest distributor in NBA history (Magic Johnson),
in my opinion the greatest center of all-time (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) a great defender (Michael Cooper) and a Pippen-like sidekick (James Worthy).
This Miami team lacks structure. Putting James at the point would create structure. LeBron's scoring would come down by five or six points, but he would be an excellent creator and would make-up for those lost points by adding four assists to his average. If LeBron would develop a post-game, his rebounding would jump up to 11 or 12 a game and you could move him to the power forward position. He's the best athlete in professional sports and you have to utilize it somehow. Let Wade be the scorer and let James be the orchestrator.
Currently, both Wade and LeBron need the ball too much for their impact to be felt. Wade, as good as he is, is not in LeBron's world in terms of being a facilitator for an offense. The point guard position is vital in today's NBA. Just look around and see who's left - Rajon Rondo, Tony Parker and Russell Westbrook. The Heat have Mario Chalmers and a rookie at point guard.
That's not going to cut it.
3. Miami needs to develop a bench by giving their role players more of an opportunity.
Another bad aspect of using both LeBron and Wade as "scorers first" is the fact the other players do not receive enough touches.
Having two "ball hogs" (I don't necessarily mean that as a negative term) control the offense does not allow guys like Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem, Joel Anthony, Mario Chalmers and Rony Turiaf to either create opportunities for themselves or take advantage of opportunities created by a good point guard. You know, like LeBron James would be.
When a team has one "ball hog," he occasionally goes to the bench. When that happens, the other players get an opportunity to develop their games and develop a hot hand. Of course, Miami has two guys who control the offense. Barring injury, it's hard to remember the Heat using a lineup without either Wade or LeBron in it.
The solution is either trading one of them or designating one as a point guard.
4. Remembering that Chris Bosh is also on the team
Bosh has been hurt this postseason, so you can't blame Miami in that area for this year.
However, they have failed to get him involved in the offense for two years. This goes back to the coaching point. Bosh, when given an opportunity, has proven that he can make a positive impact on the offensive side the ball. Not getting him involved more is an overlooked mistake that Miami has made the last two years.
If Miami doesn't win this year, Spolestra will be fired, solving problem number one.
Signing Steve Nash in the offseason would solve the problem Miami has of not having a facilitator on offense if they choose not to move LeBron to the point guard position.
Until then, the Heat could end up being the most disappointing team since those 1980s Philadelphia 76ers teams that only won one title when they probably should have won two or three.
