Miami Heat Cannot Compete Against The Elite Teams In The NBA
By Jared Doyle
@outofboundsjay
Steve Mitchell- USA Today Sports
After a feel-good win against the Cleveland Cavaliers, an above average team in the Eastern Conference on Christmas Day, the Memphis Grizzlies – a team that is an elite in the Western Conference – came to town, and set the Miami Heat one game further back below the .500 mark. The Heat are now 6-11 at home this season, and much of their struggles have to do with the fact that they just cannot compete against some of the top tier teams in the league.
Looking at their schedule so far this season, 11 of the Heat’s 17 losses have come against teams in the top five of their conference. What is even more alarming is that of those 11 losses, six of them came against teams the Heat will most likely face in the first or second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs — the Washington Wizards, the Atlanta Hawks and the Milwaukee Bucks.
The primary reason for these substantial losses to quality foes is the lack of competitive matchups, with the point guard and center positions especially being suspect. The substantial frontcourt injuries have especially hurt the Heat’s chances of defending the rim or creating any space in their offensive flow. Although the guard position hasn’t been slammed with severe injuries, neither Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole nor even rarely used Shabazz Napier have been able to hold their own defensively against some of the top tier point guards in the league.
These are just a few reasons why the Heat have been struggling against quality opponents, but there is still plenty of time in the season to right the ship. More attention needs to be paid to team defense, and not the manic, helter-skelter like approach the Heat have utilized in the past to defend teams wildly off pick and rolls and three point shots. A simpler approach like the one the San Antonio Spurs utilized to destroy the Heat in last year’s NBA Finals would be a better option.
Jared Doyle is a Miami Heat writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @outofboundsjay, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
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