12 Jan 11 Miami Heat: Five Realizations from Loss in Toronto

Chris Graythen/Getty ImagesAnother torturous game. Another game the Miami Heat could have easily won if it played the right defense and made its open shots. Also another chance to realize what truly is wrong with this team.Obviously it's not Dwyane Wade, 35 points and 10 assists, and it never has been. It was only in the 92-91 loss to Cleveland where Wade actually cost his team the game after his teammates actually started to step up. This recent game against Toronto is a much different case and is near the exact same of many of the Heat's 22 losses this season.It all became so apparent and so obvious last night and I don't know how I didn't see it before.1. Aside from Udonis Haslem, the Heat have absolutely no bench.There is literally none. Haslem is the only person off the pine that can come off andWashington Redskins jersey
consistently score 10 points. Dorell Wright at times can get into the double digits, but it's a rarity. Joel Anthony is utilized only for defense, James Jones only hits threes when he feels like it, Daequon Cook has been one of the larger dissapointments for the Heat this season, and Mario Chalmers is just abysmal on both sides of the ball.The three players that are rarely utilized are Carlos Arroyo and Jamaal Maggloire. Arroyo is a fairly consistant shooter who developed a chemistry with the team when he was given the starting role and the team began to win games. Maggloire is purely a body and nothing more to this team. While he could be used for aggressive defense and somewhat of an offensive threat, he rides the bench where he will see two minutes of playing time when the game is already well-decided.2. Why do the Heat lose? Watch the first six minutes of the second and fourth quarters.The game against Toronto cannot be used as an example for the Heat's second largest offensive threat in Michael Beasley was injured and unable to truly compete, but even aside from that, the first six minutes of the second quarter is what allows every Heat opponent to come back. Take a look at the recent Cavs-Heat game. 34-24 after the end of the first quarter capped off by stellar performances from Dwyane Wade and Jermaine O'Neal.Take a look at the second quarter now: Heat outscored 26-20. Aside from Wade, no one else made a field goal on the team. Not Beasley, not Haslem, and not O'Neal. Not anyone, and this happens every game, just not usually to that extreme. When Wade is not on the floor, the offense becomes stagnant and resorts to low-percentage jumpers and careless turnovers.The defense will hold its own, but eventually the opposing team will make a few shots, while the Heat's bench and Beasley will do little to nothing. It's the same in the fourth quarter: Wade sits the first six minutes and a lead is most likely to be blown. Another example would be the Heat-Nuggets game early in the season. The Heat were riding a close-to-30 point lead going into Reebok Arizona Cardinals Larry Fitzgerald Realtree camo Jersey
the fourth quarter with Wade sitting out for the first nine minutes before having to come back in after the Nuggets got it near 10.A 20 point swing in nine minutes. For 12 minutes, every game is embarrassing to watch.3. There are no three-point shooters.It looked like Quentin Richardson would finally be the answer to the Heat's three point shooting woes after Antoine Walker, James Posey, and Jason Williams departed two years ago, but alas here we are, and no one can hit a three. Richardson has been held under double digits for seven consecutive games and has only hit more than one three once in those seven.Cook has been awful since last year's three-point shootout. James Jones is rarely utilized, and when he is, he'll jack up four and make one. The point guards are little to no help with Alston being the most consistent (I guess) at around 35 percent.So who is the new go to guy for threes? Dwyane Wade. By the way, Wade shoots 30 percent so deal with that. The Heat currently stand in the bottom half when it comes to three-point shooting and make only six per game on 34 percent shooting.Nobody shoots above 40 percent on the team.4. Perimeter defense was only a fad.Last year, the Heat were a poor defending team on the perimeter. They allowed shooters to shoot open shots and failed to close out most of the time. At the beginning of the 2009-10 season, it appeared that the Heat had solved that problem and began to guard the perimeter forcing opponents to shoot 30 percent in the first ten games of the season.Then they stopped playing tight perimeter defense. NBA players tend to make open shots, so they did. The Heat are 23-22 at the momentand are 20th in opposing team's three-point percentage at 36 percent.Wait, something happened here.Watch any of the first ten games of the season, and you will see an obvious difference from those games and the game against Toronto last night. There were close-outs, good rotations, and defense on the perimeter. Last night's game featured Andrea Bargnani shooting wide-open jumpers, Chris Bosh being able to drive into the paint because of the fact that no one was guarding him up top, and people named Sonny Weems being able to drive and get to the foul line as well.It was a problem last year, and it's a problem now. I can tell the Heat right now that NBA players have no problem with taking those open shots.5. The Heat really need Michael Beasley.Or at least a scorer like him. When Beasley was injured and Wade was sitting out to get his rest, there were absolutely no scorers. Haslem can hit his jumpers, but gets the help because Wade attracts two-to-three defenders, which allows Haslem to get his open jumpers.But Wade wasn't out there, and neither was Beasley, and no one scored. Instead of stretching the 11 point advantage after one, the Heat saw it cut to three by the half, and then saw it disappear midway through the third. No scorers besides Wade and no help when it came to offense. Wade gave his teammates a lot of open shots but saw most of them miss.The Reebok Baltimore Ravens #5 Joe Flacco Realtree camo Jersey
same problem persists when Beasley doesn't hit his shots at the beginning of the second and fourth quarters as well. If he's not scoring, then it's a rarity someone else is picking up the slack.This team is a dynasty in the making, and all it needs is one more scorer to complement Wade and Beasley because the supporting cast is not doing its part. The trade deadline and the summer of 2010 couldn't come soon enough