Trouble in Paradise

This past Thursday, the Miami Heat hit a wall in the form of the Indiana Pacers. Dwyane Wade, the very player that the media calls "clutch" and "Jordan-esque" was anything but those things in the Game 3 loss in which he had the WORST game of his CAREER!! 5 points, 5 rebounds, 5 turnovers. Forget Dominoes, this was the real 5-5-5 deal! The Heat imploded, as Wade exploded in Coach Erik Spoelstra's face with a barrage of F-Bombs and other colorful language on the bench. Meanwhile, the Indiana Pacers exploded with a high energy, uptempo game that left the Heat clueless. The Pacers looked like a real army, assembled by Commander in Chief Larry Bird. Danny Granger frustrated LeBron, while David West and Roy Hibbert ran circles around Joel Anthony and "Dexter Pittman" of all people. Miami, as a whole looked lethargic. Even LeBron James, 3-time MVP packed it in with 22 points with an often joked about 4th quarter. Chris Bosh's stock has certainly risen since his injury, because they are missing his length and presence for the rebounds. However, D-Wade will receive the lionshare of the blame from me, because this is who Skip Bayless calls "Batman" and "The Closer" by both Skip and Stephen A. Smith. Well, Wade did not close, but he folded like an accordian that night. The following day on Sportscenter, there were talks of splitting up the big 3 through way of a trade. The scenarios were to trade Wade, Bosh or both. However, LeBron's name was never mentioned, because he has proven to be the most consistent factor in an inconsistent experiment. Therefore, it would be insane to get rid of the most vital and constant asset to this team, while Wade has become notorious for his injuries and Bosh's downfall has been the largest achilles heel. Thursday night's debacle in Indiana proved that players like Wade and James do not fit, because they are two halves of the same player on the same team. LeBron has extra to offer in his arsenal because of his size, and playmaking ability as a passer. Both men are dynamic on the fast break, but in the half court set and low post, they have nothing else to offer. This team is only top heavy with 3 franchise players clustered together, and a suspect bench. The Heat looked more like the Miami Cavaliers. The Heat shot 37.2% from the floor, with LeBron looking LePassive with 3-9 shooting in the 2nd half, with Wade's 2-8 in that same time. LeBron only made a total of 10 out of 22 shots, 7 boards and an abysmal 3 assists to go with a less than stellar 22 points. Dwyane Wade was a complete no show, making only 2 out of 13 shots with his pitiful 5 points. Mario Chalmers was the only one who displayed heart and effort with 25 points, while going down swinging. The Pacers outrebounded the Heat 52-36, while the Pacers grabbed 27 boards in the second half, while the Heat only had 14. LeBron's passive and complacent mindset reared its ugly head again that night, but I will not bring the hammer down on him as much as I am on Dwyane Wade's behalf. This was immature and uncharacteristic, and shows the lack of true chemistry and leadership this team really has. For someone who is painted as the go-to guy and the Captain by fans and media, Wade played like total garbage. Now, it seems as though people can no longer use the "2006 Finals" as a mask to hide Wade's deficiencies. I believe that the time has finally come to stop. You cannot coast off of a performance from 6 years ago and continue to label him as "clutch". It is about "What have you done for me lately?" not "What did you do for me 6 years ago?". Last year's Finals vs. the Mavericks was perfect proof that a 3-headed monster cannot defeat an army that blends together with a great general leading the way (Nowitzki). Wade's performance was WORST than LeBron's Finals blunder. Both men cancel each other out, because it takes the ENTIRE game for each man (LeBron & Wade) to get their 30 points, while Bosh gets his 18. Initially, even I said that it would not work when the season started last year vs. Boston. However, when they hammered the Celtics and shut down D-Rose & the Bulls, I had strong confidence that LeBron could finally reach the mountain top. Then, my initial thought was proven right, as they folded against a more complete team like Dallas. The Mavericks had a franchise player (Dirk Nowitzki), along with a past his prime Jason Kidd, another complimentary sidekick (Jason Terry) and a strong supporting cast. Now, a deeper, emerging Oklahoma City Thunder team, a gritty veteran Boston Celtics squad, and a methodical San Antonio Spurs squad, all are more complete teams that have a strong idea of who they are and what they can do. This Heat squad has absolute no clue of their identity, because the issue always rises about who should be the closer and who should have the ball in their hands more (LeBron or D-Wade). Effective and Successful teams do not have those kind of problems, because once again, they already KNOW WHO THEY ARE!! Garnett, Pierce and Allen put their egos aside for the sake of the team, and they already knew their window was closing. This is the only exception. However, San Antonio throughout the years have built their teams from the ground up through the draft and picking up smaller name role players from free agency. This is why they have become a dynasty (4 titles), with the greatest Power Forward of all-time (Tim Duncan) along with great sidekicks (Parker & Ginobili) along with a string of other pieces that fit the puzzle. Meanwhile, the Thunder are following that same blueprint of builting from square one through the draft. First, they draft a transcendent player (Kevin Durant) like the Spurs with Duncan, and add a great sidekick point guard (Russell Westbrook), a strong sixth man (James Harden), a monster defender (Serge Ibaka), along with a solid big man (Kendrick Perkins) and other key pieces. Therefore, they have a much higher ceiling in the long-term than Miami, because they have the right pieces to win them a number of titles (3 or 4). Neither of these teams are packing big name meals on one plate and throwing it in a microwave. Building a solid nucleus is a process that takes time, because the players have to become familiar with each other and the system. Sadly, the Heat are learning this the hard way. The Heat are the perfect example of a very "flawed" attempt to be a "Superteam". A TRUE Superteam consists of a transcendent franchise player, a great sidekick (another star is a bonus), along with a deep supporting cast that can work within the proper system to help that team succeed. (More on real Superteams later). If things don't work out this year or next, the Big 3 band could be disbanded and the Miami Heat Welcome Party could be over very soon. This leaves Pat Riley starting over from the drawing board and rebuilding sooner than later.