The Miami Heat have been dealing with a ton of injuries, but they are finally healthy (well, if you consider Josh McRoberts being out for the season, Justin Hamilton dealing with concussion-like symptoms but everyone else being active as ‘healthy’) and that means Erik Spoelstra can find some regularity with his rotation.
However, after Bosh missed a handful of games, he is finding that the offense is lacking in consistency. Per Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post.
It sounds like Bosh is more upset with the execution that the system. The Heat have started Bosh and Chris Andersen together in the front court the last two games, which has led to a more traditional lineup and rotation.
Bosh has been moved to power forward, and the Heat are still figuring out life after small ball.
Bosh is saying that the team needs to execute its offense better rather than break away from ball movement and take quick shots. As I wrote here, the Heat take nearly a quarter of their shots in the final seven seconds of the shot clock, which has led to being the slowest team in the NBA.
There is a reason for that–the Heat simply don’t have enough shot creators, and its lack of a dynamic point guard limits those easy pass-to-baskets.
However neither Bosh, nor Wade, seem to know exactly what the problem is, per Leiser’s article.
"“I just don’t even know what the point of this season — I don’t know. I have no idea,” [said Bosh]Dwyane Wade, any thoughts?“If I had that answer, we wouldn’t be in this situation,” he said. “Bad stretch, you know … I don’t know, man. I wish I knew.”"
After going back and watching the games, looking at the numbers and trying to figure it out myself, I can’t put a finger on it either. It just seems like things break down in the second half. Maybe that means this team needs better communication or needs to buy in in the final periods. But if the Heat don’t know what they are playing for, then it’ll be tough to buy in.
Next: The Curious Case of Luol Deng