Miami Heat Power Fankings, Week 2: An Eastern Conference Slog
By Wes Goldberg
Last week in the Miami Heat Power Fankings: Justise Winslow makes his NBA debut, Chris Bosh goes crazy, Udonis Haslem replaces Hassan Whiteside on opening night, Luol Deng was kinda good, Tyler Johnson dunks on someone from behind.
1. Dwyane Wade (last week: 1)
Dwyane Wade doesn’t need to talk about pace, just like he doesn’t need to talk about 3-point shooting. Don’t tell him he needs to care about those things, because he’s going to play his game either way.
That’s why Heat fans love him.
Wade’s game is on the low block. Give him the ball, he’ll go left, and decide which move he’s going to make you fall for. He does it every damn time and, unlike Kobe Bryant with the Lakers, he can still do what made him great.
He’s scored at least 20 points in five of Miami’s seven games this season. Even though he doesn’t look young and spry, he doesn’t look injured either. He’s controlled and considered. Slow, yes, but efficient.
Pat Riley’s Silent Stories
Pat Riley sits in his seat, poised, stoic, not moving… is he alive?
Yes. He’s alive. He’s Pat Riley, and he doesn’t need to breath to get oxygen. Rather, his fine head of hair acts as a kind of coral reef that absorbs oxygen through the atmosphere and sends it into Riley’s body via a complex system of silver haired wires.
While oxygen seeps into the body of Riley, the body of Paul George is making the bodies of the Miami Heat look foolish. He’s hitting mid-range jumpers, getting stops on defense, rebounding and dunking. He’s alive. He’s back. He wants to be great again, and he’s being great against the roster Riley assembled not to challenge the Pacers, but the Cavaliers.
This is unexpected.
Riley controls Justise Winslow, the rookie small forward he willed to fall to the 10th pick in the NBA draft, with his mind. He has Winslow play perfect defense, without fouling. As well as he makes Winslow play, the combination of Winslow’s body and Riley’s mind isn’t enough to stop George. He makes Erik Spoelstra, through mind control, play Winslow big minutes in the fourth quarter.
At least he thinks he’s doing that. He knows he can’t. He knows mind control isn’t real.
And yet… is he?
2. Justise Winslow (last week: 2)
Whiteside has a hard time impacting the game if he isn’t scoring (a rare event, but still). Rookie Justise Winslow doesn’t have that problem. He averaged just eight points, five rebounds and an assist this week and was consistently one of Miami’s best players. The Heat were 14.6 points better with Winslow on the court, according to NBA.com.
3. Hassan Whiteside (last week: 3)
Hassan Whiteside has arguably been the Heat’s best player so far this season and this past week he averaged 15.8 points, 11.5 rebounds and 4.5 blocks. He’s dominant in the paint, consistently beating double and triple teams to score. He could, in theory, help Miami’s 3-point shooting if he is able to kick it out to shooters from this position. However, he’s still figuring out how to pass out of the paint (easier said than done).
4. ESPN Trade Machine (last week: not ranked)
With rumors of a Mario Chalmers trade peaking it’s head through the weeds like a snake in the grass, Miami Heat fans resorted to a national past time of NBA fans everywhere.
(Puts on Batman mask)
“To the trade machine!”
The rumor was a simple swap: Chalmers for Beno Udrih. That would work. It would take a nice chunk out of Micky Arison’s luxury tax bill. It would allow Spoelstra to play Tyler Johnson and Josh Richardson more minutes.
But what fun is that?
With a rounding “f-you” Heat fans everywhere got creative.
Tony Allen and Jeff Green for Chalmers and Luol Deng?
Green for Chalmers and Chris Andersen?
Chalmers and James Ennis for Courtney Lee?
A three-way trade involving the Minnesota Timberwolves that nets Kevin Martin in exchange for Deng and Chalmers? Sure, why not?!
None of these will ever happen, but don’t tell that to the dozens of hours that Heat fans everywhere sent back to the universe.
5. Chris Bosh (last week: 4)
Chris Bosh averaged a team-best 17.3 points and 11.3 rebounds per game while shooting 43.6 percent this week. If more of his shots start falling, he should be closer to that nice 20-12 number the Heat are going to need from him this season.
6. Tyler Johnson (last week: 8)
7. Erik Spoelstra (last week: not ranked)
We saw some big changes from Spoelstra this week, as he figures out and shapes up this Heat roster.
- He’s going with three bigs: Bosh, Whiteside and McRoberts. Andersen and Amar’e Stoudemire will come off the bench only when he has to go deep into his rotation.
- Justise Winslow is getting crunch time minutes over Luol Deng, which is awesome.
- Tyler Johnson played a part in the regular rotation, but that might not last once Gerald Green returns.
Spoelstra’s play calling was exceptional against the Pacers, outsmarting Frank Vogel in thrilling fashion. He hit him with alley-oops to Johnson, wide open jumpers to Bosh and more oops to Johnson. So far, Spoelstra is doing a bang up job coaching this team.
8. Josh McRoberts (last week: 5)
“Hello?”
“Hello.”
“Who’s this?”
“I’m you, from the future.”
“You’re me?”
“Yes.”
“Will I start scoring more?”
“That’s entirely up to you, Josh. The shot is open.”
9. Goran Dragic (last week: not ranked)
Goran Dragic hasn’t quite fit in yet. He’ll show flashes, but overall he just can’t seem to get a rhythm. Probably because the team is still playing at 60 miles per hour when he wants to book it at 85. It’s like he’s stuck behind a 77-year-old women on I-95 and no matter how many times he changes lanes, he can’t seem to get around her.
Spoelstra’s found impactful two- or three-man lineups that he uses to choose his rotations–Wade and Whiteside, Bosh and McRoberts, Deng, Winslow and Whiteside–but hasn’t found a partner for Dragic. For now Dragic is driving solo, stuck behind Grandma Meryl on the highway.
Not ranked: Mario Chalmers, Beno Udrih, James Ennis, Amar’e Stoudemire, Josh Richardson, Chris Andersen, Alonzo Mourning, The Ghost of Mike Miller, Late Arriving Heat Fans, Micky Arison, Pat Riley, Burnie, the White Stripes.