Miami Heat Roundtable: 2018-19 play has officially tipped off

Finally, describe what you feel the general identity of this roster is…

Morganfield: The general identity of this roster is determined. For the past few years, the Heat have been looked at like a “little brother” team. Like you see your little brother playing and practicing, but he’s not quite there yet. The Heat are there now. This season, they’ve each individually found their role and they’re figuring out what’s working for them. They’re coming together like parts of a well-oiled machine; each piece does its job so the other pieces can do their jobs, and in the end, they come together to create greatness.

Leniart: With the Miami Heat, the identity usually revolves around defense. That is pretty much the case for their current roster. On the offensive side of the ball, I think they are still working on finding and establishing that identity. Without a dominant offensive player, they need to rely on ball movement and hopefully some improved 3-point shooting.

Eyrich: Same as last season; I feel like this team is a group of misfits. A lot of the Heat players have been able to call Miami home after packing light and traveling from team to team. The group is better together, but there is obviously a lot of doubt around any form of legitimacy of this team. It’s “backs against the wall” once again, as this roster has to prove themselves.

Gewirtz: Generally, the roster seems to be defensively strong, but still trying to find rotations that work. They are leading the league in rebounds per game with 65.8 and are No. 5 in the league in opponent points per game, allowing 104. I see a lot of great things, but they have to win those games they are expected to — like against Orlando — if they want to end with a better record than last year.

Ramos: The Heat have a lot of good, versatile players who can compete with most teams when they’re on their game. I think pretty much everyone is a hard-worker, who’s willing to leave it all out on the floor every night.

Nurse: The general identity of this roster is grit, aggression and relentlessness. Miami Heat Culture to its core. Unfortunately, games are not won on culture alone and they lack the talent to get far.

Rahming: Right now, the team reminds of that song Holding Back the Years by Simply Red (“I’ll keep holding on”). The fans are on the edge of their seats every game and the Heat either hang on to lose or win. Either way, you’re clutching your chest in the fourth quarter. The game against the Knicks is an outlier again at a team that is in rebuild mode; for now, the jury is still out on them. So I’m hoping the Heat can get a few signature wins under their belt, over the next couple of weeks.

Onward and upward.