The Miami Heat are now the “hunted one” and they need to act like it.
The Miami Heat got blasted on Tuesday, but they got Milwaukee’s best shot in doing so. It reminds me of a line from one of my favorite movies.
“What guarantees can I give you, mike? I am the hunted one. I missed my chance”
For any Godfather fans out there, you know what this quote means and if not, let me explain it to you. Last season, the Miami Heat were hunters and were trying to make noise in the Eastern Conference.
They did that. But this year, teams want a crack at Miami due to them “upsetting” everyone in the East during the playoffs.
The Miami Heat are the Eastern Conference champions and they are now the hunted ones. Virgil Sollozzo wanted to be the top Mafia boss in The Godfather, so he tried to take out the godfather.
Sollozzo almost did but he didn’t finish the job. That’s just like Miami last year that didn’t finish the job.
The Miami Heat got knocked down, but they got up. They have to get used to taking the opposition’s best stuff.
Hopefully, Miami doesn’t end up like Sollozzo and gets too comfortable, which leads to getting whacked and we all know what that means. Miami has a target on their backs this year but how will they respond?
Personally, I am not one to overreact to regular-season games but Tuesday night wasn’t just a bad game, it was a flat-out embarrassment to watch. Even with Jimmy Butler being out, Miami doesn’t have any excuses for being blown out on national TV as they were.
Let me start with Moe Harkless, who is just burning calories out there. He cant dribble or anything right now.
Harkless needs to play better, there’s no other way around it. I recently said on Twitter that Meyers Leonard would start against Brook Lopez because it would be a good matchup for him and Leonard only played two minutes.
Yes, two minutes. In no way am I blaming the loss on those two but I will say that Miami needs to change the starting lineup.
Speaking of Leonard, why did Miami sign him on the first day of free agency for $9 million when Serge Ibaka went for the same deal? I digress.
Miami needs to play KZ Okpala more or even start him in that four spot with the way the other options have looked. He deserves a look, right?
Okpala definitely needs to play over Harkless and that’s for darn sure. At least Okpala can put the ball on the floor.
I would like Miami to get another point guard to help run the offense, as the only guys on Miami that can bring the ball up currently are Jimmy Butler, Goran Dragic, and Bam Adebayo. Tyler Herro‘s handles have been sloppy this year and although I like Herro in the halfcourt, his bringing of the ball up has been shaky.
The same goes for Adebayo, who has been very sloppy with the ball as well to start the year. Miami can look at a couple of point Guards on the trade market, potentially, which could and should include Delon Wright, Ish Smith, and George Hill.
Hill would be a great pick up for Miami. Heck, either of those guys would add something.
This organization holds itself to the highest of standards, as they should. What happened Tuesday night was awful but Miami made it right on Wednesday.
Hopefully, this was a one time shot, because I can’t do this every week.