The One Reason the Heat Will Not Win the Championship

The Miami Heat have worst the starting pointing guard in the NBA.

Think about that, in all likelihood 31 teams have a better starting point guard. If you look at any other contender the have a top 10-15 starting point guard leading their team.

The Elite Teams

Lakers: Derek Fisher- Although he is not considered an elite statistical point guard he is a winner. A 5-time NBA champion, all with the Lakers says it all. The past 5 seasons he has played in all 82 games. He runs the offense and is a smart player. 9 points and 3 assists seems mediocre but 5 time NBA champion means he must be doing something right.

Celtics: Rajon Rondo- He might be the best pure point guard in the league right now. He is the best defensive point guard around and already has a ring. He leads the league in assist with an outstanding 15 a game. That number will obviously go down but he has cemented his place into the "Big 4" and is the best player on the best team in the east.

Hornets: Chris Paul- The Hornets have started off undefeated and Chris Paul is the favorite in the MVP race. He has been the face of the organization despite trade rumors surfacing this summer. If you look at the roster it doesn't seem like one that would be undefeated after this many games but Chris Paul can score, make plays, and win games. With Durant, LeBron, and Kobe putting sub-par numbers up so far Chris Paul is my early MVP favorite.

Magic: Jameer Nelson- His game has taken a step backwards due to injuries but once he is healthy the Magic will be a force again in the east. He is averaging 15 points and 6 assists so far this season which is a good sign.

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Thunder: Russell Westrbrook- The Thunder's success or failure rests in the hands of pre season MVP favorite Kevin Durant. He has not lived up to that label or his new contract but he will come into form soon. But this might be the biggest surprise of the season, the play of Russell Westbrook. This is only his third season (4th pick in the 2008 draft). The Thunder traded away back up point guard Darren Collison in the offseason because they knew Westbrook was their point guard for the future. He averaged 16 and 8 last year and this season his assists have stayed about the same, at 8, but he's scoring 24 points a game while also grabbing 6.5 rebounds a game. He has 5 double doubles and 2 30+ point games already. He has shown he IS a top 10 point with room to grow.

The King of Queens

The Miami Heat will not win the NBA championship this season and won't even be playing for it. People have been quick to assume the Heat will win 4 or 5 rings the next 6 seasons but let's focus on this year.

1. The Center Position: Joel Anthony

Does any team have a worse starting center than the Miami Heat? They need someone down low to rebound, block shots, and be a threat. Joel Anthony has averaged 3 points and 3 rebounds in his first three seasons, he is not going to scare anyone. He would be no match for players like Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol. In this decade a majority of the championship teams have had all start caliber centers who average double digit points and rebounds as well as being outstanding defenders (Shaq, Gasol, Duncan, etc).

2. Point Guard: Carlos Arroyo/Mario Chalmers

Realistically the only way to fix this would be to have LeBron play the point down the strech late in games. But they lack a true point guard to run the offense and be a facilitator. They don't need a scoring point guard, just someone who can defend and make good passes. Arroyo has bounced around and is really a average back up point guard. Chalmers has played well his first two seasons but his inexperience will show when trying to handle all these superstars. Yet again look at the other top teams, they all have true point guards leading their teams. Derek Fisher, Rondo, Russell Westbrook, Derrick Rose; all players who can score and hit free throws when needed but more importantly have high basketball IQs. I don't see Chalmers or Arroyo being able to guard anyone of these elite point guards. Derek Fisher would have been an extremely valuable addition to this roster.

3. Bench and Depth

After the "Big 3" the roster is full of players in the wrong side of their prime or players who shouldn't see the court unless it's from the bench. Haslem has been around for a while and will be the back up 4, he could be useful when Bosh takes a rest. Eddie House is instant offense and a great 3 point shooter, but it's not like their is a lack of offense on the Heat. Mike Miller is out for at least half the season but would've been a great 6th man, he will be missed.

4. The 3 Queens

LeBron will put up his stats night after night, but he still needs to improve his shooting and free throws. Wade sat out almost all of the preseason and will be rusty, while Bosh will be in an unfamiliar position going from a first option to a third. There is only one ball so someone is going to have to sacrifice points. Bosh is a great player but cannot defend players like Kevin Garnett and Amar'e down low. This just adds to the fact that the Bosh/Joel Anthony low post presence is a joke.

The wins, the blow outs, the fame will all be there this season but the rings will not. The Lakers and Celtics improved and had time to get healthy. The Magic and Spurs realize they need to win now after being so close the past few years. And in addition the Bulls and Thunder and legit contenders now and in the future. The Celtics, Magic, or Bulls could easily take down the Heat in a 7 game series. I would not put the Heat in a league of their own. The Lakers are the team to beat in the NBA, the Celtics are the team to beat in the East. Until this new Heat team fixes their problems (and gets some hardware) that won't change.

LeBron and "The Decision"

As a Knick fan every since 2008 I have put all my hopes and faith into signing LeBron in 2010. But as the summer approached I realized we had serious competition. New York, Chicago, Miami, LA Clippers, Dallas, New Jersey and of course Cleveland all were in the hunt. I immediately knew the Clippers were eliminated. There was no chance that LeBron would go to Los Angeles and be in Kobe's shadow and literally be playing in Kobe's house. The next team to go was Dallas because it was clear that Dirk was not going anywhere and the deal was too complicated to work out. The only reason people even mentioned Dallas is because with Mark Cuban anything is possible. Now New Jersey, even though it seems that New Jersey was in the race I thought they had no chance. If he would leave Cleveland he would not chose New Jersey over New York. The Nets are stuck in New Jersey for 3 years with no roster. This leaves Cleveland, New York, Chicago, Miami. I felt any of these were possible. At the time I also had thought Wade was considering leaving Miami for hometown of Chicago and possibly bring in LeBron. I dismissed the rumors of LeBron, Wade, & Bosh going anywhere together as a fantasy. All 4 had there features: Cleveland- his hometown, his team for 7 seasons, family, loyalty, legacy...Chicago- best core group of talent and money...New York- best city in the world, marketing, msg, money...Miami- flexibility, good city, smart management. In my reasoning I did not attach Wade to Miami. I then narrowed it down to two: Cleveland and New York. Of course I am biased but I have reasons. Cleveland will always be in it because it is team and home, but if he was going to leave why would he go to Chicago where he will always be #2 to MJ and compared in every way. In Miami there is no one on the roster unless he brings people with him and with Wade it will always be wade vs lebron to the fans. The fans would be most understanding to a move to New York because it is the greatest city and a major career opportunity outside of just basketball. He could rebuild a team and be the King of New York. But when LeBron announced he was joining Wade and Bosh in Miami for a big 3 it was career suicide. For Wade and Bosh this is a good move because Bosh has a chance to get his max money and win titles (he is not worries about legacy since he is not one of the greatest of all time) and for wade he already has his ring and is staying at home. But LeBron is concieding any chance at being considered the greatest player of all time. No matter what he does he will never surpass Kobe, Michael, Magic, Kareem, Bird, and Russell. All were players who were commited to intergirty in the game. All of whom also have won a large number of titles. Even if LeBron wins 4 rings in the next 6 seasons he will be behind a large number of people. He put himself into a situation where Wade will always be better than LeBron due to the 1 ring advantage. If he had stayed in Cleveland and proved his loyalty then he had a chance to stay there for the rest of his career and even if he only won 1 or 2 titles he would still be in the top 10.