Metal Sludge Gossip Board

When LeBron James called his press conference on ESPN and pulled what Bill Simmons called his Bash At The Beach moment, nearly everyone jumped on the Heat bandwagon. ESPN even went so far as to say they would beat MJ's 72-10. record (Which is one record that will never be broken)

Flash forward to now. The Heat nave lost games to nothing but awesome teams and as of late, a close loss to the Grizz (Featuring a Zach Randolf block on LBJ!) and a blowout by Indiana who by the numbers, stuck up the joint.

So what's the problem? This team was supposed to the be the Greatest of all time according to the hype machine known as the Sports Press. It's not just one problem that's dogging the South Beach squad; its a myriad of things that have to be addressed in order for David Stern's man-crushes to receive a title.

1. Coaching.

Erik Spoelstra is going to be fired if this keeps up. As well as he needs to be. A team with two Alpha Dogs isn't going to work itself out until you designate one of them as the second banana. (In this case, I would say LeBron.) As evidenced by last night's thrashing, Wade and James have zero chemistry. It was Wade throwing up bad shots, James passing it to Big Z who was in turn putting up bad shots or Jame himself putting up bad shots. Remember when the 2004 Lakers tried to go with the Superstar route? It finally came to a head in the Finals. It hasn't even been 20 games and team-work between the two is non-existent. Fire Erik and have Riles come back for one last rodeo or two.

2. Bench.

Two of my biggest criticisms of Miami when the season began was Lebron being able to become a second banana and the lack of a bench. Outside Udonis Haslem (Out with an inury) and Big Z, they don't really have a whole lot going for them. Miami's brilliant idea? Erick Dampier. Seriously. (He's only a month younger than Z and has worse stats and one All-Star selection.) And overpaying Dampier isn't going to be the season saving idea. Shit I'd rather give Sheed a call to see if he still wanted to play than get Dampier. Like most players, I'm sure Sheed would be down for a piggyback ride for a title (See Sam Cassell on the 2008 Celtics)

3. In the Paint

Aside from one game, Chris Bosh has so far, pulled a D.B. Cooper and has straight up vanished. Even in today's game you need a guy to be menacing downlow, and Bosh has been about as menacing as a parade of drag queens. Can I see him getting dealt? Possibly if he continues to under-perform and has a shit the bed moment like D-Wade did last night. But whom? How about Z-Bo? Yes he doesn't know how to block and yeah he's a little chunky and is responsible for the best moment in NBA history, (The airball while he was on the Knicks) but he's a proven 20-10 guy, and can deliver a 20-20 game on occasion. And he did show flashes of an All-Star caliber player last season and unlike Bosh, he's been humbled after playing for the Clippers, Knicks and now, the Griz. I'd also roll the dice on Oden. Yes he's made of glass, but a minimum one year deal next season could be worth a dice roll. When he's actually healthy, the cagey Vietnam does have some moves. Which is more than what I can say for Dwight Howard.

4. LeBron James

When the Heat lose, you can see the breakdown between him and Wade pretty clear. LeBron wants to usurp him as the no.1 guy and they both start jacking up shots to prove it. (See Boston games and last nights Indiana affair) Hey Bron, you quit on your team last year. Which is something Wade hasn't done in the Playoffs. My biggest knock on him is that throughout his career, everyone has told him he was the greatest player EVA. And after getting swept by the Spurs in 2007 and his pants shitting performance last year, people have to eventually have to start doubting it. Is he hella good? Yes. Is he a number 1 guy? No. He lacks the killer instinct to be one. The day he actually gets this notion through his head and becomes a Pippen is the day he'll start whooping some ass in the playoffs.

But please, Pat Riley. Make the deal for Dampier and keep Erick on the bench as coach. Watching this team misfire is quite a sight to see on TV.

RB, Here's the answer to the question: KARMA

ha,ha 8-6!

Their bench scored 4 points in last night's loss to Indiana.

They are relying way too much on the 3 so called studs.

They have no size in the middle. They gave that Anthony guy a four
year 40 million dollar deal. That is beyond silly.

LeBron & Wade are alpha dogs. Meaning that they need to be the top dog on their respective teams. Neither player knows to bring it down a notch if another player steps up.

It's safe to say that an NBA team needs at least two go to type players. Look at the Lakers for example. Those two players are Kobe & Pau. It works because Pau isnt an alpha dog, and Kobe is all about winning. Its the ying and yang type of thing.

Chris Bosh is overrated big time. He was on a lousy team in Toronto, so he stood out. Ocassionally he will have a great game, but for the most part he will play the way he has played most of this young season. The best thing for Bosh & the Heat is to accept it hasnt worked, and to trade him to a team that will give the Heat the player(s) they need, and it puts Bosh on a team where he can be more involved in the offense. Rockets anyone?

But above it all is they have a terrible bench with a bunch of has beens that are dying to win a title. Now that two of their main role players are out, Mike Miller & Haslem, their bench is even worse. Although I never was a big Mike Miller fan. Yeah, he can hit the 3's every so often, but for the most part he is weak on defense & has no inside game whatsoever.

Go Lakers!

I hear Pat Riley walking towards the stairway......


With Haslem out, there isn't an ounce of muscle to do any enforcing or stepping up other than the ancient Juwan Howard. This team won't win 60 games, mark my word.

Wait. Juwan Howard still plays?

lol. This is almost as awesome as watching the Lions go 0-16