Miami Defense - Better w/out Wade or Just Playing Harder w/out Wade?
So I've seen two heat games since wade's injury, the win against the pistons and last night's win against new jersey, and in both games riley had they playing much improved team defense from earlier in the season. my impulse is to say the change has been caused by a few things.
1. eddie jones - gives a third (w/ posey & the decaying bones of gary payton) dedicated perimeter defender to help the two shotblocking centers.
2. shaq's back - shaq may not be the best defender in the league, but he takes up a lot of space, intimidates drivers, and most importantly, the other guys rally around him and play harder.
3. late season focus - everyone including walker and williams was working really hard last night, and that just may be a result of them caring more as they fight to take that #3 seed away from the wiz.
4. return of riley - probably doesn't hurt that a great defensive coach is back on the bench, but it didn't help that much earlier.
5. wade's out - now this one goes two ways. on the one hand you could say that wade was a problem on defense. he was undisciplined. he is kind of small to guard 2s and kind of big to guard 1s. on the other hand, it's possible that the rest of the guys are just working a lot harder and playing more focused with him out, which often happens when a star misses a long streak.
what do people who have seen more heat games than i have think? is this team playing better d because wade was a hinderance, or are other factors more important?
Re: Miami Defense - Better w/out Wade or Just Playing Harder w/out Wade?
Wade, although not a great man to man defender, is one of the best weakside help defenders in the league, Miami is simply playing alot harder on both ends of the court.
Re: Miami Defense - Better w/out Wade or Just Playing Harder w/out Wade?
key word here = motivation, they wan't to prove they aren't a one man show, they have several veterans who carried their own teams at some point of their careers and they don't want to look like they are just riding wade's nutz, plus when the heat wan't their defense is top notch in the league.
Re: Miami Defense - Better w/out Wade or Just Playing Harder w/out Wade?
Quote:
Originally Posted by theinfamousmobb
Wade, although not a great man to man defender, is one of the best weakside help defenders in the league, Miami is simply playing alot harder on both ends of the court.
/thread.
However, the combination of Eddie and Pose on the wings has been extremly forminable...They're both exceptional man defenders and their communication on defense is top notch.
When the Heat were running that lineup with Wade at the leadguard and Eddie and Pose on the wings, that lineup faired very well...
Re: Miami Defense - Better w/out Wade or Just Playing Harder w/out Wade?
Quote:
Originally Posted by BFRESH44
When the Heat were running that lineup with Wade at the leadguard and Eddie and Pose on the wings, that lineup faired very well...
i never really saw them play this way, but i like the idea. flank wade with two good defenders who can shoot with range and let him create. then you can use jwil / gp / walker as a change up line up with zo to anchor. i find this team fascinating because i think riley took such a risk breaking up the '05 squad. either he was really greedy or he had great foresight in building such a versatile squad. of course the wheels will fall off the old guys in no time, but they might really have a shot at another ring if wade can get back. big IF.
Re: Miami Defense - Better w/out Wade or Just Playing Harder w/out Wade?
Quote:
Originally Posted by theinfamousmobb
Wade, although not a great man to man defender, is one of the best weakside help defenders in the league, Miami is simply playing alot harder on both ends of the court.
I agree that they're playing harder, but Wade gambles a lot on defense. Sometimes that results in blocks and steals, but a lot of times it results in open shots.
Take for example the play he got injured on. He came off Luther Head to gamble on the steal. He fouled Battier (no call), and Luther Head was wide open. Sure Head missed the shot, but he doesn't miss a lot of those.
Re: Miami Defense - Better w/out Wade or Just Playing Harder w/out Wade?
Quote:
i find this team fascinating because i think riley took such a risk breaking up the '05 squad.
What makes it more interesting is they've got Eddie Jones back and he looks like he's playing as well as he did in '05. I thought that '05 team was substantially better than the team that won it all last year. They played that last quarter of '05 at an extremely high level, and in '06 they really caught some playoff breaks. But now they essentially have everything they lost after '05 (eddie jones is back, and Kapono shoots better from three than damon jones) and what they picked up before '06. IF Wade plays the way he did before the injury this team is SCARY good.
Re: Miami Defense - Better w/out Wade or Just Playing Harder w/out Wade?
Although i hate to admit it. Wade is one of the only players in the L who can consistently play great weakside help, he is a good man to man defender but he is superb on the weakside.During the injury, the Heat have missed him so they have stepped up and played harder.
Re: Miami Defense - Better w/out Wade or Just Playing Harder w/out Wade?
Eddie Jones is a major man to man defensive upgrade. Wade may be an excellent shot blocker, but he's a guard so who cares. Rarely comes into play against quality perimeter players.
Re: Miami Defense - Better w/out Wade or Just Playing Harder w/out Wade?
Quote:
Originally Posted by theinfamousmobb
Wade, although not a great man to man defender, is one of the best weakside help defenders in the league, Miami is simply playing alot harder on both ends of the court.
Miami Defense - Better w/out Wade or Just Playing Harder w/out Wade?
