Stephen A. Smith: "Heat need someone nasty!"

[SteBO]

Thanks for the shout out...the NBA changes, evolves, and most importantly it adapts and if you've watched games this season you can see the blueprint to beating Miami is being executed far better than we have seen it in the big three era. Miami has to adapt as well wether it be the scheme or an adjustment in the line up, but to sit there and say hey I'll be glad when this team flips the switch is just fooling yourself.

Oh I agree Spo is going to need to adjust as well at some point. Things the way they are now apparently aren't working too well, but some of you guys act like we need enormous change. We don't. The way we're losing regular season games now, is the way we've been losing for about 3 years now.....it's about keeping perspective.

And yes the NBA evolves and adapts, and guess what....small ball is exactly what teams have been trending towards. You think the Knicks are at their best playing bigger lineups? Indiana? The answer to both of these questions is no, because as we've seen over the past two years Miami has the personell to expose those lineups. That's why you force teams to adjust towards your best playing style, and that's easier to do over the course of a playoff series.

I would like another big that will defend and rebound consistently, but it will have to be within reason and we've been able to overcome that if you look at the bigger sample size. We outrebounded Utah this year with no Bosh.....

[SteBO]

You don't have to be 7'0 but size is a huge part of rebounding lets be real

Top 10 rebounders
Varejao - 6'11
Howard - 6'11
Randolf - 6'10
Asik - 7'0
Hickson - 6'9
Vucevic - 7'0
Lee - 6'9
Chandler - 7'0
Noah - 6'11
Cousins - 6'11

So to list three guys who are exceptions is not seeing the big picture

It's a factor, but it's far from the biggest one....

[beasted86]

Yeah, but Justin, you have to realize we are talking about using guys who were never good rebounders and asking them to suddenly start rebounding. It won't happen... You can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Battier is like a career 4 rpg guy (while playing over 32 mpg) and you are putting him at PF. What do you expect him to give you in 20 minutes? An easy guess is about 2 rebounds. It's not about effort, guys are playing to their realistic output. Joel is a bad career rebounder, so is Lewis, you added Allen who isn't good for his position. Only guy on the team that is underachieving from his normal is Bosh, but then Lebron is slightly above his normal... At the end of the day this team is not built to rebound.

[justinnum1]

Yeah, but Justin, you have to realize we are talking about using guys who were never good rebounders and asking them to suddenly start rebounding. It won't happen... You can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Battier is like a career 4 rpg guy (while playing over 32 mpg) and you are putting him at PF. What do you expect him to give you in 20 minutes? An easy guess is about 2 rebounds. It's not about effort, guys are playing to their realistic output. Joel is a bad career rebounder, so is Lewis, you added Allen who isn't good for his position. Only guy on the team that is underachieving from his normal is Bosh, but then Lebron is slightly above his normal... At the end of the day this team is not built to rebound.

We don't need to out rebound teams. We dont even need to be even. But we can't be out rebounded by 20.

This team has shown in the past that come playoff time, their intensity and effort is raised and they play at another level. I have seen nothing to think that won't happen again. I am not going to overreact to a few bad games, tho i can understand why some here are.

[dacreator101]

Its our rotation thats killing us tbh... he pick and roll up top and switches are killing us every time when teams make that extra pass... Bosh is at the free throw line switching to help and everyone expects this guy to get every rebound... I really think we need to switch up our D and stop the switching so much.. Our bigs cant jump as high and need to be put in the right position..

[justinnum1]

Its our rotation thats killing us tbh... he pick and roll up top and switches are killing us every time when teams make that extra pass... Bosh is at the free throw line switching to help and everyone expects this guy to get every rebound... I really think we need to switch up our D and stop the switching so much.. Our bigs cant jump as high and need to be put in the right position..

The defense is designed to put pressure on the ball and create turnovers.

The other thing with our defense is they overplay the paint so if a team makes extra passes they are going to find an open shooter, but thats for any team, the ball can move faster than a person.

the 3 main things that are hurting our defense right now are
-Penetration(opposing pg's are breaking down our d and causing our players to be out of Position)
-rotations and closeouts are not strong enough
-rebounding(no boxing out, not crashing the boards)

[c-rock]

Miami can't afford any of the players you guys are talking about. The only way to get a big man is through a trade.

[dimgim]

The defense is designed to put pressure on the ball and create turnovers.

The other thing with our defense is they overplay the paint so if a team makes extra passes they are going to find an open shooter, but thats for any team, the ball can move faster than a person.

the 3 main things that are hurting our defense right now are
-Penetration(opposing pg's are breaking down our d and causing our players to be out of Position)
-rotations and closeouts are not strong enough
-rebounding(no boxing out, not crashing the boards)

Yeah I think they need to trust each other a lil more on defense stay at home on their man

[beasted86]

We don't need to out rebound teams. We dont even need to be even. But we can't be out rebounded by 20.

This team has shown in the past that come playoff time, their intensity and effort is raised and they play at another level. I have seen nothing to think that won't happen again. I am not going to overreact to a few bad games, tho i can understand why some here are.

Yes, the game slows down in the playoffs and their defense will kick in to another level, which in itself as a result will help lessen the rebounding disparity because there will be less possessions per game and times when the defense is so stifling that the opposing team might turn it over (no rebound to grab) or get a 24 second violation (again no rebound to grab) ... but as far as actual rebounding this team doesn't have the players to do it, it has to come from the defense.

It's one thing if you play smaller but have guys who are better at rebounding... IE: replacing Joel with Haslem in the starting lineup. But what we have done this year is replace guys with players who are worse at rebounding. And a factor that people leave out is that even though guys like Joel isn't a significantly better statistical rebounder to say Battier, he's way better at boxing out and eating up space instead of getting pushed under the rim by opposing SFs and SGs like Battier would. At least when Joel gets pushed around it's by an opposing Center or PF.