The Miami Heat began the 2010-2011 NBA season with the need for a nickname and a ceiling to the astronomical cost of Miami Heat tickets for home games at the American Airlines Arena and just about every stop on the road.
Well, two weeks into the season the Miami Heat have fallen short of perhaps farcical expectations. This team is not going to break the 80-win mark, much reach the 70-win mark. They are 6-4 as of Monday, November 15, 2010 and are neither unstoppable at home nor much better than an average team on the road. The ticket prices have plummeted for all but the best billed games at home, according to a TicketNews article.
Statistically, Dwayne Wade and LeBron James have been superb. Wade is leading the team at 24.7 points a game and is grabbing six rebounds a game as well as picking pockets 1.3 times a game and blocking an astounding (for a guard) one shot a game. LeBron debuted the season with a commercial that is either surprisingly candid or exceedingly manipulative. He also is averaging 22.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 1.8 steals, and 0.8 blocks a game. He has turned in just one triple double, but has come close and will surely register a few more as the season progresses and the team congeals.
While Wade and James have played well statistically and have looked incredible together on the court, especially when the team runs the ball, Chris Bosh, superstar number three, has been giving the Eric Dampier post-contract season performance. OK, perhaps that is a little harsh. He has contributed 14.5 points, 6 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks a game. These are decent numbers, minus the rebounds, for a power forward, but only if that power forward was making a fraction of his $14.5 million salary this season.
Bosh may well improve throughout the season, finding a suitable role in which to excel, but I expect the team to regain its momentum and best record talks to begin again after the holidays, once shooting guard Mike Miller returns and is back in game shape. The addition of this economical sharp shooter ($5 million this season) will send teams into paralysis as the perimeter becomes virtually a defensive suicide mission for every team in the league. Then basketball fans in Miami will once again have to empty their bank accounts and apply for a second mortgage to see a Heat game live.