That sound you hear? Yeah, that's the collective gasp of 29 other NBA teams.

[Hank]

The numbers behind Miami's new direction

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/mia...-new-direction

Pairing James, Wade and Bosh with shooters like Allen and Lewis has destroyed Miami's opponents.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Erick Dampier, Mickell Gladness, Joel Anthony, Jamaal Magloire, Juwan Howard and Eddy Curry???

During the past two seasons, Heat president Pat Riley has scoured the free-agency pile and brought in a long line of so-so centers to fill an apparent hole in his team's lineup.

But none of those hires has worked nearly as well at center as Chris Bosh.

And that's why the Heat are fine with not introducing a big-name center Wednesday.

During the Heat's championship run, the Heat finally found a solution to their center problem: don't play a center at all. With Bosh starting at the 5, the Heat plowed through the Thunder en route to a title, as the unconventional lineups created mismatches on both ends of the floor.

This is an important backstory to the Heat's free-agent foray this summer. On Wednesday, the Heat officially introduced Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis at AmericanAirlines Arena, and you'll notice that neither of them plays center. Or point guard. They're primarily shooters with little ability to do much else offensively.

The Heat confirmed something in the Finals that they had already assumed but couldn't fully embrace: They don't need a conventional point guard or center to win a title. They already have those pieces in their superstar trio.

So they loaded up elsewhere.

Don't be surprised if you see Allen and Lewis play together on the court next season, along with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Bosh. Playing those two shooters next to the Big Three might not seem like a bankable plan, because that doesn't look like a lineup basketball fans are used to seeing. Who defends the opposing point guard? Who protects the paint?

But here's why those concerns don't hold much water.

Over the past two seasons when the Big Three played with two non-point guard shooters, the Heat outscored the opponent 239 to 150 in about 86 minutes on the court.

That translates to a 50-point win margin every 48 minutes.

Here are the numbers, courtesy of NBA.com's awesome stats tool, in case you were wondering.

Who should play next to the Big Three?
Lineup type Minutes Pts Opp. Pts ORtg DRtg Diff
PG + C 2,908 6,079 5,526 107.8 98.0 +9.8
PG + Wing 494 1,214 983 118.7 96.1 +22.6
C + Wing 482 1,036 920 112.4 99.8 +12.6
2 Wings 86 239 150 127.4 79.9 +47.4
Total 3,967 8,568 7,579 110.2 97.5 +12.7
Source: NBA.com data.


When we convert those numbers to a per-100-possessions basis, we find that the Heat have a 127.4 offensive rating with that alignment next to the Big Three. All other lineups next to the Big Three? 109.8. The average team? About 103.0.

So I know what you're thinking: What about defense? Funny thing, they've performed even better on that side of the ball. How many points do the Heat allow per 100 possessions when they play two wings instead of a center and a point guard?

That's 79.9 points. The league average, again, is about 103 points.

That sound you hear? Yeah, that's the collective gasp of 29 other NBA teams.

[Punpun]

Lakers will have a more favorable match-up agaisnt them than most think though. THey have to make the FInals tho.

[GaryRaymond23]

Lakers will have a more favorable match-up agaisnt them than most think though. THey have to make the FInals tho.

Nobody on the Lakers can even slow down Lebron and they have Nash on defense

[NoGunzJustSkillz]

Nobody on the Lakers can even slow down Lebron and they have Nash on defense

kobe and artest can slow down lebron. get grant hill and that's another body. not saying these guys will stop lebron, but they certainty help.

[TMT]

I think at some point not having a legit center will come back to bite them in the ass. But that point might not be until the ECF or the Finals.

[kobesabi]

Lakers will have a more favorable match-up agaisnt them than most think though. THey have to make the FInals tho.

Not sure though. Lakers have weak bench still. I hope Mitch improve bench ASAP after the Dwight fiasco. No team can win championship with a weakass bench...first unit can't bail out bench most of the time especially for older veterans

[Heavincent]

That sound you hear? Yeah, that's the OP choking on dick.

[RaininTwos]

kobe and artest can slow down lebron. get grant hill and that's another body. not saying these guys will stop lebron, but they certainty help.

Artest in the post yeah, but on the perimter...I'm not sure. I think he'll get in foul trouble to be honest. It just depends on how aggressive Bron is. If I was Spo, I am not allowing Kobe or Nash to "hide" on defense. I am putting out my best lineup of:

-Ray Allen
-Wade
-Miller
-Bron
-Bosh

and making them guard someone and run around off the ball.

[RRR3]

Artest in the post yeah, but on the perimter...I'm not sure. I think he'll get in foul trouble to be honest. It just depends on how aggressive Bron is. If I was Spo, I am not allowing Kobe or Nash to "hide" on defense. I am putting out my best lineup of:

-Ray Allen
-Wade
-Miller
-Bron
-Bosh

and making them guard someone and run around off the ball.

Miller is likely to retire, and Chalmers is a better scorer than him anyways.


Chalmers
Wade
Allen
Bron
Bosh

or

Wade
Allen
Bron
Haslem
Bosh

[BlackVVaves]

The Heat can get away with that when they face offensively challenged centers like Perkins, Chandler, ect.

When they face the Bynums and Dwights of the league?

They will be forced to play big, or else be punished for having Bosh try and defend them in the post.

Heat just have to hope that:

A) They don't face the Lakers in the Finals
B) OKC doesn't pick up an offensively competent, back to the basket, big man

If not, then yes, playing small ball will continue to be an advantage for them.

[Droid101]

Why does the league reward this playground bullshit? What happened to real basketball?

[RaininTwos]

Miller is likely to retire, and Chalmers is a better scorer than him anyways.


Chalmers
Wade
Allen
Bron
Bosh

or

Wade
Allen
Bron
Haslem
Bosh

True, true, I forgot about old man miller almost dying on the court, maybe he just needs some rehab time though? Who knows?

If he does retire, I would like the second lineup with Haslem. Dude needs an appreciation thread man. They gotta retire his number once he's gone as well.

[knickballer]

They may have breezed past the Thunder in the finals because Perkins and Co aren't much low post scoring threats. But if they play a team with a legit big they will be kicking themselves in the ass for not getting a center. A team like Indy caused them trouble, what will happen if they play Brooklyn with Dwight(if)? Or the Lakers? etc..

They should be looking to get a big center who can defend in the paint. Joel Anthony seems like that guy but he's a little undersized and not the best.

[LBJDW305]

True, true, I forgot about old man miller almost dying on the court, maybe he just needs some rehab time though? Who knows?

If he does retire, I would like the second lineup with Haslem. Dude needs an appreciation thread man. They gotta retire his number once he's gone as well.

Haslem is big for Miami although last year he was inconsistent. But he's loved here in Miami

[RRR3]

True, true, I forgot about old man miller almost dying on the court, maybe he just needs some rehab time though? Who knows?

If he does retire, I would like the second lineup with Haslem. Dude needs an appreciation thread man. They gotta retire his number once he's gone as well.

Unless Haslem has a resurgence though, the first lineup is better, at least offensively. Haslem can't create off the dribble, whereas Chalmers is probably the only Heat player outside of the big 3 who can penetrate at all (not that he's great at it, but he can do it enough to make teams pay if they ignore him). On the other hand, Haslem won't make stupid decisions, whereas that's always a fear with Chalmers