How Many Teams Can Lose LeBron, Have Compelling Team 13 Months Later?

[Rose'sACL]

[kennethgriffin]

94 chicago bulls

55 wins

1 bogus call from going to the ECF ( won only game vs houstin in regular season )

only 1 summer after losing the best player in the game

[Hey Yo]

"Miami defended at a league-worst level when Dragic and Wade shared the court last season, per NBA.com, though none of those minutes included Bosh. Wade is a 50- or 60-game player with bad knees, and no one knows if he can hold up through late May — if the Heat last that long. Bosh is 31 and coming off a traumatic health issue, and Josh McRoberts is rebuilding his knee. Luol Deng is 30, with Tom Thibodeau miles in the rearview. Amar’e Stoudemire hasn’t been able to move on defense in five years. The Heat have tried to trade Chris Andersen and Mario Chalmers to anyone who would have them, per sources around the league, but if they deal them now to trim their repeater tax bill, they’d also thin their bench to red-alert levels. Gerald Green and Tyler Johnson will help, but it’s too early to count on them.

Most of all, Hassan Whiteside has to prove he can grind through 82 games, year after year. And if he repeats last season’s stunning success, the Heat may not have the space to re-sign him, keep Wade on yet another new contract, and lure the next star they probably need to really compete with LeBron.

The Heat think they can compete with Cleveland now, but a lot of things need to go right for them to get there. Maybe too many things."

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/he...=story-twitter

[Naero]

Not as inconceivable as people think. It's not like the Miami Heat went through a complete roster and coaching-staff turnover as the Cavaliers did in the immediacy of LeBron's polarizing departure; their core and coaching staff still mostly consists of holdovers from the stretch that established the championship culture.

While LeBron's departure undoubtedly had substantiality to the Cavaliers' drop-off, it must be put into perspective that they lost not just him but also Mo Williams (was there from the outset, but knownedly had attitudinal problems that hindered him), and so on.

More paramount but often overlooked is the coaching-changeover; they supplanted Mike Brown with an even worse successor in Byron Scott! If you disbelieve that Byron Scott is worse, contextualize their most recent discrepancy between their coaching for the Cavaliers; Mike Brown coached the team to 9 more wins in 2013-14 than Byron Scott did in 2012-13. Who was the difference-maker between those two teams? Anthony Bennett?

Erik Spoelstra, while he's had shaky decision-making at times, is a great Xs-and-Os coach that is capable of tapping into his team's talent, unlike the two aforementioned coaches

[GrapeApe]

[QUOTE=Hey Yo]"Miami defended at a league-worst level when Dragic and Wade shared the court last season, per NBA.com, though none of those minutes included Bosh. Wade is a 50- or 60-game player with bad knees, and no one knows if he can hold up through late May

[FLDFSU]

[QUOTE=Naero]Not as inconceivable as people think. It's not like the Miami Heat went through a complete roster and coaching-staff turnover as the Cavaliers did in the immediacy of LeBron's polarizing departure; their core and coaching staff still mostly consists of holdovers from the stretch that established the championship culture.

While LeBron's departure undoubtedly had substantiality to the Cavaliers' drop-off, it must be put into perspective that they lost not just him but also Mo Williams (was there from the outset, but knownedly had attitudinal problems that hindered him), and so on.

More paramount but often overlooked is the coaching-changeover; they supplanted Mike Brown with an even worse successor in Byron Scott! If you disbelieve that Byron Scott is worse, contextualize their most recent discrepancy between their coaching for the Cavaliers; Mike Brown coached the team to 9 more wins in 2013-14 than Byron Scott did in 2012-13. Who was the difference-maker between those two teams? Anthony Bennett?

Erik Spoelstra, while he's had shaky decision-making at times, is a great Xs-and-Os coach that is capable of tapping into his team's talent, unlike the two aforementioned coaches

[FLDFSU]

The Heat obviously have their share of question marks, but that's part of what makes them compelling. They are one of the most interesting teams in the league heading into this season. On one hand, nobody would be surprised if they won 50+ games and were a legit contender in the east. On the other hand, nobody would be surprised if they were an inconsistent mash unit who struggle to make the playoffs. It's rare to have a team where either of those scenarios are a genuine possibility.

Nobody would be surprised if we were inconsistent mash unit that struggles to make the playoffs because Spo is an idiotic coach whose team must overcome.

[KnittingRyu]

"Compelling" was simply used because "competitive" would be a lie.

[PJR]

Nobody would be surprised if we were inconsistent mash unit that struggles to make the playoffs because Spo is an idiotic coach whose team must overcome.

You are so ignorant it's not even funny. You KNOW nothing about professional basketball coaching or basketball strategy. Nothing. You're an expert at talking out of your ass, however.

[G-train]

94 chicago bulls

55 wins

1 bogus call from going to the ECF ( won only game vs houstin in regular season )

only 1 summer after losing the best player in the game

so 1?

[G-train]

The Heat think they can compete with Cleveland now, but a lot of things need to go right for them to get there. Maybe too many things."

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/he...=story-twitter

I would say many things have to go right for Cleveland to compete with Miami as well, among them Irving and Love staying healthy and no internal issues with players/coaches.

[SexSymbol]

Your first paragraph is valid.

However, you must be crazy. Spo is an idiotic coach. His teams does better when he is completely ignored. You give Spo Cleveland or LA teams that Mike Brown had and Spo never makes it past round 1. And Spo still had Wade and Bosh without Lebron in the Heat's best season. It is not like a 5-1 record in a limited sample size is all that revealing.

How did Spo do this past season without Lebron? The idiot could even get us to the playoffs when teams like Boston, Milwaukee and the Nets made it.

Furthermore, Mo Williams was still on the team when the Cavs were 20 straight losses into their historic losing streak. So was Andy V. The fact is much of core of Cleveland was in tact when they proved that the could not even compete without James.

not true at all

[DukeDelonte13]

Your first paragraph is valid.

However, you must be crazy. Spo is an idiotic coach. His teams does better when he is completely ignored. You give Spo Cleveland or LA teams that Mike Brown had and Spo never makes it past round 1. And Spo still had Wade and Bosh without Lebron in the Heat's best season. It is not like a 5-1 record in a limited sample size is all that revealing.

How did Spo do this past season without Lebron? The idiot could even get us to the playoffs when teams like Boston, Milwaukee and the Nets made it.

Furthermore, Mo Williams was still on the team when the Cavs were 20 straight losses into their historic losing streak. So was Andy V. The fact is much of core of Cleveland was in tact when they proved that the could not even compete without James.

Andy V got hurt and missed the rest of the season i think during that streak. Mo got traded. Z left in free agency (but the cavs didn't try to resign him) Shaq was gone too.

Mike Brown had a very organized and meticulous defensive system whereas Byron Scott had absolutely no defensive system and a really rudimentary offense.

It was the Antawn Jamison the J.J. Hickson show. Guys like Boobie Gibson who thrive on open three pointers weren't getting open looks anymore.

It was a sh*t show. Cavs didn't have a Dwayne Wade or a Chris Bosh to help ease the transition.

[NustABut]

I can see them playing for the 6th/7th seed, making noise past that depends on health.

There's no way a lineup of Dragic / Wade / Deng / Bosh / Whiteside doesn't win at least 45 games.

Unless, well.. Injuries. Deng and Wade are two guys that need their minutes carefully regulated. This is a starting lineup where I can see none of them playing more than 65 games, which is unfortunate.

[FLDFSU]

Andy V got hurt and missed the rest of the season i think during that streak. Mo got traded. Z left in free agency (but the cavs didn't try to resign him) Shaq was gone too.

Mike Brown had a very organized and meticulous defensive system whereas Byron Scott had absolutely no defensive system and a really rudimentary offense.

It was the Antawn Jamison the J.J. Hickson show. Guys like Boobie Gibson who thrive on open three pointers weren't getting open looks anymore.

It was a sh*t show. Cavs didn't have a Dwayne Wade or a Chris Bosh to help ease the transition.

Right, which makes Spo's performance last season all the more appalling.