Judging what an NBA team will look like based on an in-house scrimmage is a lot like trying to tell if a movie is going to be any good from the trailer. It’s an exercise in missed judgment. I mean, “Taken” looked good in a trailer. (Good enough that they made a sequel, I guess.)
But I think we can take one thing away from the Miami Heat’s scrimmage Wednesday — they are going to spread the floor and launch a lot of threes.
That’s what they did in the scrimmage, knocking down 14 in 40 minutes of play, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN’s Heat Index.Newly-signed Ray Allen made three, Mike Miller made three, Shane Battier made four, even Chris Bosh made two. Rashard Lewis made none but not for lack of trying -- he was 1-of-9 shooting overall -- as he clearly looked like a player who hadn’t gotten his legs into game shape as yet. Mario Chalmers, the team’s top 3-point shooter last season, didn’t even play with a minor injury….
“Teams are going to have to decide if they’re going to double me in the post or stay at home with our shooters,” James said “It’s almost like how Orlando was with Dwight. They surrounded him with so many shooters, it was very difficult and you didn’t know what to do.”
What makes Miami more dangerous this season is they know who they are now. They found their identity. They go small-ball, use pressure defense, they spread the floor with shooters, then they make you deal with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade on the block or slashing into the paint. They have three guys that demand double teams and when you do they happen to be three willing and adept passers who will find the open man.
There will be fretting in Miami over the course of the coming season as the team loses focus for stretches and doesn’t play this way. It will happen, championship teams do often regress in the regular season because they are now playing for June. But the Heat know who they are now.
They showed it in their scrimmage. And anybody, any opponent who watched Game 5 of the NBA finals and saw what happens when the Heat knock down threes should be more than a little worried.