Miami Heat shooters complain that they are too open

O.J. Mayo wishes he had this problem. Actually, 99 percent of the league wishes they had this problem.

With defenses focused on keeping LeBron James from destroying them in the post and Dwyane Wade slashing through them into the lane, the kick-out, spread-the-floor shooters on the Heat get good looks at three. Too good of looks. They are so open (and not used to that) it is throwing off their timing, reports Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel.

Take this from new Heat shooter Rashard Lewis.

“Got to get used to it,” the veteran forward said as the Miami Heat continued training camp, “because that’s the hardest shot in basketball. I may have to hold it for a couple of seconds, so I can get somebody closing out to me.”

Shane Battier explained the problem best — it’s a rhythm thing.

“When you’re playing a game, you’re so used to playing instinctively,” Heat forward Shane Battier said, as he snapped his fingers to mimic the typical split-second timing of NBA decisions. “When you get a wide-, wide-open three, you’re naked. You have time to think and rationalize, and that’s counterintuitive to how we normally play. We normally play instinctively -- time to think and time to react only. But when you have time to think in basketball, calculation often leads to miscalculation.”

I don’t want to speak for Erik Spoelstra here, but my guess is he’d say: “Stop whining. It’s going to be like this all season.”

He may not use those exact words, but I think that’s how we all feel. It’s like listening to the people who talk about how winning the lottery made their life hard. I don’t want to hear it. Deal with it.

And if you’re open, knock down the shot.