Heat: Who is going to truly challenge this Miami Heat team?

[purplengold]

grizz, zbo lookin like he ready ta play like all star again n they got gay who can go ham

[thunderfan]

Didn't know if you were one of those bandwagon Miami fans who lives in, say, North Carolina, and couldn't even point out Miami on a blank map and likes to talk smack. Those fans are a dime a dozen on these boards, specifically LAL and Miami fans.

[Richie]

No one. As long as Wade is @ 75% ... LeBron is bringing dat home. I keep telling the Lakers family and friends its his le to lose but they bring up Lakers, Nets even Clips ... Rofl. It's Lebrons for at least this year ... I think they can be beaten next season.

It's the Heats le to lose for sure, they will only have one tough series and that's the Finals tbh.

The only thing holding Lebron back will be Lebron. Sure he won last year, but his pathetic 4 quarter performances against Dallas in 2011 still lingers in my memory. He doesn't have the mental toughness that the other greats have.

Also, the Thunder was a good match up for the Heat, no real inside scoring threat to take advantage of and the Heat perimiter defense is excellent.

They've gotta be favourites, but they aren't unbeatable.

[thunderfan]

OKC wasn't prepared to beat Miami in 7 games last year, but they didn't do themselves any favors by playing Perkins. Perkins is next to useless against Miami. Perkins is worth something to OKC. He's shown to be a real defensive stopper against the likes of the Al Jefferson's of the league, but Miami's style of play makes Perkins fairly worthless.

[Juggity]

Who is going to truly challenge this Miami Heat team?

How about the Spurs 7th-15th men

[Killakobe81]

Let's be real no one is unbeatable even the 72 win Bulls were threatened late in the Finals vs the Sonics and the 2001 Lalets lost to AI ...this Heat team isn't as good as either so they are beatable ... But LeBron is playing almost at that level.

[DeadlyDynasty]

The Sonics were never in that series, and the Lakers only lost b/c they were rusty from a 9-day layoff (and still had a 5-pt lead in OT). Neither of those series were ever in doubt and this season is no different if Miami stays relatively healthy. Nobody else comes close to them.

[Arcadian]

I agree that they are the current favorites, but they are definitely beatable.

[DeadlyDynasty]

I agree that they are the current favorites, but they are definitely beatable.

I'd love to hear the logic behind picking another team to beat them 4 out of 7 times. If it doesn't involve injuries then it's unsound.

[JoeTait75]

The only thing holding Lebron back will be Lebron. Sure he won last year, but his pathetic 4 quarter performances against Dallas in 2011 still lingers in my memory. He doesn't have the mental toughness that the other greats have.

Did you watch last year's playoffs? LeBron looked plenty tough mentally and physically while he was carrying that team to the le.

[whitemamba]

Did you watch last year's playoffs? LeBron looked plenty tough mentally and physically while he was carrying that team to the le.

lebron was def given too much glory in the finals, supporting cast really killed it tbh, mike miller, chalmers, etc,, played well

[Richie]

Did you watch last year's playoffs? LeBron looked plenty tough mentally and physically while he was carrying that team to the le.

I also watched him collapse in the 2011 playoffs.

Come June, we'll see which Lebron turns up

[Malik Hairston]

West fans said the same last year, tbh, but Boston and Indiana gave Miami a more difficult challenge than OKC..The Spurs and Grizzlies match up decently against the Heat, but as much as I want the Spurs to win the West, I don't think it will happen..it would require Duncan to continue playing at an MVP level, which is an unrealistic expectation for a 36-year old..as we have seen in the past, relying on Tony Parker as your best player(or any PG, for that matter), will not win a le..As for Memphis, they have the tools, but I just can't see it..Rudy Gay and their inconsistent bench/shooting will hurt IMO..The Lakers and Clippers would lose in 5 or get swept, tbh..OKC would have a shot because of the officiating, but they would lose in 5 or 6, tbh..

[Malik Hairston]

Why the am I unable to edit my sentence/paragraph structure?..Looks like killakobe logged into my account, tbh..

[thunderfan]

Does the perceived favorite, regardless of sport, always win the championship? Of course not. It's won on the court. Sure, there are teams that would have ZERO chance against Miami in a 7 games series, but there are a handful of very talented teams that could potentially beat Miami in the playoffs. Miami is the favorite and the Champs until they are proven otherwise, but for people to sit here and say there's no chance for any other team to win this year is just a little absurd. Again, how many times has the "favorite" been denied? Many.

[Brazil]

West fans said the same last year, tbh, but Boston and Indiana gave Miami a more difficult challenge than OKC..The Spurs and Grizzlies match up decently against the Heat, but as much as I want the Spurs to win the West, I don't think it will happen..it would require Duncan to continue playing at an MVP level, which is an unrealistic expectation for a 36-year old..as we have seen in the past, relying on Tony Parker as your best player(or any PG, for that matter), will not win a le..As for Memphis, they have the tools, but I just can't see it..Rudy Gay and their inconsistent bench/shooting will hurt IMO..The Lakers and Clippers would lose in 5 or get swept, tbh..OKC would have a shot because of the officiating, but they would lose in 5 or 6, tbh..

As I already said Grizz is the best equipped team, they have a significant advantage on the front court: they play D, can score the ball and rebound at a high rate. Conley is under rated, dude is good, pretty good D, can shoot the 3, takes care of the ball. Allen is still one of the top D of the league then there is the ? Gay but if he can somehow produce like that in PO, he is a valuable asset. Issue is the bench, I feel the mike miller, allen... are going to expose them badly unless they have some tough shooting nights at the 3 range but 4 times out of 7 ? don't think so.

[Killakobe81]

lebron was def given too much glory in the finals, supporting cast really killed it tbh, mike miller, chalmers, etc,, played well

True but they still followed le Bron. LeBron led them to the le. The help defense on le Bron is what's left the shooters open

[Killakobe81]

Grizz are good but I don't see it come playoffs or at least past WCF

[Latarian Milton]

the only hypothetical scenario where the heat is gonna be seriously challenged is if you make up a team of similar talentlevel and play awesome team game to trump the monkeyball, like the 2011 mavs. NY will be a legit contender if melo keeps playing in top form, they have shown some good chemistry but they better hope amare won't everything up for them when he comes back.

[thunderfan]

Only ignorant fools are of the sentiment that they can't be challenged. Any coach and player in the NBA or any other sport will tell you that.

[Ace]

Well what we can say is it sure as won't be the Thunder.

[JRHernandez88]

lebron was def given too much glory in the finals, supporting cast really killed it tbh, mike miller, chalmers, etc,, played well

Yeah but LeBron got them to the finals. Him & D-Wade picked up the slack when Bosh went out, tbh. Did you see game 6 of the ECF? Legendary performance, tbh. Down 3-2 to the Celtics in Boston

I'd love to hear the logic behind picking another team to beat them 4 out of 7 times. If it doesn't involve injuries then it's unsound.

Seriously?? No team in sports is unbeatable. That's the beauty of sports, anything can happen...

Does the perceived favorite, regardless of sport, always win the championship? Of course not. It's won on the court. Sure, there are teams that would have ZERO chance against Miami in a 7 games series, but there are a handful of very talented teams that could potentially beat Miami in the playoffs. Miami is the favorite and the Champs until they are proven otherwise, but for people to sit here and say there's no chance for any other team to win this year is just a little absurd. Again, how many times has the "favorite" been denied? Many.

This.

[Bill_Brasky]

yeah, the team that took OKC to the woodchipper Fargo style then got better in the offseason is not gonna lose.

[Bill_Brasky]

Does the perceived favorite, regardless of sport, always win the championship? Of course not. It's won on the court. Sure, there are teams that would have ZERO chance against Miami in a 7 games series, but there are a handful of very talented teams that could potentially beat Miami in the playoffs. Miami is the favorite and the Champs until they are proven otherwise, but for people to sit here and say there's no chance for any other team to win this year is just a little absurd. Again, how many times has the "favorite" been denied? Many.

you can tell this guy is new to the NBA

[thunderfan]

you can tell this guy is new to the NBA

Is that right, Bill? Well why don't you tell what about my statement you disagree with. So the team dubbed as the "favorite" to win a le in any given sport for a given season (in this case, Miami), always ends up the victor? Since you are such an NBA veteran, please clear this up for me.