Game #4: Miami Heat (3-0) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (0-2)

play right into the Heat’ss hands. At the point, Rubio can drive but can’t shoot and the Twovles shouldn’t kill the Heat on the boards. Motivation on d will be the main obstacle b/c other than Rubio, this is a team of shooters so hand down, man down..

Chris Bosh remains consistent scoring in three successive Heat games and good things are happening to the Heat. I said it before that if Chris Bosh stops worrying about the offense not going through him (like it did in his former life) and he focuses on improving his game, the Heat will be a better team. He has done so in three straight games. He is more aggressive to the paint,shoots better, he goes for rebounds and he is now faster at passing to the open man. We no longer see a Chris Bosh standing still and sizing his man for seconds before shooting at the basket.

I like the Heat’s new approach on offense. Lebron has become the Lebron we know. Attacking and attacking the rim and putting pressure on the opposing defense, yet he has not let down on his assists and rebounds. Good for the Heat.

D-Wade has remained t D-Wade. He shows up consistently when the team needs him.

However, there are few concerns.….
1. The Heat’s offense still struggle against the zone defense. I had hoped the team would have worked on this during the short off season practice. We saw them struggle against Mavs zone on christmas day and again against the Celtics, the Heat struggled when the Celtics went into the zone defense. That brings to concern number 2.

2. Perimeter and mid range shooting. The effective weapon against a zone defense is an excellent long and mid range shooting. That is why a zone defense never works against the Mavericks, the Chicago bulls, the Celtics and the old Lakers. These teams have very skilled 3 pointers who nail long range shots consistently, that going zoning against theses teams is tantamount to committing suicide. Back to the Heat. I have not seen their perimeter shooters live up to expectation. They need to step it UP big time, otherwise teams will increasingly use the zone defense against the Heat.

3. My third concern is that unlike last year, the Heat have not protected the perimeter very well this season.Perhaps, it is too early to critic them since the season is young. But the sooner they start protecting the perimeter the better for the team. Old habits die hard .The supporting cast on the Heats perimeter offense is expected to fill this void. Jone and co, I hope you are readind this thread.

Go HEAT, Go !!!!!