Joel Anthony - most valuable big man?

That being said, he is a liability on the offensive end of the floor. Defenders can cheat and the Heat end up playing 4 on 5. This is a problem. If you can leave a big unguarded in the paint to provide help on a slashing D Wade or LBJ, this limits the options that penetration normally brings about.

he is in the perfect position right now. As a starter, he would not be very good. But his energy and shotblocking off the bench is huge. He is the type of guy who plays very will in limited minutes, so that is another plus to him coming off the bench. He is a liability on offense, however we play much better when he is on the floor (both on offense and defense). His outstanding D leads to easy offense (transition buckets for Wade and Lebron). So while he isn’t finishing plays by scoring, he still has an impact on offense. It just isnt as apparant because it does not show up on the box score.

Looking toward the future, Joel needs to be paired with another big man (with size and strength). Tyson and Gasol are very good options (as is DeAndre Jordan), but they will all get too much money. IMO, our best opition is Samuel Dalembert. He is a very good rebounder, defender, and shotblocker. That is all we need in the paint. Plus, I read somewhere that he said the Heat will be at the top of his list this offseason. Pairing him with Joel would solidify the center position for the future as they are both 29 (not young, but not really old either). Also, do not forget that Pittman is still on the team…

Joel plays hard defense and rebounds very well, but let’s not forget that he is offensively challenged. He had only 4 points and ZERO FG ATTEMPTS in 39 minutes last game (and 5 rebs isn’t amazing). And that is not uncommon. We have no other option now so we will stick with Anthony, and Spo won’t ever be afraid to play Joel 40 mins.

You guys bitching about Joel’s offense must be ridiculously spoiled or something. We have a team with lebron james dwyane wade and chris bosh. a defensive specialist at center is a perfect fit, and joel does amazingly well. he has also improved offensively in each of the last 3 years so stop complaining and appreciate what we have. obviously pat riley knew what he was doing when he signed anthony to the long term contract, but i guess you guys know better then him because joel is offensively challenged.

without Shaq in there, then play Joel a lot because he did really well against KG and I think he can handle JO. Joel is being a lot more aggressive when getting the ball and he did hit his ft’s under pressure (form is good) so I hope he continues to take shots. Damp and Big Z have size and length which is important against Big traditional centers/forwards like Shaq, and the Lakers’ bigs. Good for the Heat to be able to match up against different situations.

ok he got 5 reb but how many does he tip out to other players? maybe 3 or 4 a game. how important is it to find the other teams best rebounder and box him out so his teamates can get the board, he does that all the time!does anyone else notice Lebrons confidence goes up after a joel screen because he knows its going to be a solid screen. he might not get the block all the time but he makes the other team miss atleast 5 shots a game. ive been talking about joel since Before the season even started and was ridiculed for it, now i finally get to say I TOLD YALL SO!!! with that being said i do believe he should come off the bench but still play 25 to 30 min a game. but if we pick up another big how will the min be distributed with bosh, haslem, joel and another big.