Key Players To The Miami Heat's Success

"Dwyane Wade" by Keith Allison from Baltimore, USA - Dwyane Wade. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons.

After I saw the Heat vs Wizards preseason game broadcasted on ESPN, I decided to ask Adam Spinella from www.bballbreakdown.com 5 questions on the Miami Heat and their key role players for the upcoming regular season. Here they are:

Me: To you, does Gerald Green look like he is in the running for 6th man of the year?
AS:  "No he isn't; the Heat have such a strong starting 5. They will play a lot of minutes as a unit, and they are all strong scorers. If Green logs major minutes, he won't be the primary or even secondary scoring option. His stats simply won't be in the conversation."

Honestly, I have to agree with him. If you look at last years winner, Louis Williams, and his team, you will see that besides Lowry and DeRozan, there isn't a lot of strong scorers on the team. Valanciunas only scored about 12 PPG, Ross only scored about 8 PPG, and don't even get me started with Amir Johnson. So they needed another scorer, and that just happened to be Louis Williams. Also take a look at Jamal Crawford. We all know that the Clippers in past years have had very few people to rely on. Green on the other hand, is on a very strong team. Dragic probably won't get as much scoring as he was used to with the Suns. This is a very strong team. I do expect Green to average around 9 PPG though.

Me: Do you see any improvements in Gerald Green's game?
AS: "He's become a much more consistent outside shooter over the last several seasons."

Yeah, he has. You can see the shooting improvements from his D-league days til now with the Heat. He looks like he has improved on that from even last year. He was always a good athlete, but he is sort of adding on to that. You can also see that he is willing to take the end of game shots too. You look at his mid-range game, it is amazing. The game against the Wizards was just simply an amazing shooting performance from Gerald Green.



Me: If Dwayne Wade gets injured during the season, would Gerald Green be able to start at the shooting guard position, or do you think it would have to be Mario Chalmers?
AS: "Green could start instead of Chalmers, though it hurts their depth behind Deng, the weakest member of the current starting rotation. If I were the coach, I'd start Chalmers on nights when Wade isn't in the game."

What you want is Green to fill in for Deng, because, like Adam said, he is the weakest man in the rotation. The good thing is, both Chalmers and Green have starting experience. I do think that Chalmers would be better to come in and start because the Heat have won championships with him starting. Also, Chalmers would be more likely to play more of that team player role if he was in the starting line-up and Green could just come off the bench looking to score. It really depends on the match-ups too. You probably don't want to put Chalmers on Klay Thompson or Green on Eric Bledsoe. But like Adam is saying, either one would work, but it would be smarter to probably start Chalmers so you have more depth at the wing position.

Me: If you remember McRoberts from the 2014 playoffs, what role do you think he will play with the Heat and do you think he can get back to the way he was with the Cats?  
AS: "McBob has a valuable role because he's going to be asked to facilitate for others and provide spacing. He's a very dynamic offensive presence on a team that has a lot of scorers but very few shooters. He's capable of spacing to the corners and being a spot-up option, but is a great playmaker at the top of the key. He is a fantastic backup to Bosh."

McRoberts is kind of like the forgotten child of the Miami Heat and he has such a great skill set that he brings to the floor. He has a great shot from the corner and he is indeed a great playmakers, as we saw he was with the Cats. He will definitely be used for transition and to attack the basket and space the floor. One of the big things though, is that he will be used in many defensive situations. Back in the 2014 playoffs, he was guarding LeBron James. He is very skilled and if you look at the video below, you will see that Josh McRoberts is able to run the offense and has a very great skill set.


 
Me: What is the difference with the role that Dragic will play with the Heat vs the role he played with the Suns?
AS: "Dragic will obviously be slowed down in Miami, and he'll cede the ball more frequently to Wade as the primary option. Don't expect him to score at the prolific rate he did in Phoenix, but his assist numbers should rise as he finally has a bonafide PNR man in Hassan Whiteside."

What Dragic will see is a lot of Pick and Roll with Hassan Whiteside, and pick and pop with Chris Bosh. This is something that Dragic will strive off of and expect him to really get into the paint and finish. What it will also do is create lots of spacing for guys like Bosh and Wade and they will be left

wide open on the outside. Also, Whiteside will be driving strong to the hoop and he will be able to get great rebounding position just in case Dragic were to miss the layup. Dragic obviously won't be isolated and getting the ball as much as he was in Phoenix because there are so many other options on this talented Heat team, but do expect Dragic to excel in the PNR.

Well, this Miami Heat team looks like they have a really deep bench that has many talents and Erik Spoelstra will many different line-up combinations to mess around with. The Heat even look like they have shot at the Finals so don't count them out.