Miami contender or pretender??

[BIG GREEN]

Miami is definitly a pretender based on their current performance.

[Ripper]

Eddie Jones underrated?? This guy has a nack of failing to produce when the need is highest. This player makes me angry, he would play well all year long and then in the playoffs, he would start laying bricks and playing inconsistent. This wasnt just the case during the last playoffs, but also during the pre-Shaq era when the Heat were still an up and coming team in 03-04. This is the reason they shipped Jones, he's a great defender, great shooter, but he's just not a winner. You need guys you can count on in the playoffs.

Eddie Jones in the last four games of the Detroit conf finals series:
Name Min FG 3Pt FT Off Reb Ast TO Stl Blk PF Pts
E. Jones 39 3-10 0-2 5-5 1 10 4 0 0 1 5 11
E. Jones 42 3-8 0-0 1-2 1 7 3 4 0 0 3 7
E. Jones 34 1-9 0-6 1-1 0 3 1 2 0 0 2 3
E. Jones 42 4-12 2-6 0-0 2 7 3 1 2 1 1 10

Damon Jones is a different story, he thrived in the heat system with shaq last year. He played too well, therefor 'earning' a salary higher then the Heat could pay. The guy can shoot, but apart from that he's an ordinary player on the court.
btw, his numbers now compared to last year, self-explanatory:

Team G GS MPG FGM-A FG% 3PM-A 3P% FTM-A FT% OFF DEF TOT APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG
04-05 MIA 82 66 31.4 .456 .432 .791 .2 2.6 2.8 4.3 .54 .06 1.20 1.50 11.6
05-06 CLE 49 7 26.3 .376 .358 .667 .1 1.4 1.5 1.8 .53 .02 .76 1.20 7.3

The Heat needed to change, they took the best talent available. The core of 3 Haslem, Wade and Shaq are still there. They took 3 players that can shoot the trey (posey, walker and williams). Shooters usually up their pct when playing in a system with Shaq. And the talent added should (theoretically) of made them a great team, even with shaq out with injuries. I can see why they did this, they are just lacking direction and defensive qualities. Right now you have 3 players that can provide standout defense (posey, wade and mourning). Shaq alters the game defensively as well. But the rest of the group is too weak of character on that end.
So this is were Riley is supposed to come in. This is the major gamble, can he will all these vets to play cohesive and consisten team d? They have to prove this before the playoffs. They have to beat the elite teams in the last 20 or so games and then head into the playoffs with the right mindset. It's not going to be easy, you can say any team with shaq in the playoffs is a contender, but do you honestly believe they could win a 7 game series against the likes of Det, Spurs, Mavs, even the Nets would make for a tough opponent.

If in april this team still isnt showing the fire of a winner, this team will falter.

[maes]

I don't think 4 games against Detroit defense with playoff pacing is a realistic indicator of what the guy is capable of. Tayshaun defended Kobe into jacking up a lot of bad shots in the Finals, they didn't ship Kobe out of LA.

I'll bet any money that if they somehow meet in the playoffs again, Detroit will make Walker & Williams shoot a lot worse than what Jones & Jones did last year.

[Ripper]

I dont dislike Jones as a player, but i've seen him cock up too much. I followed most of the heats playoffs games in the past 2 years, he frustrated me time and time again. As far as comparing the 2 jones against J-williams and Walker. J-will and Walker have both been shooting decent from (.380ish and .360ish). Walker's playoff 3pt percentage is a tidy 36 %. The jones' have dropped in 3pt percentage, they're not even in the top 50 anymore, as far as percentages go. In any case its the guys that make the important shots, that make the difference. E Jones isnt one of them.
Heat vs Pistons soon though, should be interesting.

Funny though how a starplayer can affect players 3pt percentage. Look at Shaq and Nash. Raja Bell is even in the 3point contest.