After all the hype during the offseason, every single bump on the road encountered by the Miami Heat and their Big 3 were hyped up and pounced on by everyone from panicking Heat supporters to Lebron haters. That's because by signing the Big 3, Miami became the team to watch this season. Let me highlight that I mentioned and meant team to watch, and not team to beat.
This all started with Lebron's much maligned, and deservedly so, handling of his "decision". While he does have all the civil rights to do what he did, my main issues with this are:
1. Great players have teams built around them. The Scottie Pippens of the world join the Michael Jordans and not the other way around.
2. Cleveland and its fans did not deserve to be punished this way. Granted that he would have hurt the Cavs and its fans however he went about the announcement, he handled it selfishly to promote himself and disregard the pain he caused to his now ex-fans. A simple announcement without the hype would have been less painful for a spurned city.
With the formation of the Big 3, fans and media began hyping up the Heat as the team to beat. They seem to have forgotten that the NBA is not a 3-on-3 tournament. Sure, the Heat can and probably will beat any other team's best 3 players, though Boston and New York might dispute that fact. Regardless, the NBA championship is not a 3-on-3 league and is won by the best team, not by having the best 3-some.
That said, it would have been unreasonable to expect Miami to win a title in year 1, and the challenges they encountered as the season unfolded would all have been part of the building up process. Even the current 5 game losing streak, taken by itself, is not something that should create panic.
More than anything that has happened in the season so far, what I do find alarming is the issue of Chris Bosh and his apparent displeasure with his role. I find this alarming because it is not about fitting in, but more about "getting mine". I guess Bosh did not realize that when he became part of the Big 3, he was nothing more than the 3rd best player. It was not a big 3 of equally skilled players. He should have known that he was there to pick up the leftovers from D-Wade and Lebron. It may be time to find out if Bosh has the mindset to be part of this type of Big 3. He may be better suited as a Pippen to someone's Jordan, or as the star/main man in a non-contending/losing team similar to Dominique Wilkins in the 80s and Derrick Coleman in the 90s. I believe the Heat need to align with Bosh on expectations. If he needs to "get his", then this may not be the team for him, unless they trade either D-Wade or Lebron. If the Heat are committed to D-Wade and Lebron together, the 3rd member of their Big 3 needs to have the proper mindset of his role on the team.
Computers Through The Years
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