It’s official: the Achilles heal of the Miami Heat is definitely their inability to rebound.
It has been brewing all season, along with their inability to properly defend the three, but both symptoms go hand in hand. If you can’t get interior defense to stabilize, and force bad shots into scooped up rebounds, then teams are also going to be getting looks on the wings as your interior turns its back to chase for rebounds. Getting rebounds consistently strengthens the core of your team’s defense, allowing your perimeter players to not leave their posts.
So, it has come to this – in order for the Heat to address this glaring weakness, they will need to make a move. The motivation is there.
More importantly, the Heat have freed up roster spots in preparation of a move. Recently, the Heat release Josh Harrellson and Terrel Harris, which may have simply been a move to keep both players from getting guaranteed contracts for the remainder of the season (that happens Thursday for all NBA teams). Yet, the Heat did just sign Jarvis Varnado, a former 2nd round pick of theirs who was recently released by the Celtics, to a 10 day flyer. Also the Heat have reportedly worked out Chris Andersen, also known as the “Birdman” with his days back in Denver, to kick the tires and see what the 34 year old has to offer.
Expect the Heat to follow through on this move. The loss to the Pacers made what was a known element an alarming need. The Heat are going out on a road trip and can’t afford a bad showing due to an inability to rebound. The problem won’t be solved internally, with current options available, but will require an outside solution. Pat Riley has built this team for the purpose of winning now – and this team is very much poised for a repeat still. This is one of those deals that gets done to shore up needs.
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