Now that the Heat have won the Eastern Conference, there is a lot of backpeddling. Where does this Heat team stack up? Are they good enough to not just win this year’s championship, but several over the next few years? Some have said that if you wanted to beat this Heat team, this was the year to do it.
What about their players, where do they stack up? Suddenly Scottie Pippen is remarking that Lebron James might go down as a better player than Michael Jordan. Jordan was, according to Pippen, the best scorer he’s seen while Lebron is the best all around player he’s ever seen. Later, Pippen, backed off a bit via his tweet:
Why all of a sudden the confusion? Why was the Heat the most scrutinized team in NBA history to begin with? Admittedly, it all goes back to the Decision. Yet, look at Derrick Rose – the league MVP. Why was he getting all the PR from the talking heads while Lebron, and the Heat, continued to be lambasted?
Derrick Rose shot just 6.4% when guarded by Lebron James. When defended by Dwyane Wade, he didn’t fare much better either. The fact of the matter is, what Derrick Rose is experiencing is what both Wade and James went through. You win over 60 games, get the coach of the year award, an MVP, and a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. Who are you? The 2009 Cleveland Cavaliers.
Lebron James didn’t want to go through what Derrick Rose is going through. He decided to take less money and swallow his pride and admitted that he needed to team up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to meet his expectation of winning championships in this league. James knows his greatness will be evaluated not just by his accomplishments, but by how many rings he gets. Even now, with Pippen’s remarks, Lebron is in the discussion in comparison with Michael Jordan, but only will truly be considered once he wins some rings.
So, you get beat up in the press for it. You beat the Celtics, a team that swept you in the regular season, then the Bulls, another team that swept you in the regular season, and only lose 3 games in the playoffs. Yet, at every turn, you were catching flack. Now, the hangover. Oh boy. Maybe this team is pretty good after all?
Michael Wilbon writes an essay trying to digest the Game 5 loss for the Bulls. He was obviously invested in his team, the Bulls, but his opinions seemed to be agreed upon by most of those in the media – and there was very little to support their picks for the Bulls over the Heat in this series. Ric Bucher, who I think is an extremely horrible judge of talent and terrible observer, defended Derrick Rose, irrationally, on Colin Cowherd’s radio show after Game 4. I wonder what he thinks now that Rose missed a free throw in the clutch.
The hangover spreads. Charles Barkley commented last night on TNT, after Game 5, why he picked the Bulls over the Heat – the Bulls bench was better. Does he realize you only play 5 guys at a time? The bench only comes into play when you rest your starters and with three starters of this caliber, there is practically never a minute that one of them is on the floor.
So, while the media backpeddles and lets this latest dish of crow cool off, let’s put this team in its proper place. They assembled because of the blueprint adopted by the Celtics and Lakers. If you wanted to win in the East, you had to get by the Celtics. They did. The Bulls, grabbing the number 1 seed, didn’t have to face the Celtics but the Heat proved they were the better team. No matter how “Hollywood” Joachim Noah might say the Heat are, he’s the one faking it and sitting at home watching them in the Finals. The Heat simply kicked off the party back in July when they landed the biggest free agent in NBA history in Lebron James – a feat not achieved without the certain additions of Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. It took all the efforts hall of fame architect Pat Riley could muster. They’ve proven not only that they can play together, but that they can carry each other when needed. Lebron closed games. Bosh found his voice in becoming a force inside. Wade, playing horrible for stretches in Games 4 and 5, allowed himself to be carried.
Now, the masterpiece has been assembled. The critics are late to the party, but the quality of the assemblage is undeniable. Only one final obstacle lays in the way.

