If the Miami Heat Breakup, did they they fail to meet expectations?

You can't scoff at four straight appearances in the NBA Finals. But when James did his whole "Not one, not two, not three...." thing, he set some already high expectations a little higher. The loss to Dallas was embarrassing and the cause of a lot of criticism. The win over OKC was solid, but the win over SA is more often remembered as a SA meltdown than a Heat win. Then the Heat got dismantled in a way rarely seen in the NBA Finals. Games 3-5 looked like an NBA team playing a mediocre college team. It was flat out embarrassing for the Heat and the NBA.

If it is all said and done with Wade, Bosh, and James in Miami, do you think they disappointed, were right on target, or were even failures (given expectations)? I know they went to four straight NBA Finals, but arrogance killed them the first time and just not being that good the fourth time. I think they disappointed in terms of accomplishments. In the end, they were not signed to go to the NBA Finals, they were signed to win the NBA Finals.

What is this NBA that you speak of?

(very happy to see SA win the way they did...gives me hope. I don't see the Heat being much different than the old Pistons, Celtics from the 80's. And not as impressive as the Lakers, Bulls runs in the 80's/90's.)

**** yeah they did. Not 6, not 7.....

SawGreen wrote:What is this NBA that you speak of?

(very happy to see SA win the way they did...gives me hope.  I don't see the Heat being much different than the old Pistons, Celtics from the 80's.  And not as impressive as the Lakers, Bulls runs in the 80's/90's.)

I think those Pistons and Celtics teams would have throttled the Heat in similar fashion. And if we are playing the more physical game of the 80s, the Heat have even less of a chance.

WhiteBoyHatcher wrote:**** yeah they did. Not 6, not 7.....

I'm going with 'Tanfan', but let me play devil's advocate to your comment.

Can you really consider them a failure if one/multiple of them decide that they want to go somewhere else, hence not being able to go for 6...7....? And I'm not talking about the Heat not being able to retain them financially, I'm talking about them just straight up leaving.

If they break up, it seems like it will be because they know they cannot win as they are now. They cannot play defense at all, and Wade is looking like he needs 50 game seasons.

I think breakup can only be used as a noun, break up is the verb. Or did we give on that over here because of blanch?

I have nothing to offer regarding your basketball question.

Cym Jim wrote:I think breakup can only be used as a noun, break up is the verb. Or did we give on that over here because of blanch?

I have nothing to offer regarding your basketball question.

Neville Chamberlain hated verbs or any words that conveyed taking action.

A lot of people predicted the Spurs to win in dominating fashion. I think most sane fans/analysts realized that outside of Lebron/Bosh, this Heat team just wasn't that good. The entire Eastern Conference was terrible, its champion(Pacers) was an absolute mess for the second half of the season, and yet the Heat still never looked all that dominant during the season.

So, when it comes to the "Big 3", yes, I'd say it was a failure. However, I don't blame that failure(well, the majority of it anyway) on Lebron. I'd put the majority of it on Wade. Guy hasn't been nearly good enough in the playoffs for how much time he misses in the regular season.

Lebron went to Miami because he didn't want to be 'the man' he wanted Bosh and Wade to take some (a lot) of the pressure off him, because when the pressure is truly on, he has not handled it well.
That didn't work out.
They also thought when the '3 Amigos' got together, the competition would just wilt at the site of them, I guess Tim Duncan didn't know that.

I guess it would mean that I had "expectations" of them in the first place. I had none, I didn't care, I don't know why I"m posting in this thread.

Not one, not two, not... Okay, two is good.

Fail but not epic. If anything just proved lebron shouldn't have ever left Cleveland. Dude should have been the one calling the shots?

only in the instant-gratification world of America, Twitter and talk radio can getting to 4 consecutive NBA finals and winning 2 world championships be considered a "failure"...

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:Not one, not two, not... Okay, two is good.

This

Robert J Sakimano wrote:only in the instant-gratification world of America, Twitter and talk radio can getting to 4 consecutive NBA finals and winning 2 world championships be considered a "failure"...

Yep. Great point from a great American.

The Heat's problem is not having enough role players. Jordan couldn't win until he had Pippen and Rodman. Don't bring in that Bird and Magic were always loyal to their teams, they each were drafted by the premier teams to play for. Even they couldn't do it alone. One superstar isn't enough to win a championship. SA has 3 or 4 HOF'ers and their stars had to take less money in order to win. This offseason will be interesting and I'd say that at this point everything is up to Wade. 

I don't quite understand the hate for LeBron, and the way the NBA is officiated today doesn't allow for a superstar to be as physical as they were in the past. Anyway, I voted that they underachieved, based on the goals they set for themselves. I knew they were in trouble this year, when they brought in Oden.

duffy munn wrote:

Yep. Great point from a great American.

thanks,man.. as are you.

Robert J Sakimano wrote:only in the instant-gratification world of America, Twitter and talk radio can getting to 4 consecutive NBA finals and winning 2 world championships be considered a "failure"...

Do Pistons fans think their 4 seasons between 1987-1991 were a failure, too?   

Giant Moose wrote:
Do Pistons fans think their 4 seasons between 1987-1991 were a failure, too?   

Dumars want promising 8 championships during that span, was he?

The NBA in general is a failure. 10 guys standing around jacking up 3 point shots, how can anyone even watch it without falling asleep?

tTito wrote:The NBA in general is a failure. 10 guys standing around jacking up 3 point shots, how can anyone even watch it without falling asleep?

Sigh

Giant Moose wrote:
Do Pistons fans think their 4 seasons between 1987-1991 were a failure, too?   

Poor comparison. Completely different teams put together in different ways.   

Turtleneck wrote:

Poor comparison.  Completely different teams put together in different ways.   

Calling a team a failure that won 2 titles in a 4 year span is crazy.

I don't see them as failures. But I don't see them as meeting expectations.

Giant Moose wrote:
Calling a team a failure that won 2 titles in a 4 year span is crazy.

They set out to be the greatest team ever. I'd say they were a tremendous failure in that regard

Turtleneck wrote:I don't see them as failures. But I don't see them as meeting expectations.

It's just athlete bravado. Zeke, Laimbeer, etc. had that too. If they played during the era when ESPN would give you a big camera to say stupid things, I'm sure we'd have lots more memories of the Bad Boys making dumb proclamations.

Giant Moose wrote:
It's just athlete bravado. Zeke, Laimbeer, etc. had that too. If they played during the era when ESPN would give you a big camera to say stupid things, I'm sure we'd have lots more memories of the Bad Boys making dumb proclamations.

But we don't. We have the heat making assholes out of themselves.

As Ass Dan said above, they set out to be the best ever and they did not even come close. Pat Riley put this Heat team together for the same reason. Bravado or not, the expectations were more than going .500 in the NBA Finals.

Ass Dan wrote:

But we don't. We have the heat making assholes out of themselves.

I can see how people were upset with the way they handled that, but when was the last time a team went to 4 straight NBA Finals? Pretty sure it was the 1982-85 Lakers. What the Heat did was very impressive, and I don't even like LeBron.

It was impressive. No doubt. But the starting point is expectations. While impressive, the team was put together to do that very thing. Who was surprised they went to four straight NBA Finals? Not too many people. With that said, the expectation was winning at the Finals and not just being there. If this is the end, their run is bookended by two embarrassing performances in the Finals. To me they fell short of what was expected. They were supposed to become the far-and-away most dominate team in the league. That was never achieved.

Turtleneck wrote:Poor comparison.  Completely different teams put together in different ways.   

Truth.  One put together the old fashioned way by the ownership, the other via the players themselves.  In a way, it's kind of cool to see that power shift, but you will only see that happen in an attractive/large market (and that sucks for most of the league).

... which has me thinking this will probably happen again (LA or NY??)

Ass Dan wrote:

They set out to be the greatest team ever. I'd say they were a tremendous failure in that regard

If they are failures to you in that regard, that would mean that you also thought they were going to be the greatest team ever. If you thought that, you're an idiot. If you didn't think that, there is no failure. Since you keep mentioning them as failures, you're an idiot.

2 championships and 4 straight appearances to the finals is nothing to sneeze at.

I predict the Heat will stay intact and will gain a few more role players in the off season which will put them right back in the NBA finals IMO.

steveschneider wrote:2 championships and 4 straight appearances to the finals is nothing to sneeze at.

I predict the Heat will stay intact and will gain a few more role players in the off season which will put them right back in the NBA finals IMO.

Wade would have to take a pay cut. I'm not sure what his financials are like, but it is going to be hard to turn down $20 million a year. James could do it because he makes more in endorsements, and as a long term strategy might choose that route. The whole team could be gutted, I think I read somewhere that they have 14 FA's right now.

InTenSity wrote:
Wade would have to take a pay cut. I'm not sure what his financials are like, but it is going to be hard to turn down $20 million a year. James could do it because he makes more in endorsements, and as a long term strategy might choose that route. The whole team could be gutted, I think I read somewhere that they have 14 FA's right now.

That's pretty interesting.

I think Wade will want to retire in Miami, that's just my guess. I could be wrong. I read an article about Lebron and his future on Yahoo sports. It just seems like with his salary and the teams that are big market and competitive that Miami is still his best option.

steveschneider wrote:2 championships and 4 straight appearances to the finals is nothing to sneeze at.

Granted the East is and has been awful in that stretch.

Larry Kazamias wrote:
Granted the East is and has been awful in that stretch.

That's why I think with a few tweaks the Heat can get right back to the finals. I just can't see Indiana or the Bulls getting better than the Heat as long as they add a few good role players.

The Heat need a PG and someone to play in the paint. Randolph would be a great addition, but I doubt he's leaving...Memphis? They need someone who will take attention away from James. How the hell did Wade never develop a 3pt shot, once he was injured he was useless. Maybe not quite that bad, but no one guarded him out at the line and they sagged off him. Bosh isn't going to play under the rim. Chalmers needs to go. The whole team played soft in the finals, and I'm not sure why.

Robert J Sakimano wrote:only in the instant-gratification world of America, Twitter and talk radio can getting to 4 consecutive NBA finals and winning 2 world championships be considered a "failure"...

The Heat failed based on the expectations they set for themselves. The pep rally and "not 5, not 6, not 7" was stuff they said and did, it wasn't media driven.

Should they be ashamed of themselves? No, but if the discussion is whether or not they accomplished what they set out to accomplish, then the answer is no.