By CHRIS PERKINS
FOXSportsFlorida.com Heat Writer
Feb. 16, 2011
Tonight it's Chris Bosh's turn to face his former home crowd as the Heat plays at Toronto in the final game before the All-Star break. But the spotlight will shine brighter on the Heat's bench. It still might need a tweak before the Feb. 24 trade deadline.
Bosh will be OK. The Heat's All-Star forward will take a little bit of ugliness from Raptors fans, but for the most part he left in a decent, non-acrimonious manner.
The Heat's bench might not be OK. The Big Three of Bosh, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James is carrying too much of the load.
As coach Erik Spoelstra says, there's lots of versatility on the bench. Swingman Mike Miller brings shooting, ball-handling and perimeter rebounding, guard Eddie House brings offense and hustle, forward James Jones brings offense and willing defense, center Joel Anthony brings shot-blocking and center Erick Dampier brings size and a physical presence.
But there's no rebounding. There's no backup power forward. There's no perimeter defense. And there's no one to harass Eastern Conference point guards such as Chicago's Derrick Rose, Boston's Rajon Rondo and Orlando's Jameer Nelson.
These are all problems when viewed in relation to Miami's title expectations.
The bench's strength is in its versatility. This bench can do lots of things, it just can't do them consistently. Veteran Juwan Howard can fill the backup power forward role at times, but not on a regular basis. The same goes for Anthony and Dampier at backup center. Those are major frontcourt issues.
When the Heat goes to its backcourt reserves, either House or Wade has to defend opposing point guards. Neither is an ideal match defensively, but they're good enough to do the job with the help of team defense.
My vote? If any type of move is made, and that remains a big "if," give priority to the frontcourt issues.
If the Heat doesn't make a move by the trade deadline the pressure increases on the bench to do what it does better, and that means scoring more efficiently and defending with more fervor. The bench can't overcome its shortcomings, but it can be better at what it does well.
