With March Madness going on, it always seems like there is something crazy going on all the time in the world of basketball. It seems like the madness has even shifted into the professional league as well.
Not too long ago, the Miami Heat looked like they were just waiting for this season to end. They were at an 11-30 record with the team looking more anemic than ever – but then all of a sudden, something just clicked.
To say something simply "clicked" is actually quite an understatement. The Heat are now at a record of 34-36. That means this team has gone 23-6 since the last 5-game road trip they had. The team is now flowing completely through Dragic and Waiters, with an average of about 30.5 field goal attempts between the two per game. Moreover, the players have become much better collectively, accepting each other’s roles and creating great performances.
The most noticeable improvement for the Miami Heat has been the play of Dion Waiters, who has been playing at an incredibly high level as of late. He has been making highlight play after highlight play and is starting to look like an elite all-round player. It has been quite an embraced improvement, and it seems like Dion Waiters is very much filling up the void that Dwayne Wade’s departure had created.
The improved efficiency of the Miami Heat has also demonstrated some of the great coaching there is with Erik Spoelstra. It is arguable that Pat Riley may be the best GM in the NBA, and it has been clearer year by year exactly what he saw in Erik Spoelstra. However, this season, the whole NBA is simply a witness to his fantastic coaching. Hassan Whiteside has described practices with the Heat as being similar to “playing in the Finals” in terms of intensity. While practicing hard is something every team does, Spoelstra was able to use this to bring the team closer together and further improve the collective performance of the team, delivering an incredible amount of wins on this run thus far.
Furthermore, in terms of free agency for the future, many players will see this success and immediately be somewhat attracted to Miami as a destination to make something big happen at. Of course, this can only add on to all the other attractive features of Miami.
The Heat are currently 9th in the Eastern Conference and they are even closing in on getting above a 0.500 record for this regular season. They are fighting for a playoff spot with the Detroit Pistons currently. The Heat have a good chance of making the playoffs now, and based on the recent play, don’t be surprised if the Heat get hot for the postseason.
