Originally posted by 49ersMyLife:
Haslem and Miller aren't healthy by any stretch. Haslem has played last 3 games, and isn't close to being 100% and Mike Miller is playin' injured and has had 1 good game.
Joel Anthony is not one of the 5 best defensive centers. He is a great shot-blocker but below average on the boards. Give me Marc Gasol, Bynum, Perkins, Noah, Howard, Okafor, Bogut, and many more over Anthony just on the defensive end.
Chalmers is a good defensive PG, but nothing extra-ordinary. And, when you're such a big fat zero on the other end, you can't play more than 24 minutes consistently.
On offense, Miami has been playin' 3 on 5 ball for pretty much the whole playoffs, and even with limited minutes from Haslem and Miller - they have to play LONG stretches of 3 vs 5 on one end of the floor.
Miami has been one of the top offensive scoring teams in the league, in regular season. But, when you're going up against two of the best defenses in the league in playoffs, you are going to struggle to score 95-100 pts consistently.
First of all..thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for your ability to always discuss these things intelligently. You and a couple of others keep me sane.
Regarding Haslem, while he's only been back for 3 games, has there been a better defense/rebounding/hustle big on the floor in those 3 games? Miami got destroyed on the boards in Game 1, and it's no coincidence that changed when Haslem returned. He may have just come back, but he's doing what he does (defense/rebounding/hustle) at an extremely high level.
As for Miller, just yesterday Spoelstra said, "Mike has really struggled through a frustrating year for him, and we're all happy for him that now he's able to play without really being inhibited by injuries."
If we're talking about the entirety of the year...ya, Miami hasn't had much depth. But the Haslem and Miller that they have right now (when championships are won) are very good players.
I probably overshot Anthony's defensive value due to his rebounding. My point was that he's about the 6th best player on this team, and he's amongst the elite rim protectors in the league. Neither Gasol nor Perkins are close to his level in this respect. The rebounding point is a fair one, but again, we're talking about the 6th best player on this team.
It's difficult to quantify perimeter defense in a discussion like this, but I think you undersell Chalmers as a defender. He's been renowned for his defense since his days at Kansas, and he's been the primary defender on Rose in this series. Chalmers has come up in conversation with a couple of the people that are affiliated with the NBA, and he's apparently highly thought of around the league on this end, with the caveat that he's a gigantic dumbass on the offensive end. Despite being on the same team with LeBron & Wade, he's the best ball hawk on the team in terms of steals per minute, and he's been amongst the best in the league in this respect since he was a rookie. And offensively, his only job is to knock down open threes, and he's done that at a respectable 35.4% clip. He's not a great player, but he's a contributor and solid guy to have as your 6th or 7th best player.
I don't think the regular season is terribly relevant to the discussion of his supporting cast during the playoffs. It's a different team.