29-year old center Joel Anthony just stays out of the way offensively as almost all of his points come off putbacks and dunks.  That being said, he needs to do more as opposing teams usually have a huge edge at center when playing the Heat.  Tyson Chandler made them pay for that in the NBA Finals last year and other teams are starting to take notice.  Anthony has played in 20 games (all starts) so far this year for the Heat and he is averaging 22.2 minutes, 3.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 0.2 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game.  When the games get bigger later in the year, they are going to need more production both offensively and defensively out of Anthony.

33-year old SG/SF Shane Battier was supposed to be the big free agent signing for the Heat after the lockout was lifted, but he has been a huge bust so far this year!  Battier has played in 18 games (4 starts) for the Heat so far this year and he is averaging 23.5 minutes, 4.1 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.  He is only shooting 27 of 81 (33.3%) from the floor and 15 of 49 (30.6%) from three point range so far this year, and that is pathetic for a player with the reputation that he has.

The Miami Heat didn’t get much production out of the center position.  They would be happy with a guy who just plays defense and rebounds, as they have more than enough scorers on the roster right now.  29-year old Joel Anthony didn’t do much last year.  He played in 75 games (11 starts) for the Heat last year and he averaged 19.5 minutes, 2.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game.  He has now played in 244 games (56 starts) in his first four years with the Heat and he is averaging 17.8 minutes, 2.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 1.3 blocked shots per game.  23-year old Dexter Pittman might get a real chance to earn some minutes for the Heat this year.  He played in only 2 games (0 starts) for the Heat last year and he averaged 5.5 minutes, 1.0 points and 1.5 rebounds per game.  If Pittman can get into good shape, he does have a solid upside.

40-year old Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra was abused by Mavericks’ head coach Rick Carlisle in the NBA Finals.  Why did Spoelstra play Joel Anthony against a Mavericks team with two 7 footers?  Why play Mike Bibby over Mario Chalmers?  He didn’t adjust his gameplan for the NBA Finals as the Mavericks didn’t have the same makeup as the teams the Heat beat in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.  Spoelstra led the Heat to a 58-24 (70.7%) record during the regular season and they were 14-7 (66.7%) in the playoffs.  He now has a 148-98 (60.2%) record in his three years as the Heat’s head coach during the regular season and he is 18-15 (54.5%) during the playoffs.  Spoelstra will be on the hot seat from Day #1 in 2011-12, just like Stan Van Gundy was when he had “personal problems” before Pat Riley took over as the Heat’s head coach.

28-year old center Joel Anthony was awful in the NBA Finals.  He played in 6 games (all starts) for the Heat in the NBA Finals and he averaged 20.5 minutes, 1.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game.  He only shot 4 of 14 from the floor (28.6%) and he didn’t get to the free throw line even once!  He played in 21 games (13 starts) for the Heat in the playoffs and he averaged 27.4 minutes, 2.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.8 blocked shots per game.  Starting Anthony turned into a fatal flaw for the Heat as they needed size to deal with Dirk Nowitzki and Tyson Chandler inside.

The Heat needed 27-year old power forward Chris Bosh to be the tough guy he was in Toronto, but it just never happened.  He played in 6 games (all starts) for the Heat in the NBA Finals and he averaged 39.3 minutes, 18.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.  Bosh played in 21 games (all starts) in the playoffs and he averaged 39.7 minutes, 18.6 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.  I would not be shocked to see Bosh get traded before next season starts as he was pretty soft this year for the Heat.

26-year old small forward LeBron James played really well in the Eastern Conference Playoffs, but in the NBA Finals, he just didn’t seem to be his old self.  James played in 6 games (all starts) for the Heat in the NBA Finals and he averaged 43.7 minutes, 17.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.7 steals per game.  James played in 21 games (all starts) in the playoffs for the Heat and he averaged 43.9 minutes, 23.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.2 blocked shots per game.  The way that LeBron James pretty much ran to the locker room when the last second went off the clock last night showed an utter lack of class, which he has brought with him to Miami from Cleveland.  He needs to grow up and take responsibility when he fails instead of pointing fingers at others, or he’s never going to win a ring.

26-year old small forward “King James” is supposedly the best player on the planet Earth right now, but he’s not.  If he was, he would have more than 9 combined points in the 4th quarter in the first four games of the NBA Finals.  He had zero last night.  Last night’s game, when he scored only 8 points, was the first game since January 5th, 2007 in which he failed to score in double figures.  To me, he looks intimidated and very scared to take any shots in the 4th quarter.  He has played in 4 games in the NBA Finals so far this year and he is averaging 44.0 minutes, 17.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game.  Overall though, his playoff numbers still look impressive.  James has played in 19 games overall this year in the playoffs and he is averaging 44.0 minutes, 24.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, 5.6 asssits, 1.8 steals and 1.2 blocked shots per game.  If LeBron truly wants to be known as a King (and not a Prince), he needs to step up in the last two or three games this year.

The Miami Heat have lost 24-year old starting point guard Mario Chalmers for the next couple of weeks due to a sprained knee.  Chalmers has played in 64 games (28 starts) for the Heat so far this year and he is averaging 22.8 minutes, 6.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  32-year old Mike Bibby will move into the starting lineup at point guard for the Heat until Chalmers is ready to return to action.  Bibby has played in 10 games (0 starts) for the Heat so far this year and he is averaging 22.3 minutes, 6.2 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.  He is 16 of 35 (45.7%) from three point range with the Heat, so he could be lethal offensively as he will likely get a lot of open jumpers.

So far, 32-year old point guard Mike Bibby has been no better than Carlos Arroyo was with the Heat.  Bibby has played in 8 games (0 starts) for the Heat so far this year and he is averaging 20.5 minutes, 5.8 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.  The Heat hope that Bibby starts playing better offensively because he has never been much of a defensive player.  He is going to get a lot of open jumpers due to the makeup of the Heat’s roster and they need him to make opposing teams pay for it.