26-year old power forward Chris Bosh was supposed to provide the muscle for the Heat this season, but it just hasn’t worked out that way yet.  He is getting pushed around in the paint by thicker and bigger players.  In his last five games (the Heat are 1-4 in the last five contests), Bosh is averaging 39.8 minutes, 14.4 points, 9.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 steals on a pathetic 34.8% shooting from the floor.  He has now played in 58 games (all starts) for the Heat so far this year and he is averaging 36.1 minutes, 18.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.  Bosh just doesn’t look like near the same player he was in Toronto and that’s because the Heat don’t have enough good outside shooters to spread the floor.  He is not a good fit with LeBron James & D-Wade.

The Miami Heat have promoted 35-year old Erick Dampier to the starting job at center.  In his last six games, Dampier is averaging 24.2 minutes, 5.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game.  He is also shooting 13 of 15 (86.7%) from the floor in his last six games, mostly on putbacks and dunks as the Heat don’t draw plays up offensively for their centers.  Dampier has now played in 33 games (4 starts) so far this year for the Heat and he is averaging 15.4 minutes, 2.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  Dampier is a better rebounder and defensive player than Zydrunas Ilgauskas is and that’s why he’s playing over him right now.

30-year old SG/SF  Mike Miller is finally showing signs of life for the Miami Heat.  In his last three games, Miller is averaging 32.0 minutes, 14.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.  He has now played in 13 games (2 starts) so far this year for the Heat and he is averaging 16.7 minutes, 4.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.  His stroke has been off so far this year as he is only hitting 34.9% of his shots from the floor and 25.8% from the three point line so far this year.   For the Heat to click on all cylinders, they need Miller to start playing like the player he used to be.

Carlos Arroyo will be coming off the bench for the time being with Mario Chalmers starting at the point.  Arroyo has played in 43 games (42 starts) so far this year for the Heat and he is averaging 22.2 minutes, 6.3 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.  Arroyo is shooting 45.9% from three point range so far this year, so while his playing time will be cut, he’ll still likely get his share of minutes.  Mario Chalmers has a higher upside than Arroyo does.  He has played in 38 games (2 starts) so far this year for the Heat and he is averaging 21.1 minutes, 6.3 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  He is only shooting 39.1% from the floor and 37.8% from three point range so far this year, and that will have to improve if he wants to keep his starting gig.  In his last five games, Chalmers is averaging 32.4 minutes, 11.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game.  If Chalmers keeps playing like he is right now, he might be able to hold off Carlos Arroyo the rest of  the year.

Starting power forward Chris Bosh is going to miss some significant playing time due to a high ankle sprain.  Bosh has played in 42 games (all starts) for the Heat so far this year and he is averaging 35.5 minutes, 18.6 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.  The Heat are going to miss Bosh’s offfense but they might even be better on defense.  That is because Joel Anthony will continue to start at get big minutes while Bosh is out of action.  In his last three games, Anthony is averaging 38.7 minutes, 1.3 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 3.3 blocked shots per game.  He has only shot 5 times in those three games.  Anthony has now played in 41 games (10 starts) for the Heat so far this year and he is averaging 19.7 minutes, 1.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game.  Juwan Howard will also likely see increased P.T. while Bosh is out of action.  Howard has played in 35 games (0 starts) for the Heat so far this year and he is averaging 11.5 minutes, 2.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  The Heat need Bosh to get back soon because the offense is going to likely really suffer without him.

28-year old center Joel Anthony’s role on the Miami Heat is to play defense and rebound.  He has played in 4 games in January so far and he is averaging 24.0 minutes, 1.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 1.3 blocked shots per game.  Anthony knows his role as he is only 1 of 2 shooting from the floor this month.  Besides putbacks & dunks, Anthony doesn’t get any shots for the Heat.  Anthony has now played in 35 games (9 starts) for the Heat so far this year and he is averaging 17.9 minutes, 1.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game.

LeBron James looks nothing like the player the Heat thought they were getting when they lured him away from Cleveland. James has played in 8 games (all starts) for the Heat so far this year and he is averaging 36.6 minutes, 20.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 8.6 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.0 blocked shot per game. James has not been shooting the ball well either this year as he is only hitting 44.2% of his shots from the floor and a truly awful 33.3% from the three point line. The Heat are screwing up by playing him at point guard as he played his best basketball with the Cavs when he didn’t have to bring the ball up the court.

26-year old power forward Chris Bosh needs to start getting tough under the basket. He has started all four games for the Heat so far this year and he is averaging 33.0 minutes, 13.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. The Heat need Bosh to provide the same kind of muscle that he did in Toronto because they are a tad light under the basket both offensively and defensively.

SG/SF Daequan Cook has really stunk this season for the Heat. He has played in 43 games (3 starts) for the Heat this season and he is averaging 15.9 minutes, 5.2 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. Cook is only shooting 32.1% from the floor this season while is downright terrible. He played a couple good games this season for the Heat while D-Wade was out of action, but he has stunk for the most part. I see Cook having a hard time sticking with the Heat much longer if he continues to shoot so many bricks.

Carlos Arroyo is now the starting point guard with Alston out of commission for a while so they need him to step up. The early returns are good as Arroyo is averaging 38.7 minutes, 11.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.3 steals in his last three games. Arroyo has played in 53 games (16 starts) this season for the Heat and he is averaging 18.4 minutes, 5.2 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. This is a good move for the Heat as Arroyo is better than Alston anyway.