Lebron, Wade, and Bosh no match for L.A.

2011 NBA Finals Preview

Will it be the big young three led by the slicked back hair one or will it be the Zen Master and his very talented, tall, and well rounded Lakers?

With the off-season moves by the Miami Heat, 2010-2011 should be a great year for the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. It’s the Heat with two player rings owned by Dwayne Wade and Udonis Haslem as the favorites to win the NBA title while defending Eastern Conference Champion Boston Celtics are returning great team chemistry and just an afterthought and the 2-time defending champion Lakers are being dissed by the Vegas oddsmakers.

The Heat are top heavy in talent but unproven as a team. As a matter of fact I would consider just under a handful of teams to have a better shot than the Heat heading into the 2010-2011 season; obviously the Lakers, followed by the Celtics, Thunder, and Chicago Bulls.

Here is the biggest tip of all for anyone that wants to put a future on the 8-5 favorite Miami Heat. Don’t do it?

Here is why:

Team chemistry there is no comparison the Los Angeles Lakers have won two straight NBA titles and the Heat bring 10 new players to the fold.

At center for the Heat Zydrunas Ilgauskas vs. Andrew Bynum

Ilgauskas is tall and will undoubtedly play outside and he is too slow footed after 14 seasons to get out of the way of a driving Wade or Lebron. Zydrunas’s best days are behind him as he backed up Shaq last season. He has no defense and is merely a tall warm bodied 7’3” fill in the blank of a starting five for the Heat.

Andrew Bynum at 7’0” has long arms that will never be hindered by the Big Z’s size advantage and he is a strong body that does not get pushed around in the paint, ever. You can count on Bynum to pull double digit rebounds, and score in double figures, block shots, and hit a very high percentage of his shots. Anything less than 60% from the field is an off night for Bynum who is developing into an all-star center.

Huge edge Lakers

Power Forward

Chris Bosh vs. Pau Gasol

Bosh was the man in Toronto he averaged a double/double but what happens when he is no longer than man and a third option? This is a big question mark. We know how he does in the playoffs. In Toronto’s only playoff appearance during the Bosh era the Raptors held home court against the very young Orlando Magic in Dwight Howard’s second season and superman had his way with the Raptors and Bosh was nothing but a garbage time stat man.

Pau Gasol, he got pushed around in the 2008 NBA Finals against the Celtics and no more. He looked like Fletch often in the 2010 Finals coming up big in Game 7 in crunch time although he seemed to be aided a bit by the referees. We know Gasol will come up big in the playoffs he has done if for the past two years and since the Lakers acquired the big Spaniard they have been an elite team.

Edge: Lakers

Small Forward Lebron James vs. Ron Artest

Lebron is great he has the complete physical game on the court and has the edge on any player in the league

Ron Artest, he knows his role. He is not the man in LA but he certainly can play like a winner as he proved in the 2010 NBA playoffs when the games were on the line he never shied away from competition something his counterpart Lebron has shown to do. Artest is also a regular on the all-defensive team and league leader in steals on the flip side Lebron had an avanlanche of turnovers in the playoffs so this is still an edge in the favor of Lebron but not by much.

Edge: Heat Lebron is the best small forward and possibly the most talented player in the NBA but Artest physically matches up and defensively is the best there is

Shooting Guard

This is the biggest match-up between the team leaders Dwayne Wade and Kobe Bryant both have won titles with Shaq but only Kobe has won without Shaq. Dwayne Wade is an elite player, in crunch time he can hit the shot, he can drive, play defense there is nothing Kobe can do that Wade cannot do the only thing that separates these two is Kobe is tenacious when he wants something and the last two five NBA titles mean nothing to him heading into the 2010-11 season he is most certainly chewing on the press clippings proclaiming Lebron and the Heat are the team to beat. Kobe is an alpha dog and he will play defense, offense, and cheap shot his opponents all game long in 2010-11 to show who he is and what he wants.

Kobe wants the NBA title and the slight edge if any here is for the Lakers

Point Guard

Neither team is really set at this position as the ball goes through the other players hands first

Defense

Defense is chemistry and there is nothing to prove Miami has any yet

Bench

Lamar Odom is a stud off the bench and Luke Walton could be a sixth man in Miami hardly gets off the bench so here is a big edge the Lakers who have a lot of rings sitting on the pine

Head Coach

Bring back Pat Riley and the baby faced kid is no match for Phil Jackson. As a matter of fact Pat Riley and his four rings for years has been envious of Phil Jackson and it should not change in 2010-11. Jackson has the better team and the “Zenmaster” just keeps proving he can mold a group of players into a team with great chemistry. Meanwhile Riles has his work cut out for him. First thing he needs to do is explain to Lebron his team is not just Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade and his high school buddies. There are 9 other Heat players that need to be recognized by Lebron as contributors and guys Lebron needs to work with to become better players. All of Phil’s guys know this so no disrespect to Pat Riley but again he will be chasing Jackson for another title.

This series will never happen in 2010-2011 but if it does the Heat better have a home court advantage otherwise a short series is more likely with the Lakers having a decided advantage and outside of Dwayne Wade the Heat stars have shown “el foldo” symptoms in the playoffs which will be too much for Wade to carry past five games.

Worst Odds ever Miami Heat in "11......Hacksaw's picks