| January Proves Tough Month For Miami Authored by Andrew Friedman - January 31, 2005 - 11:45 pm
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Miami was fortunate for being able to play (and—as you would hope—dominate) the NBA’s worst teams, Charlotte, New Orleans, and Atlanta (twice), to make this past month appear deceptively above mediocrity. The Heat was a mediocre team this past month. During a 5-game, west coast swing, which served as a true test, Miami faced two of the best teams in the league, Phoenix and Seattle, on their home courts, and came up empty in both contests. In two other losses, against the Pacers and the Sixers, Miami got “torched” by point guards Jamaal Tinsley (30 points) and Allen Iverson (45 points), respectively.
The point guard issue is directly related to the struggles of Miami’s Damon Jones. Defensively, he is a liability, and opposing teams are taking advantage this glaring weakness. Offensively, things have gotten worse for Damon. In December, he averaged nearly 13 points off of 46% shooting. In January, he averaged above 9 points per game off of 39% shooting. Hopefully, his offensive struggles are only part of a slump that he can get himself out of. Speaking of slumps and Jones’s, Eddie Jones had a very solid January, averaging 14 points and 5.6 rebounds with 44% shooting as a small forward.
In my last article, I made a big point of how the role players came up big when called upon in December. One of these role players, Christian Laettner has not duplicated their December performances in January. Laettner is dealing with plantar fasciitis in his left foot and his minutes have dropped from around 19 per game in December to in 13 per game in January. Keyon Dooling, Michael Doleac and Rasual Butler, on the other hand, continue to be effective at their positions.
Dwyane Wade has had a rough January. His numbers dipped very slightly, but he has had to play through injuries, which has also caused him to miss two games, one of which the Heat lost to the Clippers in overtime. While Wade endures his injuries, Shaquille O’Neal has picked up the slack, averaging 26 points per game this month off of 62% shooting.
Miami remains at the top of the Eastern Conference, but only by 5.5 games, by two teams (Cleveland and Washington), whom the Heat are a combined 5-0 against this season. The most glaring weakness as of this point is a lack of defense, particularly at the point guard position, though this problem applies to the entire team as well. Don’t be surprised to see the Heat make a move before the trading deadline, particularly if it’s for a point guard or a forward, where Miami needs the most help.
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