TerryTate said:Be careful on your wording...the Lakers were NOT a better TEAM last year.
The Heat were the definition of a team this year, the Pistons were the "Team" last year and in the 2nd half of this season played that way. You can throw the stats for the Flash and Diesel at me all you want, but what I do know is that whenever they would have off-nights, Damon Jones, Eddie Jones, Haslem, heck...even Doleac (first 2/3 of the season) and Laettner could step up and score. Look at how Dooling has played. The Heat have a better supporting cast than you could even imagine in the beginning of the year...they are so team oriented that they play everyone on their bench on some nights. Not bad when your players getting the least minutes are Doleac and Rasual Butler these days. (Wang Zhi-Zhi is inactive right now, so he doesnt apply to my stuff here so dont bring him up )
The Lakers were stockpiled with a bunch of stars, two of which were WAAAY past their prime. The egos of all these guys prevented the Lakers from what they should've done...dominated the Pistons. If you had an unselfish Shaq, Kobe, Karl Malone, and Gary Payton, it would be a lock. No way was that the true definition of a TEAM.
Much like you were writing about the Nets the East has been horrible this year, there are only 2 good teams in the East so let's not say you are better than LA was last year. LA was on a roll beating some very good teams along the wa to the Finals, just b/c they lost to Detroit doesn't mean Miami in a very weak East is better this year than last year's LA.