Can the Miami Heat accomplish a three-peat?

The Miami Heat celebrate after defeating the San Antonio Spurs 95-88 to win Game Seven of the 2013 NBA Finals at AmericanAirlines Arena on June 20, 2013 in Miami, Florida.

The Miami Heat will start their 2013 campaign against the Chicago Bulls at home in pursuit of history making three-peat. With back to back titles in the bag, LeBron James and the Heat would be looking to get even better. Having added crucial players to key positions in their roster, Miami fans would no doubt expect the Finals to once again be held at South Beach.

However, other teams in the East have either taken steps to improve their roster or made changes in the front office. Keeping in mind all events of such nature, does the Miami Heat have what it takes for another championship?

Strengths

Team chemistry and locker room atmosphere are key checks as to how confident and comfortable the teammates are with each other. There has to be a band of brothers’ philosophy and mentality preached by the coaching staff. The comfort level of the players in each other’s company is shown in their performance. Now, how much would you give the Heat out of 10 on team chemistry? Well, judging by their pre-season, I would give them a 9 considering the time taken by the new players to blend in. I give them that high a number on 10 because any team who can go unbeaten for 27 games, the second longest winning streak in the history of the league, definitely has the chemistry and the required trust in each other.

Their play in the open court is punishing and ruthless. The majority of players who are part of the Heat’s main rotation are extremely agile, quick and athletic. These abilities contribute to their defence being one averaging among the top teams in the league when it comes to capitalizing on opponents turnovers. They don’t just capitalize; they get the crowd involved in the game, many a time finishing with alley-oop dunks on fast breaks to get them roaring.

Even in their championship years, the Heat has always been considered a team weak in the paint due to their lack of size and the height of players at the centre. They acquired Chris Anderson in the mid-season when he was waived by former team Nuggets and in this post season they have added 2007 NBA draft #1 overall pick Greg Oden. Both these players are capable of playing the role of centre as well as make a mark in the power forward position.

The depth and fire power on their bench is amongst the top ranked in the league. Firstly, there’s Ray Allen, a great three point shooter and the man who saved the Heat in game 6 and forced a game 7 with a clutch 3-pointer in the NBA Finals. Then there’s Shane Battier, a great 3-point shooter in his own regard and a great on-ball perimeter defender. There’s also Norris Cole, a young and refreshing point guard capable of shooting the ball from distance too.

They have a great coach in Erik Spoelstra who has led them for five years now as the head coach, winning the championship in two of the years he has been in charge. He is a very unorthodox coach but does what he can to get the win and trusts his instincts which have reaped rewards for the team in the past couple of seasons.