Were the Heat the best in the east all season? No way. The best in the playoffs? Yes.
NBA basketball IS the playoffs.
It\'s not physically possible to play balls to the wall for 82 regular-season games, nor is it necessary in a league where more than half of teams make the playoffs. Building a team for the playoffs is a legitimate strategy in the NBA, and that is the type of team that Miami is: a team that, on paper, will have the two best players on the court (or at least two of the best three) at all times. And, in the NBA, the best player wins more often than not.
As far as Rondo goes, I\'m still not completely sold on a point guard that the defense can pick up at the foul line. A lot of times, it feels like watching a guy who is two assists shy of a triple-double in a pickup game. He makes unnecessary passes just for the assists, which is as selfish in my eyes as taking bad shots to run up your point total. Yes, he makes good players better and great players greater, but he is yet to make role players into good players... which is ultimately his future if he stays in Boston with the current crop of aging stars.
If Rajon Rondo learned anything from watching the Mavs this postseason, it should be that if Jason Kidd can magically develop a three-pointer at age 38, then he can do it at age 25.
This is far from an original thought on my part (don\'t remember where I read it - sounds like Bill Simmons), but it is a thought that I happen to completely agree with:
