By: Jordan Ramirez (@JRAM_91)

Love them or hate them, root for them or despise them, Team LeBron or Team Anyone But, you can’t deny them: the Miami Heat are the unquestioned favorites heading into the 2011-2012 NBA season.

In what has been one of the most eventful and controversial off-seasons in NBA history, the Miami Heat have made quiet (yet effective) moves that unquestionably better their team and put them in prime position to hoist the Larry O’ Brien trophy next summer.

Shane Battier
Lost in the midst of the Chris Paul debacle and Dwight Howard trade requests has been the most significant off-season move in the NBA: Shane Battier to South Beach. Entering his 12th season in the NBA Battier brings a veteran presence coming off the bench, the ability to defend the wing and a solid three point game. The Heat were rolling out James Jones and Mike Miller in replacement of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James last season. Now with Battier the Heat have a legitimate threat on both sides of the ball to complement said superstars. No, Battier can’t be the sole backup for both Wade and James, Miller and James Jones will still get minutes, but the Heat were anemic at times with either Wade or James out of the game. Battier immediately becomes the best bench player on the team and brings proven backcourt skills, especially defensively, an area that was severely lacking last season.

Norris Cole

In addition to signing Battier the Heat also drafted point guard Norris Cole out of Cleveland State. With heralded NBA veterans like Darren Tillis and Clinton Smith as alumni, Cleveland State is an obvious basketball mecca. OK, not really, but Norris Cole has future starter written all over him. Cole impressed in Miami’s first scrimmage held this week:

“He can play the game of basketball,” Wade said afterwards. “You can’t teach what he has. He’s very aggressive. He’s smart, he picks up things very easy. You can tell Norris has played point guard all his life.”

Cole averaged 21.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 2.2 steals per game in college and his widely considered a purer point guard than Mario Chalmers: Cole is faster, a better passer and much more assertive on the floor. Chalmers will likely be the starter on Christmas Day, but if Cole keeps playing like he has Chalmers won’t be sharing the court with The Heatles very much longer. While Chalmers was serviceable last season, point guard is not his natural position. Chalmers often played shooting guard in college while only played point guard in spurts. As a member of the Heat, Chalmers was forced to play point guard. No longer are the days of Carlos Arroyo, Jason Williams or Mike Bibby. It’s clear that Chalmers is the placeholder for Cole, and it’s only a matter of time before Cole is supplanted into the starting role.

Cohesion

It was evident in the Heat’s 9-8 start last season that cohesion would be an issue. Apparently shoving LeBron James and Chris Bosh in your lineup doesn’t pay immediate dividends. This is especially true in Bosh’s case as it seemed he was out of the loop for most of the season until he proclaimed his lack of involvement in the offense publicly. When Bosh was getting the ball down in the low post at a frequent rate, Miami’s offense ran a lot smoother and much more efficiently. With Battier as the kick-out three point man this season the results are endless.

As the season went on the cohesion improved: the Heat were 2nd in the NBA in opponent FG% (.434), 6th in opponents PPG (94.6) and 1st in point differential (+7.5). As the Heatles enter their 2nd season there is undoubtedly better chemistry, both on and off the court, than a year ago. The Heat improve by the simple fact that they now have one year under their belt. In a game that is so dependent on chemistry, for the Heat to now have one season behind them, with all the hoopla of “The Decision” and the opening celebration behind them, is absolutely imperative.

There wasn’t a loss last year that wasn’t quickly followed with a “When will Pat Riley come down to coach!?” discussion. Erik Spoelstra was the definition of “lame-duck coach” last year. Spoelstra said all the right things, always stayed positive and was always given assurance by Riley that his job was safe. Spoelstra was entering his final year of his contract, that is, before he signed an extension this week that supplanted Riley’s belief that this was the coach to take them to the promise land.

“Me and Erik, our relationship will continue to grow,” LeBron said earlier this week. “It’s much better today than it was the first day of practice last year. We didn’t know each other at all. We were still learning each other. We’d seen each other from a distance. I’d seen him coach from the sideline … he’d seen me play while he was coaching from the sideline. Our relationship is really good right now. I’m happy with where we are right now.”
The Heat have the two most talented players in the league. They’re returning in a better mindset after the most scrutinized single season any team has had in history. The additions of Shane Battier and Norris Cole provide the Heat with pieces that weren’t on the roster last season. Erik Spoelstra’s job security is no longer an issue. On the cusp of victory, they tasted agonizing defeat.

“Revenge is a king of wild justice.”
— Sir Francis Bacon

Expect justice to be served this coming season.