Halftime Hype

With all the hype surrounding South Beach, one would have thought the Miami Heat have already won a championship or two. However, truth be told, the regular season has yet to begin. Las Vegas was prompt to pick the Heat as title favorites almost immediately after "The Decision." Nevertheless, it's easy to forget that the Eastern Conference is home to several elite teams, notably the Boston Celtics, who present some daunting obstacles for LeBron James & Co.

Contrary to how it may seem, the Heat are not a complete package. Perhaps former ESPN analyst and current Fox Sports radio personality Stephen A. Smith put it best. During the Q&A session of a speaking engagement last week at Beverly Hills High School, he said:

"LeBron, D-Wade, Chris Bosh - sensational athleticism. Eddie House, Mike Miller - [who are good] shooters. Mario Chalmers, a decent point guard. They don't have a big man. They have Udonis Haslm, whose undersized. Juwan Howard, whose old and undersized. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, whose slow, big, scrubby."

"You need a couple of big men. They don't have that."

Smith would then provide a defense for the Celtics and an interesting point about their post match-up against the Lakers.

"What you have with Boston: You have Ray Allen. You have Paul Pierce. You have Rajon Rondo. Then look what they went out and did. They got Shaquille O'Neal [and] Jermaine O'Neal. They got Kendrick Perkins coming back midseason - he'll be healthy by then. You have Glen 'Big Baby' Davis, whose shorter but a big, wide body.

You've got KG, who'll be better this year because after you have micofracture surgery, they say that you actually get better as you age...So whatever we saw from KG last year, he'll be better healed this year.What you have are [several] 7-footers and a small, miniature, wide body to throw at Pau Gasol and a one-legged Andrew Bynum."

Essentially, the Boston Celtics did not mess with a recipe for success that got them to within four points of a Game 7 victory on the road. Rather, they kept their nucleus in tact and added a couple key big men. Plus, as Smith mentioned, his sources have disclosed that Rasheed Wallace may be salvaged, too. In that case, the Heat has a long way to go - at least a couple months of regular season action - before it can back up the mass of hype.