Monthly review: Miami Heat's top plays of November 2010

Funny thing this Heat season. When it first began, the idea for a monthly “Top Heat Plays” feature was painfully obvious.

After the first five games of the season, four of which were highlight-filled blow outs that caused more collective jaw-dropping than a Victoria Secret show and more hyperbolic proclamations than a political rally, the thinking here was that narrowing down all the top plays in a month to a list of 10 or even 15 would be quite a challenging task.

Luckily for this list (not so much for Heat fans), the flood of high-flying plays slowed to something of a trickle at certain points last month. There were games like the home loss against the Indiana Pacers that did not feature a single highlight-worthy play. There’s something I didn't think I'd write going into the season.

Although things have picked up recently, as the Heat rides its longest winning streak of the season, it can be said that November was a bit of a letdown in the highlight department, which comes as little surprise considering its record at the end of month (10-8).

The idea for this feature came about when I tried to find a particularly memorable play online (Number 2 on the list, actually), only to realize that it had not made any of the minute-long game recaps that various media outlets produce.

This isn’t generally an issue most of the time, but with the potential that this team has to create something memorable every game, it would be a shame to miss anything. So consider this feature your monthly catch-up session. Plus, who doesn’t enjoy lists?

Now granted, some of you more observant readers might glance at the title, then look up at a calendar (assuming anyone still actually uses wall calendars), then back at the title of this feature and say something profound like: “Wait a second, 'Top plays of November,' aren’t we nearly halfway through December?”

Yes, sharp reader, yes we are. And to that I say, just like the Heat needed an adjustment period, so did I. Needless to say, this should be a monthly feature so check back at the end of the December for the next one.

Without further ado, let’s get to the list!

Important note: This piece is filled with links, so make sure you click on the title of each play to see it.

10. Wade’s dunk on the rookie
It’s a lesson that many athletic rookies, in this case the 6-foot-9 Wesley Johnson, apparently need to learn first-hand: your chances of appearing on the wrong side of a poster increase by about 253% when Wade is on the fast break and you have the bright idea to challenge him at the rim.

9. James’ no-look assist to Wade
Fiorentino’s call: “Looks like they’ve been playing together for years.” A bit much, considering that the Heat was 8-4 at the time and hardly a cohesive unit, but nevertheless the two stars certainly seemed to be on the same sentence, let alone page, on this play.

8. Wade’s two-hand block Brook Lopez
Yet again, Wade gets the best of the 7-foot center’s dunk attempt. Like Wade, you probably remember the last time the two met at the rim: two years ago, in Lopez’s rookie season, when Wade blocked Lopez at point-blank range on two consecutive overtime possessions. How many other 6-foot-4 shooting guards consistently protect the rim the way Wade does?

7. Wade blocks Dwight Howard
Jon Barry’s “Jordan on Ewing” call might be a bit much, although it’s easy to see the similarities. Interestingly, despite giving up four or five inches, so far Wade is averaging more blocks and rebounds than James.

6. Wade’s crossover and reverse vs. Suns 
Classic Wade highlight: filthy crossover on Josh “No one had moves like this in Greece” Childress, followed by a graceful reverse dunk. It’s funny how having LeBron as a teammate has inspired Wade to throw in a few more flashy dunks this year. Through one month, you get the feeling that he’s thrown down as many reverse dunks as he did all of last year.

5. James’ alley-oop pass to Wade vs. Magic 
Three games into the season, first home game, this was the play that everyone was waiting for. Perfect transition- Bosh to James to Wade in just under four seconds. The atmosphere at that game was unlike any other Heat game this season, which in fairness, is quite a shame. It’s hard not to wonder how much better this team could be if it was playing in a city that had fans who showed up on time, maintained this level of energy, all-game, every game, and stay until the final buzzer.

4. James chasedown.
After James made his infamous proclamation, telling the world where his talents were headed, one thing I remember hearing a lot from fans was, “This team won’t give up a single fast break point to anyone,” because Wade and James have been the two best players in the league at chase-down blocks.

Surprisingly, so far, more often than not James and Wade have been trailing players and instead of going up for one of these blocks, they let the player dunk. That might be one of the most frustrating things about this team. When these two are on the court, other players should be looking over both shoulders before attempting a layup or dunk on the fast break.

3. James’ reverse windmill 
It wasn’t that LeBron has never done a dunk like this before- he has. But it was the first time he pulled off a fast break dunk that made the Miami crowd collectively gasp and say, “Wait a second, did he just do that?” Well, in a Heat jersey anyway.

2. Almost Wade on Varejao 2.0
For some reason, this was one of those aforementioned plays that went completely under the radar, despite it being one of the best Wade dunks in a while. Even the play call is incredibly understated, an almost monotone: “...and Dwyane Wade finishes emphatically on the other end.” 

What? Look how far he takes off from the basket and basically jumps over Utah’s center and power forward. This dunk wasn’t even in the highlights. I don’t get it.

1. “The alley-oop.” 
Clearly, the best play of the month and quite possibly, the year. It’s still early days yet, but this one was special. The quick outlet pass really sets it up and from there on, it’s all instinct. If anything the one thing plays like this show me is how badly this team needs a good rebounder. The Heat would be far more dangerous if Wade and James did not have to worry out helping out on the defensive glass and were instead able to leak out on the fast break after almost every missed shot, not just on turnovers. We’d certainly see a lot more plays like this one. 

Also, scroll down to watch all 10. 

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Contact Thomas at: thomasheatbeat@gmail.com.
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