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The Heat’s other big three not nearly as imposing

MIAMI – The Miami Heat have been here before, stuck in the middle, at the intersection of “What now?” and “Who now?”.

To a degree, what happened in last Friday’s second half against the Denver Nuggets is nothing different than how Erik Spoelstra operated last season with his center rotation.

The issue this season is whether he is as well positioned this time around to play the position by committee, with Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Erick Dampier gone and Dexter Pittman and Eddy Curry in their places.

As with last season, Joel Anthony started the season in the middle, if only because he was the lone center on the roster familiar with the system.

Last season. Anthony was replaced as the starter by Ilgauskas in the season’s 10th game. This season, he was bumped out of the lineup Friday in the second half of the team’s 12th game.

For now, Spoelstra is casting it as an issue of bulk, with Pittman seemingly the clubhouse leader among the Heat’s big men in that respect. Spoelstra said there will be no change at center in the starting lineup as a five-game homestand opens Tuesday against the San Antonio Spurs.

“A lot of times we may just make the read closer to the game,” Spoelstra said after Monday’s practice at AmericanAirlines Arena. “That’s what happened the other night. We feel we have enough versatility that we can play big, we can play small, we can match up to other teams, we can force teams to match up against us.”

But if bulk is the issue when it comes to the lithe Anthony, then this week certainly creates additional pause, with San Antonio’s DeJuan Blair to be followed by the Los Angeles Lakers’ Andrew Bynum, the Philadelphia 76ers’ Spencer Hawes and the Milwaukee Bucks’ Andrew Bogut in the next six days.

“I’ve been able to play big men, guys that are bigger than me,” Anthony said. “But obviously when you have the guys that are like 7 feet 2, that’s something that can be negated a lot more with someone like Dex or Eddy in there.”

Last season, after starting those first nine games, Anthony made only two more starts the balance of the regular season, one as an injury replacement, the other in the season finale. He then reemerged during the playoffs as the starter, with the Heat linked to the likes of Samuel Dalembert, Kwame Brown and Nene in the offseason free agency.

Instead, the Heat added only Curry, who Spoelstra hinted could be activated for the first time this season as early as this week.

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By Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel

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