Heat players complaining they’re too open

Typically, you hear NBA players complaining about playing time, coaches, media and officiating. Never being too open. When was the last time you heard a NBA player complaining about being too open? Well, those are the rumblings coming out of Miami Heat’s training camp. One of the newest members of the Miami Heat, Rashard Lewis is still getting used to the open shots after spending two seasons in Washington Wizards. “Got to get used to it,” the veteran forward said as the Miami Heat continued training camp, “because that’s the hardest shot in basketball. I may have to hold it for a couple of seconds, so I can get somebody closing out to me.” LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh draw so much attention, that defenses collapse with every movement, leaving shooters on the wing wide open. Shane Battier was one of last season’s benefactors. “When you’re playing a game, you’re so used to playing instinctively,” Heat forward Shane Battier said, as he snapped his fingers to mimic the typical split-second timing of NBA decisions. “When you get a wide-, wide-open three, you’re naked. You have time to think and rationalize, and that’s counterintuitive to how we normally play. We normally play instinctively — time to think and time to react only. But when you have time to think in basketball, calculation often leads to miscalculation.” As a rookie last season, point guard Norris Cole couldn’t believe how open he was at times. “Sometimes you’re surprised that you’re that wide open,” he said. “Normally, when you shoot shots, you just shoot in repetition. But in a game, when you find yourself just wide open, it kinds of shocks you.” While big man Josh Harrellson is coming to grips with the extra space he is receiving, often times having a hard time making decisions. “It becomes,” Harrellson said, “a thought process. ‘Oh, I’m this wide open, should I take a dribble for a layup? Should I take one dribble in for a jump shot?’ There’s a lot of thought that goes into it. “If you’re that wide open, you really don’t know what you want to do. A lot of people might think, ‘Why don’t you shoot a layup, you were wide open?’ So there’s a lot of different thoughts that go through your head at that time.”