Work In Progress

The Big Three won last night on NBA Opening Night, but probably not The Big Three that you're thinking of. No, not LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, instead, Boston's Three Party, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett got their first W. But the most prolific player of the game was not one of those six mentioned above. The game's most valuable player instead, was Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, who showed everyone last night that he was the heart and soul of this Celtics team with his astounding 17 assists.

The hype was there, in fact, it was the most anticipated opening game in NBA history, but the talent wasn't. In the first quarter, arguably the two best teams in the Eastern Conference played like they were back in middle school, with the Celtics only up 15-9 after the first 12 minutes of play. Rondo was the only player who showed any promise at all in the first quarter and even the first half, serving as the engine that kept the Celtics offense moving. Shaquille O'Neal also launched a Shaq Attack early, throwing down two slams in the first quarter to help get the Celts started and even made two consecutive free throws late in the second quarter, a rarity for the big man.

The Heat on the other hand didn't have anything going for them early. They came out looking as if they expected everything to gel right away but didn't know how to make it work yet. Dwyane Wade was playing for the first time since he pulled his hamstring in the Heat's first preseason game and it showed as he shot a dismal 4-for-16 from the field. He played very erratically, not exactly knowing where to be on the floor with LeBron taking over the role of floor general that he has played his entire career. He and LeBron both struggled communicating however, combining for 14 turnovers over the course of the game.

Although it looked as if LeBron had made a huge mistake by taking his talents to South Beach in the first half, that quickly changed once the second half began. With Wade and Bosh on the bench, LeBron was able to get back to the way he played in Cleveland and keep the ball in his hands, which is how he seems to be most effective. It's great that he scored 31 points that way, but the negative side is that he may not be able to play well off of the ball. Throughout his basketball career, James has always been the guy with the ball and the de facto point guard, and now with two other stars who are used to having the ball in their hands as well, it'll be interesting to see how LeBron James is able to play the supporting role during the game, for the first time in his life.

Then there's Chris Bosh. Where does he fit in in all of this? He quietly went 3 for 11 on the night, but managed to pull down eight rebounds. Bosh, a finesse big man, will have a much tougher time fitting in on this team than anyone else. He has about as little power as a power forward can have, and it's even worse when he finds himself playing center. That means that he needs the ball in his hands to be effective more than a usual, powerful big man does, which won't happen with only one ball on the floor and LeBron and D-Wade being the two best players on the team. He'll need to be pulling down even more offensive rebounds than he does now if he wants to score some points. Another problem is that Bosh isn't strong enough to go up against the likes of Dwight Howard and Shaquille O'Neal, the two big men on the other two best teams in the east. Bosh is going from being the best player on a terrible team to being the third best player on what is supposed to be one of the most talented teams ever assembled, and it's going to be interesting to see how he'll handle the change; if it doesn't go well, the Heat may have to change their nickname from the "Big Three" to the "Big Two and The Other Guy."

Then there's the team playing as a unit. Last night, when all three players were on the floor at the same time, it looked like they were each taking turns making plays. One possession it would be LeBron's turn to do something, the next it would be Wade's, then Bosh's then again and again. In order for this team to be effective, they're going to have to learn how to move off the ball, something that none of them have much experience with. But that comes with time and experience as a team, and there's still a lot of both to be had.

The Heat aren't going 82-0, not this year at least. As LeBron James said somewhat arrogantly, "we all know Rome wasn't built in one day." A bit cocky, but he's probably right, this experiment will work out. There's too much talent and young talent at that, for it not to work. It'll take time for everyone to get used to playing with one another, but team chemistry will develop. There's still 81 games left, and in this team's first game against the reigning Eastern Conference champs, and almost reigning NBA champs - albeit that the Celtics did not play as such in this game - they only lost by eight points. Considering the circumstances and the way the played in the first half, the Heat should almost be happy with the outcome; eight points can come very easily as Knicks fans know (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nieBAq8FQYE&feature=related, seeing that never gets easier). It'll be interesting to see how everything comes into place for this Heat squad, but one thing's for sure, it will come into place, or else someone's gonna have some explaining to do.