Heat Bench Ready?

We know the Heat’s starters can ball. Four of them _ Dwyane Wade, Udonis Haslem, Shawn Marion and Jamaal Magloire _ have played in playoff races and playoff games. And we’ll throw rookie Mario Chalmers in the mix because of how steadily he’s played considering he’s a first-year player.

As for the rest of the team, well, the pressure is on. They’ve performed very well so far. No, they’ve been outstanding. But season-long success is very much a wait-and-see proposition considering these guys have little or no experience in a playoff race.

Understand something: I truly like this team. They’re fun. They hustle. They work hard. I’m just not convinced there’s quality depth. I’m not convinced they’ll finish .500 (mostly because of an expectation of injuries).

I still have them hovering around 37 or 40 victories, which I realize means finishing 13-19 (in the case of 40 victories) the rest of the way.

I also realize a sub-.500 record still gets you in the playoffs, maybe even the No. 6 spot. And the Heat will certainly make the playoffs.

I’m just not sold on this bench yet. Source Palm Beach Post