Looming Large: Shawn Marion

Miami, just two years departed from an NBA Championship, envisioned an inside/outside duo of Wade and center Shaquille O'Neal carrying them through the playoffs again this year, but the Heat gave up on the aging O'Neal after a dismal start and traded him to Phoenix for forward Shawn Marion.

It hasn't been an ideal season for the Miami Heat. In fact, it has been disastrous. The Heat currently have the worst record in the NBA and just found out this week that guard Dwayne Wade will miss the rest of the season. The defensive minded Marion is an elite player at his position and is now doing his best to carry the load without Wade.

Marion went from being on one of the top teams with Phoenix to going to the NBA's worst, and his play shows that he appears to have lost interest. He was averaging 15.8 points for Phoenix, which is low for him and is averaging only 14.7 points with Miami. Since joining Miami, Marion is also shooting 6% worse from the field, has doubled his turnovers, blocked less shots and is shooting worse from the foul-line. The only stat of Marion's that has gone up noticeably is rebounds, which has probably increased because of the Heat's poor shooting.

Despite his dropff since joining Miami, Marion is still a dangerous player on a nightly basis. On offense, Marion benefited for years from Steve Nash and the run-n-gun offense utilized by the Suns. He was third in the NBA in dunks before he was traded, but Marion isn't known as a rim-rattler. Marion, at 6'7, 230 lbs., can cause a lot of matchup problems, but he doesn't thrive in any one aspect on offense. He has an unorthodox jump shot which earned him a lot of attention over the years. He has been respectable from behind the arc, but a lot of that too was due to the offense he was in. Since coming to Miami, Marion has gone from making 34% of three-pointers to 26%.

Marion has been an effective presence on the glass throughout his career, using his size, and more so his athleticism to rebound well. On the year, Marion is averaging over 10 rebounds per game and has averaged exactly 10 per game over his career.

Where Marion makes a living is on defense, as very few opponents can find a way to overcome his length and constant effort on that side of the court. Marion is a superb on the ball defender also has a reputation as a terrific help defender. He has averaged two steals a game per game over his career, and also is one of the better small forwards in the league when defending down low, averaging 1.3 blocks a game.

At 30-years old, Marion has been named to the All-Star team four times and is in the final year of his contract, which is why the Suns parted with him so easily. Marion hasn't performed at a high level since joining the Heat, which could hurt him in free agency if he decides to opt out of his contract.

While the season is all but over for Miami, Marion is still capable of taking opponents out of their element and leading his team to victory. Marion's defense will be crucial to the Heat if they want to defeat Orlando, who they host on Friday. He has struggled on offense against them this year (14 point average in two games) but should provide good defense versus the Magic. He will have the task of guarding either Hedo Turkoglu or Rashard Lewis, both who matchup with him size wise. Whoever Marion guards will have a difficult time getting shots off, so Lewis and Turkoglu must be able to keep the ball moving and get open looks for other players. On offense, Marion can be effective if left open, so the Magic need to get in his face to take him out of his element.