Miami Heat: Mario Chalmers Making Most of Opportunity

Mario Chalmers is making the most of his opportunity for the Miami Heat

If you’re the fourth-best player on a team, you’re not going to get a lot of attention or opportunity. When you fail, you’ll be singled out as the scapegoat. When you succeed, you’re simply playing your role. Such has been life for Mario Chalmers of the Miami Heat, who has had the pleasure of playing with some of the greatest players in the world in his NBA career. That’s been great for the team’s success, but it’s made it difficult for Chalmers to show his potential.

Through his first six seasons in the NBA, Mario Chalmers went to the playoffs in every season and has made the NBA Finals in each of the last four (winning twice). Including this season, he’s a career 37.2 percent 3-point shooter and has racked up 682 career steals — so why hasn’t Chalmers received more attention nationally?

Opportunity has been lacking.

Until this season, Chalmers had never gone above a usage rate of 17.4 percent. He’s been stuck behind Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron James — all in their primes. There’s no question that Chalmers was going to have to take a back seat to those guys. He had to fit into the offense and play off the ball, which he did to the best of his ability.

It appears as if that time is over.

SIX GAMES OF BRILLIANCE

Chalmers has seen an uptick in usage (23 percent) and unsurprisingly, the Heat have seen the real Super Mario come out. Over his last six games (five starts), Chalmers is averaging 20 points, seven assists and 1.3 steals with a shooting line of .576/.333/.860.

Perhaps the most important — and most impressive — part of his game has been his ability to get to the foul line. Over his last six games, Chalmers has gone to the foul line 43 times. Over his first eight games, he went just 33 times.

Chalmers averaged 2.4 free-throw attempts per game in his rookie season and has never eclipsed that until this year, where he’s averaging 5.4 per game. Getting to the basket and drawing fouls is a huge part of any offense. Mario didn’t have as many opportunities to do this in the past, as LeBron was very ball-dominant and Chalmers was forced to plant his heels on the 3-point line more often.

It’s not only about getting to the basket and getting fouled, either. Chalmers is finishing at the basket to the tune of 80 percent (20-for-25) inside five feet over the last six games.

CHALMERS THE CLOSER

Is Chalmers simply racking up stats during non-key moments in the game? Absolutely not. Over those past six games, Chalmers has seen his usage percentage skyrocket in the fourth quarter, up to 31.6. Chalmers is accruing a very impressive 42.9 percent assist rate and is getting to the foul line 3.7 times per fourth quarter (making 86.4 percent).

Let’s make one thing clear — coach Spoelstra isn’t drawing up iso plays for Chalmers with 10 seconds left on the clock down a basket. But, those clutch moments happen throughout the fourth quarter of games. Keeping an opponent at a distance is just as important as pulling closer.

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He’s had four games (totaling nine minutes) where his team has been within five points in the last five minutes of a game. He’s drawn four fouls during that time and has made 7-of-9 foul shots to go with two assists. Each player averaging a free-throw per minute during clutch time would do for any coach.

Mario has never had a lack of confidence, but the 6-foot-2 guard out of the University of Kansas simply hasn’t been put in position to succeed regularly.

Moving forward, having a point guard who can not only finish at the basket, but can set up teammates and make free-throws, is a huge boon for a team that hasn’t gotten a ton of production at that spot. No disrespect to Norris Cole or Shabazz Napier, but neither have the skills that Chalmers does at this stage.

Next: Where Does Dwyane Wade Fall Among The 30 Best Shooting Guards of All-Time?