1.09.2008

The Heat Are Not On Fire



With their two larger than life stars on the shelf, the Miami Heat continue to find new ways to make this season a disappointment. Two years after winning the championship, the Heat are now looking forward to the lottery for relief to a roster that is listless. Its been a swift and dramatic fall from grace, beginning with last year’s humiliating playoff sweep in the first round, and now completing a total 180 with their 8-27 start to the season. Miami started slow a year ago, but managed to right the ship to salvage a playoff berth before getting swept away. This year, that fate looks impossible.

Miami’s latest losing streak reached a season-high of eight with an embarrassing loss to the NBA’s worst team, the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Heat were barely competitive in this battle of cellar dwellers. Nobody is surprised to see Minnesota at the bottom of their division, but you would be a very rich man if you bet that Miami would be where they are today. Pat Riley has never dealt with this type of inferiority, and would do himself a favor if he resigned with his dignity.

Its been a year from hell for Riley and the Heat, beginning with Dwayne Wade’s chronic injury problems. Wade has proved time and again that he’s a warrior in this league, but his fearless style of play has taken its toll on his body. Last season, his dislocated shoulder was one of the worst doctors had ever seen, and he was forced to hit the deck for awhile. When the playoffs rolled around, Wade, like the gamer he is, did everything possible to ensure his participation against the Bulls. The series was over before you could a blink an eye, and Wade’s fragile body got damaged a little more. With each loss, each game is becoming more meaningless, and that means Miami must let Wade only come back when he’s completely healthy.

An injury to a superstar like Wade would be tough for any team to handle, but the deterioration of Shaquille O’Neal’s game has compounded Miami’s problem even further. O’Neal looks slower and more out of shape with each passing year, and his own bout with injuries have put him on the shelf for an extended period of time. The Heat made the trade for O’Neal knowing that they would be mortgaging their future in the hopes of winning a championship. Well, they won their championship, and its time to move on now.

Outside of their damaged goods, Miami doesn’t have much to build off of. Unknown guys like Chris Quinn, Luke Jackson, and Dorrell Wright are beginning to get a load of the minutes. Even though this opportunity has given these young guys a chance to grow in the NBA, no one in South Beach wants to see these guys on the floor unless their team is up by 30. Udonis Haslem is the ideal garbage man, and has been the team’s most consistent player, but he isn’t going to carry a team on his back the way Wade can, or even be a reliable number two scorer. Ricky Davis can be a number two, but he has proven over and over again that he is a cancer in the locker room. Nothing has changed in Miami.

Fortunately for Miami there is a pretty strong rookie class expected to be available in June’s draft, but that will require the ultra-successful Heat to throw this season away. If you consider that just two months ago, Miami was expected to go deep into the Eastern Conference Playoffs, then you can understand just how dramatic a fall this is. Without question, Riley’s Heat have been the league’s biggest disappointment, and there is no end in sight in 2008.

3 comments:

Sportsattitude said...

Really surprised Riley has stuck around for this mess. In basketball, if you have a star or two you certainly can go a long way with a decent supporting cast...as opposed to football where having a great QB and WR doesn't mean anything if no one is blocking or you can't run the ball. That being said, the Heat are toast without Wade...and Shaq hasn't been able to play like Shaq for quite awhile now. And the rest of 'em...I like Haslem a lot but Riley hasn't found the other pieces to the puzzle. As I said, hard to believe he's still hanging in there.

twins15 said...

And they're old, meaning the future doesn't look all that bright. Shaq should do them a favor and just retire. I feel sorry for DWade right now.

Marc said...

The Heat are cooked.