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Top 20 players to ever play for the Miami Heat
1-Alonzo Mourning: Without a doubt Alonzo Mourning has been the best player for the Miami Heat. Mourning is currently the teams all-time-leader in scoring, blocks and rebounds. Mourning first came to the Heat in 1995 for Glen Rice. In his first tenure in Miami Mourning turned the Heat into a title contender. Mourning left the Heat in 2003 to join the Nets, but he would be back as he joined the team again in 2004.
2-Glen Rice: Glen Rice was the teams first star. He joined the team their second year, and lead them to their first ever playoff birth in 1992. He was also the first heat Player to average 20+ points per game, accomplishing the feat in 1991-92 with an average of 22 points a game.
3-Dwayne Wade: Currently Wade ranks third on the list, this will change as his career goes along. Wade was chosen by the Heat in the 2003 draft, when he was taken 5th overall, making him the highest picked Heat player since Steve Smith in 1992. Wade impact on the team was immediate, he turned a team that was im complete disarray into a playoff caliber team, and then finally with the addition of Shaq into a championship caliber team.
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8-Grant Long: Grant Long is long forgotten by Heat fans and NBA fans, sorry no puns intended. But Long had a solid career for the heat, last longer then almost any other player. Long first joined the Heat their inaugural season, and lasted until 1995. In his time in Miami he averaged double figures scoring, and provided the Heat another rebounder.
9-Eddie Jones: The Heat acquired Jones in 2000 from the Hornets in exchange for Jamal Mashburn. Jones came to a Heat team that was on the decline, where he quickly assumed the role of mentor to a lot of the Heat younger players. While with the Heat Jones, saw the dismantlement of one team, and the complete rebuilding into a new team. Jones lead the Heat in scoring from 2000 until 2004. In the summer of 2005 he was traded to Memphis for Jason Williams.
10-Shaquille O’Neal: Shaq being this low on the list may surprise many people, but as of right now Shaq hasn’t done enough to warrant a higher ranking. In his one season with the Heat Shaq has put up marginal numbers, 23 points and 10 rebounds. Shaq may rise on this list in the coming years if he continues to contribute at a high pace.
11-Brian Grant: Grant provided a solid body for the Heat for four seasons. While he was never a scoring threat, his high in points per game being just 10 points per game, he provided a strong rebounder who could battle in the paint.
12-Kevin Edwards: Edwards was the first player to lead the Heat in scoring, averaging 14 points a game in 88-89. He saw his scoring numbers drop the next year when the Heat added Glen Rice. In his five seasons in Miami Edwards enjoyed great success as a secondary star, and averaged double figures all five seasons.
13-Billy Thompson: Most fans won’t remember Thompson, but he is another original Heat member. He played for the Heat from 1988 until 1991. In his time with the Heat he averaged double figures for two seasons and contributed about two assists and a block a game.
14-PJ Brown: Brown is another member of the later 90s Heat teams. But Brown is most famous for throwing Charlie Ward into the stands during an annual Knicks-Heat brawl, then for anything else he did in a Miami Uniform. Brown joined the Heat in 1996 and lasted until 2000. He provided the Heat with a strong, powerful forward who could score and get rebounds. In this role he fit perfectly with Hardaway and Mourning as the team made a run for the title in 97, only to be cut down by the Bulls.
15-Bimbo Coles: Coles first joined the Heat as a draft pick in 1990. His first year with the Heat was mediocre, but he soon began to excel into the point guard the team needed. By his third year in the NBA he was averaging double figures in scoring, though not a usual starter Coles became on of the teams most reliable players. He left the Heat after the 95-96 season, but would rejoin them in 2003-04. His last stint with the Heat last just 22 games, in which he averaged a little over a point per game.
16-Billy Owens: Owens joined the Heat in 1994, and quickly made an impact. His 14 points a game his first season was 5th on the team, but he finished third in rebounds, steals, and assist. Owens provided the Heat with a season and a half of solid all-around play, before being traded in the middle of the 95-96 season.
17-Isaac Austin: When Austin joined the Heat in 1995 his career was thought to be all but over, but while under the tutorship of Pat Riley Austin turned into the greatest 6th man in Heat history. Austin averaged double figures for both of his seasons with the Heat, and was named the NBA’s most improved player of the year in 1997.
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Written By:
Bran Faurschou
Thoughts on Lakers-Heat
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Shaq still isn’t 100% and struggled for most of the game. His hook shot wasn’t falling and most of his points came off putbacks. It’ll take a while for him to get back to full strength. His rebounding, though, was great. He might have saved the game by tipping back Posey’s missed 3 to Payton in the final minute. Zo was quiet offensively (it would’ve been great to see him hit the mid-range J like he did in his prime), but dominated on D. One of his blocks actually ended up looking like a pass because it went right to one of the Lakers’ players (don’t remember who) on the perimeter.
Wade was good in short spurts but needs to stay out of foul trouble. This is one of those weaknesses that he’s had since the beginning of his career (see: Game 6 vs. Indiana. If he had stayed out of foul trouble, his duel vs. Kobe would have been a lot more fun to watch since he was basically nonexistent for most of the 2nd and 3rd quarters. But every time Kobe D’d up on him, Wade seemed to easily get by him (and his mid-range J was automatic early on like it was towards the end of last season).
Walker’s ballhandling and rebounding was fine, and he had a nice spin to the hoop for a layup late in the 3rd. I just wish he was more consistent in doing that and doesn’t just show random flashes of brilliance.
GP was great. Enough said. I never thought he still had it in him to drive to the hoop so consistently and get so many easy layups. JWill started off hot but needs to stop pulling up for contested 3’s. I think we’re seeing with him what happened with DJ last year-both players’ shooting have improved significantly but their assists are dropping because Wade is the primary playmaker on this team.
Haslem had another quiet game until the end. He had several open J’s which he would normally hit last season, but is now missing. We might be better off resting him for a while because of his broken pinky and letting Walker start at PF. We have enough depth in the frontcourt to compensate for Haslem’s loss.
Posey did a decent job on Odom, though Odom took it on himself for taking so many 3’s when he isn’t a very good 3-point shooter in the first place.
What impressed me most was the Heat coming back from the 5-point deficit to tie it up with both Shaq and Wade on the bench. Talk about depth.
If we play like this against on Thursday, however, we won’t have a chance.
No reason to panic over slow start
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Yes, the Miami Heat has a record of 15-12 twenty-seven games into the 2005-06 season. Yes, certain players have been struggling while teams like the Pistons and Spurs have gotten off to fast starts. And yes, the team has actually regressed record-wise compared to last season’s team at this point of the season.
But no, it doesn’t matter.
Remember that with 2 new additions to the starting lineup in Jason Williams and James Posey and 3 key additions to the bench (Antoine Walker, Gary Payton, and Jason Kapono), this team wasn’t going to gel on the court right away. With Shaquille O’Neal’s ankle injury sidelining him for 18 games, the “gelling” process was prolonged even further. The team seemed to be finding its legs after starting off hot under Pat Riley before enduring a setback in Friday’s loss to the Nets.
However, don’t forget that the Heat suffered a similar setback last season when the woeful Toronto Raptors came into AmericanAirlines Arena and defeated the Heat (not coincidentally, the Heat ran off a 14-game winning streak shortly thereafter). That one loss will not make much of a difference over the course of an 82-game season, especially when the Heat starts to gel on the court and runs off its own winning streak (which is inevitable at this point, because even if the Heat only wins 57 games this season compared to the 59 games that they won last season, there is a 63% chance that they will go on a 12-game winning streak).
Remember that Dwyane Wade, for all his accolades, is still only in his 3rd season and needs (and deserves) the time to improve on his defense and jumper. James Posey is still adjusting to the Heat’s system of man-to-man and strong interior defense. Udonis Haslem is playing through a broken pinky finger on his shooting hand (and should be rested for as long as it takes to heal the finger, considering Antoine Walker isn’t much of a downgrade from Haslem). Shaq is still trying to work his way back from his mostly healed sprained ankle. Antoine Walker needs more time at his natural position of power forward, where he has been decent so far this season.
Remember that the NBA champion 2003-04 Pistons started their season 16-13 before running off a 13-game winning streak and establishing themselves as a championship contender in the East. Last season’s Pistons, who were 12 minutes of good execution from a 2nd consecutive title, started their season 15-13 before finishing 54-28 (and actually running off an 11-game winning streak at the tail end of the regular season).
So don’t be surprised with the Heat’s early-season struggles. The wins will come with time, and the players just need the time to gel together on the court. In fact, Friday’s game against the Nets was the first game of the season in which the team’s originally intended starting 5 played together. By mid-January, this team should be in full swing and ready to contend for a title (while playing on a higher level than last season’s good, but not great, team).
Remember that.
It’s All in the Family: Why Stan Van Gundy stepped down
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I have been reserving this write up for a couple of reasons – I wanted to see how things played out and what the consequences would be. Having done that, I think it is fair to say that the press conference announcing why Stan Van Gundy stepped down was legit. The reasons why Stan Van Gundy stepped down, that his personal life was calling to him, are definetly true. And strangely, this is not without precedent – even with the Van Gundy family.
But the question remains, why now? Why would a man who has worked tirelessly and endlessly to reach the pinnacle of his profession just decide to call it quits?
Stan Van Gundy has been an assistant to Pat Riley for 11 years – but that only begins to tell the story. His brother, Jeff, another long time Riley assistant was able to parlay his assistantship into a head coaching gig once Riley left and even matched up against his mentor in those famous Knick/Heat rivalries. With all the success that Jeff Van Gundy was able to achieve as a coaches’ coach, it seems the reason why he left may have also been foreshadowing what his brother would eventually face.
Jeff Van Gundy quit as head coach very abruptly. His reasons? As coach, he claimed, he was losing his focus. “I didn’t feel my focus was at its best. I didn’t want to hurt our team. I certainly don’t regret the effort I put forth. I just think it’s time to step back and let the team move on.”
But what is even more telling is this, what Jeff Van Gundy said next, “I’m going to step back and exhale for the first time in 13 years. When I told my daughter today, she said: ‘Does this mean you get to have lunch with me?’ So that’s cool.”
Sound familiar?
Just like when his brother Jeff stepped down in NY, Stan has been mulling this decision since the offseason. Even Stan himself said that in the offseason, everything is fine since he got to see his family more regularly. Remarkably, the sound bite Stan Van Gundy gave was eerily similar to what his brother said just a few years before, “I mean, it’s been like that for my kids’ entire lives. I’ve got a 14-year-old daughter and it started to hit me when I started thinking about her birthday, which was last month. I’ve got four more years left with her. Four. And then she’ll be off to college and I’m just not willing to sacrifice any more of those four more years.”
Is family simply the reason? It seems improbable that two brothers, raised by a basketball coaching father, would be unaware of the impact their chosen profession would have on their lives. Perhaps they weren’t totally conscious of the impact, but nonetheless, they had an idea. Their amibitions pushed them onwards towards their rewards of a head coaching position for a professional basketball franchise. And the brothers Van Gundy were damned good at what they did.
The problem wasn’t with themselves or their personal lives, it was with the people they were working worth. Most specifically, the players.
When Jeff Van Gundy stepped down, he tried to take all the blame – that the team underperforming was his fault. That somehow, he was getting frantic and losing his focus. He was trying to save face for the Knicks, who had a lousy team put together with a generally lousy attitude. Perhaps the players started to tune Jeff Van Gundy out.
Dr. Jack Ramsay, one time Heat commentator and Hall of Fame coach, had this to say about Jeff Van Gundy’s sudden resignation:
“The players hold Van Gundy in high regard. In fact, I’ve never heard one of his players criticize him — they’ve always spoken very highly of him. I’m not sure there isn’t more to this than just the day-to-day toll that affects every coach. Jeff is a perfectionist and I don’t think he’d resign unless there was some additional pressure. He may have felt he wasn’t getting the support or cooperation from management.”
It was the pressure of the people he was working with that forced Jeff Van Gundy out. Perhaps he felt his methods were not being taken seriously enough and that he was being tuned out somehow. Seeing as Jeff Van Gundy is a perfectionist, it is not surprising that something like that would take a toll personally on him and force him into his ultimate decision.
There is evidence that supports a similar scenario for Stan, too. Although, it wouldn’t be management but the players themselves that may have been putting the pressure on Stan Van Gundy. All this added pressure, the feeling of not being respected or listened to, made him think about the apparent sacrifice he was making at the expense of his family – for the sake of his career, which was starting to turn more and more sour for him.
The evidence is as plain as that trademark Shaq sheepish grin. It was the Diesel who has been quoted as saying this in a recent article:
“The only adjustment that the guys are going to make is they’re going to really, really listen now, because of his resume. I’ve been in this situation before, where you do a lot of stuff and then they bring (in) somebody who knows what he’s talking about and everybody listens. It’s a different locker room. Guys are listening. Nobody really…”
Guys are going to listen now. Now? I guess it is no coincendence that as soon as Riley took over, Gary Payton’s production has stepped up. The same Gary Payton who was only ‘professionally’ disagreeing with Stan Van Gundy a month back about offensive philosophy.
That Stan Van Gundy decided to step down due to personal reasons should not be in doubt. As always, Van Gundy kept his views honest and made them public without any fear whatsoever. As a coach, he was no different. But the blame must be cast on the veteran leadership of this team. If in fact they had tuned Stan Van Gundy out to the point that it forced him to retire (since Stan saw that he wasn’t reaching the players and it was his duty to do so) then shame on them. They certainly weren’t endorsing him with their silence.
But they should also know, that you get what you wish for. And the vengeance of Pat Riley will not be mild. This team has many problems that need to be cleared up and Van Gundy is absolved of any and all blame. In fact, Riley has made it clear that no quarter will be taken for players who denounce or speak out in any way against Stan.
And for the first time in a long time, it seems Pat Riley is truly incensed. If these players and this team are truly desiring a championship, there will be hell to pay. Riley will play the devil himself.
Meanwhile, quietly in the background, Stan Van Gundy will sit and watch. Ever loyal to his family. Ever loyal to his mentor. Ever loyal to this organization. It truly was Riley’s wish to have Stan steward this ship onto land and down Biscayne in the form of a victory parade.
But this time, he will have to do it himself. The players know not what has befallen them.
The Unthinkable: Pat Riley is back
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Pat Riley is returning as Heat head coach. That’s is right, the team president is demoting himself because Stan Van Gundy is stepping down – voluntarily. Well, that is the official word from SVG, citing “family” as his reason for giving the reigns back to Riley. No official word yet as to whether or not Stan considers the Heat family.
But this demonstrates the unthinkable. I guess I have seen it all. I never expected Pat Riley to return to this team and chalked it up to media speculation – and aything less than that is not warranted. Sure, Riley is a lifer and loves to coach and has always fought the itch to get back into it. He was recently interviewed for the Lakers head coaching spot this past summer. And for any writer or member of any media to say ‘I told you so’ is a bunch of bologna. Everyone thought about the possibility, but no one knew it was going to happen. No one.
Now, the question remains, will Riley be able to get this team to perform to its full capacity? There is no doubting Pat Riley’s credibility or track record, just whether or not he is the right coach for this team. It seems it is time to find out.
Stan Van Gundy has done an excellent job managing the ship while Riley was away. Taking two very different teams deep into the playoffs in his first two seasons as head coach is not something that should be overlooked. The official reasons as to why SVG is stepping down will be made known today around 11:00 pm at a press conference. The media frenzy will shortly resume from that point on. We will all lay witness to what follows – and although many will claim to know what is going on, no one will truly know what is about to happen.
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