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Heat Visit White House and Hit Campaign Trail
The Miami Heat started their run for a second straight term as NBA champions officially at the start of the NBA season, but it seems like they are only now starting to gear up for a serious run.
Is it too late, with Wade going down? Some say yes.
The Heat have lost 3 of their last 4 games, and are working on forging a new identity, yet again, in-season to stockpile those wins.
It was an odd scene to witness the Heat at the White House, getting the championship treatment. President Bush talked about the Heat’s “15 Strong” mantra and focused on the teamwork the Heat displayed and how the stars of this team overcame many obstacles and put the team ahead of all other agendae.
Strangely, that didn’t seem to be the case for the Heat this season as they seemed to hand things over to Wade while the rest of the team showed themselves too bloated and fat on their single championship. Riley did suspend James Posey and Antoine Walker for not being in game shape — in January. Now with Wade out, they are forced to pick up the pieces. Riley returned just in time — to prove he wasn’t just hanging around to grab another ring.
Wade rejoined the team for the first time in a while for this special occasion. It was like seeing Superman on crutches, or perhaps the Flash. Wade had his shoulder in a sling, which was hidden underneath his suit coat. This team, which depended on him so much, will have to earn its own way to the playoffs while Wade works on rehabbing his shoulder. Shaq is calling for everyone to step up now.
Maybe it is too late?
Then again, maybe not.
The team looked loose and had fun in its meeting at the White House. Shaq joked with the President, who tried to dribble the basketball in the team photo. Maybe getting this kind of reprieve and treatment will help this team reconnect with its championship identity and get them rolling.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtOJmCRiN9U]
Then again, maybe not.
The critics are tough and there is not a lot of support for the Heat to get back to where they were. The polls reflect it as well.
Just because their #1 running mate was dropped for the time being, doesn’t mean they still can’t get in to the playoffs. Once there, they can make some big noise.
And maybe get a chance to revisit the President next year.
Will Heat Sign Scottie Pippen Now?
A week ago, Pat Riley all but laughed off the notion of signing 41 year old, Ft. Lauderdale resident Scottie Pippen. How much has changed since.
With Dwyane Wade out for the foreseeable future, looking to be at least 4 weeks, will the Heat roll the dice on adding Pippen?
Pip has expressed interest in trying to help a team get deep into the playoffs. What is more, he has expressed very deep interest in playing for Miami. But with Dwyane Wade gone, would he still want to be a part of this team?
I think the answer is yes, and Pippen may be able to provide the Heat with something that they desperately need – a sense of will.
Wade is a huge part of this team, obviously, and is the difference between making this team a good team and a great team. Shaq makes the game easier for everyone, but he can’t score 35 a game to bail out his teammates. Wade could, while Shaq maintained his presence and made it easier for the Flash.
Pippen will not be a scorer, let’s get this straight. He will most likely simply be a veteran presence that will have his moments – fleeting, but important. What he will provide for the Heat is insurance at the PG position and even as a slasher on this team. His skill set won’t be an upgrade over EJ or even Posey, but as a PG he could help the Heat go big and control the game defensively.
Let’s face it, Gary Payton is useless. He doesn’t score, he doesn’t hit the wide open threes he’s looking at, and he doesn’t play the spectacular, lock-down defense he used to.
Ask yourself, is Pippen an upgrade over Payton? If the answer is yes, then there is certainly a need to sign him now – especially with Wade down and it is unknown how Jason Williams will respond to the current challenge with himself just getting back to full strength.
Riley won’t play Quinn over Payton, and it would be debatable if that would be an upgrade at this point anyway. Pippen may be an option, and he wouldn’t cost the Heat much more than a roster spot.
Wade Injured Shoulder; Heat Will Regroup
Yes, it is a black day for Heat fans. A very black day, but to quote a famous line from Tolkien, “Yet the sun still rises”.
The Heat have their hands full, no doubt. They were all of a sudden together again, like a Beatles reunion, for the first time all season last night. Shaq, Wade, Williams was playing, Riley, everyone. Then, on an attempt to help-defend, Wade dislocates his shoulder by getting his arm caught on Shane Battier’s arm, overextending his arm and pulling the joint. At least, that is the observation of what happened.
Wade was x-rayed in Houston, but had to stay behind while the rest of his teammates moved on up to Dallas to take on the Mavericks tonight. Now, we are being told, the Heat are going to be cautious and send Wade back to Miami for further care.
Translation – a few weeks of Wadeless Heat. He is going to be down with a sling around his shoulder, and the basic timetable (for the rest of us mortals) is at least 2 weeks. His shoulder has to be immobilized and he will be on some kind of pain reliever. After a week or so, they will test the shoulder to see what kind of range of motion he has.
Yet, this is not hopeless. Maybe people have forgotten about the rest of this Heat team. There are a few hall-of-famers-to-be rounding out this thing: namely, Shaquille O’Neal.
Pat Riley now seems prophetic for calling out Shaq yesterday and saying that he needs to step it up. And now, that is fact – if the Heat are going to make a run here, they will have to do it without their catalyst, Wade, but Shaq is still the heart of this team. He creates spacing and makes the game so much easier for his teammates.
We saw a little bit of that last night in Houston – Shaq was much more active around the hoop and grabbing rebounds. Heck, he missed a dunk, but would still come down with the rebound and finish what he started. His massive head was under the hoop all night, and not even Dikembe Mutombo could stop him. In fact, Shaq got hit with a tech for using Mutumbo’s patented, signature finger waive after he dunked all over Mt. Mutumbo.
That is the Shaq the Heat are going to need tonight. The Shaq that calls out Eric Dampier for what he is. The Shaq that totally dominates the pace of a game. The Shaq of old instead of just an old Shaq.
He has the legs for it, he hasn’t played in too many games this season and is noticeably stronger, fit and ready at the time of year where most of his peers are slowing down.
The Heat will re-group tonight against the Mavericks. This game has too much at stake for it – it is the place where the Heat captured their Finals victory last season. In essence, it is their second home. It’s the Heat’s house.
Let’s not forget that Eddie Jones is only a few seasons removed from playing a pivotal role on the Heat’s Eastern Conference contending team (that lost to the Pistons). He will be ready. And Riley can rely on him and will have to tonight and for the interim. He may emerge as the starting shooting guard, playing off a healthy Jason Williams.
Another key figure is going to be the play of Jason Kapono. The guy has demonstrated all season that his shooting touch is no fluke, and with that quick release he can score often and in a hurry. Riley should have the Kap’n do his best Richard Hamilton impression – running off multiple screens and popping off shots to confuse and confound the Mavericks defenders.
Any team going up against the Heat has to account for Shaq’s post presence and Wade’s ability to create and penetrate. Things change, but they can be made to work. Instead of Wade, insert Jason Williams, who looked pretty good in last night’s loss to the Rockets. James Posey will continue to be a spot shooter, slasher and physical defender. Antoine Walker could be the x-factor, his shooting is streaky, but if he is on he will space the floor and also have the ability to create mismatches.
There are plenty of weapons for the Heat to play around with while Wade is down. In fact, this might be a blessing in that the Heat will now be forced to forge its identity without Wade and gain the confidence necessary to overcome any obstacle in which the playoffs will surely test.
And the playoffs are by no means out of reach. The Heat play in the East and can look to make a dramatic move up in the standings by eating up the Eastern teams that have been lucking out due to the Heat’s injury plagued season – and now, those teams are showing wear of their own. Washington has Antawn Jamison down, and they suffer from the incoherent babble of Gilber Arenas on a nightly basis. The Magic have had their problems, although Dwight Howard looks to pick up for Orlando where Shaq left off a few moons ago. Charlotte and Atlanta are just not ready. Don’t even get me started with the Atlantic division, although the Raptors look like a legit playoff team, their youth and inexperience can be exposed on any night. The Central will display the toughest teams with Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago and even Indiana making their pushes.
But the Heat sit at the 8th and final spot. They could struggle and bounce around, or they can move up. This team is too good not to move up.
Keeping the Horse Before the Cart
Pat Riley has returned to the Heat and already is getting comfy in his seat at the helm of the ship. After all, he did build the ship.
He’s already calling out Shaq, whom Riley sees as the crucial piece in the championship machine that is the Miami Heat.
“He’s got to take the next step forward…He’s had enough games,” Riley said. “He’s in good enough shape where he’s not hurting.”
Now, I have to admit, when I first saw this I was going to trash Riley who has been out for a month. What right does he have to come back in here and start calling guys out?
Well, he has every right. He is the reason this team is as good as it is, and he is the reason that this team will move forward towards a second, repeat, championship.
Dan LeBatard, of the Miami Herald, wrote an article asking the question why Riley gets to return when he wants to. Maybe with the recent Tim Hardaway sound bite, LeBatard thinks he knows a thing or two about basketball – well, he “don’t”.
At least, he is missing the point.
Le Batard is right that Shaq respects Riley and will stay in shape for Riley – and that is precisely the reason why Riley can do whatever he wants for this team. Dan seems to understand that. But he misses a crucial point – this isn’t about selfish needs or anything like that, it is simply about motivation.
You can say whatever you like about Riley’s in-season disappearing act but you would be wrong. First of all, his stats – wins and losses – did not compile under Rothstein’s name, but rather under Riley’s. So, if the Heat bombed while Riley was out, it would still be Riley’s good name being tarnished only it wouldn’t have been through his efforts. Selfish?
No, just a part of his masterplan, perhaps.
What Riley did was demonstrate to his team what they had been demonstrating all season long – just quit and turn it on when you felt like it. The Heat were bloated, Riley has stated as much and even pointing the accusatory finger at himself. What happened when the Heat realized that Riley was gone and may be gone for the remainder of the season? They stepped it up – no matter what their motivation was, all of a sudden they actually had motivation.
Still see it as selfish?
Riley understands his team better than any fan or media member – beat writer or not – could ever. He understands them so deeply that he knows how to spot danger possibly even before it appears. Riley also understands that Shaq is the key to this team’s success. Wade is going to come to play every night, it is who he is, but more importantly, he is young and still very hungry. Shaq has proven everything he needs to prove – so, how do you motivate him?
By making him a part of the action and raising the stakes.
Let’s not forget, the two wins right up before the break were impressive. The Heat ran away from their competition both times in the 4th quarter. The most impressive part of that was the fact that they did that against the Spurs and even more impressive was that they went small and won without Shaq on the floor.
Impressive to everyone except Shaq, who reportedly jetted out of the locker room and avoided talking to the media. His frustration was visible, not being involved in the team’s success when it mattered and being treated with kid gloves. Riley, understandably, will not allow that any further.
Pay close attention to what Riley says:
“I think the more Shaquille gets in shape, the more he feels comfortable with a lot of touches, the more he can get his head under the rim, I think we’ll be as formidable as we were last year.”
Now, notice what comes first – Shaq’s physical fitness. Everything is predicated on that and Riley is probably the only coach in the entire world that can get Shaq to work on his conditioning. That, my friends, is keeping the horse before the cart. Because this cart, or this bandwagon, is only going to go as far as Shaq can tow it.
It was painful watching the Heat at times when Shaq did return. The offense was noticably slower and bogged down by his play at center. And the rest of the team was used to playing without him, and playing a more up-tempo style while running the ball.
So, how would you get Shaq to commit to getting into the flow of the game? How would you tell him that he is actually slowing the Heat down like an anchor?
You enlist Pat Riley whose mastery of understanding the professional athlete’s ego and his ability to handle star players will get you exactly where you need to be. Riley isn’t going out and saying Shaq is slowing us down, he is a shell of himself – for that would be ignorant anyway (and undoubtedly, you will hear such noise from other sources). He chalks it up to something Shaq couldn’t control, his knee injury, and thus protects him from public blame.
Make no mistake, Shaq is crucial for the Heat’s hopes. The window for championships depends upon him. This is Wade’s team and he can greatly affect the outcome of any game – probably moreso than any player in the NBA. But it is Shaq’s presence that enhances Wade’s ability.
Riley couldn’t have returned at a more crucial time, and with a more crucial message.
Wade and Kapono Lead a Hot Night in Vegas
Dwyane Wade entered the Skills competition to defend his title from last season. The competition was thick; Nash, Lebron James, Chris Paul and Kobe. Nonetheless, the Flash was flawless and demonstrated himself not only to be a potent offensive weapon, but to be a machine of the utmost precision.
In the final round, he put the pressure on Kobe by executing a flawless run in only 26.3 seconds. Kobe started off good, but failed to make the crisp pass necessary and instead spent the whole rack correcting his mistake. It seemed the whole shrank for Kobe, and Wade won as Kobe finished with a disappointing time of 42 seconds.
Hoisting the trophy on high, it seems that this could be another notch in Wade’s belt and it comes at the expense of Kobe Bryant. Let the comparisons continue.
As that debate will undoubtedly rage on, Jason Kapono made some noise of his own. A late invite to the NBA shootaround for the three point contest, Kapono was only seen as a favorite by the fans that know his game – yep, us Heat fans. (Yours truly actually picked him to win, even though I buried Kapono at the beginning of the season!).
Kapono shot a blazing 70% from downtown to shock and awe his final competition of Dirk Nowitski and Gilbert “Agent Zero Brains” Arenas. Kapono started the final round first and hit 24 points, tying the record set by Mark Price. Dirk melted under the pressure and Arenas started cold and could never catch up.
This win for Kapono continues to build on his amazing season, and also adds credibility to his ability as league marksman. He may now become even more the marked man as a result by opposing teams.
Still, the Heat presence was well-felt, as both competitors represented the Heat in ultimate fashion and winning their respective competitions. Not bad. Let’s see if Wade can grab that MVP trophy tomorrow night…or maybe even Shaq.
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