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Zo All-Time Heat Scorer
Alonzo Mourning, aquired from the Charlotte Hornets back in 1995 for Glen Rice, has now surpassed Rice in Heat lore once again – this time as the all-time leading scorer.
Zo tied “G-Money” in the loss to Toronto, but scored 4 points in the win tonight over the Timberwolves to go to 9,252 points scored in a Heat uni – 4 more points than Rice’s 9,248 career total with the Heat.
This latest accomplishment solidifies Zo among the rest of the Heat’s constellation of players. He is a champion, and now all-time franchise leader in scoring – hopefully two prerequisites to a hall of fame nomination.
Regardless, this puts things in proper perspective for Zo who had to overcome a critical kidney disease that sidelined and almost ended his career. To get to where he is now after that black October in 2000 is truly miraculous. Congratulations, Zo, on becoming the all-time franchise leader – and on being one heck of an icon for this team and its fans.
Three Point Shooting Bad Trend for Heat
“Our problem is when we’re off shooting, we keep shooting. We just can’t keep shooting until it’s too late.”
“We need to get a little bit more movement. We have to find something.”
The numbers don’t lie, and neither do Shaq or Riley, respectively. When the Heat lose, they have a tendency to get lazy and settle for three point shots. Over their last 6 games the Heat are 2-4, suffering losses to teams they should beat but don’t.
Right now, teams are doing something simple – they are packing the lanes and daring the Heat’s shooters to beat them while fouling the hell out of Shaq every chance they get.
Here is a chart of the last 6 games the Heat have played and their subsequent three point shooting attempts:
| Opponent | Three Point Attempts | Result |
| Orlando | 4-22 | L |
| Atlanta | 5-18 | W |
| Indiana | 4-25 | L |
| Philadelphia | 6-27 | L |
| Atlanta | 6-13 | W |
| Toronto | 11-28 | L |
As we can see, the Heat have only two wins – against the same team, the Hawks – and in each loss the Heat have attempted over 20 three point shots in the game. Those attempts could be better spent by creating ball movement or penetrating. The problem is, the Heat are settling for three point shot attempts instead of moving the ball inside. Also, opposing teams are starting to crowd the paint by doubling on Shaq and having a “cheater” defender lumping into the paint as well.
This is the difference that a Dwyane Wade makes for this team – his ability to penetrate and create, draw fouls and score inside is what makes this Heat team an elite team. Jason Williams was doing his best to replace Wade, but he can’t do it consistently every night and is obviously not the same type of player Wade is.
Still, the Heat have enough weapons here to make do and win games. They have to cut down on the three point attempts and focus more on penetration or setting screens to create jumpers on the wing.
The Heat have two tough games coming up here on the “Mini Road Trip of Integrity” that will see the Heat take on the TWolves and the Pistons, their Eastern rivals. It will be interesting to see how Riley reacts and if he can right the ship here.
Loss to Raptors Tough to Take
It isn’t the end of the season by any stretch, but losing to the Raptors tonight was not an easy pill to swallow for the Heat.
The Heat were alone in first place over the Wizards, and then tied with the same record going into tonight’s game with the Raptors. A win, and the Heat would kill two birds with one huge basketball – they would reassert their #1 spot in the SE division while also creating some more seperation from the Raptors in the standings. Which means homecourt advantage against either of those teams once the playoffs start.
All the Heat needs to focus on now, other than just getting Wade back, is getting the #1 spot in the SE division over the Wizards and getting a better record than the Raptors.
On the positive side, the Heat will have another meeting against the Raptors on April 3rd, this coming Tuesday. If the Heat can cobble a few wins together during that time, they will effectively reduplicate the opportunity they had tonight. Yet that feat won’t be easy to do since they are playing the Timberwolves in Minny (30th) and at Detroit (April 1st). 1-1 is most likely, but stealing a win in both buildings would be a great feat considering the Heat have had a few more let downs of late than perhaps they deserve.
That is the real reason why tonight was a wasted opportunity – the Heat got blasted in the first quarter scoring only 15 points while watching the Raptors explode for over 30 points to start the game. The Heat could never catch up.
This team doesn’t seem to like it any other way than the hard way. We’ll just have to see what happens next, eh?
Podcast: Miami Heat Fastbreak 03/26/07
Following a season’s best win streak, the Heat have fallen back to earth, struggling to stay above water amidst injuries to star guard Dwyane Wade and others. Can they stay afloat in their race to win the Southeast division and homecourt advantage in the first round, or will age catch up to them down the stretch?
Phil Latzman discusses all things Heat with the Miami Herald’s Michael Wallace in this week’s edition of Miami Heat Fast Break.
Another great installment of the Miami Heat Fast Break podcast. Enjoy Heat fans!
Crosspostage over on SporTech
Shaq is Pissed…Float Like a Butterfly
This happens once a year. Shaq starts getting on a roll, this year happens to be the best roll he has been on in a while, then the refs start clamping down on ticky tack fouls against the big fella. Now mind you the other night Shaq was in foul trouble for a second straight game and it led way to the monster game from Michael Doleac, including causing the Atlanta Hawks announcers to have a jaw dropping reaction (a must hear) to his posterization jam. Shaq has said he has a solution to the problem but I’m not so sure I agree with him…
”I told myself a long time ago when it gets like this, I’m just going to stop playing defense,” O’Neal, a 7-1, 325-pound center, said. “Every time I touch somebody, [referees] are going to call something. So I have to go back to my mantra. Just stand there.”
I’m not sure about the rest of you, but I’ve really enjoyed the defensive resurgence from the big fella, as well as the rest of the Heaters. What Shaq needs to do is refer to the advice his father game him during last seasons playoffs, when fouls were being handed out more then free condoms at the high school nurses office. Phil Harrison suggested his son ditch the power game, and O’Neal did, to a degree. He mixed finesse and power, producing a collage of turnarounds and jumpers and drop-steps and dunks. Shaq used this method against the Bulls last season and poured in 30 and 20…
“I knew coming into the game that I was going to my finesse game,” said O’Neal, who was 13-of-24 from the field. “I wasn’t really trying to use the power because I was going to go to my jump hooks, turnarounds, fadeaways. I came in with the mind-set I was going to stay out of foul trouble — don’t help, don’t commit any silly fouls.”
So Shaq. Do us all a favor and listen to your father. Use the force, but use it wisely. Your playing at an all time high and are in the best shape you’ve been all season, use the finesse and dominate the paint.
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