Tears

I didn't want to continue talking about the woes of the Miami Heat. Even after tears were shredded in the locker room after a tough (regular season - sigh) loss to the Bulls. Not trying to solidify my competitive tough guy status, but the closest I came to tears was when we TIED a ballclub during my flag football dynasty years in a previous life. Even then, it was really sweat. But after losing last night to the Trail Blazers at home for their fifth straight loss (fourth in a row at home), it's concern time in South Beach.


The Blazers, who are by no means chopped liver themselves, outscored the Heat 41-8 off the bench. They were led by recent pickup Gerald Wallace, who had 22 points. Portland is ten games above .500, riding a four game winning streak and winners of seven of their last ten games.

In looking at the Heat, Prince James got his (31 points) and DWade (my boy) got his with 38 points, 14 in the 4th quarter. But the difference was (again) not hitting the big shots down the stretch, even though King Wade did give a gallant effort. While James did get his highlight dunk, he still disappeared like a magic trick late in the game.

Basically, this is a case of not being careful for what you ask for. Starting with "The Decision" as well as coming up from the bottom of podiums (profiling and already crowning themselves as champs), the big three felt a sense of entitlement and just expected to go through the motions to get their ring. The rest of the league had other ideals, including the Lake show, who have not lost since the All Star break in eight games. Like Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy said, "I do chuckle a little bit when they complain about the scrutiny they get. My suggestion would be if you don't want the scrutiny, you don't hold a championship celebration before you even practiced together. It's hard to go out yourself and invite that kind of crowd and celebration and attention and then when things aren't going well, sort of bemoan the fact that you're getting that attention." The Heat have been caught up in the rapture of media hype like Anita Baker.

Having said that, it's still not too late. If they would take off their blurred (Run DMC) glasses, they would see that they are still 43-21 (3rd in the conference) and they do have two of the games top ten players. But, without a big man and decent bench, the Heat might as well stock up on some more Kleenex tissues and wait until next year.