Pat Riley, because he realises finally that all they've got is an even worse version of last years Cleveland Cavaliers, except with 2 more superstar salaries on the books.

Seriously, with their lack of depth and no legit centre, I'll be surprised if that team passes the second round of the playoffs.

Because they have the emotional fortitude of 10 highly paid emo kids.

And for the most part, they're not exactly liked.

Surely it was Bosh. He cried earlier in the year when we beat them, because Asik dived into him for a loose ball.

How about the coach even telling the press! Not like it was an emotional playoff game. Wade even came out in the press conference sitting next to Lebron and said he wants the ball in that final situation.

Heat 1-18 with a chance to win or tie in the final 10 seconds.

Bulls 3-0 against the "chosen team".

The 36 million or so that went between Lebron and Bosh could have been used to secure the services of about 3-4 really good role players to put around Wade.

Infact, had they just chosen to take Bosh or Lebron, they could have fielded a team along the lines of the Miami 05-06 team that won the title.

Think the zealous nature to claim Star Power for the team has its cons; and it's shown.

Some of their final possessions in close games have been straight up ugly.
Have to give the Bulls credit..Thibodeau trusted Noah and felt that they could switch that middle on-ball.

This Bulls side is playing with so much confidence. Noah vs. Lebron on the switch..Obviously LBJ is much quicker than Noah but Noah played some smart defense by backing up and using his length.

Really a poor job by the Heat spacing-wise. They had Wade, Chalmers and LBJ on the same side of the court.
Their spacing in the final possessions has meant LBJ has had to operate with very little space and with 2/3 defenders waiting in good help position.

i think it may have been a figure of speech!! i dont know if they were actually crying!!

and even after a losing streak they still have the 6th best record in the league so i dont really think it was a failed experiment (the 3 superstars) they are still title contenders!! just wait and see!

He's since said that maybe they had bowed heads and glistening eyes... Maybe a bit of grit in there? Just 'eye water', not crying at all.

Apparently it's all a misunderstanding and one of the players has been misquoted. What he actually said was:

"I'm taking my tear ducts to South Beach!"

fail

"they are still title contenders!!"

No.

I've explained, many times, why regular season amounts to nothing in the end. Playoffs are a different kettle of fish because matchup problems and roster deficiencies are exposed by playing the same team every night.

Cleveland showed it to us 2 seasons in a row. You can stomp lowbie teams to get more than 50 wins, but playoff winning teams are exactly that - teams, not 3 superstars (well, 2 with 1 masquerading as one). Miami are what, 1 and 12 against the contenders this season? 4 weeks out from the playoffs if you can't beat the best teams, it's bye bye championship.

^ Whole heartedly agree with that.

Here's praying for a Chicago/Boston ECF.

I disagree that the heat must be written off as title contenders. Sure they dont deserve to be favourites but as far as i'm concerned any team with LeBron and Wade TOGETHER is not going to lay down easily.

Everyone believes that they won't rise to the play off occassion but they've proven that they can by themselves in years past and now that these two (Wade and LeBron)are together, anything is possible.

"Playoffs are a different kettle of fish"

exactly, and have we seen them in the playoffs yet?, or playing with the motivation of something like the playoffs which these star players thrive on!!? NO, we have not so how can you wright them off based on regular season games!!

just know that they are capable (everyone knows this as proof by putting up a high number of wins and the history that these players have!) and the competitive attitiudes of these great players will kick in come playoffs and it will certainly be a different kettle of fish!!

Big Marty, I couldn't agree with you more.
The Heat shouldn't have got Bosh and used that money to find role players and most importantly and legit center..

They have Joel Anthony who is 6"9 (undersized) and under-skilled)
They have Big Z who doesn't like to bang bodies inside; he is a pick and pop player who rarely rebounds.

They have Jaamal Magloire who is 32--way past his prime. He was an all-star--but last year he avg. 2.1 ppg in just 10mins.

They have Dexter Pittman who is a rookie with no experience at the NBA level.

They got outrebounded yesterday by -6 but CHI isn't a big team anyway.
Dwight, Gasol, Duncan, Amare, are all going to get their way in the interior if they play the Heat in the playoffs.

I feel sorry for a player like Arroyo. I don't think the Heat were fair to him..I didn't think he did too much wrong.Unfairly, He was probably made a scapegoat for the Heats interior problems.

Curious,
The fact that they are the 6th best team in the league means nothing really.
One stat that means more than that is this: The Heat are 3-11 against top 6 teams.

A teams record isn't always a true reflection on how good they are. You will probably look at their record ( 43-20) and think they are a good team, but 11 of those 20 loses (i.e. over half) have been at the hands of top 6 teams.

Chicago sweeped them in the series 3-0. That stat doesn't show up in a teams record!

Macdub - exactly.

"A teams record isn't always a true reflection on how good they are."

Got it in one. My point was, it's easy during the regular season to be a "good team". Anyone around .650 will usually be considered as such. However, during the playoffs, what becomes apparent (if it weren't already) is the difference between "good team" and "contender". The Hawks have made the playoffs the last couple of seasons but haven't been contenders, same with Chicago up until this season. Portland, Utah, Denver in the West - all "good" teams but never going to make a serious run at the contenders.

I guess my basic argument is that when playoff time comes, the teams that are contenders are the ones that will advance. Merely "good" teams get knocked out. Miami is currently a "good" team but they lack the depth, matchups and team chemistry to be a contender.

Correction on my previous post - that "good" mark should be more like .600 than .650.

I wonder if there were any tears in the Heat locker room today =)

Just wondering why they continue to run iso plays for the final shots. You have 2 great players and you can't run a pick and roll and space the floor with Bosh popping out and a couple of long range shooters so the lane is clear?