The talent may be in South Beach this year, but the numbers in the win column sure aren’t. Last night, the Miami Heat
fell to the Indiana Pacers in an embarrassing route that featured Wade shooting just 1-13 from the field and left many fans wondering what exactly has happened to the Miami All-Stars.
This latest loss drops the team to 8-6 on the season, which is good enough for 3rd place in the Southeast Division and 5th in the Eastern Conference.
Looks like the ’95 Bulls can rest easy knowing that their regular season record will stay intact. Heck, at this rate, the Heat might not even break the ’09 Bulls record.
It may be too early to judge the team, but it’s not too early to see the warning signs. The Heat are in trouble and they know it. With Udonis Haslem possibly out for the remainder of the season with an injury, the Miami bench is wearing thin.
Just over a week ago, The Chosen One admitted to being overworked, but with the injuries and the losses racking up, it looks like LeBron’s troubles will continue.
He was visibly frustrated after the Pacers game, with the loss perhaps a bit humbling for the reigning MVP. The stark reality of a stumbling season has suddenly become all too real for The Big Three in Miami.
The biggest problem, along with the height of their egos, has been the team’s consistency. In only 14 games this season, we have seen 14 different Miami teams show up. Some are ugly, some are pretty, but most are underwhelming. This could very well be due to their identity crisis.
The Miami Heat do not have a leader; they have two and a half. It is without a doubt Dwayne Wade’s team, but LeBron is emerging as its leader. The Big Three have yet to play as a solid core partially because they don’t know how. Bosh has shown that he can help a struggling offense, but he doesn’t put up dependable numbers. LeBron is leading the team in points, but clashes with Wade when it comes to handling the rock. And the rest of the team, well, just pretty much puts on a jersey and calls it a day.
As evidenced in last night’s matchup, when one player falls apart, the team tends to follow. It seems that if the Heat want to win, then all nine players need to have solid performances. Sure, they can win when one of them has an off night, but don’t expect those wins to happen often. Even if the trio puts up decent numbers that still doesn’t guarantee a victory. If the Heat want to turn things around, then they need to forget their past and focus on their future.
The wins are obviously not coming as easily as they had envisioned, which means that something needs to change if they want to make a push for a championship.
After Monday night’s game, LeBron told the press that the players on the team, including him, were no longer having fun. If LeBron isn’t having fun, he will not play up to his potential. And therein lies our problem. It should be the other way around.
When The King made his move to Miami, he had two things in mind: a championship and fun. In his eyes, the two go hand-in-hand. He couldn’t win a championship in Cleveland because he was never truly having fun. If he were having fun, he wouldn’t have left.
In order for the Heat to get back into winning form, they need to focus on winning and not on having fun and that means that they have to be teammates instead of best friends.
The fun comes from winning, not vice-versa. Now I’m not trying to suggest that team camaraderie is counter-productive; all I’m saying is that the Heat are not a team yet, and therefore need to put the fun aside until the victories start piling up.
Wade, LeBron and Bosh need to forget about their history together and focus on becoming one unit. Until they can successfully accomplish this, they will never be a true NBA team.
Used with permission of the author.
Logan Rhoades is a Los Angeles columnist and the Associate Editor of Jocks Behind Bars. With an extensive knowledge of ESPN topics and celebrity gossip, he is known for mixing sports and pop culture in the various columns he writes. Check out his blog and Follow him on Twitter @loganrhoades.
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