Suddenly, after a 14-7 start to the season, the Miami Heat look at themselves in the mirror at 15-15, dropping to the No. 8 seed in the East after fighting for a top-3 seed earlier in the season.
Their most recent outing was arguably their worst game of the season, losing 112-91 to the Toronto Raptors in front of 19,801 fans, hoping to spend their Christmas Eve Eve watching a competitive game between two teams trying to get back on track.
Well, one team. And the other didn’t. I guess you could pick apart who I’m referring to here.
The Heat was essentially fighting an uphill battle the entire way. They missed 11 of their first 12 shots and scored just 44 first-half points, their fewest before halftime this season. Though a quick 12-3 Raptors outburst to begin the second half cornered the Heat into a 16-point deficit, one they couldn’t fully recover from.
“This is not what I would have predicted. I thought we were ready,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said after Tuesday’s loss. “I thought we had a good session this morning. I thought coming off of our last two games, on the road, even though there were losses, there were way more good things than negative things.
“It was a lifeless start. And then we just felt like we were digging back the rest of the game. You have to credit Toronto. They came out with a force and speed in this game that we couldn’t get a grapple on.”
The Heat are losers of eight of their last nine games. A once breakneck pace has stagnated, and they still haven’t conjured up a ton of success in the halfcourt since the start of December, ranking No. 21 in halfcourt offensive rating.
“Offensively, there’s things where it can look great, at times,” he said. “We can’t have four games like this. We haven’t had many of these. … [The Toronto Raptors] got us out of anything we were trying to do until the end when the game was over. They pressured us, they got us out of step.”
Spoelstra directly pointed to the team’s Dec. 6 loss against the Sacramento Kings as another datapoint where he didn’t think his team brought enough “competitive force,” to ultimately muster up a win.
“There was Sacramento and this where we didn’t just feel like we brought that competitive force,” he said. “And we got to figure out why, and correct it.”
The Heat will return on Friday, Dec. 26, against the Atlanta Hawks before playing four of their next five at home.
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Bam Adebayo listed as questionable for tomorrow’s game in Atlanta with lower back soreness. Adebayo’s back problem is not from carrying too great an offensive load. The Heat captain has been in a prolonged slump, and is now shooting his worst percentages in six seasons, marking what would be a sixth straight season of declines.
Keshad Johnson (head illness) also questionable.
The good news: Nikola Jovic and Pelle Larsson upgraded to probable.
I wish everyone a Merry Christmas.
I went too far with the lyrics to a Bob Dylan song yesterday and I apologize to the hhh community.
But, it also made me realize how much dislike I honestly do have for this man who receives all these accolades while doing a lousy job. So, I am not going to post anymore because my frustration with the Heat and their GM has just reached too far and I don’t like watching the team play anymore. I will say a final time that I think Pat Riley should not have the job he has and I dislike the direction of the team. Yes, he has had some good moves but just as many bad ones over the last four years and batting .500 in your job should not be acceptable. Imagine if my results in health care were fifty percent good, fifty bad. I would be run out of my license. I feel he has made Heat Culture a meaningless phrase and has brought disrespect on the team around the league.
I also dislike the whole white thing he did, opting to choose those players even when they are questionable choices, at a rate that the rest of the league would never do. And then he gives contracts to these players so that the only way you can trade them is with a sweetener, or for another white player, usually of lesser value. I feel on some level he did this by design, not randomly. I don’t see how anyone can believe it’s random.
Having him as GM is a turnoff,, and makes me reach a point where it’s not enjoyable to watch the Heat anymore.
When Riley is gone, I will be back.
Till then, hhh4L and hfl keep up the good work telling the rest off the community the truth.
Godspeed 30 and I fear I’m not far behind when it comes to this team
Whatever you decide, I wish you happiness doing it. However, I wanted to wait until after Christmas to respond to comments here and on a previous thread. We, unfortunately, live in a society these days where people think their truth is the only real truth and that the opposition just doesn’t get it due to blindness, ignorance, or not facing the facts as they see them. I say one person’s truth may be another person’s half truth or compiling data that conforms with their own beliefs and perceptions. I believe you contradicted yourself when I said if we had 5 white players named Doncic, Jokic, Dirk, Nash, and Stockton, everyone here would be on cloud nine. So, if we accept that as true (is there anyone here who would dispute that?), then the issue is not the color of the player, but, rather, the quality of the player. I took time on more than one occasion to point out the specific names of players who were chosen after Herro, Jovic, and Jaquez (who is mixed race). In each case, there were few players, if any, chosen subsequently who were better choices at that spot. Pelle was a heck of a pick at 44. Some had Kas rated top 10. I actually liked Jase Richardson or Cedric Coward in that spot, but I never researched Kas because he was supposed to be gone before that. And I don’t know yet how good he may or may not be. Now I will add a little more to the equation. In my opinion, the 2 biggest misses in recent years was when he picked a Black player over a player picked afterwards. It was more unfortunate bad luck than bad decisions, but Justise over Booker and Precious over Maxey were killers. Picking either of them would have changed the trajectory of the team.
Whether I agree with the ownership, management, or coaching of this team, I will not stop being a fan. I am as frustrated as anyone with how badly things are going now, but I intend to stick with it, and hope a trade or 2 steadies the ship.
.who was the last good white pg they dont exist anymore(footspeed).game has evolved .sort of like nfl qbs have to be able to scramble.kasper was a bad pick(footspeed)im gonna go on the record .the team has not played good last 10 games but that will not keep up.the first 20 games we looked good.problem is teams are getting better around us and we are not as much.knicks made some great trades besides stealing brunson.its time to monty hall pat and get this team better.ja greek need to head south its possible pat
I’m with you. Kaspar can bring the ball up some, but unlikely he works out as a PG. As a shooting guard he has a decent chance. Everyone wants to hope for the best, but the reality of the unbelievable athleticism of nba players usually dictates the outcomes.
If you’re not willing to trade Ware, it is unlikely Giannis or any other ss will be walking through the door. That’s reality. Ja is a different story who can probably be had for pretty cheap. Off court issues, injury of the month club, poor defense, poor shooting from distance. Would I trade for him if we gave up very little? Yes, but I would absolutely not give up a pick.
As for Kas, you may remember at the time of the draft, I said tell me NOW who we should have picked instead, and if you don’t and wait until x number of games are played, I would call bullshit. Well, here we are and I call bullshit.
My comment about the quality of players and not the color stands.
There are some here whose legs must really hurt from constantly jumping on the bandwagon (when things go well) and off the bandwagon (when things go badly).
True what you say about peoples perspectives. I appreciate your insights. And those were years where the pick we made would have made a difference.
I am finally pretty done talking anymore about the black/ white issue as I have said everything I needed to about it finally after holding back for so long and then letting it out only reluctantly. As a last word, I remain unconvinced, despite all high minded comments to the contrary, that you won’t have difficulty building a winning team with more than three white guys in your ten player rotation. I speak from observation over decades that the only possible formula to have more whites in your rotation and be a championship contender is by having, not one, but two white superstars or almost superstars, like Luka and Austin, and that is pretty hard to find. And you also need a LeBron or a Robert Parrish. And those remarks, because of their unpleasantness, were not said easily. I have nothing more to say on the subject except let me know when you find a team that disproves that.
I do appreciate you guys hearing me out.
Happy New Year.
bird mchale ainge wiggins bam prob get u ecf
Something has to give on this Rozier mess. Silver needs to quit waiting on all this legal crap to play out, be a leader & take a stand. Enough! The Heat are getting royally screwed.
I think several players are worried about being traded or not extended. There is a sense of quiet anxiety.
Pat likes being a man of mystery and playing things close to his vest. Like the Rozier issue. He should be out front in the media rating hell. This is no time to be meek.
Meanwhile Riley should be on the phone 24/7 working out deals to improve the team.
Arison has champagne taste on a beer budget.
This team’s composition is not working. Time to shake things up.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
I feel sorry for Spo. He does the best he can do. He just doesn’t have the horses. Sure, there are Sposcratchers, but they are of minimal negative impact. Mostly, Spo takes us as far as his talent allows. And, at some point, no matter what strategic approach or usage pattern he applies, or what motivational techniques he employs, there is very little that can be done to move the needle much. He is going down with the ship while Captain Pat bails out on a Sea Cruise.
i feel sorry for the fans u rc sunman yours truly.spos got millions$$ rings first ballot hof he’ll be fine.i feel sorry for bernie bickerstaff jr and dwayne caseys of the world who had sht rosters their whole career
Do you feel sorry for other coaches like Doc Rivers and Jerry Sloan, who had some absolutely great rosters with the Clippers and Jazz, yet didn’t win a championship? Sometimes you need more than a great roster to win it all.