Enough of the negative stuff..

As we get closer and closer to the start of the NBA season, it becomes more and more easier to find an article saying something negative about the Miami Heat and why they won't win a championship, or even make it to the finals. With all the negative bashing on the Heat, you would have thought that the team traded away Dwyane Wade for a piece of fruit, Shaquille O'Neal for a ham sandwich and the American Airlines Arena for an Orange Julius stand. Whether it be the argument of no defense, no 3-point shooting, or bad chemistry possibilites, it's not hard to find some "Sports Expert" saying why the Heat will never be able to meet their expectations.

Eddie Jones left the Miami Heat this off-season, and apparently he took the entire Team Defense with him. With all the "experts" saying this team can't play championship caliber defense, you wonder why all these "experts" are saying this, as the Miami Heat only lost one good defender. Sure Eddie Jones was the best defender the Miami Heat had, but why now all of the sudden Eddie Jones is gone, the Miami Heat have gone from a good defensive team last year to a bad one this year? Obviously the Heat won't be as good as a defensive team as the Pistons or the Spurs, but just because Eddie Jones left and now we have some beter offensive players, doesn't mean the Heat will be a bad defensive team. Shaq is still a good defensive pressence, Alonzo Mourning will be available to block more shots and play more aggresive with less playing time, James Posey is a nice,athletic defender who can fill some of the void of Eddie Jones, Dwyane Wade's defense was improving with each game he played, and Jason Williams, though not a great defender, is still a big improvement over Damon Jones. There still is possibility Shandon Anderson can sign with the team and help defensively. Just because the Heat gained some talent offensively, doesn't mean there will be huge drop off defensively.

Apparently all these "experts" think that after this year, Shaq will retire and the entire Miami Heat franchise will suddenly dissapear. Too many "experts" believe it's this year or never for the Heat. Sure Alonzo isn't getting any younger and Shaq is on the decline of his career, but that is exactly why the Miami heat made the Walker, Williams, Posey deal and are trying to get Finley. To take pressure off of Shaq. Shaq doesn't need to be the old Shaq anymore. The Miami Heat are no longer made up of Wade and Shaq and a bunch of "other players" With Wade, Walker, Williams, Posey, Haslem, and possibly Finley, Shaq could only put up 18-20 points a game, and the Heat would win 90% of those games. Shaq no longer needs to put up 30-15 games because he has the best talent around him he has ever had in his career. The Heat have about a 2-3 year window where they could win multiple championships. After that, the future gets hazy, not next year.

Probably the worst argument out there by the Anit-Heat writers is the good old 2003-2004 Los Angeles Lakers comparison. First of all, there were a lot of things going on with that team off the court. Kobe Bryant was showing up late to games due to rape charges, Shaq wasn't getting along with Kobe, Kobe wasn't getting along with Phil Jackson, Gary Payton was complaining about the triangle offense, and apparently Karl Malone had the hots for Kobe's wife. Basically all that could go wrong, did. Now unless all that happens with Miami, which is highly unlikely, the Lakers comparison is a bad one. On the court, the Lakers had a problem deciding whose team it was,Miami doesn't have this problem, and the Lakers didn't have nearly the depth Miami has, even if the Heat don't sign Finley. With a bench that could consist of Walker, Posey, and Mourning, the Heat have a much stronger bench than the Lakers bench of MEDVEDENKO, FISHER, and KAREEM RUSH??! No comparison here.

The Miami Heat have the best team they have ever had in franchise history and should be considerd the favorites in the Eastern Conference.The team last year was good,sure, and should have beaten Detroit, but did not have a good chance of beating the Spurs, even if they were healthy. Thats is why Riley made these moves folks. Sure Detroit and Indiana are good, but lets no forget that one of the best coaches in the NBA left Detroit (Admin Brown) and Indiana no longer has their clutch shooter (Reggie Miller). Too much hate on the Heat, maybe it's jealousy, or maybe people are actually that ignorant. Lets stop with the pessimistic thinking and start thinking realistically.

Feel free to post your comments. GO HEAT!!!!