Wannabes?

The Heat lost last night to the Pacers in OT 106-100 and a Pacer team that has seen so much adversity - although self inflicted - has a reason to smile again. Under manned, the Pacers came into the Heat's house and stole one from them in front of a disappointed home crowd.

How? Why? "The big thing is free throws," Van Gundy observes. "If we make some free throws we're not sitting here talking about any of this." This is definetly a part of the problem. The Heat shot 47% as a team last night from the charity stripe. Shaq was horrible - even for Shaq - at 4-13. Wade wasn't much better at 8-12 and Haslem shot 4-7 - normally an 85% free throw shooter himself. In fact, he missed a big one at the end of the 4th quarter which could have prevented Tinsley's shot from tying the game at 93.

But that isn't all. There are other reasons why Van Gundy should look like a prophet, calling the Heat "wannabes" before last night's game. There was also the 21 points the Pacers scored off of Heat turnovers - in which the Heat answered with only 9 points themselves. That is a -12 difference right there. Couple that with terrible free throw shooting and it is amazing the Heat were in this game altogether.

That should bring us to another point, though. Should the Pacers really feel good about themselves? Tinsley, after hitting a shot, jogging back down court with a smirk on his face jawing at anyone that will listen - this is the image the Pacers left town with. And the 30 Tinsley dropped on the Heat. So, what, Pacers? You beat the Heat at home - sure. But did you beat the Heat? Or did they do it to themselves?

The Heat didn't help their case at all last night. The best illustration is a play made by Dwyane Wade and Damon Jones. A pass was made and seemingly out of nowhere, Wade leaps up and takes the ball right out of the sky. Something special in the air, indeed. Wade then lobs the ball ahead to a breaking Damon Jones who, in an interest to provide entertainment over substance, decides to bounce the ball hard off the backboard where Wade would catch it and dunk it. Would have been one of the most spetacular plays all season. But Fred Jones leapt up from behind Damon Jones and snatched down the rebound before a flying Wade could get to it. The Heat watched as their game was taken right from them because they failed to play good enough to beat the Pacers and instead opted to go for style points.

The verdict is certainly in - the Miami Heat, at this stage, are pretenders. They have a questionable record against the West - which I contend means nothing until they play a Western team in the playoffs. And even then, it means nothing. Yet, the way they choose to play against opponents seems more like play than business. Much has been said, within the Heat's own organization, about this team lacking a killer instinct and putting a team away when they need to. Until we see that happen, until we see the Heat step on the neck of a team and put it away early, I think it is safe to say that the Heat are not legitimate contenders. At least, not yet.