With frustration mounting, Heat about to define season

Every championship team has a toughness about it, a quiet confidence that is almost tangible. It radiates somehow, someway, that the job will get done.

This toughness Riley associates with teams like San Antonio and Detroit. Do the Heat have this quality yet? Not quite, but maybe, that is about to change.

Riley said, almost prophetically, that these teams develop this quality of toughness out of some sort of 'debacle'. "What you need is you need some debacles along the way. We haven't had any." That was from an interview on Jan. 23rd. A 'debacle' seems to be brewing with the Heat, however.

Recently, an article claimed that Shaq was calling out Eddie Jones in the press. "Some of the guys on this team have to take it personal. When your man leaves you to go double on somebody, you have to take it personal. Because other teams are hitting shots when we double, so you have to hit shots."

That quote by Shaq came on the heels of a frustrating loss to Philadelphia which saw EJ shoot 3-12. It's speculative, at best: Damon Jones wasn't exactly setting the net on fire (2-6), either, and Wade hobbled his way to a 3-13 performance on a sprained ankle.

Yet, the history of EJ and Shaq may prove too tantalizing to ignore. The 'soft' comments begin to resurface. Perhaps Shaq's lack of confidence in EJ is looming and when things go bad, he will be quick to point the finger at EJ.

Stan Van Gundy will have none of it though. "When we get our focus on those things, on making effort and on playing harder and defending better and rebounding better and doing all those things rather than saying it's all about shooting, then we'll be headed in the right direction." That is the truth and a subtle, yet bold, stance for Van Gundy who continues to impress as a coach in this NBA and its all-about-me atmosphere.

Shaq has come forward and said he was not targeting anyone in particular, that he was "...not in the business of calling my team out. We all need to play better. That's what I said." There seems to be some backpeddling going on, which actually is a good sign that this team is on the same page. Stan Van Gundy, with the shadowy figure of Riley looming in the background, will see to it that this team stays focused.

The Heat is in the midst of a slump losing 6 of its past 11 games. Wade is banged up as is Eddie Jones and Laettner. Coupled with the mumblings of a frustrated superstar, which have a historic precedent (but seem to have been controlled for now), that 'debacle' Riley may be looking for seems to have surfaced. "Quit looking for all the different excuses and places to point the finger. Point it at ourselves and be responsible and go out and get the job done." Van Gundy may prove to be the most prophetic of them all.