Youth Movement: How Pat Riley changed the Heat

On the eve of this 2005 NBA draft, we see a different Heat than we saw last year at this time. Last year, there was so much promise as a young fun 'n gun Heat team stirred quite a noise - with its loud music and its brash young team - in the playoffs. With a young nucleus that was Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and the emerging Dwyane Wade, the future was bright. We all know what happened next as the Heat have morphed into an Eastern Conference powerhouse.

But how exactly did the Heat get to the point of a young and promising team in the first place? And how exactly was it to happen on Riley's watch?

That may be a story of greater significance.

Pat Riley, as a coach, was known for his hard-nosed and serious style. He was demanding but asked no more of his players than he did of himself. And Riley was successful. Just as often as his teams won, there was always a player or two that would emerge out of nowhere and succeed in Riley's system. It demanded execution and discipline - qualities typically found in mature players. Such a group was usually found to be veterans; and that is who Riley looked to as a coach.

That is what made the transition of the 2003-2004 Heat so surprising.

The Heat, in all honesty, had fallen from its late '90's hey days. Tim Hardaway moved on and Zo had to face a serious, life-threatening illness. Riley was left to coach his team shorthanded. This was the blessing in disguise.

The Heat, coming into the 2002 draft, had a subpar season. They landed with the #10 pick in the lottery. Pat Riley and Randy Pfund selected a well-known college player - a proven winner in Caron Butler. A lot of the experts felt Riley managed to land a steal with the draft; Caron went on to have a strong rookie season and proved the experts right.

This took Riley to a place he wasnt familiar, well, not since Magic Johnson anyway. He had to rely on a rookie to help his team win. But still, it was not to be as the Heat went through another rough season and ended up with the #5 pick in the 2003 draft.

Riley was now faced with a dilemma. Find himself another veteran player to shore up his team and aim for the playoffs? Quietly, he must have doubted that even then the Heat could go forward and move deep into the playoffs. The desire to win stirred deep within Pat Riley. Perhaps this wasn't the path. In fact, we have now discovered that there was a deal on the table for the Heat to trade their #5 pick for Wally Sczerbiak: essentially, dealing Wade for Wally.

Then the miracle happened. Riley ruled against the move but instead fought what his natural inclination was and followed through with drafting Wade and embracing in full the youth movement in Miami.

So simple, yet so difficult. For a man who is used to winning and being on the mainstage of his profession, Pat Riley - for the first time - decided to see himself behind the scenes. And to peak from behind the curtains as the performance went on, was not an easy thing to swallow. It wasn't until Riley handed over the reigns of the head coach position to Stan Van Gundy that the transistion was complete.

This may have been Riley's greatest substitution of all his career. To actually look at himself and understand his own limitations and seeing that there was a different path to success this time is truly remarkable. Riley could have easily forced himself into following the path of the familiar and traded for Sczerbiak. He would not have been run out of town. Most likely, that team would have had moderate success, too. But it is clear that Riley made the right decision by taking on less responsibility - and ultimately, and quitely, taking responsibility for this franchises success in the process.

Was Riley completely conscious of this transition at the time? Perhaps not at all. Who would have thought the opportunity to trade for Shaq would have presented itself. And if Riley had not decided to reload the Heat with youth, he would have never had the bargaining chips in Odom and Butler to trade for Shaq. And had Riley not given up his coaching duties, he may not have been able to draft Dorrell Wright, either. Or even try and pick up Qyntel Woods.

Now, here we are with the 2005 draft. The Heat dont have one a lottery pick - for the first time in 3 seasons. Let's see what kind of magic Riley is able to do now.

Wade and See

The Heat are wading into familiar territory. Another playoff run and yet, another final showdown. This time, it is the Pistons. The award, a trip to face the Spurs in the Finals.

This would be the culmination of a huge trade the Heat made almost a year ago to land the big talent of Shaquille O'neal. A reversal of fortunes for two franchises, it seems. But if there is to be any success to this deal, any truth to the champagne wishes for these once hamburger dreams, it will come down to the fate of yet another figure - that of the young talent Dwyane Wade.

Much speculation has mounted since Wade went down with a rib injury in Game 5. Yet, this was the same game which the Heat won mostly without Wade and actually built up a lead while their young star was on the bench or in the locker room being attended to by team doctors instead of Piston defenders.

Most seem to forget - this Heat team has revealed its character whenever one of its two stars has gone down. They beat Washington with Shaq resting his bruised thighs on the bench. Twice.

Can they pull the trick at least once without Wade?

There is a saying that seems to float around in times like this, attributed to John Wooden, the legendary UCLA coach. Pivotal games, like a game 7, don't build character, they reveal it. The Heat certainly have character, and it shall be revealed this night. And it will take all of the character that a Steve Smith or a Eddie Jones or a Christian Laettner can muster up for this game tonight.

But it remains to be seen what kind of performance we will get from Wade tonight. Will it be 'Jordanesque' - playing with a flu in the playoffs? Will it be like Willis Reed's inspiring performance for the Knicks, hobbling into Madison Square Garden?

Could it be that Wade sitting out Game 6 could actually work to the Heat's advantage? Maybe tonight he comes into Game 7 running on guts in order to boldly slash away at the Pistons' championship hopes as well as taking their belt from them?

One thing is for sure - Wade and see.

Tired of tired Shaq

Enough is enough. I am sick of hearing about the bruised thigh, the lack of lateral quickness. Blah, blah, blah. These are all excuses at this point.

Shaq, where is the champion that the Heat thought they were getting when they made that trade almost a season ago? Sure, we know - we got the #1 seed in the East and home court throughout the playoffs (until the Finals). But you seemed to appear when it didn't matter. Now that it does matter, where did you go?

Shaq dropped in a very lethargic performance in Game 4 against the Pistons. I am tired of hearing about his bruised thighs - people shouldn't talk publicly about a grown man's thighs anyway. That injury occured back in April. In APRIL.

Now, I am not going to be insensitive here. I am sure Shaq's injury is legit and that it is affecting his ability to play at his customary level of dominance. We know. But that isn't the point and in fact, that isn't going to create more points.

Shaq is a very large man. Groups of people disappear when they go behind him. He is so massive, he can actually cause an eclipse. Bruised thigh or not, Shaq, you can still box out. Do it. If you cant beat your man for the rebound, at least prevent him from getting anywhere near the rebound. Let Haslem and the others do the dirty work.

In 25 minutes in Game 4, Shaq had 12 points and 5 rebounds. He was 4-9 from the field. The efficiency is there for the offense, but the defensive intensity and ability to control the paint is not. 5 rebounds Shaq could find in his couch. I could get 5 rebounds. EJ had 10 himself.

In fact, for the series, Shaq has gone over 20 points only twice and eclipsed the double digits in rebounds once - during Game 3 with his 10 rebound performance.

Shaq's stats are down in almost every category this postseason run from his previous seasons. He is averaging 18.1 points per game and only 7.5 rebounds per contest. That is terrible by Shaq's standards. Elden Campbell could do that.

At a time of year when Shaq is supposed to be stepping up his game, he seems to only be stepping short. He isn't putting the energy and aggressiveness into getting good position in the paint like he can. Ben Wallace and anyone else the Pistons decide to throw at Shaq still have no chance to this point despite the fact that Shaq is injured. Or is he just tanking it?

That may work against the New Jerseys and Washingtons of the world, but not against the defending world champs. You have to knock them out, and right now Shaq is sissy-slapping. With one hand behind his back. His play is equivalent to using a b-b gun to shoot down a nuclear missle.

Shaq, if you want to prove that Dr. Buss was wrong, now is the time.

If you want to prove Kobe wrong, now is the time.

If you want to get that big money contract and prove everyone who doubts you are worth that kind of money, now is the time.

Enough of the tired Shaq. Enough of puttering around low on Diesel fuel. Just enough. Now is the time to reach down inside yourself and find that championship fire that you always talk about. Now is the time to rise to the occasion and lead this team to victory. Because as much as you say this is Dwyane Wade's team and as much as the media wants to believe that, this team is not going anywhere unless you start flexing your muscles and throwing Piston defenders around like you were on a wrestling mat.

If you need anymore motivation, think back to last year when these same Pistons took it to you and beat you. Now is the time to prove them wrong, too.