Everyone, relax

The Heat are 1-2 in their early preseason run and have tabulated over 20 turnovers each time out. Stan Van Gundy is already critical of the lack of ball movement and POOF! - the Heat have problems.

Or so the media would want you to believe. Oh yeah, and the sky is falling.

It is ridiculous to think that this team was going to spring out of the gate without a hitch. This is not a shuttle launch people, this is a basketball team. And anyone who has seen the movie 'Hoosiers' could tell you it will take more than a montage to get this team on the same page.

Think about the personnel this team has: only 6 returning players and two of them were on the team last year for only about half the season (Anderson and Mourning). Throw in a couple of rookies for good measure as well as the fact that three of the new guys - acquired in the history making mega deal - are going to be major components to this soon-to-be-well-oiled machine and you have quite a job ahead of you.

But soon is not now, not in the preseason. Soon may not even be until late December or January. And that is the kind of perspective one must hold to when dealing with a team and its journey over the course of a season. The old motto - a marathon, not a sprint - is most applicable here.

Instead of focusing on the problems here, lets take a look at what we can grow to expect more of. Friday night, against the Grizzlies in Puerto Rico, Zo blocks a shot in the paint and keeps it in play - typical of Zo's blocked shots. Jason Williams picks up the loose ball, and begins running a fast break - the kind of improvisation which would bring a smile to Jimi Hendrix's face. Wade cuts outside ont the wing, drawing his man out and spreading the floor, but instead of giving it up to Dwyane, JWill holds on to the ball and waits for the coming storm - which he finds in the form of a slashing Alonzo Mourning who takes the pass from Williams and rocks the rim with a thunderous dunk.

This is the kind of play you can expect to see from the Heat for now - improvisation on the fly - because the talent level is so rich for this team that all these players will show their great instincts. What you will come to see in the near future - that is, if this team wants to win any hardware at the end of this season - will be brilliance contained within set plays and formations. The kind of synchronicity and timing that is expected of a champion.

Make no mistake, that will not be found now, in the preseason. Being overly critical of this team at this point is like walking out on a movie during the previews.

So sit back, relax. And have a little patience.