Devil May Care; Heat Don't

There is something very appalling about losing to a team by 20+ points. Then again, there is something even more sickening about losing to a team by 20+ points when you previously were beating them by 20+ points - in their own building.

And then, there is something just down-right disturbing about a team that goes through that, in the same game, and then doesn't seem to care about it.

Sure, Udonis Haslem, Shawn Marion, and others may care. But the rest of this team seems immune to it. Desensitized. Just another loss on the season - pile it on. Ho hum.

This might be the biggest challenge for Pat Riley to overcome as he pushes forward with the reclamation project.

Heat teams of the past had, what Riley refers to, as a culture of winning. Guys who knew how to win, expected to win, and would settle for nothing less than perfection. The biggest asset in this regard? Alonzo Mourning, who alone has exemplified the Riley era here in Miami. He was lost this season early on to knee injuries. Some suspected he was done, but in all honesty, because of the way he went out, he might actually want to come back.

Count that as a big blessing for Miami if he does. Because this team lacks a leader. Sure, Dwyane Wade is the star, the franchise. He has the commercials and the notability. And he no longer has to live under Shaq's shadow - which is quickly diminishing under the sun out in Phoenix. But Wade has to learn how to lead now. He has to go through the same maturation process most star players, on the verge of becoming great, must do. Kobe is showing you what that transition looks like on the other side coming out of the selfish, self-centered opposite end he once resided on. It split up Shaq and his tenure. Here in Miami, it is a much different circumstance.

Riley, as the architect, has to find a way to surround players that will compliment Wade's game. That process in underway. But another consideration must be to surround him with like-minded players; players who won't back away from a challenge but will fight and rise through it. Marion definitely is one. So is Haslem, although I still question his height. Who else on this roster would fit?

After this latest loss, it is disturbing to contemplate.

Yell at us.