Has any champion taken a nosedive as fast as Miami?

[ljp24]

Two years. Geez.

Only recent one I can remember is the 1998 Bulls, but they get a pass.

[BRINGTHEPAIN]

Bulls don't get a pass. Its the Bulls they win the quickest nose-dive award.

[HarlemHeat37]

I would trade 1 championship for a nose-dive..let alone SIX championships..

[TNBT]

Yeah, the 1998-99 Bulls take this one. That was a tough time to be a Bulls fan.

[INKtastic]

The Bulls fell in 1 year because they broke up the team. Miami was expected to have about a 3 year window to contend for more titles and the team wasn't broken up until they fell apart.

[NO-KG-AI]

Miami is in very good shape IMO, they still have Dwyane Wade, Shawn Marion who will either opt out and give big relief, or become a wonderful expiring contract that can still produce, a top 4 pick at worst, a few small role players, and the greatest coach of all time.

They are bad this year, but if they can let Flash get his rest, add a nice rookie, hang onto haslem, let some of those contracts expire, maybe add a shooter, and just do their thing.

[TheKingOfVa360]

Miami is in very good shape IMO, they still have Dwyane Wade, Shawn Marion who will either opt out and give big relief, or become a wonderful expiring contract that can still produce, a top 4 pick at worst, a few small role players, and the greatest coach of all time.

They are bad this year, but if they can let Flash get his rest, add a nice rookie, hang onto haslem, let some of those contracts expire, maybe add a shooter, and just do their thing.

They are in good shape because Riley is at the helm, they are horrible besides Wade and Marion. They still have to bring in a new bench and put some players around Flash, Marion, and their pick. We have no clue who the pick will be or what free agents will want to play for the Heat. It all on Pat Riley but he is great a rebuilding. So I wouldn't be shocked if they have a 50 win team next year.

[Number34]

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They are in good shape because Riley is at the helm, they are horrible besides Wade and Marion. They still have to bring in a new bench and put some players around Flash, Marion, and their pick. We have no clue who the pick will be or what free agents will want to play for the Heat. It all on Pat Riley but he is great a rebuilding. So I wouldn't be shocked if they have a 50 win team next year.

Haslem is pretty decent too!

[TheKingOfVa360]

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Haslem is pretty decent too!

Yeah he is good hustle man player and if they get Beasley he would be great off the bench.

[INKtastic]

why is riley getting so much praise - isn't he the guy who got them into this mess? The guy he pushed aside to bask in the glory is doing just fine in Orlando.

As for the team, just how bad would tonight's game have been if Boston doesn't let up on them?

Boston opened a 27-4 lead in the first quarter. Celtics coach Doc Rivers started subbing for his starters just 7:10 into the game, letting the backups handle the end of the first quarter, most of the second and all of the fourth.

Who ever heard of an NBA game being over with 41 minutes left to play? Did riley even show up for this one or did he bail on the team again?

[That Nicka]

and the greatest coach of all time.

I dunno about that one

[MartyConlonJr]

As for the team, just how bad would tonight's game have been if Boston doesn't let up on them?

We probably would have broken records for futility like least FG made in a game or something!!! Thank god that didn't happen!!!

[Rooster]

I would've loved to have seen it.

Any word on why Alexander Johnson isn't starting like he was before his injury? Also, mad props to Lasme for his 2BPG... shame he's 6'8" 215, I thought he was a legit 6'11" PF before.

[jbs]

The Celtics started the game with a 27-4 run before they took their foot off the pedal. the game could have ended something like 100-40.

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We probably would have broken records for futility like least FG made in a game or something!!! Thank god that didn't happen!!!

[TNBT]

Two years. Geez.

Only recent one I can remember is the 1998 Bulls, but they get a pass.

Well the 1998 Bulls still won the championship, so they can't have been too bad.

[lukeridenour]

the bulls after 1998. they even lost luc longley. pretty much didnt look like they were going to win anything until 2 or 3 years ago.

[BBallFreak]

why is riley getting so much praise - isn't he the guy who got them into this mess? The guy he pushed aside to bask in the glory is doing just fine in Orlando.

He gets a pass because he's built the Heat into a legitimate playoff team on four separate occasions.

When he came to the team in '95, he instantly nabbed Alonzo Mourning. He then landed Tim Hardaway for practically nothing and a bunch of expiring contracts. He then used the cap space he acquired to add several role players (PJ Brown and Dan Majerle, primarily), then finished off the building process by acquiring Jamaal Mashburn for pennies on the dollar. They had a strong run that took them to the Conference Finals.

When that team had run it's course, he again went on the offensive, acquiring Brian Grant, Eddie Jones, Bruce Bowen, and Anthony Mason to surround Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hardaway, and Dan Majerle. They were called the beast of the East until Zo's kidney illness was diagnosed.

They were then left in the unenviable position of waiting out Zo's contract, and Riley was forced to be passive. The second that deal expired though, he went aggressive. They'd drafted Caron Butler the year before, then grabbed some kid out of Marquette, and in free agency, added a versatile small forward named Lamar Odom. The team, improbably, won 42 games after a putrid 0-7 start.

The next year, rather than building up that team, he sold off two valuable parts and a bad contract for Shaquille O'Neal, and eventually brought the Heat a championship.

He gets a free pass because history suggests that Miami won't be down for long at all, and because people already see where he's going with his rebuilding plan. I mean, he dealt Shaq's awful contract for Shawn freaking Marion! It doesn't take a genius to figure out how beneficial that will be for this team, either by letting Marion expire next offseason, or by adding talent around he and Wade...

[CB4MiamiHeat]

The Bulls fell in 1 year because they broke up the team. Miami was expected to have about a 3 year window to contend for more titles and the team wasn't broken up until they fell apart.

You make it sound like were failing with the same team intact..

Bulls fell off because the team broke up..Miami has had injuries the past 2 seasons, its like the same thing since the key players are not on the court.

[Flash3]

why is riley getting so much praise - isn't he the guy who got them into this mess? The guy he pushed aside to bask in the glory is doing just fine in Orlando.

Sun-Sentinel

Riley said Thursday that he had told O'Neal, upon the center's arrival in the 2004 offseason, that he would not stand for any further taunting by O'Neal of his former Lakers teammates or Los Angeles' front office or coaching staff. Riley also said that in December 2005 he asked O'Neal to remain mum on the coaching change from Stan Van Gundy.

I told him the first day he got here that I didn't want to hear anything," Riley said. "I didn't want to hear anything about L.A. I also told him the same thing about Stan, I didn't want to hear one thing when Stan left."

A class act by Riley! Pat Riley is a man of professionalism.

Despite being hit by a lot of blame like Stan being fired and the losing, Riles still stood tall and shows professionalism. Some said Riley fired Stan, but the two denied it, which I believe, and this quote above says something about SVG quitting, that Shaq has a lot to do with it.

Fans in LA said they feel the same way as the Heat when Shaq left the Lakers but how could it be the same considering Riley asked Shaq not to say something or taunt the Lakers and its front office. I don

[Flash3]

Riley's track record has proved otherwise, he knows how to build teams time and time again. He's done it in the past, and there's no reason to believe (with all the positivity we have going forward) that it can't be done.

BBallFreak covered it pretty well as to Riley's track record with the team.

This team has Wade & Marion as their core, for now; with Cook, Wright, Haslem rounding out the rest of their players. That's a pretty solid 5 man group, not including our draft picks and our MLE.

This team won't be down for long, especially not with Wade at the helm.