Reflecting on 15-67 and where we are now

[El Alonzo scowl]

I was looking at the wiretap and saw Stephane Lasme made it to the Euroleague second team.
http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/23 ... First-Team

I remember that name from the 15 win season. It triggered memories from that disaster of a season. Zo's knee buckling against the Hawks and his career ending. Ricky Davis. Chris Quinn. Mark Blount aka the softest big man I've ever seen in 20+ years of watching basketball. Random dudes like Blake Ahearn and Kasib Powell. Luke Turdchucker. Jason Williams being corpse status. Penny Hardaway's failed comeback. **** I remember honking my horn on the turnpike back from FIU when I found out we had traded Antoine Walker to Minnesota in order to get Davis and Blount. I remember thinking we'd retooled enough to win 50 games (LOL). I remember listening to 790 and some dude calling in thinking we were going to win a title (ROFL). Having to play a bunch of failed draft picks like Daequan Cook, Earl Barron, Dorrell Wright. Shaq trashing Chris Quinn, Ron Culp, Riley, and forcing a trade to Phoenix. Udonis who was an iron man until that point, having a bunch of nagging injuries and deciding to just shut it down. Riley ending his coaching career on the worst note.

Random question but did Wayne Simien ever stop eating raw chickens? Dude had salmonella ALL THE TIME.

And of course, the worst of them all, D-Wade shutting it down again and the uncertainty that brought. Here was the cornerstone of our franchise having to shut it down after the bitter end of the 2007 season (when Shane Battier dislocated his elbow and the Bulls swept us with Wade playing at 40% after sitting for six weeks). But not just shut it down, it was his knee bothering him. He looked nothing like D-Wade in that season and I remember being terrified that it would seriously mess with his game long-term. That we would be robbed of his prime and be stuck with the new Penny Hardaway and Grant Hill. That year we gave him an extension too...with the opt out being in 2010. Things looked grim for the future of the franchise.

But he didn't have surgery, he had shockwave treatment instead. And he hired Tim Grover. And he cameback to be a top 2 player and was one of the pivotal reasons for The Redeem Team taking the gold in 2008. And somewhere along the way him, LeBron, and Bosh got the crazy idea of playing together some day.

And Pat Riley traded Shawn Marion (who made a game-winning bucket in his last game for the Heat!) and Marcus Banks (crap player with an annoying contract that went past 2010) for Jermaine O'Neal's massive expiring contract. Riley did work to clear the cap for 2010. And we all know what happened next.

2006 was my first championship as a sports fan. I don't care about about baseball and the Dolphins won't win anything for as long as I live. 2006 was a roller coaster postseason, from Gary Payton and Wade yelling at eachother midcourt in a 2-2 first round series against the Baby Bulls, Wade being sick against the Pistons in game 6 but still whooping that ass anyway because of monster games by Shaq and J-Will to being a quarter away from a 3-0 Finals hole. To a parade on Biscayne Boulevard. The first of three thus far. 2007 was one of the worst title defenses in NBA history. 2008 was a nightmare. The Dolphins went 1-15 the same year the Heat went 15-67. The Heat and Dolphins won a combined 16 games in their respective seasons.

Look at us now. We need 16 wins (and we're down to 11 right now) to THREE-PEAT. We're the center of the basketball world. From 15-67 to back-to-back champs in 5 seasons. Many sports franchises go 50 years between titles. This is a special ride and we should treat it as such. Win or lose enjoy this experience because we have no idea where this franchise will be in 5 seasons.

[HeatNation88]

Thank god we turned things around

[Tim_Hardawayy]

I feel like the better reflection point would be either, pre-Riley era, or just after Zo went down with a kidney disease. To me those were the only two truly dark times in our franchises existence.

15-67, I dunno maybe its just me, but I always knew that was nothing more than a transition season and I was never really worried, especially not after how Wade came roaring back in the Olympics.

[KingDavid]

15-67 i actually enjoyed because i went to most of the home games and sat right near the bench lols. But you took me back. That last basket was a dunk by marion before we went into the ASB. Oh man that roster in 07-08 was god awful. There was this one white kid that NEVER played. My boy and i used to say that riley owed him a favor and gave him a roster spot lols

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[NBADraft2003]

15-67 i actually enjoyed because i went to most of the home games and sat right near the bench lols. But you took me back. That last basket was a dunk by marion before we went into the ASB. Oh man that roster in 07-08 was god awful. There was this one white kid that NEVER played. My boy and i used to say that riley owed him a favor and gave him a roster spot lols

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Chris Quinn? He did ball out against Phoenix but I'm not sure if it was the 07 or 08 season. He was a one man show that game but we still lost.

[KingDavid]

15-67 i actually enjoyed because i went to most of the home games and sat right near the bench lols. But you took me back. That last basket was a dunk by marion before we went into the ASB. Oh man that roster in 07-08 was god awful. There was this one white kid that NEVER played. My boy and i used to say that riley owed him a favor and gave him a roster spot lols

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Chris Quinn? He did ball out against Phoenix but I'm not sure if it was the 07 or 08 season. He was a one man show that game but we still lost.

no, i need to take a look when i get home

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[Big NBA Fan]

What do you guys think caused that team to be so bad and what do you think motivated Shaq to quit on the team the way he did?

Speaking of Shaq, I don't think he has accepted enough responsibility for what happened after the 2006 title.

I don't think he appreciated how much power and influence he was given by the organization.

- He wanted Stan out and he got his wish only to quit on Riley and trash him time and time again after leaving.

- Micky Arison and Riley gave him that huge extension that he wanted only to fail miserably to live up to it.

- He pushed to get rid of Antoine Walker for Ricky Davis, according to Ira.

- He wanted a trade and he got traded.

And he shows no appreciation for all of that. I really want someone to ask him how much he regrets forcing his way out and quitting on the team.

Given how arrogant he is, I highly doubt he will ever admit he made a mistake.

Looking back, what do you guys think caused that horrible season?

[QUIZ]

I remember only having 7 players and having to dress an injured Haslem so we would have the required 8 to play, Chris Quinn played 48 minutes that game. I watched every game that season thats what made the next 2 years of Wade domination so sweet. Thanks to Wade we were able to turn around our franchise quickly. 2 of Wades best seasons were wasted on sub par teams but boy were they a joy to watch. Now we're the champs we have a chance to be one of the best teams in Nba history the only team in the common era to make the finals 4 years in a row. There were some bumps along the way but boy was it worth it.

[Lord Hades]

I feel like the better reflection point would be either, pre-Riley era, or just after Zo went down with a kidney disease. To me those were the only two truly dark times in our franchises existence.

15-67, I dunno maybe its just me, but I always knew that was nothing more than a transition season and I was never really worried, especially not after how Wade came roaring back in the Olympics.

That's how I feel. We were two years off a title and had made the playoffs the year before. Then Redeem Team Wade came back the next year and it was good times again. It was an ugly season, for sure, but reads as a minor blip in comparison to the depths that some teams get dragged into.

Jesus, I actually remember being excited for Ricky Davis coming back. Riley's Jordan/Pippen comparisons to Wade/Marion. Oh man.

[Lord Hades]

15-67 i actually enjoyed because i went to most of the home games and sat right near the bench lols. But you took me back. That last basket was a dunk by marion before we went into the ASB. Oh man that roster in 07-08 was god awful. There was this one white kid that NEVER played. My boy and i used to say that riley owed him a favor and gave him a roster spot lols

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Chris Quinn? He did ball out against Phoenix but I'm not sure if it was the 07 or 08 season. He was a one man show that game but we still lost.

no, i need to take a look when i get home

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I believe you might be thinking of Luke Jackson.

[DivineFury]

Don't care what anyone says now, but that was a depressing ass year. If you thought after it that we would be fine, you must of been **** Nostradamus because otherwise you didn't have one god damn positive thing to look forward to. Not to mention our only reward for that disaster was drafting Beasley when there were guys like Love, Westbrook, and even Rose.

Dark, dark times.

[BIRDMAN BIRDMAN]

I remember flooding "Ask Ira" with why the Heat won't sign Gerald Green and even flooded it more when we signed Bobby Jackson instead of him lol

I always thought Marcus Banks was gonna be useful for us in the Heat's future, guess not

I also remember that dude - think his name was Alexander Johnson, who got injured pretty badly in that season..... hope he's aight but if I recall correctly, haven't seen him in the league since that happened

[LEIF]

I remember flooding "Ask Ira" with why the Heat won't sign Gerald Green and even flooded it more when we signed Bobby Jackson instead of him lol

I always thought Marcus Banks was gonna be useful for us in the Heat's future, guess not

I also remember that dude - think his name was Alexander Johnson, who got injured pretty badly in that season..... hope he's aight but if I recall correctly, haven't seen him in the league since that happened

if we ever had Bobby Jackson I am seriously getting old because I have 0 recollection of that.

[BIRDMAN BIRDMAN]

Oh sht, I meant Bobby Jones lmao dont know why I typed in Bobby Jackson for some reason hahahaha

(Referring to this dude)

[KingDavid]

Chris Quinn? He did ball out against Phoenix but I'm not sure if it was the 07 or 08 season. He was a one man show that game but we still lost.

no, i need to take a look when i get home

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I believe you might be thinking of Luke Jackson.

BINGO!

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[KingDavid]

Don't care what anyone says now, but that was a depressing ass year. If you thought after it that we would be fine, you must of been **** Nostradamus because otherwise you didn't have one god damn positive thing to look forward to. Not to mention our only reward for that disaster was drafting Beasley when there were guys like Love, Westbrook, and even Rose.

Dark, dark times.

i had a good feeling going into next season because of the rumors i heard about how wade was going to come back strong. Everyone thought i was crazy and everyone thought i was dumb....then the olympics happened and all of a sudden we had heat fans again. :/

15-67 season....so many free tickets. Omg.

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[dr3am]

I remember out 15 win season like it was yesterday. What a disaster year for me. I remember just sitting back watching Heat games & just getting pissed & not only that but I was also getting into trouble in my personal life

It's been a true blessing now to watch a team that's expected to win every year & seeing haters wanting to rip their eyes out. SUCK IT BITCHES

[Phinsoverpats]

And they call us bandwagon fans or miami heat "fans" I remember watching every game that horrible season even when we were starting 5 players that would be on the bench in the d-league....from that season alone we earned the past five seasons and back2back champs run. It's been so good that the parade at the end of June has become sort of like a holiday

[SWadeUP]

That season was rough. But I Agree with Tim. We had already gotten that ring and I just knew we'd be in play to make moves through the draft and FA.

The true dark ages were when ZO was diagnosed and then later was traded to NJ. I cried like a bish.

Not to attack anyone here, but This is why when I read whining and Bitching here, it infuriates me. We won 15 games 6 years ago, and people are bitching about our back to back champs. I will never get it.

But Thank god, Thank Riley.

[Big Dee Chi-Born]

What do you guys think caused that team to be so bad and what do you think motivated Shaq to quit on the team the way he did?

Speaking of Shaq, I don't think he has accepted enough responsibility for what happened after the 2006 title.

I don't think he appreciated how much power and influence he was given by the organization.

- He wanted Stan out and he got his wish only to quit on Riley and trash him time and time again after leaving.

- Micky Arison and Riley gave him that huge extension that he wanted only to fail miserably to live up to it.

- He pushed to get rid of Antoine Walker for Ricky Davis, according to Ira.

- He wanted a trade and he got traded.

And he shows no appreciation for all of that. I really want someone to ask him how much he regrets forcing his way out and quitting on the team.

Given how arrogant he is, I highly doubt he will ever admit he made a mistake.

Looking back, what do you guys think caused that horrible season?

At the beginning of the 2007-2008 season both Shaq and Wade had filed for divorce, which I think put them in a bad place mentally from the start. Riley was back in full "hard driver" mode after the vets came back to training camp out of shape in the 2006-07 season. Deep down I think Shaq had a lot of resentment towards the way that season ended because the team had centered it's offense around Shaq and went a nice winning streak when Wade was out with the shoulder injury. Riley implemented the Triangle offense because we didn't have any penetrators and it worked perfectly. If I remember correctly we had blown the Bulls out by 20 or 30 points durning that stretch. But when Wade came back and had that awesome 4th quater against the Pacers Riley through the Triangle to the side and went to a Wade centered offense. I don't think Shaq appreciated that at all and Wade wasn't anywhere near close to being ready to carry a team. A storm was brewing...

Shaq had this little guard from the DC area added to the 2007 Pre-Season roster after tearing up their local Pro-Am, who could flat out shoot it from anywhere!!! He was a scoring machine, but Riley cut him and signed Chris Quinn instead after the Pre-Season ended. That was another strike/blow to Shaq's fragile physique. That was the 1st year I bought League Pass and it was just a disaster from the start. Smush Parker started training camp with a severe ankle sprain, when he started to get healthy Riley cut him for the parking incident, Penny was starting, we turned Ricky Davis into a straight up gun after trying to make him a 6th man(he actually played under control as a starter, he just couldn't make shots), and when Wade came back he still wasn't right. I still remember us almost being the 1st team to beat Boston's new Big 3! That game was very symbolic of the season... We had the talent, but had zero chemistry from the start and Riley patience for BS was wearing very thin.

Behind the scenes Riley and Shaq were beefing heavy and I remember we were playing in New Jersey and Riley yanked Shaq quickly for not showing on the pick n roll. Again I had Leage Pass and the visiting commentators were talking about how disrespectful it was for Riley to yank a future HOF'er like that. That was it... Things had gone too far bad... Shaq was traded and us being serious contenders went with him. I still remember people saying the Wade and Marion would be the new Mike and Pip!!! I didn't see it... I was pissed about that trade to say the least. But after all the info came out, I learned to just trust Riley's judgement as far as team management goes.

Random thought... We gave KD his 1st win that season!!! They came to Miami 0 for the world and we let them walk outta Miam with a W!

As good as this team has been since 2010, I still feel like we should be way more dominant. I'm happy but just not fully satisfied, because things can definitely change in a blink of an eye! I really would love for this group to put it all together and challenge for that 72-10 record and be the first team to go 16-0 throughout the Playoffs. I would just like them to put a stamp on this truly special this group.

But when the Championships are won it still makes those lean years worth it all!!!