I don't feel sorry for them. They traded their future for the present when they dealt for Shaq and those other guys. They became one of the very few NBA franchises who has won a championship as a result. It's been 10 years since the Rockets won a championship but those two we won still keep me going. I don't feel sorry for anybody who wins a championship. It's time for them to rebuild though.
I sorta do even though they won a championship. Shaq was a great player,it's sad to seem him struggle like Hakeem. I always like to see big centers dominate. I like Wade too. I wish he was on the Rockets.
It may be bad, but I have been rooting for them to lose each game and I think it's hilarious when they lose game after game. I particularly enjoy reading the Heat's post game quotes and how they keep having to face the media loss after loss: a few experts from AP article recaps of losses this year Detroit, Nov. 1st, 0-1: "Very disappointing way to start the season, obviously," Riley said. "The same things that bothered us or hurt us in preseason are the same things that happened to us tonight. ... The turnovers and the lack of free-throw attempts are sometimes hard to overcome." Indiana, Nov. 2nd, 0-2: "We couldn't get a stop, and we couldn't get a bucket, and we couldn't get a free throw in," Riley said. "It was just very frustrating for our guys." "We played selfish tonight," Jason Williams said. "It's pretty self-explanatory. I didn't think we gave the game away. I think they took it away from us." Charlotte, Nov. 4th, 0-3: "We're close," O'Neal said. "We're still making a lot of silly mistakes, but once we overcome that and learn to play better with each other, we'll be all right. "We're not going to get down about it," Riley said. "We're 0-3. There's no doubt about that. We play San Antonio and Phoenix coming up, so the schedule gets tougher. But we'll go back to work tomorrow." San Antonio, Nov. 7th, 0-4: "We all have to come together as a team without D-Wade right now. We have to find ourselves," said Smush Parker. "And when he comes back it's going to be a tremendous help to us." "At times we played pretty good. But games like this, we've just got to go back to the lab and stay positive," O'Neal said. "Right now, it's character time." Phoenix, Nov. 9th, 0-5: "We did everything I thought we could possibly do," Riley said. "We lost, man," Jason Williams said. "We've got to stop the bleeding, somehow, someway." Charlotte, Nov. 13th 1-6: "Me? Play. I guarantee you I should suit up. I'd play better than some of them right now," Riley said Tuesday night. "I guarantee it. I swear to God. With an old hip and 62-years-old and I can't see, I'll play better than some of my guys tonight. Come on, they were pretty bad." "You grandfather playing time to all your starters or guys that have been in the rotation and you're losing games," said Riley, who suggested a players-only meeting. "Eventually you've got to shave the beard and either look younger or get somebody else in there. You can't continue like this." Riley named Haslem team captain. "We didn't have any official captains last year, but Udonis is really the heart and soul of this team now," Riley said "It was very, very embarrassing," O'Neal said. Seattle, Nov. 14th, 1-7: "Unless you feel like you have something at stake or something to lose as a player, then things won't change," Riley said. "If you don't feel like the Heat mean something to you ... you have to have a real meeting with yourself about what you care about. I don't see a team that really feels like they have anything at stake here. They come in, they play, they get beat, they go home, they go out into the night." Boston, Nov. 16th, 1-7: "D-Wade went for the win. Usually he hits those shots," O'Neal said. "They're a talented team. They've got three Hall of Famers out there and they do very well together. We had a chance to beat them, but we let it slip away." Atlanta, Nov. 21st 2-8: "That's D-Wade," Josh Smith said. "He normally gets the calls down the stretch." Not these days, he doesn't. And that proves absolutely nothing is going right for the Miami Heat "I don't think there's any doubt that we're beginning to feel the pressure," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "We beat ourselves tonight," Miami guard Smush Parker said. "The Atlanta Hawks did enough to win and they got the 'W' but we keep shooting ourselves in the foot. We get any shot we want. We just have to make them." "It's just a team that's been losing, finding a way to lose," Wade said. "We gave this one away." Boston, Nov. 30th, 4-11: "Shot ourselves in the foot," Heat center Shaquille O'Neal said, repeating a phrase he's used often in the season's early stages. "Got into a deep hole, climbed out of the hole. We just have to limit our mistakes." "I just played a bad game," Wade said. "Simple." "It's just frustrating," Wade said. "We put ourselves too far down. We've got to stop doing that." Denver, Dec. 2nd, 4-12: "We've got to get it together," said Shaquille O'Neal, who scored a season-low six points. "Tonight was a plain-old butt-whipping." "We are in a funk," Wade said. "Everything goes wrong when you're where we are." "Miami is not fitting right now, and they are not in tune..."said Nuggets head coach George Karl Portland, Dec. 6th, 4-14: "Take a look at our last five losses and its about our offense," Riley said. "It's that we can't guard anybody right now." Golden State, Dec. 7th, 4-15: "I just thought that we got tired," coach Pat Riley said. "They kept putting the ball on the floor. They kept going to the basket, going to the basket, going to the basket. We couldn't contain them off the dribble." ----------------------------------------------------------------- Remember also they started of the preseason 0-7. I am not a Shaq fan (ever since the Yao jokes) and to see someone with an ego as huge as his lose consistently does my soul good. I have a feeling they wil turn things around and end up getting a playoff spot...only because they are in the East. The East only has 3 teams with an over .500 recond. Pretty sad. There would be no way they'd make the playoffs in the West.
Exactly. They traded all their young pieces for an aging-Shaq and well it payed off because they got a ring.
i dont feel bad for Miami because they won the championship recently........i feel bad for the rockets we need to get on track and start playing like all the elite teams in the league right now!
And the Mavs were handed that game 5 against us a couple years back. don't get mad. get even. like Karma.
I kind of sort of maybe feel bad for Wade, but not really. The rest of the team? I don't care. They got what they paid for: A championship ring. They paid there future, and now it's going to cost them. That was all taken into consideration when they made the move. You've got to look at it like this: The opportunity of cost of *potentially* winning a championship was *most probably* sucking for seasons thereafter. NBA is a business, and in business, big risks could equal big rewards. Was it a good move? Yeah. They won a ring. Now they have to pay for it, that's all. I don't really feel sorry for them. I didn't want either of those teams to win a ring (Dallas, Miami) but in the end I would much rather have it this way.
Oh I am definitely not complaining about the Heat beating the freakin Mavs. That is only second to Detroit taking our the Fakers a few years back. But still doesn't change the fact that D-Whistle got calls left and right.
I've always liked Shaq, who never failed to get Dream his props. Sad to see the big guy declining, but it happens to them all, sooner or later. Wade? I wish I had 1% of the money he's made off of commercials and endorsements. I don't feel sorry for him... he's got a long career ahead of him. Riles? I have a soft spot for him, I admit, for coaching the Showtime Lakers, an absolute gas to watch, even if you hated them, and being their coach in '86, when we laid waste to the defending champions, who Fran Blinebuttery said the Rockets couldn't beat, even before the playoffs started, and for coaching the Knicks when we won the first championship. Thanks Riles!
I'll also add on to what others have said: the Heat made a move for Shaq, which everyone expected to put them in the position of winning a championship for 2, maybe 3 years MAX. The window has closed and now they must deal w/ the remnants. I don't think the Heat regret winning that championship.
Adding on to my earlier post: Washington, Dec. 13th, 6-16: "I'm beyond disappointed in our team," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "I can't explain it," said Miami forward Udonis Haslem "There's no excuses," Riley said. "There are none. I have none. The players should have none. ... Tonight, we didn't hardly even try." "This is definitely a step back," Quinn said. Indiana, Dec. 15th, 6-17: "There's a lot of pain," a somber Riley said. "It's very painful. Sometimes you wonder. I'm not trying to get on a philosophical bent here, but when you're given everything that you've ever wanted in your profession, you wonder why that you feel such pain. You say why, why give me all this and make me feel pain?" "Everybody needs to figure out a way they can help with this, doing something 1 percent better," Wade said. "If everybody does something 1 percent better, we'll be a better team." "I keep repeating myself: We don't play defense," Haslem said. "That's our problem." Asked if even a coach like Riley can say anything to turn this around, Haslem quickly said: "Nope." "He can't save us," Haslem said. "The only person that can save us is us. He's been around a long time, he can tell all the stories he wants. But as a team, we've got to do what we've got to do. Coach is doing his best. As a team, we've got to step it up."
Ignoring the whole THEYRE ALL MILLIONAIRE OMG thing I don't see how anyone should feel sorry or hate on the Miami Heat They traded for Shaq for a chance at a ring, and they got it done That's it They set out a goal and accomplished it, most people can't even do that in smaller scales
Exactly. They had one goal in mind when trading for Shaq. And guess what, they got their ring. Boston is doing the exact same thing and I wouldn't be surprised if they get a ring this year or next year. Fact of the matter is that the West teams beat the crap out of each other during the playoffs while the East NBA Finals rep has a cake walk. If you have to mortgage your future in the East, now is the time to do it.
The Shaq trade was never a good move. Everyone knew he wasn't worth the money he is being paid. They got lucky winning a championship, mostly by Wade, not because of Shaq. And I never liked Riley. Big ego, cold hearted, stubborn kind of guy.
but they won a championship. that's the most important thing. Riley is still a HOF coach, would be a great coach for the Rockets .
I felt that acquiring Shaq was not really crucial for their championship run. Wade was playing insane, not to mention the officiating. And Dallas happened to beat all the good teams in the West and choke in the Finals. All these had nothing to do with Shaq. Mourning was a good center who could have been enough for they to get to where they did. His only problem was not being able to play a lot of minutes. All they needed was a good backup for him. With the players they traded away for Shaq, they could get a good backup center plus some good role players, who would have been still with the team now. But all these are just "what if" scenarios. We will never know for sure.
I'd rather have Shaq than Lamar Odom, no matter how old Shaq is. Shaq is still 300 something pounds underneath the hoop and he can still board and play D. Dallas was exposed by Miami like they were exposed by Golden State, they can't stop penetrating guards (hey Tmac!) like Wade or Baron Davis.
