Unbelievably bad season in every way has me actually feeling sorry for the 2006 champs

SCOTT JACOBS

Chumps. Losers. Degenerates. D-Leaguers. No namers.

Your 2007-2008 Miami Heat!

For the worst team in basketball, not even two years removed from its first and only championship, the Heat have suffered through their worst season of basketball ever. Nope, not even their innaugural year, in which they lost 17 games in a row can top this nightmare, because people were just happy to see a pro basketball team in South Florida. Now, 20 years into what has been a rocky, wild, up and down run, the Miami Heat have hit rock bottom.

It’s not just their record, which is the worst in basketball. It’s not the fact that Shaquille O’Neal, now rejuvenated with the Phoenix Suns is completely defacing the franchise and the likes of Ricky Davis and Chris Quinn. It’s not the fact that Miami’s 54 points against Toronto were the lowest put up since the shot clock era. No, it’s all of that and so much more.

Miami’s season was almost predictable. Okay, so no one could have expected this, but the signs were there. During the off-season, Riley was unable to lure a pair of Milwaukee Bucks free agents to South Beach (Of course the irony is that the Bucks have lost to the Heat twice, the only team in basketball to do so). Miami lost James Posey, Eddie Jones, and Jason Kapono to free agency and got NOTHING in return. Miami’s free agent signings of note: Penny Hardaway (eventually cut) and Smush Parker (an expensive buy out) were morbid failures in every sense of the word.

The ship was sailing. The championship team was just a shell of itself.

D-Wade didn’t get into the action until eight games into the season. By that time, Miami was already five feet under. Shaq played half asleep when he was in, although he mostly just found really nice suits to wear when he didn’t feel like playing, on the bench. Pat Riley took a ton of heat (pun intended) for his team’s lack of heart, killer instinct, lack of continuity.

A few days before the season Riles shipped out disgruntled Antoine Walker to Minnesota for Ricky Davis and Mark Blount. The idea was to give the team some life. In some respects it worked: Davis is the only player to play every game for the Heat this year. But the problems really came when injuries starting attacking this team like the plague: Wade came back and was oft-injured, playing through pain, clearly not the same player he was in those NBA Finals in 2006. Shaq was a no show, half hurt, half gone. Alonzo Mourning was lost for the season in a heartbreaking way.

Since then? Well, Wade is out for the year. Shaq is gone to the Suns. Shawn Marion has missed 7 of his last 8 games, Udonis Haslem is hurt, Alexander Johnson is hurt, Jason Williams, Dorrell Wright is hurt. The list just goes on forever.

It’s weird too. I was interviewing the Heat back on November 16, 2006, a few months after their championship run, and I remember a reporter asking Riley what he was most thankful for: “having 15 healthy players” was his response. Two days later Shaq got hurt, and the downward spiral has continued ever since.

Why did Miami score 54 points against the Raptors? Well, for one they trotted out seven players. Bobby Jones and Joel Anthony (No, not Billy Joel) made up their bench. Ricky Davis, Earl Barron, Chris Quinn, Daequan Cook, oooh does it even matter?

Miami had a team of all D-Leaguers on the court at one point in a recent loss. Seriously, who is Kasib Powell?

Riley took his much publicized scouting trip to see Derick Rose and Michael Beasley, and Eric Gordon, and all those fun faces. They would all look good in a Heat uniform. Here’s the thing though: Don’t you just get that gut feeling that Miami will somehow get the 4th pick. Like this season has been so bad, that the odds will somehow bite Miami in the backside? And outside of Beasley and Rose who else will help the Heat right away? That was a trick question: anybody.

Finally, this was Miami’s first four subs off their bench against the Knicks (who are actually not as pathetic right now thanks to the Heat): Joel Anthony, Stephane Lasme, Kasib Powell, and Blake Ahearn. O Miami, the season is almost over. Hang in there for a handful more of games and this nightmare will soon be over. And heck, maybe Kevin McHale will jump from the T-Wolves to the Lakers and dump Kobe Bryant in your lap. Well, someone has to dream. Right?

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