Published>Sat, Oct 23 10 08:17 AM
The Miami Heat enter the upcoming NBA season boasting a squad that features three of the league's top players, but with that comes lofty expectations that can only be met by winning a championship.
In July, the Heat's American Airlines Arena was packed for a rowdy celebration of president Pat Riley's free-agency coup d'etat where he landed the most prized players available.
Thousands of fans gathered for the glitzy party to mark the arrival of two-times reigning NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James, fellow All-Star Chris Bosh and the decision of Dwyane Wade, the 2006 NBA Finals MVP, to stay put.
Those announcements in the span of a little more than 24 hours turned the Heat, who were eliminated from the first round of last season's playoffs, into a legitimate contender.
Still, there were plenty of people outside Miami -- and a good few in South Florida -- who felt it might have been more prudent to wait until the trio had won something before placing them on a stage for applause.
But whether that was a presumptuously premature celebration or a natural outburst of excitement at a remarkable piece of squad creation, everyone in the Heat organization knows it is all about results now.
"That's the only reason for coming here; to unite with Wade and Bosh and win a championship," James said recently. "We're ready to bring our A-game every night to try and bring that championship to South Florida."
Assembling the three on one roster is no sure recipe for success. To even get a shot at an NBA title the Heat will have to contend with a competitive Eastern Conference that includes the 2008 NBA champion Boston Celtics, the Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks.
Wade, who led the Heat to a championship in 2006, is the only one of the group to win an NBA title. Bosh has never been past the first round of the playoffs while with the Toronto Raptors and the closest James has been to a championship is a four-game sweep in the 2007 Finals.
There is plenty of debate about James's decision to leave Cleveland for Miami and the way it was handled, particularly an ill-advised television special named 'The Decision', but what is not in doubt is the player's ability.
James averaged nearly 30 points per game last season, Wade averaged 26.6 points and Bosh averaged 24 points, numbers that suggest the Heat will enter the season as heavy favorites in the Eastern Conference.
Critics suggested Riley might have put all his eggs in one basket and left himself short of depth, missing good-quality bench players.
But Riley managed his salary space so well he was able to bring in quality players like forward Mike Miller from Washington and Lithuanian Zydrunas Ilgauskas from Cleveland.
The squad also features the dependable Udonis Haslem, Mario Chalmers, James Jones and Carlos Arroyo, making a mockery of the notion the Heat would be made up of three 'greats' with a series of D-League players.
The most legitimate concern over the Heat is whether James and Wade, who have played similar roles, will be able to find the right chemistry on the court.
When asked who would take the big shot when it matters most, coach Erik Spoelstra said, "Whoever is open."
But if that question becomes complicated there may be a series of ego issues to deal with -- something everyone in the Heat organization has been keen to dismiss.
There will be many hoping the Heat fail to live up to the talk this season but, whatever happens, there are unlikely to be many dull moments along the way.
Source: Web Search
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