Dwayne Wade Shuts it Down; Thanks Riley

The Miami Heat continue to do there part for the environment, producing exactly no heat. Dwayne Wade has officially shut it down for the remainder of the season, including the playoffs (AHHHHH HA HA HA). Following move after move that signifies the absolute black hole this franchise is in, this last one can hardly be considered a surprise.

To start the year the Heat were just terrible. The league held it's collective tongue, though. The only comments were to the effect that everything would be fine when Wade returned from his shoulder injury.

As the losses piled up with no sign of improvement, the talk of Wade's return seemed to remind Ricky Davis that there is a glimmer of talent within him some where and he and better shine it up to coincide with Wade's return. When Wade returned assumptions were made about Shaq, Davis and all of the Heat's play rising to meet the ability of Wade.

One problem, Wade's ability seems to be hiding under something thicker than Dan Le Batard's chest hair. Now Shaq has been dealt and Wade has shut it down. Wade certainly can't be faulted, Head coach and GM Pat Riley said recently he was planning to skip a few weeks. Planning on taking the time to scout players in NCAA tournaments.

I can only imagine how that went over with Wade "Sounds great coach. See you next season, my uhhh, let's say... knee hurts."

Now with this season a complete waste, Shaq gone to Phoenix (woo hoo a win, over a team with talent), and Wade on the shelf Shawn Marion has got to be wondering how fast he can get to Boston, or Detroit, hell he's probably take Minnesota right now.

If the team doesn't seem commited to winning—trading away a legendary player for a contract move, the coach doesn't seem commited to winning —yet another early exit when the team plays poorly, we certainly can't expect the star player to grit it out. It will be interesting to see what Marion can do with a team that has zero pressure to win and no real stars other than him.

The Good News About the Miami Heat 12 Game Slide

As the Miami Heats rapid decline continues I sat down to review the situation and figure out a solution. Here is a post a put up previously

Written Dec 19, 2007
Gather round kids, I want to tell
you a story of a slick looking leader. Who took his young star point guard, a talented starting Shooter, as well as a PF, and SF, a few strong bench players he could occasionally rotate into that starting rotation in order to match up well , and one aging center who is still hanging on to prove he still has it. They had won before, they had dominated before, but now it was nearing the end. What would become of their final
run together, you ask? They had a strong season and made a small push into the
playoffs. Nice story right. Well look there is a sequel.
I want to tell you a story of a silver haired leader. Who took his young star point guard, a few talented starters, a few strong bench players he could occasionally rotate into that starting rotation in order to match up well, and one aging center who is still hanging on to prove he still has it. They had won before, in fact they had been champions before but now it was nearing the end. What would become of their final run together, you ask?
Lets wait to see. Riley seems to have infinite patience with aging centers. I do not see him pushing Shaq out, but the time is rapidly nearing when that Lakers trade is looking less and less foolish. Yes the Heat got their Championship and Kobe has
yet to see a ring since Shaq left but the whole argument at the time was that
Shaq wanted this long deal so he could hang on forever. Well how long is all
that weight going to hold Miami down, at least the Lakers are on the up swing,
Shaq and his contract still has the Heat moving the wrong direction and I think they are a year from hitting the bottom and that they will spend 2 more years there
before they turn it around.

In re-assessing this situation it has gotten both worse and better. Since the situation has continued to spiral towards terrible. Instead of at least leveling off at really bad. It is obviously worse.
This is actually the best thing that the Miami fans could hope for. If this were to become a tolerably bad situation, the Heat would continue to look at minor tweaks and band-aids in order to improve. At this point I think even Pat Riley would have to acknowledge this situation can only be solved with some High Explosive.
Look on the bright side, Heat fan your next game is against the knicks