Master Motivator Pat Riley is the one who's looking
for reasons to believe
Opponent File
Miami Heat
The Heat play in the American Airlines
Arena in Miami, Fl. Here is the Miami
Heat roster.
Local Paper
Miami
Herald
Team Pages:
CNNSI.com
| Heat
ESPN.com
| Heat
NBA.com | Heat
The
Sporting News | Heat
Sportsline.com
| Heat
Head Coach: Pat Riley
2002 Draft: Caron Butler, SF (Connecticut),
selected at #10. Rasual Butler, SF (LaSalle), selected at #53.
New Players: Travis Best, G (Chicago, Free
Agency). Sean Lampley, F (CBA).
Season Goal: Overcome
the huge loss of Alonzo Mourning, develop the rookies, and try to gain
some respectibility.
Record vs. Nets: 0 - 3
Game 9: Nets
93, Heat 84
Game 33: Nets
100, Heat 80
Game 54:
Nets
84, Heat 79
Other Opponent Files
Projected Atlantic Division Standing:
Chris Carrino: 6
Champagne: 6
Frank DiGraci: 7
Ian Eagle: 6
Joe Netsfan: 6
Beat The Heat
Step up, one and all and watch your troubles on the basketball court disappear. Father Riley's Traveling Salvation Show ain't saving many basketball souls, with a record of 7 - 23 since the beginning of February. Riley's dazed and confused, with the likes of Denver, Cleveland and Chicago blowing them out. Only Denver scores less points, and after their 28-point loss to the Celtics, in which the Heat scored only 62 points, you could say the Heat have been fried in Miami. Riley's lost – with the rumblings that Alonzo Mourning will try to return from his serious illness that has sidelined him for the season, you have to wonder how much hope Riley has that he'll be saved by the big fella's return. Can the Nets scorch the Heat with a blazing start and a flaming victory? Or will the Heat lather up the sunscreen and beat the Nets by outlasting them in the sunshine of a half court game plan?
See You in Hell, Dolans: Everyone should have access by now to the YES Network, right? OK, we can bitch all day about the added costs, but you got what you wanted. So, this part of the Opponents writeup should soon go away, but the Dolans should still rot in hell, so I say, let's keep it up for the rest of the season.
- Joe
Miami Heat Cheat Sheet
The Story from Miami: Pat Riley, master motivator? In the past, sure. But this season. According to Stephen F. Holder (Miami Herald), Riley wonders if his message to the Heat in the locker room is influencing anybody. Quoth Riley: ''I don't know. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. When you're losing all the time, you as a coach feel it's not getting through. Like [Monday] night, I go home and we've lost another tough game. We had a six-point lead with five minutes to go, and it's the same stuff. We had three critical turnovers that led to five points in the last five minutes of the game. We left Sam Cassell totally uncovered in our zone twice, and he made two threes. At the end of the game, it came down to who was going to make some plays, and we didn't. It's been like that all year for us.''
Pain Game: Eddie Jones , G (ankle) Sean Marks, F (elbow) and Alonzo Mourning, C (out for the season with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a kidney ailment) are on injured reserve.
Controversy: Fed up with what he considered to be officials that dislike him taking it out on his players but not awarding them foul shots, Pat Riley mouthed off to anyone who would listen in December and got popped with a $50,000 fine from the league. Well, he's been at it again: another $20,000 out of Riles' pocket after a critical post-game tirade on the officiating after a loss to the Blazers. Some of the nicer things he said: "It was an absolute officiating tragedy. I thought I was at the comedy store watching some kind of comedian out there laughing with the Blazers, and talking to them, and smiling with them. It was so unprofessional."
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