HoopsHype.com NBA Blogs - Eddie Johnson

OK, so I would hope that all the Chicago fans that blasted me a few years ago when I wrote about the Bulls making a mistake by signing Ben Wallace would please apologize. Everything has virtually come true about that article. Wallace did not fit in and Ben Gordon and Luol Deng overpriced themselves and passed up good deals because they were looking at the Wallace contract. Now the Bulls are back to rebuilding and Wallace moves on to a contender. Guess what? Now you will see Wallace play like the Wallace of old with a legitimate center in Zydrunas Ilgauskas and a great player in LeBron James.

Joe Smith will help also in the interior. He is smart and steady and will be a good influence in the locker room. But the real find is Wally Szczerbiak. LeBron now has a consistent shooter that is not afraid to take the big shot and will be extremely physical, which automatically makes the Cavaliers the most physical team in the league.

Does that translate into another trip to the Finals? I don’t think so and mainly because they still don’t match up defensively with Boston and Detroit. Larry Hughes, whom I also wrote about as a desperate signing by the Cavaliers a few years ago, was their best perimeter defender and now they will be hard pressed to guard a Paul Pierce and Ray Allen combo and a Chauncey Billups-Rip Hamilton duo as well.

The Bulls have now backpedaled to where they were when Michael Jordan retired. Patience should have been preached, but the Bulls seem to be back to square one after giving up on Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler a few years ago.

OTHER TRADES

The Sonics are moving out of Seattle and creating a new identity around Kevin Durant. I really like the way PJ Carlesimo helped out his former employer by shipping Kurt Thomas to the Spurs. Thomas will provide the Spurs with everything Robert Horry used to in terms of defense and a solid threat offensively.

The Hornets are fighting all naysayers who do not believe they can continue to hold up against teams in the Western Conference and if Bonzi Wells plays up to potential, their last trade could turn out to be a steal.

Will someone please tell Chicago Bulls rookie Joakim Noah to shut up! I have never ever heard a rookie talk so much and be involved in so much controversy within the locker room. Noah, rookies are meant to be seen not heard. Shut up will you and learn.I blame this on the Bulls veterans for even allowing this rookie to feel like he is a spokesman. I remember when I was a rookie I was scared to open my mouth to say hi. I had players like Sam Lacey, Ernie Grunfeld, Leon Douglas, Phil Ford, Reggie King and Joe C. Meriweather who would slap me upside the head if I even breathed too loud.

I had to deliver a newspaper and donuts to those guys every day before they left the hotel room for practice. I only asked questions, I never suggested and I never talked loud enough to drown out their voices in a conversation.

Why?

Because as I told Scott Burrell (a rookie when I played with the Charlotte Hornets) when he asked me one day out of frustration, “Eddie, do you know everything?” I said, “No, Scott. You just know nothing!”

Scott and I are very good friends to this day and he always reminds me of that comment I made to him and today he understands why.

Rookies must learn, this is another level. Noah, I don’t think anyone has told you yet but you are not at Florida anymore. Yes, it was nice you won back-to-back titles. And yes, it was nice your team got along splendidly.

Guess what, that’s over and done with. Your reward was being drafted high and garnering a ton of attention, but now you are trying to earn the real deal contract. That is the contract that says you performed well at this level because until now the paycheck you are banking every month is based on what you did at Florida.

The Bulls don’t need a rookie explaining why he and Ben Wallace had an argument, which seems quite silly when you think about it, because Wallace has paid his dues and has a championship to boot.

Something tells me Noah feels like he knows how to win since he has two NCAA titles. Well, let’s put that team back together at this level and see where it gets you.

Here’s my advice to Noah: Just use that energy to keep improving and leave the talking to the veterans and listen because it’s called respect! Oh and yeah, please shut up.

The Chicago Bulls are in the spirit of giving Christmas gifts early and Scott Skiles was the only participant that didn’t like the gift, at least that’s what I assume. But then again, Skiles once left the Phoenix Suns in the middle of the season, so maybe he is happy to part ways with the only squad that was willing to bring his career back to life after he literally quit on his previous team – which is something only reserved for Larry Brown to do.

What I have heard prior to his firing is he has an inability to communicate with his players on a consistent basis and that a number of players had no idea what was expected of them on the court. My experience tells me that Skiles lost some enthusiasm and the players, as they always do, noticed and complained behind the scenes – which cost Skiles his job.

The overriding factor on coaches losing their job during the season is interviews with the players. And I will bet my bottom dollar that John Paxson had no choice because of player complaints – to go along with his own perception that this team was underachieving with Skiles at the helm.

Paxson is not immune to these problems either. I wrote a story already about the drafting of Ben Wallace clones (Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah) the last few years and holding on to Luol Deng when they could have had the best player on the planet in Kobe Bryant. Paxson showed his weakness by allowing Skiles to encourage him to build a team of hustlers and role players and not pull the trigger on Bryant or Kevin Garnett. I suspect Skiles wanted nothing to do with star players that would challenge his authority and compromise his theory that no player should dominate the ball. Well, I think it’s obvious where that gets you and that’s fired, because you need stars to win and the Bulls presently have none.

The Bulls did not win six championships with hustling role players. They won with megastar Michael Jordan and two superstars in Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman. The problem I have with Paxson is that he is thinking so opposite of how he won titles and this has him in line with being next to go.

Now let’s see how fast those Kobe for Luol Deng and others come to life again, huh?

By the way, Skiles might not be alone getting canned this season…

Mike Brown (Cleveland). Was exposed by Gregg Popovich last year during the Finals and seemingly has struggled to get this team to perform consistently since that sweep.

Mike Dunleavy (LA Clippers). Yes, Elton Brand is out. But this team should not be a 9-17.

Lawrence Frank (New Jersey). Three star players and no consistency – which means trouble for Frank.

Pat Riley (Miami). Oops sorry, I forgot. He can’t fire himself.

Isiah Thomas (New York). Dolan is on record as saying Isiah will not be fired, but he has to get this leaderless team playing with passion or Dolan will be forced to go back on his statement of support. I am pulling for Zeke to get through this, but unfortunately his players are showing no heart, which is extremely disturbing for any fan.

Let’s give a pat on the back to the coaches that were on the hot seat, but are now Coach of the Year candidates.

Mike Woodson (Atlanta). Has done a brilliant job of molding this young team around superstar-in-the-waiting Joe Johnson. Woodson also might be one of the best coaches in the league at drawing up plays in crunch time, which is huge for a young team.

Flip Saunders (Detroit). Had the Pistons gotten off to a slow start, he would be gone. But give Saunders credit… It is not easy to coach a team laced with veterans who have won a championship. He seems to be in control and working hard at communicating better. Check out his interaction with players as they walk to the scorers’ table before games.

Nate McMillan (Portland). Along with Woodson, he is the front runner for Coach of the Year. I felt Portland would surprise this year without Greg Oden, but not to the tune of 10-game winning streaks. Nate has convinced this team to play extremely hard and allowed Brandon Roy, a second-year player, to lead them. The rest of the league better get use to this team dominating like this in the future once Oden is in uniform.

Doc Rivers (Boston). Rivers can communicate but most importantly he is allowing the three stars – Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen – to coach on the floor. That is extremely difficult to do for a lot of egomaniac coaches that would love to be in Rivers’ position right now. If Larry Brown coached this team, I would bet that he would run plays for Kendrick Perkins in crunch time just to keep the stars humble. Rivers understands why he is 22-3 and ego will never make him feel otherwise.

We are just over a month into the season and one thing is for certain, there are a number of leaderless teams in the league and a few I will identify are extremely surprising.

A coach wears a number of hats besides coaching his team. Father figure, policeman and fireman come to mind. He would much rather tell you he wants to coach and have a parental quality when needed, but he will be happy if he can place the responsibility of policeman and part-time fireman on one or, if he is lucky, a few of his players.

People ask me all the time why I have not gone into coaching. My normal response is that I have always been afraid that I might be too much of a disciplinarian and that method would be hard-pressed to accomplish if I were not coaching experienced and committed players who actually get it when it comes to the word Team.

Take for example some great coaches like Red Auerbach, Phil Jackson, Rudy Tomjanovich, Chuck Daly, Pat Riley and Gregg Popovich. These coaches would not have been successful if it wasn’t for the leadership qualities of the great players that played for them. None of these coaches would have won multiple championships if they didn’t have players accepting and wearing one of those hats for them so they could concentrate on coaching and preparing the team more effectively.

Imagine what a coach has to police in relation to players during an 82-game season. They have to make sure they show up to practice on time, work hard in practice, play together as a team, professionalism on and off the court, etcetera. So imagine how ecstatic a coach would be if he had players that took on that responsibility and allowed him more time to focus on team and strategy. Although a coach knows he will have to extinguish some personal and emotional fires during the season – players not getting along or unhappy about playing time and their role on the team – but he will have fewer fires to deal with because of the ability of his leaders to keep players focused and on a common goal.

Could you imagine a player getting out of line on the great Boston Celtic teams while Bill Russell was playing? I could not imagine someone on the Bulls getting out of control with Michael Jordan practicing and playing harder than anyone each and every game. What about a teammate not running the floor hard when Magic Johnson was pushing the ball up the floor or not being focused on his extreme passing ability? Magic once told me that he would hit teammates in the head with the ball on purpose because they took their eye off of him.

I wonder… Was it Rudy Tomjanovich who demanded the ball should go to Hakeem Olajuwon every time down the court during the Houston Rockets back-to-back championships or was it Hakeem, who led by example with supreme effort on both ends of the court?

When I look at some teams that are playing well or underachieving with talented players, you really need to look no further than the leaders among players before you blame the coach and general manager.

TEAMS WITH GREAT LEADERSHIP

San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs are the ultimate role team. They are anchored by one the greatest players to ever play in Tim Duncan. No player steps out of his role because Popovich demands it and Duncan will not allow it to happen because of his unselfish nature and the fact that he allows Popovich to chastise him when he is not playing well, which sends a great message to the players who battle with him every night. Also don’t discount the secondary roles of Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli. David Robinson, who established this method of unselfishness by taking a secondary role to Duncan at the end of his career, should receive a tremendous amount of the credit for the togetherness of the Spurs.

Phoenix Suns

Steve Nash is not only the best point guard in the NBA, but he is the most unselfish players since Magic Johnson. When you watch Nash play you can honestly say he plays no favorites when he passes the ball. If you are open you get the ball. Who in their right mind would not want to play with him? If you watch him closely during games he never chastises teammates openly and he encourages them with high-fives when they accomplish something on the court or makes a mistake and he never wavers. When you play with someone like this you will always accept his leadership and the Suns follow his every lead. Throw in the perseverance of Grant Hill and this team has a level of class that allows them to enjoy the game the way it should be played and fans around the league appreciate it!

Dallas Mavericks

Avery Johnson has force-fed Dirk Nowitzki on the importance of leadership and it culminated into an MVP season in 2006, Dirk has learned not only to involve and appreciate his teammates but also to give them credit publicly. Jason Terry supplies the energy and enthusiasm to go along with the no non-sense style of Jerry Stackhouse. Stackhouse is legendary around the league for straightening up a teammate verbally and physically if they step out of line. Every coach needs a physical presence able to intimidate some players into following rules and regulations.

Utah Jazz

I didn’t mention Jerry Sloan among the great coaches because he has not won a championship, but he belongs there and it will be a shame if he does not win a title before he retires. I mention Sloan because he might be the best coach ever at designating leadership among his players. He demands it with his unwavering demands in practice and games. Sloan, I hear, will fine a player if his jersey is not tucked in for practice. Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams share the leadership on this team and it has showed the last few years. Leadership has nothing to do with age or experience and these two players exude it with great effort for 48 minutes. Their teammates have followed. When you mention the word Team, the Utah Jazz have defined that example for the last 15 years despite not winning a championship.

New Orleans Hornets

No surprise this team has good leadership. Byron Scott has been as successful a coach as any in the league. This should not surprise you since he falls from the Pat Riley and Magic Johnson tree. Scott has been taught by the best at establishing what Team really means and now he has one of the best young leaders in the game in Chris Paul. Paul is quickly becoming the next Steve Nash and the Hornets will reap the benefits for many years to come. Paul’s ability to get players like Peja Stojakovic and others to play above their ability is proof of what a leader can do for the success of your team.

Orlando Magic

Dwight Howard is the most imposing force I have seen since Shaquille O’Neal and what’s scary is that he could put up better stats before his career is finished. What’s so scary about Howard is how quickly he has shaken his mechanical offensive nature into a fluid Human Terminator on the court. But what I really like about Howard is his friendly nature and pleasant smile. I don’t know if he realizes it yet, but that goes a very long way with teammates and their acceptance towards him. They now try every way they can to force-feed him the ball. I also like the tough no non-sense manner of Jameer Nelson, who has seen plenty of hardships already in his young life and still exudes tremendous confidence and determination – which travels far with his teammates.

Detroit Pistons

Detroit might have the best collection of leaders in the league and that is why despite their age they will still compete for a championship the next few years. When you watch Detroit play, I immediately think of the Celtics when Bird, Parish and McHale had gotten older but still competed with a savvy desire to fundamentally make you look bad although athletically you were a much better team. Rasheed Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess, Rip Hamilton and the young but old Tayshaun Prince give the Pistons self policing and a no non-sense attitude, which every coach loves. The reason we hear more grumbling in Detroit than most places is because most of these guys have a fierce desire to lead. And yes, it can cause headaches for Flip Saunders, but he will take the headaches knowing that when these guys hit the floor they will give everything they have to win the game.

Boston Celtics

I love Kevin Garnett. I didn’t love him enough to support giving up Amare Stoudemire last summer. But let me say this again, I love Kevin Garnett. I think he is the second best leader in the game next to Steve Nash. I criticized him in Minnesota because I thought he was too unselfish and never took over like he should have, but as we see now in Boston with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, he is in the perfect environment and I am so happy for him. He has a respect for the game and his teammates that drips off of him when you watch the Celtics play. The Celtics right now are the class of the Eastern Conference and, with all due respect to the talents of Pierce and Allen, Garnett is the driving force with his unselfishness to just try and win the game anyway he can. If any player deserves a championship, it’s Garnett. This scenario is the perfect example when I mentioned all the great coaches. Doc Rivers will go from being a lame duck coach to quite possibly grabbing his second Coach of the Year award. Now whose league is this again? It’s a players’ league and don’t forget it!

TEAMS WITH NO LEADERSHIP

New York Knicks

I have taken a lot of heat for this comment, but I will say it again. The Knicks have some of the best collection of talent in the league. But one important piece of the pie is missing and that has created the inconsistency we see from night to night in the Knicks. Who should I point the finger at? Most of you want to say the coach and general manager Isiah Thomas, but didn’t I just give you the example of Doc Rivers, who had a terrible record last year but is looked at pretty favorably now that he has Garnett and his great leadership?

It’s easy to point the finger at Stephon Marbury, but Eddy Curry, Jamal Crawford, Zach Randolph and Quentin Richardson are all capable to lead and have not visually stepped up to the plate. The Knicks are so ripe to lead that Bo Outlaw could be acquired and become the best leader the first day he arrives and he would probably not play. That comment should embarrass every Knick player on that team. No way would any of the teams listed above have allowed Stephon Marbury to compromise the togetherness of the team by leaving them to battle the Phoenix Suns because the coach asked him to become a better leader on the floor and play better defense. Where was the fireman Isiah needed to talk to Marbury before he got on a plane and went back to New York?

Leadership comes from any position and it is not necessarily the point guard position, but if you want to take a high percentage of the shots and get all the accolades then you have to take pride in making it easy on your teammates to care for you and accept your dominance of the ball. Hopefully Marbury, who has had some major hardships this season off the floor, will take notice at the way the Knicks have bonded lately in his absence to play more like a team with their talent should play.

Chicago Bulls

It’s hard for me to come down too hard on the Bulls players about leadership, because I personally think everyone of them would be a role player on any of the teams listed above. If you look at the Bulls roster, I don’t think any of these players were the top guys on their college team when they got drafted. I believe they are still growing and sooner or later one of them will evolve into a powerful leader. But right now they have to do it by committee and they have failed miserably. The obvious choice is Ben Wallace because that’s what the Bulls thought they were getting, but they forget the reason Detroit did not cry too much when he left town. It was because Wallace was becoming a complainer of minutes and strategy and not privately but at times publicly of Flip Saunders. So now you have a hard-working talented team that has no big-time player leadership and because of it Scott Skiles has to wear the hat and that’s when players start to get tired of the coach.

Kirk Hinrich has to pick his head up and play like the guard everyone was thinking he would become after a solid first two seasons. He seems to be worried too much about missing shots than becoming a leader like Nash and Chris Paul. That will undoubtedly sink the Bulls further in the basement of the Eastern Conference.

Miami Heat

I never thought a team coached by Pat Riley struggle with leadership – especially when you have Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning and Dwyane Wade on the roster. I said it last year in an article and I will repeat it again… This team put every ounce of energy into a title two years ago and they are done. Riley should have blown it up and traded everyone except Wade and Shaq after that season. The Heat won with a veteran-laden team two years ago and the energy level took a major hit. Shaquille is not a spring chicken and he needs youth around him to keep him fresh and inspired. I listed Miami because they are struggling, but I really do believe they have players that want to lead. But they are a tired group – other than Wade – and it seems that he better grab the bull by the horns or the Miami Heat will make yours truly look like a good prognosticator because I was the only one who predicted before the season that they would not make the playoffs this season.

Memphis Grizzlies

Pau Gasol needs to play up to his potential and stop trying to jump ship. That attitude will not allow him to lead the team, where he is presumably the best player. The Grizzlies have very good young talent, but like the Bulls will need to find a leader that can allow Marc Iavaroni to have a solid year evaluating his team and at least get them close to the potential he expects.

I will use one of the funniest quotes I have ever heard in sports and only because it’s in reference to my beloved Chicago Bears. Dennis Green, the former head coach of the Arizona Cardinals went into a postgame tirade in reference to the Cardinals blowing a huge fourth quarter lead to the Bears last year and conducted a press conference for the archives, which is now a national commercial. He said, “The Bears are who we thought they were and we had them right where we wanted them, now if you want to go and crown their ass go right ahead, but we had them right were we wanted them.”

That’s the same feeling I have about the Chicago Bulls. They are exactly what I thought they were and that is good team that will fight and claw but always come up short. Still, some prognosticators were crowning them to win the Eastern Conference this year.

The Bulls are 1-5 and could conceivably be 1-9 after the first four games of a six-game road trip playing against the Suns, Clippers, Lakers and Nuggets.

Chicago fans are wondering what is wrong with the team that swept Miami last year and was beaten 4-2 by the Pistons in the Conference semifinals.

Let’s backpedal for a moment to last year…

Everyone thought the Cavaliers got a break when the Bulls blew an opportunity to play the Wizards last year in the first round, but Chicago caught a break too. The Heat proved to be just as bad as the Wizards and the proof is the fact the Heat have lost 19 out of 20 games going back to last season and counting seven preseason losses this year.

Also add the fact that the Pistons were vulnerable and the Bulls couldn’t take advantage. Just look at their meltdown against Cleveland in the Conference Finals.

So here is my point… The Bulls are not as good as advertised and it’s because of two fatal flaws that never seem to work out come winning time.

The first flaw is obvious and I wrote about it when Chicago signed Ben Wallace much to the chagrin of Bulls fans who peppered me with insults via e-mail. The Bulls have zero interior scoring with not one player on their roster that can command a post position and create high percentage baskets for him or his teammates. Wallace offers nothing offensively and his strengths are rebounding and blocked shots. Well, I am embarrassed to even mention that he is averaging 4.8 rebounds and 1 block per game.

That’s why the Bulls are shooting 38 percent as a team and rank 29th in the league in that area… Because teams are suffocating the perimeter players and daring them to drive or throw it down low to any big man the Bulls have on the floor.

Secondly, their go-to scorer is a 6-foot-2 guard, Ben Gordon , who is shooting 35 percent from the field and is averaging a paltry 2.2 assists per game – thus adding proof of how they are being defended. The Bulls have a team of hustlers and players with no star ability to score consistently and dominate. Yes, they can play defense. But really, what other choice do they have? That is exactly what Scott Skiles and John Paxson have been preaching, but this way of thinking is wrong – especially when it involves Paxson, who played on multiple championship teams and was nothing but a shooter himself.

They drafted Gordon, Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng – all of them outside scorers that can create problems. And then they signed a non-scorer in Ben Wallace and draft back-to-back non-scoring big men in Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah.

I look back at all those Bulls championship teams and see virtually all of their players with the ability to shoot the ball.

That’s why I am having a hard time understanding the method to this madness. Why do you pay Ben Wallace most of your payroll and then go and draft two clones? (Especially Noah, who might be a worse scorer than Wallace. Did I just say that?)

Listen, here is the remedy!

Paxson, you blew the chance to trade for Kevin Garnett and he might win his second MVP this season based on early season projections. And now you are hesitant to trade for Kobe Bryant.

Paxson, you need to listen to your conscience and stop listening to head coach Scott Skiles, who is intent on having 12 players who played like he did – diving on the floor and running through brick walls. Four or five of those players are enough.

You need Kobe Bryant, so put a package together including Luol Deng and stop thinking you are going to build a championship with draft picks. Superstars win championships.

The only wild card team with enough savvy and talent without a star player is Detroit and although I picked them to win the East, they will not win the championship. Boston has the best chance right now in the East.

Make your job easier and go with the superstar. Build around him. Kobe has a solid 5 to 6 years left in him to at least give the Bulls a fighting chance to win a title. If you don’t, “The Bulls will be who we thought they were, but they will never be crowned.”

Yes, the Bulls swept the Miami Heat in the first round and that was impressive. But they are now finding out that losing that final regular season game to New Jersey will come back to haunt them.

The Bulls could be cruising like the Cavaliers are with the No. 2 seed – the one they all but handed Cleveland with that Jersey loss. Chicago is now seeing why the Cavaliers are excited about not having to face Detroit until the Conference finals.

The Pistons are your classic example of why experience is far more important than youth and exuberance. The Bulls want to play with emotion and energy. The Pistons are playing with grit and guile and that has led to a complete domination the first two games of this series.

The Pistons just have too many weapons. The Bulls expected Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace and Richard Hamilton to be a problem, but when Tayshaun Prince is pouring in obscene numbers and Chris Webber is running the court like a young Karl Malone, what chance do they have?

Well, there is one way the Bulls can recover and that is to find a way to speed the game up. Detroit had 21 turnovers in Game 2 and the Bulls need to capitalize at home in Game 3.

Kirk Hinrich, who looks extremely lost against Billups, needs to really step up in the next two games and find a way to knock down shots and create some three-point opportunities for Ben Gordon especially.

Tyrus Thomas earned more minutes with his consistent play in Game 2 and along with Ben Wallace could ignite the Bulls speed factor with rebounding and blocked shots.

Bottom line: Bulls lose Game 3, this series is over in four games. The Pistons are closely paying attention to what the Cavaliers are doing to the Nets and they don’t want to be tired when King James comes to town.

The Bulls flat out embarrassed the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs. When the Bulls lost to the Nets to end the season and thus put themselves up against the Heat and the Pistons instead of the Wizards and the Nets or Raptors, I looked at it as a huge mistake. But the Bulls honestly looked like they lost on purpose to the Nets so they could play the Heat in the first round.

They clearly humiliated the defending champions. But when you look a little deeper… Could you really be surprised?

The Heat came into this season still celebrating last year. They reminded me of a free agent who just got paid and said “Wow, it’s over; I can rest now.” Jerome James of the Knicks comes to mind.

The Heat forgot how hard it took them to win their first NBA title. I wonder if they remembered how bad it looked being down 0-2 to the Mavericks last year in the Finals and on the way to being down 0-3 until Dwyane Wade went ballistic.

The Heat players talked about unity and effort. They talked about hunger and respect, but yet the effort they had for representing a champion the following year was disrespectful. The Heat did not represent a true champion the way multiple champions did – like the Lakers, Celtics, Pistons, Rockets and Bulls of past years.

That’s why I respect those past teams so much – because they could have laid down or become satisfied, but the hunger remained. They wanted more.

I am sure most critics will point the finger at Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade, but that would be wrong. They are not to blame for this meltdown. It was the players around them that let Miami down.

Let me explain why.

When I played with the Rockets in the 1996-97 season, we were preparing to go against the Utah Jazz for the Western Conference championship. We had a players-only meeting to air out some feelings and strategy and when it came time for me to say something, I laid it out like this…

I pointed at Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler and said, “If we are waiting for these two to carry us to the Finals, then we might possibly fail.” I went on to say that it was wrong to expect two players that have already accomplished the feat to do it again.

I then pointed to Charles Barkley and every other player in the room that had not won a title or was a role player on a title team. I said, “This is on us, not them. They have won already and if they do not win another, they have succeeded and lived up to their star status.”

Then I said that we, on the other hand, would just become players who failed to win a championship. I said that we had to prove to them that we wanted it badly and that we were willing to add everything and then some to help them reach the level to carry us to a championship and only then would I expect those two to climb to the level that we expected of them.

We failed that year, but I can honestly say every player on that Rocket team made every effort to make things easier on our stars.

I wonder if Shaq and Wade feel like their supporting cast let them down, because they did not reach the level of consistency they had last year.

Key players like Udonis Haslem, Antoine Walker, James Posey, Gary Payton and Jason Williams, who played a role in the title last season, were non-factors in this series.

The Heat organization suspended Walker and Posey earlier in the year for being out of shape and that was the first sign of the meltdown. The Heat should have known that they went to war with players that have fought for many years and probably should have looked to go with a younger nucleus this season, but Pat Riley is a very loyal coach and I suspect he felt the mistake in not going younger once training camp started and he noticed players like Walker and Payton had aged even more.

Maybe that’s why Riley decided to leave the team for surgery, but sending a message before he left by suspending Walker and Posey.

The only Heat role player that played with passion this season was Alonzo Mourning. He was the single reason why the Heat stayed competitive while Shaq was out with injury. It was not surprising that Mourning played well despite winning his first championship. After having a kidney transplant, he will never take anything for granted the rest of his life. I guess it was fitting that Mourning was the only role player to stand tall in the final game by scoring 14 points.

I will excuse Gary Payton as well because at his age and the minutes he has played in his career. He really struggled to maintain any consistency this year.

The Heat will undoubtedly be a different team around Shaq and Wade next season and if Riley can pick up a key free agent or two, things could change again for the better next season. But until then, Miami will have to suffer through the embarrassment of being swept in the first round.