Thu, Mar 10, 2011 page19

• Pat Riley looms in the shadows as Heat flounder

  • NY Times News Service, NEW YORK
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  To fix the Miami Heat, somebody is going to have to figure out what exactly is wrong with them.

  Are the Heat’s mounting failings against quality opponents merely a matter of unrealistic expectations created by a summer of free-agent hysteria and grandiose muscle-flexing that had more to do with celebrity culture than championship basketball?

  Was the union of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh an inherently flawed project, conceived in the image of the Boston Celtics’ “Big Three,” while ignorant of the evidence that Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen formed a far more complementary trio? Is there something in James’ makeup — or more likely, his skill set — that in end-game situations reduces him to less than the sum of his wondrously athletic parts?

  The answer to what ails the Heat might well be found in all of the above, but someone is going to have to break down the percentages and figure out the solutions. Like it or not, the most logical and credentialed candidate is El Presidente, Miami team president Pat Riley.

  We are not suggesting that Riley immediately reprise the in-house coaching coup that unseated Stan Van Gundy much earlier in the 2005-2006 season, leading to Miami’s first and only NBA championship. Not yet, anyway.

  It is still premature to dismiss the Heat as a title contender in a season in which they have already been declared the second coming of the 1995-1996, 72--victory Chicago Bulls (preseason), an overrated flop (late November), a budding dynasty (Christmas) and recently a South Beach bully capable of kicking sand in the face of only NBA weaklings.

  By most accounts, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is a capable young coach who deserves to see this season through. However, there will be a case to be made for Riley to again appoint himself coach — reluctantly or otherwise — should the Heat bomb in the playoffs.

  Contemporary history speaks to the value of a coach with his own stardust coating when it comes to maximizing the production of the most gifted and talented. Phil -Jackson coaxed three titles from the contentious marriage of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles. After taking a critical beating for removing Van Gundy, Riley persuaded O’Neal to defer to the young Wade during the title run, while some news media cheerleaders were still promoting the big man for most valuable player.

  After James’ lefty layup attempt over the spidery Joakim Noah nearly cracked the backboard and the Heat lost a one-point game to Chicago on Sunday, he stood up and promised his teammates he would not continue failing them at the finish. Implicit in the vow was that he would continue getting the ball in those make-or-break moments.

  So who will notify James when the time comes (if not now) to try someone or something else with the game on the line? Who will tell him to go be the league’s richest decoy and crash the offensive boards? In his eight seasons, James has not had a coach with more clout than him.

  A month into his time with the Heat, when the team stumbled out of the gate and Spoelstra -reportedly scolded him for wasting time at practice with long trick shots, James “accidentally” bumped the coach on the way to the bench.

  He is perhaps the league’s best all-around player and the most physically imposing non-center ever — and one of the most predictable stars to defend in a half-court set at the end of a game.

  Meanwhile, Bryant can beat single coverage anywhere on the offensive end. You could name a dozen NBA stars with more variety and whom you would rather see with the ball within countdown of the final buzzer — including Wade and possibly even Bosh.

  It is one thing to talk about holstering one’s ego for the sake of the collective. Maybe James thought this would be easy because he assumed — correctly thus far — that the major sacrifices would be made by Wade. However, if that must change, who has enough courtside juice on a nightly basis to help him grasp the axiomatic logic that everyone will eventually be better off when less of him becomes more?

  That would be Riley, the creator, who in most cases outranks the King.
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