With many new faces, Heat working through some growing pains
By TIM REYNOLDS, AP Sports Writer
October 17, 2005
MIAMI (AP) -- Winning and losing is practically irrelevant now to the Miami Heat, because the slates get wiped clean when the regular season starts in about two weeks.
Still, there´s a tangible sense of urgency coming from Heat coach Stan Van Gundy these days -- not based on his team´s 1-2 preseason record, but stemming from the high-turnover, offensively troubled brand of basketball the club has displayed in those exhibitions.
The Heat are averaging 22.7 turnovers per game in the preseason, which continues on Tuesday night at home against the Orlando Magic. Miami is shooting 31.7 percent from 3-point range, 61.9 percent from the foul line, and the Heat are playing far from the level Van Gundy would prefer to see two weeks into training camp.
``What we have is a lot of guys capable of making plays,´´ Van Gundy said Monday. ``And what happens a lot is every guy who has the ball is trying to make that play and there´s nobody just willing to make a simple play and throw the ball back on a pick and roll and let the offense develop and make the defense move.´´
With all the new faces -- including Antoine Walker, Jason Williams, Gary Payton and James Posey -- joining holdovers like Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O´Neal and Udonis Haslem, the Heat expected to deal with some inevitable growing pains while trying to figure out how all the new pieces will fit together.
For their part, players seem largely unworried about the preseason problems.
``You can´t go to a red alert right now. You can´t call 911,´´ Payton said. ``You´ve got to let it all happen. We´ve got 82 games. It´s good that we´ve got these eight preseason games. We´ve been through three, we´ve got five more. We´ve got a lot of time to focus. We´re going to be OK. We´re going to be fine.´´
Van Gundy´s primary complaint -- at least after each of Miami´s last two games -- has revolved around the lack of ball movement. He´s seeing too many of his players try to take defenders off the dribble and create shots for themselves, instead of fully buying into the system the Heat is trying to install.
A sweeping case of me-first selfishness doesn´t seem to be the problem.
Mainly, it´s habit, what the new Heat players have been called upon to do in the past.
``When you´re in the game, your instincts take over. You want to be the player you´ve always been,´´ Wade said. ``Until you get comfortable in your role, then it´s going to be tough. And I think that´s what we´re going through right now. Everybody´s used to being a playmaker. Guys don´t have to do that any more. It can get easier for them now. We have to learn that.´´
Added O´Neal, who says he´ll make sure the Heat jells into a championship-caliber unit: ``Right now, this is the phone call preceding to the date. The phone call can go good, the phone call can go bad. But remember, it´s not how you start the date, it´s how you finish the date. We don´t have any problems.´´
Following Tuesday´s game, the Heat have three full days to prepare for their next exhibition, coming Saturday at Detroit. That starts a four-game, six-night run to close the preseason, after which Miami will have six more days before opening the regular season in Memphis.
There´s still time to get it right, but Van Gundy wants that process to accelerate soon.
``What I expect is that we play harder,´´ Van Gundy said. ``Play with more energy and life. ... Yeah, there´s a sense of urgency to start getting it right. There´s a sense of urgency to start playing the game better together and moving the ball.´´
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