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Heat Buzz: All Star Break News

Earlier in the season I was having a hard time writing about the Miami Heat. I guess I came into the season with such high expectations that I figured it would be easy to cover the Heat night in and night out while they are trying to defend there title. Boy was I wrong. Not only is it hard to get back into basketball early in the season but when your team is playing horribly, it’s even harder. So that leaves us at the All Star Break at .500. I guess I’m happy with that and the general consensus agrees (yeah Dude, you are the general consensus). Considering what this team has gone through for the first half of the season, .500 is pretty respectable, even in the crappy Eastern Conference. Imagine if this team was .500 and didn’t have all the health issues and setbacks during the season, then we could panic. Couple of notes on a slow day…

• Eddie Jones’ addition looked like it could be a case of duplication on a team that already features James Posey as its perimeter defender and timely three-point shooter. It turns out that they can work in tandem, and do so quite well. Because of their defensive versatility and overall experience, Posey and Jones have worked well on the court, primarily on the defensive end. Given that both can guard either the point guard, shooting guard or small forward, it makes defending off screens a lot easier for the pair. And with both on the court at the same time, the Heat could have its best perimeter defensive unit since Shaquille O’Neal arrived in 2004.

”We talk to each other probably more than anybody on the floor,” Jones said. “It’s like we’ve got that connection.”

I had this feeling that the addition of EJ would leave Posey with less minutes but ever since EJ has come back, Posey has really elevated his game. The other night they worked real well together against Portland. Posey setup EJ with a sweet back door cut for the layup. Made my mouth drop. Wish I could find the clip from that game.

• Before taking his medical leave of absence Jan. 3, Heat coach Pat Riley wouldn’t say whether an angry kick to a locker-room door aggravated his knee condition and expedited the need for surgery. On Tuesday, however, he all but confirmed it when he was asked if his players needed a break from him.

”I think I might say that a good swift kick in the door helped everything,” Riley said with a laugh.

If you think about it, things could have gotten much worse in the locker room had Riley stayed. I’m glad Riley is back and looking forward to seeing him back on the bench after the break.

• Riley said age and an occasionally inflamed Achilles’ tendon are his only concerns with Gary Payton. And he said Jason Williams was ”at the top of his game” before a slight abdominal tear stalled his momentum. That’s why he doesn’t intend on paying a big price to acquire a quality point guard.

It’s a shame because every time J-Dub starts getting healthy, he seems to have a major setback. I agree with the Herald, J-Dub was playing his best ball of the season prior to his injury. Hopefully we can see him back soon playing back to back games.

• Sacramento has been actively trying to trade Mike Bibby, but with three years and $40.5 million remaining on his contract, he falls under the pricey category that Riley is trying to avoid.

”I’ve thought about it to be honest, but there isn’t anything out there that would be better than that that wouldn’t extract a big price from us,” Riley said.

Everyday I am torn on whether the Heat need to make another move to get stronger. If this team played consistently good basketball I wouldn’t flip flop like I do. One night they look like champs the next they look like chumps. I am worried about our defense and the amount of points in the paint we are giving up every night. If we acquire someone, they need to be highly skilled on the defensive end.