Heat Training Camp Starts Tomorrow, Moves Still Coming?
I have been kind of dreading the upcoming basketball season. Not because I dislike basketball, but I’m concerned about the state of the Miami Heat. Will Shaq conveniently injure himself to take an easy exit for the first half of the season and slip away to an extended summer vacation at Shaqapulco or will him and the guys realize this might be the last shot and come into camp with some extra motivation? Will Antoine Walker give us all nightmares of him standing on his tippy toes shooting threes from the Heat locker room? Pat Riley explains no…
”It’s a week or so away from training camp, and we’ve got a full house in there,” Riley said, reflecting on the unusually high buzz of precamp activity at the facility. “All of the guys were there, which is the first time in three years they’ve all been [early]. You look in there and guys were on bikes, on weights, playing ball. The spirit of these guys getting back together has been good.”
All players are expected to report by tomorrow for the start of Camp Riley. He expects everyone there, including Dwyane Wade who is on the road to recovery from his offseason surgeries. Wade has begun some light basketball activity but is expected to miss the entire training camp and probably the first few weeks of the regular season. Even though Wade will not participate in camp, he expects to be there and motivate the rest of the squad…
”One thing that changes everything is losing — it gets you focused, back to being a student of the game and listening to the coach,” Wade said. “As leaders of this team, me Shaq and Alonzo [Mourning] have to set that tone.”
Set the tone young man because at this point, tone is the only thing we are riding on.
Rumor Alert: The Fanhouse has picked up on a blurb from The Sporting News that Pat Riley could be ready (and desperate) to make one more splash before the season. That splash could be the revisting of the Mike Bibby and Ron Artest trade talks. If you had your choice, who would you go with and be willing to give up?
