Were Miami Heat Players Actually Crying After Yesterday's Game?

By Michael J. Mooney Mon., Mar. 7 2011 at 5:16 AM

We know from Tom Hanks' famous quote in A League of Their Own, "There is no crying in baseball!" But is there is crying in basketball?

If you believe what Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra had to say after yesterday's close loss to the Bulls, yes, Heat players were shedding tears in the locker room after the team's fourth straight loss -- the fifth in six games.

Who was crying, Spoelstra did not say, but in the middle of a rant about how affected the team is by consistently losing to the best teams in the conference (in the ESPN clip above), he said: "There's a couple of guys crying in the locker room right now."

Was it LeBron James crying? He missed what would have potentially been a game-winning shot in the last few seconds for the fourth straight game -- this time missing a layup over the outstretched hands of Bulls center Joakim Noah. This was also the third time this season LeBron has lost to Derrick Rose, who is considered the front-runner -- over LeBron -- for this year's MVP award.

Was it Dwyane Wade crying? He missed a follow-up jump shot (after rebounding LeBron's missed layup) as the clock wound down.

Was it Chris Bosh? He's an emotional guy. (It sure looked like he was crying in a news conference last week.)

You know who should be crying? The poor guys at the Hollywood sports bar Whiskey Tango -- the bar that has the running promise to pay for your bar tab (up to $25) every time the Heat loses. The first loss of the season alone cost the bar $4,000. This recent meltdown -- and the fact that there are still six straight games with winning teams ahead -- is enough to, well, bring someone to tears.

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Tags:

crying, Erik Spoelstra, immaturity, LeBron James, Miami Heat

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Virgil Starkwell

A team that has succeeded purely on the physical talent on 3 players, which as we see now, is not enough to compete at the highest level. Their offense has no rhythm and no team flow. They don't set enough picks, screens, etc: There isn't nearly enough movement without the ball. Essentially, everyone stands around while the Big Three play schoolyard basketball.

It is an embarrassment and the team is a f'ing disgrace to the game. Beating up on the lower echelon of teams is meaningless; they cannot beat the best teams.

Lebron tries to take on the entire oppposing team for the last shot and puts up a ridiculous low percentage shot. Wade is lazy on defense and only plays hard intermittantly. On the offensive end, Wade still leaves his feet too often without knowing where he is going with the ball. For every circus shot he makes, there is a corresponding turnover. Bosh is pretty good, but he has no post game whatsoever, thus making him a soft 4. Thus, all three stars face up to the basket, leaving the team with no presence in the post. They certainly have no Center that they can rely on consistently and obviously no point guard.

This is the the formula for success.

1) Wade needs to move to the point and start defending the opposing team's point guard, with the hope that he can shut down a Rondo, Rose or Billups. If he can contribute 12-15 points--and more importatnly--8-10 assists, this would be a huge contribution overall.

2) Spolstra needs to design an offense that gets the bench players involved more, especially Mike Miller. Instead of always launching up 3's, he needs to design plays for them in the 15-18 ft. range. Miller is the key to their offense, because they have no contribution from their bench due to a lack of a gameplan that gets them involved.

3) Lebron needs to stop hogging the ball on the last play and be prepared to pass to the open man after he draws the defense in to defend him. This circus act bullshit is failing.

Now, does Spolstra have the balls to make this change, because it would require asking Wade to start hustling on defense, bring the ball up the court and start creating for his teammates instead of that circus bullshit he engages in for half the game.

Shaun

heat bottom line need a pg every team has exposed them with star a star pg , rondo rose nelson . what are they gonna do against them come playoff time lol they cant avoid all of them. bottom line there not ready . and wont be for long . and dont tell me the signing of bibby makes them good bibby is washed up.