Heat Hurting
The NBA pre-season is in full swing, and for the Miami Heat’s roster of old men veteran players, the competition is already taking its toll. The Heat have dropped all four of their pre-season contests, but it’s the dropping of their star players from active duty that is causing the team some stress. The latest casualty was Shaq O’Neill, who left Saturday’s game against the Bobcats with a bruised thigh. It was later reported to be just a bruise, and nothing more serious, but the team can hardly stand to be without the services of either of its two big stars. Although the team did win its division last year, it lost in the playoffs to the New Jersey Nets, and saw O’Neill and Wade each miss about half of the season with injuries.
In Monday’s practice, 8 out of the team’s 20 preseason players were relegated to watching from the sidelines. Among the wounded were Wade (out for the preseason after knee and shoulder surgeries), Jason Williams (shin), Anfernee Hardaway (quadriceps), Wayne Simien (knee), and Michael Doleac (hip). Although none of the injuries appear to be severe, having almost half of a team’s players on the bench is never a good thing.
With everyone healthy, the Heat could be a dangerous team this season, with a chance to advance far into the playoffs. Even with only about a half a season from Wade and Shaq, the team still managed to win its division, and make the playoffs last year, winning 43 games and finishing 6th in the East. This year, the East figures to be a much tougher conference, with Boston adding lots of star power to its team, as well as Orlando with Rashad Lewis.
Whether or not there’s a favorite to win the East right now is anyone’s guess, but Miami should have as good a shot to represent the conference in the finals as anyone…assuming of course, the team’s old timers can hold up for 82+ games.
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