With NBA off to the races, Heat risk getting left in dust

MIAMI — There has been no sugarcoating the start of the Miami Heat’s two-game losing streak: The Sacramento Kings ran them off the court Monday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Then came another pace the following night the Charlotte Hornets.

Now the concern is about a return to life in an even faster lane, with the Atlanta Hawks up next, on Saturday night, the team loss at against currently playing fastest pace.

“We’re a great halfcourt defensive team, for the most part,” guard Dwyane Wade said after Thursday’s practice at AmericanAirlines Arena. “But these teams aren’t letting you set up too much. The biggest thing is once you score, they’re getting the ball out and going and shooting the first available shot.

“It’s taking everyone around the league time to adjust to this new style everyone is playing. at the NBA’s

But if you want to win, you’ve got to do it, and it’s going to be hard. So you’ve got to make the adjustment to the way teams are playing, and that’s getting back and letting them see bodies.”

Guard Josh Richardson said too much is getting lost in the transition.

“The pace of the league has definitely gone up,” he said, with the Heat returning to South Florida before heading back out for the final two stops of the current three-game trip. “I think it’s just communication. I think sometimes we’re getting guys back and we’re just not communicating who has who, and two guys went for the same guy or two guys don’t run to anyone. It’s just working that out.”

Coach Erik Spoelstra said the disappointing aspect is the Heat knew what was coming, yet still find themselves playing from behind.

“We’ve been preparing for that,” he said. “We just didn’t handle it well. Playing the games we played in preseason, you can already see that everybody was playing much quicker.

“You have to be able to have next-play speed right away, regardless of what happens, and be able to get a couple of guys back and then that’s only part of it. You now make quick decisions, communicating who’s got who and covering. We’re capable of doing that better than we did against Sacramento.”

The Heat’s previous approach to such whiplash had been slowing the pace on offense. But Spoelstra said you can’t allow defensive issues to compromise the offense.

“You have to understand the flow of the game, context, score, time, and pick your spot when maybe you have to execute something halfcourt and make them move their bodies a little bit more than you normally would,” he said. “All of these things are part of building a team IQ.

“That will be something that we’ll continue to work on. That doesn’t mean that we’ll try to play slower.”

Point guard Goran Dragic said with opponents even running off made baskets, it ultimately stands as a defensive issue.

“If they get a rebound, they’re going to run anyway. It’s not an issue,” he said of the Heat’s’ offensive execution. “We feel like we’re well prepared conditioningwise. We just need to choose our spots when to run and when to play action to the end.”

And then, Wade said, become less choosy when it comes to specific defensive assignments.

“That’s something we talked about a lot in the Sacramento game, especially after the start of the game,” he said. “We can’t all run back to our man. It’s not like there’s post-ups in this league like that, anyway. At least for a little while, you can guard fours and fives. You just got to get back and match up and let them see bodies.

“It’s a communication thing, something we worked on [Thursday] in practice. Once you score a basket, you can’t take the man that’s next to you. You’ve got to get opposite side and communicate and continue to do that.”

TALLAHASSEE Florida State coach Willie Taggart wants his players to embrace what it means to be a Seminole.

After a humiliating blowout loss to Clemson, FSU (4-4, 2-4 ACC) faces the challenge of extending a streak of 41 consecutive bowl bids. The Seminoles have little margin for error the rest of the season, and it would be easy to give up now after falling 59-10 to the Tigers.

Taggart, however, believes in the benefits of high expectations.

“Here at Florida State, it’s such a rich tradition [of winning] and our fans haven’t been in this position before,” Taggart said. “All this is new to them, too, so they’re learning. We need them to continue to have expectations because that’s how we’re going to get back to where we need to be quicker.”

Taggart was once an FSU fan with high expectations. Born in August 1976, Taggart was just a few months old when Florida State last finished the season with a losing record (5-6).

Now the life-long Seminole fan must find a way to secure two more wins in order to lock in bowl eligibility and a possible winning record.

The streak was in danger of ending last year when interim head coach Odell Haggins took over following the departure of Jimbo Fisher, who left before the 12th and final

“You have to be able to have nextplay speed right away, regardless of what happens.” — Heat coach Erik Spoelstra