Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Heat feel some heat
Team’s players out to get back their edge after 2-3 start.
MIAMI — What the Miami Heat had here was a failure to communicate.
At least that’s what the Heat hope amid this 2-3 start, that such concerns have moved into the past tense, after a team meeting prior to Sunday’s practice at AmericanAirlines Arena.
“Every season is different,” guard Goran Dragic said. “Every season, it’s not like we expected to have immediately that chemistry like we finished the season.”
So the players hashed it out in real and raw terms.
“We had our discussions this morning,” forward James Johnson said. “We aired it out this morning. A lot of people took heat. I think it was the best thing for us to do, even more important than film. That’s what this culture is about, that’s what we’re about — staring guys in the eyes, telling guys the truth and that’s how you show you really love somebody.”
So they shared the love, in a somewhat visceral manner.
“We made a great step in the right direction today,” forward Justise Winslow said, with last season’s 11-30 start a haunting memory. “I mean it’s a concern of ours, but it’s not the end of the world.”
What Johnson said can’t happen is maintaining an ongoing Hassan Whiteside Watch, with the center having missed the past four games with a bone bruise on his
left knee.
“We’re going to keep fighting through it and figure out ways to win without him, because you never know, it’s a long season. You never know ... he might be out the rest of the season or he could be out a couple more games,” he said, exaggerating the possibilities as a way of making his point. “But we need to figure it out now.”
Coach Erik Spoelstra said Whiteside was limited to non-contact work Sunday, terming him “very doubtful” for tonight’s game against the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves, the fifth game on this season-longest six-game homestand.
“We’d like to get him some contact,” Spoelstra said of the optimal plan before a Whiteside return, “but this was a good step.
“He certainly is making progress. That’s why we’re all encouraged, just to see him down here. He’s working, he’s jumping, he’s running, and hopefully there’s no pain tomorrow.”
Spoelstra also attempted to put perspective on the pain that led to Sunday’s team meeting.
“Every season’s different,” he said. “I love all the emotions that players go through. I don’t even care if it boils over. It means you care. And our guys in the locker room really care.
“This is not the type of start that our group wanted. You can’t guarantee anything in this league.”
The element the Heat pride themselves on, and acknowledge has been missing, is intensity.
“That doesn’t mean we’re not working harder than everybody,” Johnson said. “That’s doesn’t mean we’re not the most physical. That just means that we’re not applying more effort. There’s got to be more effort to it.
“We all got to play with a chip on our shoulder. And we also all got to play with that edge again. We’re losing who we were and who we are. And that can’t happen on this team.”
Dragic said he did not regret his Saturday postgame comments comparing last season’s opening struggles to the current predicament.
“That’s why we addressed this so early,” he said. “We feel like everybody is on the same page now. We know what we need to do, as long as we put some work in. That’s why we had this meeting.
“On the floor, we don’t talk much and I think that’s a problem, because you need to be comfortable to say, ‘You need to be on the help side,’ ‘You need to do this for me.’ The list goes on and on.”
The grievances have been aired. Seventy-seven games remain.
“Guys were honest today,” Winslow said, “just opening up and being vulnerable and letting it all out there, not holding anything in. It can go a long way in this league — that honesty and connection part.”