Miami Heat and the dog days

Many are asking what's wrong with the Miami Heat? They just lost to the not-so-good Brooklyn Nets, and the night before were beaten by the NY Knicks. (Yes, the same Knicks that have a player named J.R. Smith, who seems to have fallen into the playful little habit of untying an opponent's shoelaces once in a while. This is a great gag -- if one is maybe a year or two out of kindergarten -- but the powers that be in the NBA aren't amused. His last little such stunt cost him $50 grand, and J.R. now finds himself being shopped around by the Knicks for whoever else will take him). But back to the Heat.

Actually, there's nothing wrong with them, other than going through the dog days of an NBA season. Let's discount the pre-season where NBA teams play 8 games. They're more like walk throughs, and hardly bitterly contested. But the regular season consists of 82 games, and that's a whole bunch. On top of that, good teams, like Miami, that go deep into the playoffs, might well wind up playing over 100 games before the season is over. And all those playoffs games will indeed be hard fought.

So it only makes sense for a team to pace itself somewhat while going through the regular season. Nobody's going to win them all, no matter how good they are. It would be foolish to go all-out during every regular season game, only to run out of gas when they needed it most -- running the gauntlet of the playoffs.

Right now, most NBA teams have played between 35-40 games. For the really good teams like Miami, they're probably bored. The know they're a lock to go to the playoffs, and there's still over 40 games remaining to sort out home court advantages. Barring a slew of injuries, would anyone seriously doubt the Heat will be no worse than the #2 seed in the East, perhaps behind only the Indiana Pacers?

At that, Miami has been resting superstar guard Dwyane Wade, who's been experiencing back spasms. Could he play if need be? Sure, and you can bet your kids' college fund he WOULD be on the court if this was playoff time. But it's not.

It's the dog days of the NBA, and they'll likely last another month or so, until the All-Star game is played on Feb. 16. After that break, look for teams to come out and start getting serious jockeying for playoff position. Right now the good teams are just going through the motions, and don't want to get anybody seriously hurt. Sure, there's some mediocre teams that have to play hard every night and hope they make it into the playoffs. And there's the bottom feeders that have no chance anyway. They just do the best they can.

So yeah, while some might wonder how mighty Miami, two-time defending World Champs, can lose to the likes of Brooklyn, the Knicks, and earlier in the season to Philly and Detroit, it's not exactly cause for alarm.

Hey, last time I looked the Heat were 27-10. Not too shabby. If they sleep-walked through a few games against teams they would normally be expected to rout -- while looking bored themselves -- it really should come as no great surprise.

It's a long season, and currently the Heat are just slogging through it. They know a different day, a different team in a different city, a different motel, and a whole lot of plane rides and air miles are in store before the lights finally go up for the playoffs.

Sure, overall, the NBA West is vastly superior to the East. But they can only send one team to the Finals.

But I wouldn't be betting those college funds against Miami waiting for them there yet again, going for a three-peat. And they might just well pull it off.

So yours truly would suggest that any who are wondering what is wrong with Miami right now -- will have that question answered in May and June.

Nothing's wrong with these guys. They're just biding their time.....