Empty the Bench

Stan Van Gundy, Shaquille O’Neal and Pat Riley Photo Credit: Gary Rothstein/Icon SMI

The story of the day has undoubtedly been the Miami Heat franchise sinking to a new low. They lost to Minnesota last night, unquestionably the NBA’s worst team. Miami has the second-worst record in the NBA, they have no shot at making the playoffs, Shaq appears completely uninterested in playing and Dwyane Wade can only hobble around for so long. It’s only early January, but Miami’s season is over. And what’s this? Pat Riley wants out?

How convenient.

There have been published reports that Riley will step down as coach at the end of this season, and some have even speculated it could come sooner than that. Riley denies the reports, but has publicly mentioned soul searching regarding his roles as team president and coach. The Heat are a mess, but it’s Riley’s mess. He built the team. He forced Wade to return early from a shoulder injury, mortgaging Wade’s career. And would there be any talk of stepping down if they were in the playoff hunt? Almost certainly not. Remember, this is the guy who stepped down as coach twice in Miami during other embarrassing seasons. It’s also the guy who forced Stan Van Gundy out of the job just 21 games into their championship season- even though Riley admitted to having not looked at a playbook in two years. Van Gundy sat on the Heat bench for 11 seasons as an assistant and then eventually as a head coach, only to be ousted at the first sign of trouble when it finally looked like they had a legit chance at a title. Van Gundy officially “resigned” when Riley took over, but nobody buys that. Van Gundy was pushed out. And while Van Gundy did receive a championship ring, word is he hasn’t even looked at it.

More and more it looks like Riley only wants to coach when Miami is playing well, when he can take credit for their successes and get another ring, but wants nothing to do with it when things look grim. He’s without question one of the all-time great coaches in NBA history, but recent events–starting with Van Gundy’s forced resignation– are an unfortunate tarnish on that proud resume.

There is some poetic justice in all of this though, as Van Gundy is now at the helm of an extremely promising young Orlando squad. He has perhaps the best pure center in the league on his roster, a 22-year-old by the name of Dwight Howard, and job security with a team that should compete for titles in the coming years. Miami has no future at the moment.

Around the League:

- There’s a chance Toronto Raptors’ 27-year-old rookie Jamario Moon could be invited to the NBA’s Slam Dunk Contest. He’s a dunk-contest veteran from other venues, and word is Moon will be ready if he gets the nod. While there are plenty of other guys we’d rather see, a Moon selection wouldn’t be a huge disappointment. The 6′8″ forward is one of the season’s biggest success stories, emerging as a starter for Toronto and one of their best help defenders, and he plays like he has rockets in his shoes.

- On the flip side, it looks like Nate Robinson will not be involved in the Slam Dunk Contest this year, and thank goodness. We get it, he’s a small guy who can jump. The novelty has worn off. And as Alan Hahn said, “The league usually tries to bring in new faces every so often, but you can’t deny N8s crowd appeal. What you can deny him is 15 chances to complete a dunk.”

- Last week Isiah Thomas said that he hoped to get Jerome James, the biggest mistake of a GM career defined by mistakes, back on the court soon. Thomas said that he thought James could provide about ten minutes of interior defense a game, an extraordinarily modest return from a guy who will make about $19 million from 2007-2010. So what’s the latest word on James? He’s feeling good:

Jerome James walking out of the Moody Bible Institute after practice on Monday repeating the refrain, “The NBA is Faaaaan-tastic.” Someone noticed his cheery mood and asked if he was close to returning to action. “Nah man,” Jerome replied as if he found the question amusing. “I’m not ready.”

At least somebody is having fun in New York this season…

- Nobody can “make change.” Nobody. According to LeBron, “Dwight’s the only man in the world who could do something like that.” Alas, not even the superhuman Dwight Howard could perform such a feat.

- The latest Nike Air Jordan, the Air Jordan XX3, has been manufactured by environmentally friendly means. Nike, please stop in this environment-conscious endeavor. The New York City weather the last three days has been amazing. It’s been downright balmy up here. Like Mr. Burns said, “Nature started the fight for survival and now she wants to quit because she’s losing? Well, I say hard cheese!”

- He’s a great player and talent, but for some reason the Washington Wizards have a better record with Gilbert Arenas out of the lineup this season, and apparently he’s the only veteran who doesn’t take the game seriously. On a young team that has been lacking in focus, could his cavalier attitude in the locker room be a bigger distraction than the team lets on?

- NBA players are endorsing Barack Obama with their wallets, but the team executives are throwing their weight behind Hillary Clinton.

Gilbert Arenas Photo Credit: Mark Goldman/Icon SMI

Trade-O-Rama:

With the NBA trade deadline just over a month away, a look at some of the (very) early rumors of the day…

-The 76ers’ Rodney Carney is generating a lot of interest. The versatile and athletic 16th pick from the 2006 draft hasn’t done much yet, but there’s still a lot of potential with this kid.

-The Heat are in dire need of a strong point guard, but the team is going nowhere and neither Andre Miller nor Luke Ridnour make sense in Miami- but they both look like strong candidates to be moved before the deadline.

-Could Isiah Thomas be interested in disgruntled Damon Stoudamire? Nah.

-Ronald “Flip” Murray is a pure scorer and combo-guard who could help somebody, but he’s not playing for the Pistons and should be on his way out of Detroit.