0-3 in New Era

In the last game prior to the All-Star break, the Miami Heat sunk to 9-42 on the season and 0-3 in the Wade/Marion era. The loss came at the hands of the Chicago Bulls, who were without Ben Wallace, Ben Gordon, and Luol Deng.

The Miami Heat have competed in every game since Shawn Marion has arrived, but they haven't been able to come up with a win. The main reason is because of the lack of a post presence. Without anyone named Shaquille O'Neal or Alonzo Mourning, the Bulls guards drove to the rim without a second thought, and the team scored 36 points in the paint. Chicago won the battle of the boards by a substantial margin of 18. Marion failed to get his third double-double in as many games with the Heat, and collected seven boards.

The second glaring weakness the Heat have is their floor general. It was interesting to see Pat Riley trust Marcus Banks as opposed to Jason Williams down the stretch even though Williams had his shot going for him. Banks can be a spot-up shooter for Miami, but possibly nothing more. Turnovers were in abundance last night. Wade finished with six mishaps, Marion with five, and Banks with four. The Heat need a crafty point guard who does not turn the ball over much.

Dwyane Wade and Shawn Marion combined for 53 points, but no one else even registered in double digits. Williams and Banks might have scored in double figures if they were given more minutes, but Mark Blount could not hit an open jumper, Dorell Wright was three-for-nine from the field, and it would be hard to notice Ricky Davis was even playing.

Daequan Cook, who some say was snubbed from participating from the Rookie Challenge Game, seems to have dropped to an afterthought for Pat Riley. After going zero-for-six in the Feb. 6 game against Philadelphia, Cook has only played two minutes since then. He did not play last night.

Several fans and columnists thought Cook could have a brighter future than Wright, partly because Cook already has found his niche: shooting. Now, it seems as if Wright has found his niche. He is getting more and more comfortable by shooting that baseline jumper. However, his defense was lackadaisical, as Andres Nocioni blew by him for easy dunks on a few occasions.

Another player who played lackadaisical defense was Dwyane Wade. After Wade would turn the ball over, he wouldn't run back on defense, which gave Chicago an advantage. Wade was also not able to slow down Kirk Hinrich or Thabo Sefolosha, whether it was Hinrich knocking down shots or Sefolosha getting to the foul line.

In Wade and Marion, the Heat have a nice duo of players that can fill up the stat sheet. However, this team still has a ways to go. The draft and free agency will play a big role in how long this rebuilding process will last. With the Trading Deadline looming upon us, one must wonder whether Riles will use the expiring contracts of Williams or Davis to come up with a deal.