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The Good, Bad and Miami Heat Culture: Riley or Spoelstra to blame?

By Lauren Gewirtz

MIAMI, FL - FEBRUARY 02: Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat checks his face for injury against the Indiana Pacers during the first half at American Airlines Arena on February 2, 2019 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL - FEBRUARY 02: Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat checks his face for injury against the Indiana Pacers during the first half at American Airlines Arena on February 2, 2019 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /
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MIAMI, FL – JUNE 23: Miami Heat President, Pat Riley and head coach, Erik Spoelstra introduce Bam Adebayo during a press conference at American Airlines Arena on June 23, 2017 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory copyright notice: Copyright NBAE 2017 (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL – JUNE 23: Miami Heat President, Pat Riley and head coach, Erik Spoelstra introduce Bam Adebayo during a press conference at American Airlines Arena on June 23, 2017 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory copyright notice: Copyright NBAE 2017 (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images) /

The Good, Bad and Miami Heat Culture is a bi-weekly column focusing on what has gone on with the Heat in the past two weeks, including trade deadline drama and who is to blame for the team’s struggles.

The Good

There is no way around it — these past two weeks have been rough for the Miami Heat. Between constant lineup changes and Heat Twitter looking for blame wherever they see fit, it feels like any uphill swing that this team had is nearly gone.

That being said, I am here to find a little light in what has happened.

The Heat are not completely out of the playoff race. With a 24-27 record, they sit at No. 8 in the Eastern Conference and two games behind at No. 9, are the Detroit Pistons (who are not looking so good right now either).

So why is this good? Most fans seem to be at the point where they want to blow this up and would rather have a lottery pick. While that is a completely fair assessment, I would like to see how this Heat team fairs in the playoffs.

Trey Flynn, AllUCanHeat’s site expert, said it best this week:

"“While every one of the current members of the Heatles were once grind-it-out players on minimum contracts, they all seem to have become superficial, off-brand, overhyped role players.”"

At this point, I expect to be bounced in the first round, but I would like to see the youth play together. This would give a glimpse at what the team looks like if Pat Riley decides to keep the young core — especially after all of these expensive, large contracts are gone and the Heat have a shot at getting someone that can make this team a contender again.

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