Miami Heat beat writer Ira Winderman just called out Pat Riley in a way that not many have been willing to do, stating he's selling false optimism to the fans. In his words, Riley is trying to sell the fan base on making "chicken soup out of chicken feathers." It just doesn't work.
Winderman goes further in saying that the Heat is trying to chase teams in the Eastern Conference that are flat out better than them, and that the team is stuck in the worst place in all of sports - stuck in the middle and refusing to get out.
"We know this is a middling team stuck in the worst place in all of sports, in the middle and refusing to get out. You have the wonderful optimism of Pat Riley, I’m not saying anybody should go slap him in the face, but at some point when you keep trying to make chicken soup out of chicken feathers or worse, you are what you are...The reality is the teams you are chasing are better."Ira Winderman on the state of the Heat
Riley deserves his fair share of praise for what he's helped build with the Miami Heat over the last few decades. However, with how the Heat's front office has struggled to build a winner over the last few years, he's also slowly opened himself to some great criticism.
The Heat's front office needs to pick a direction
And it's not even just the fact that the Heat aren't winning championships anymore. The biggest issue for the Heat is that they're stuck in the middle, and they refuse to admit that.
As Winderman notes, it's the worst spot to be in. The Heat aren't good enough to be considered a serious contender, and they're not bad enough to get a high enough draft pick to find another franchise cornerstone.
They're stuck.
It's not only incredibly frustrating that the Heat's on-the-court basketball product has grown stale for the fan base, but it's almost insulting that the front office fails to admit this reality.
And they're failing to admit this reality by refusing to change anything substantial about the roster. This has been the case for years, even toward the end of the Jimmy Butler era - and, funny enough, the one attempt they made to improve the roster, it resulted in trading a first-round pick for Terry Rozier.
Not great.
The front office has to be better. And, unfortunately, as the face, that responsibility falls on Riley.
You can't get the praise without opening yourself to the criticism when it's warranted. With the way the Heat has failed on multiple fronts recently, it's fair game to criticize Riley. And he knows it.