Old Heads, Talk to me about the Late 90s/Early 00s Miami Heat teams

[Cadillac]

2000-01 Miami Heat Roster and Stats | Basketball-Reference.com

97- was about to lose to the Knicks if not for the suspensions, then went and lost in 5 to the GOAT
98- Lost to the knicks despite having HCA
99- LOL we all know what happened
00- Lost to the Knicks again
01- Swept by the Hornets




Why did this team stay catching Ls and looking weak in the offseason? nikkas stayed getting their asses handed to them by the Knicks to and looking like RS warriors.

I was just being born when they had this era. So idk the intricate details like some of you who were around.

So hopefully some of yall can break it down to me

 

[god shamgod]

Regular season team who were Pretenders as soon as mid April started,who were habitually sonned by New York.what made it even worse is pat Riley quit coaching New York to go be president of b-ball operations/head coach of Miami.1st move he made was acquiring zo mourning and they couldn’t beat the Knicks except the year brown sufflexed ward. Every year they came up short lost in the 1st round as a 1,2 & 3 seed ‘01 the hornets embarrassed this team

that pretty much sums them up

 

[god shamgod]

Dp

 

[Collateral]

Zo wasn’t the man to lead them to the promise land. His supporting cast wasn’t enough. The Heat were just happy to be one of the best teams for a while (in the regular season) and I don’t remember them being taken seriously like that as contenders.


OP is a 00’s baby. shyt makes alll the sense in the world now, considering how you be posting.

 

[Devil Plisken…CMS]

At one point didn't they have a starting lineup of Zo, Mash, Thunder & Hardaway? There was a belief that this team was title contenders

 

[Devil Plisken…CMS]

Zo wasn’t the man to lead them to the promise land. His supporting cast wasn’t enough. The Heat were just happy to be one of the best teams for a while (in the regular season) and I don’t remember them being taken seriously like that as contenders.


OP is a 00’s baby. shyt makes alll the sense in the world now, considering how you be posting.

I remember Tim being their go to guy in clutch moments.

 

[Collateral]

I remember Tim being their go to guy in clutch moments.

Yeah Hardaway was a dog. There was that one year where he was straight slaughtering the Knicks. But there’s a reason why they didn’t get far because their 2nd best player was a 6 foot guard. His numbers declined every year after his first All Star with MIA, Mashburn didn’t start turning up until after he left MIA. Those Heat teams are memorable and fun as hell, but in the bigger picture they definitely underachieved and so did Zo individually imo.

 

[JT-Money]

They got exposed in that first round against Penny and Orlando. It was all she wrote after that.

Bulls knew they could crush them once Penny damn near singlehandedly beat them without 2 starters.

 

[Cadillac]

what made it even worse is pat Riley quit coaching New York to go be president of b-ball operations/head coach of Miami.

yeah I knew of this beforehand, and why it made the Knicks vs Heat matchups even more spicy because of that.

really makes a nikka think, that Riley winning in 06 with Wade and Shaq prolly was the savior to this part of his legacy. Had he not, i can imagine with the losses to the knicks and not having won post-Magic/Kareem dude would be looked at much different as a HC and overall figure in NBA history.

Pat outa have a Wade statue in his house for saving his ass

 

[Miggs]

Chokers

I never thought they were great teams but they always had 50 win reg seasons that got knocked out early so frequently....

 

[Jplaya2023]

Couldn't beat the knicks and had to contend with MJs bulls in 96 and 97. Riley made them a slow pace half court team that ultimately caught up with them in the post season. He tried to make them to the knicks when in reality they should've played more uptempo like his 80s lakers.

 

[Jplaya2023]

Cot damn are we really old heads if we remember the late 90s Heat?

 

[PHamm]

At one point didn't they have a starting lineup of Zo, Mash, Thunder & Hardaway? There was a belief that this team was title contenders

Yeah PJ Brown started too. Him and Zo made them tough to score on down low

Vashon Leonard was dope too. They were a pretty good team

 

[Mr. Brown]

My first memory of heartbreak as a fan was the Allan Houston shot

 

[Cadillac]

speaking of which, how do yall see Pat Riley as a head coach and his style?

They got exposed in that first round against Penny and Orlando. It was all she wrote after that.

Break it down, how did they get exposed? was it because Tim was not good on Defense? did they have weak wing defenders? what?