I have tried for several years now to ring the alarm bell on the system problem with "Heat" Culture: hard work prioritized over talent. It is literally Pat Riley's soul. Nobody has paid me any mind. The soul is malleable but Riles' and this team's soul has not been malleable. 45-37 (average) with a standard deviation of only five for ten years running is the most telling stat I can even imagine for a professional sports team. I would wager that it is unique. You can make a liar out of me but nobody has. I emailed cogno Barry Jackson last season. "Correct", on the average and the SD, he responded. "And two trips to the Finals". Okay.
You show me a team that has won a pro sports championship at a yawning talent deficit and I will confess error and we can go on another decade at 45-37 and maybe we will win the Larry O'Brien Trophy. But until somebody does I look at the "Heat" and I see 45-37 on every jersey, no hope catching the elite teams and others pushing and leap-frogging us keeping us around 8th place. Where's the fan's reason-based hope supposed to be?
