<div align="center"><font size="6"><font color="#FF0000"><font size="5">Miami Heat 2005-06 The Year of the Heat</font></font></font> <font size=""2"">By Diesel</font> </div> The 2005-2006 NBA season was the most memorable season ever for the city of Miami. From being doubted by all the critics who labeled all their new pieces as cancers, and the haters who said Shaq would never win a title without Kobe this season silenced it all. But before we get ahead of ourselves let's see the steps that led to this glorious season. <div align="center"></div> With the 29th pick in the NBA draft, the Miami Heat select Wayne Simien from Kansas University. Wayne Simien was an absolute steal for the Heat with the 29th pick in the draft. Although Simien won't really get the chance to show what he's made of in his rookie year, he looks to be a key part of Miami's future. His minutes in future seasons should increase. <div align="center"> </div> Pat Riley made some rash changes to our team that was 2 minutes away from the NBA Finals. Shaquille O'Neal was given a new contract worth 100 million for 5 years. He was previously making 30 million a year. Key player Udonis Haslem was also signed to a bigger more lucrative deal worth roughly 30 million for 5 years. The C and PF spots look to be set for another 5 years. The Heat were also involved in the biggest trade in NBA History. The Heat had to say goodbye to Eddie Jones, Rasual Butler, Qyntel Woods, and the draft rights to Albert Miralles. However they got to say hello to a much sexier group of names. Multiple all-star Antoine Walker, playmaker Jason "White Chocolate" Williams, defensive pest James Posey, and most importantly Andre Emmet! The Heat also signed Gary Payton to the veterans minumum. He looks to be looking at Shaq again for his first title. Critics have been all over the Heat for the past year for making these move. "The Heat will never win the championship to a bunch of ballhogs on their team." Some considered this Heat team a bunch of old men. (Mourning, Shaq,Payton all in their mid 30's). Just add Walker to the mix with his "horrible shot-selection" and Jason Williams who has a bad reputation and is one of the more turnover prone players in the league and you got the media watching you like a hawk. Of course the Heat had to make sacrifices to get these talented individuals. Starters Eddie and Damon Jones, Christian Laetner, and Keyon Dooling all ended up packing their bags. <div align="center"> </div> The first game of the season was a impressive 97-78 victory in Memphis. Antoine Walker made a good first impression by leading the Heat with a 25 Point and 16 Rebound Performance. However the 2nd game was a disaster. With the Heat leading in the game Shaquille O'Neal sprains his ankle and the Heat end up losing to the Indiana Pacers 105-102. Shaquille is scheduled to be out for 2-4 weeks. He would end up returning December 11 and miss 19 of the teams first 21 games. The Heat found themselves with a mediocre 11-10 record. The Critics looked to be right. <div align="center"> </div> On December 12th, 2006 Pat Riley takes the head helm of the team and is finally back in coaching. It has been 11 years since Pat Riley promised to have a parade in South Beach and looks to keep that promise. After a mediocre 12-10 record from Stan Van Gundy, Pat Riley looks to get this team back on track. He would ultimately finish the season with a 40-20 record and the 2nd seed. <div align="center"> </div> The Heat were a much improved ballclub under Coach Riley, but they still had a reputation that they couldn't beat the top teams. They lost two games against San Antonio, two blowouts against Phoenix, all thier games against Detroit thus far, and two heavy loses to Dallas. It didn't appear this ballclub had a chance to get past Detroit in the East. <div align="center"></div> Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal were voted by the fans to be starters for the East. They are the only teammates who are both starting in the all-star game. Wade had the second most points for the East with 20 while Shaq had the third most with 17. The East beat the West 122-120 after a 21 deficit. The East is now 2-0 since Shaq switched conferences. Dwyane Wade watched LeBron get the all-star MVP, but I guess it was fair seeing as how Wade outdueled LeBron in the skillz challenge. Wade was only .3 seconds shy of the record for fastest time completed. <div align="center"> </div> The turning point of the season was probably on February 12th, 2006 at home against the Detroit Pistons. Shaq was dominant all game with 31 points, but the real story of the game was Miami's last 17 points. Wade had 17 consecutive poitns including a game winner over Tayshaun Prince with 2.3 seconds remaining that would give Miami the win. This game was the start of something great. The Heat went on to win 15 of their next 16 games. Wade also captured Player of the Month honors for February. <font color="#3333FF"><font size="6"><div align="center"> The NBA Playoffs Where Legends are Made</div></font></font> <div align="center"> <font size="4">Round 1 Vs Chicago</font> </div> The Miami Heat enter the Playoffs with the 2nd Seed. They draw the 7th Seeded Chicago Bulls for their first playoff oppenent. In the first game of the playoffs Udonis Haslem was ejected for tossing his mouthpiece at Joey Crawford. Shaq and Flash made up for the absence of their their blue collar player and scored 27 and 30 respectively. Shaq also had 15 rebounds and 5 blocks. Playoff Shaq was back. In Game 2 the Heat had a 20 point lead and nearly wasted it, but led by Shaq(22 Points) they hung on for a 2-0 series lead. Miami however got embarassed in Game 3 in a 109-90 defeat. Wade and J-Dub were hot, but the rest of the Heat were not. The good news is that Alonzo Mourning returned from a bad calf injury. The hot shooting Bulls continued their ways in a 93-87 victory over Miami in Game 4. Antoine Walker led the way with 21 points, but Miami couldn't fully come back from their large deficit. The critics were quick on the action as the series was tied 2 a piece and Miami looked to be in trouble. In Game 5, the Heat responded in a terrific 2nd half led by Wade who looked like he was going to be out for a long time after a nast foul by Micheal Sweetney. However he stood up right again and led the way with 28 points for a Heat victory. The Heat had the Bulls on the ropes and Shaq responded with a dominant 30 point, 20 rebound performance that eliminated the Bulls. Shaq became the first heat player to have a 20/20 game in the postseason. Heat win 4-2. <div align="center"> <font size="4"> Conference Semi-Finals vs New Jersey</font> </div> The Miami Heat found themselves up against the New Jersey Nets for a chance to get to the Eastern Conference Finals. New JErsey quickly stole Game 1 with their hot shooting. Miami attempted a comeback led by Shaq who scored 13 points in the finals quarter, but they just couldn't capitalize. New Jersey had a 1-0 series lead. In Game 2 it was Miami who had the hot hand and then they evened the series at 1 a piece led by Wades 31 points. In Game 3 the game was close. Vince Carter elbows Dwyane Wade in the face though. This event causes Wade to go to the locker room, but Wade comes right back leading Miami to a 103-92 road win in NEw Jersey. Game 4 was dominated by Miami, but Game 5 was something to see. The score is 106-105 Miami. The inbounds pass to Vince Carter is.....STOLEN BY DWYANE WADE. Wade allowed time to expire as Miami advance to the Conference Finals for the 2nd year in a row for their rematch against the Pistons. Heat win 4-1 <div align="center"><font size="4"> Conference Finals vs Detroit</font> </div> The Time Heat fans and Pistons fans have waited all year to see has come. The undeniable showdown between the Pistons who are heavily favored and the Heat led by their two superstars. The Pistons this year however have home court advantage. Miami fans still believe in their team however. In Game 1 Miami quickly steals homecourt with a 91-86 victory over the Detroit Pistons. Some "experts" thought that a sweep was probable. Facing foul difficulties Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade led the way shooting 9-11 to lead the Heat to victory. In Game 2 it was a different story however. Ben Wallace played with a ton of energy and filled up the stat sheet. The all-star center and defensive player of the year had 9 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assist, 1 steal, and a block. However mastermind Pat Riley made key adjustments for Game 3. Shaq and Wade combined for 62 points on 75% shooting. Wade with 35 and Shaq with 27. Detriot never led after the first quarter of the game. Game 4 was an important one for Detroit. However Detroit couldn't match the energy Shaq was playing with. Shaq blocked a shot by Rip Hamilton dribbled down the court for a fast break lay-up. The crowd was crazy and that was the summary of the game. Detroit couldn't amtch Miami's energy. Detroit was down 3-1 and panic was spreading throughout the motor city. The two time Eastern Conference champions were in trouble. Detroit has a habit of playing better being the underdog however. And they did. Detroits defense came alive and Tayshuan Prince was unstoppable going 11-17 for 29 points. Detroit was up by three midway through the final period, but the final score was 91-78. Detroit's defense came just in time. Going into Game 6 Detroit heard some good news. Dwyane Wade had caught the flu. However that didn't stop the HEat from prevailing as they are heading to their first ever Finals appearence with a 95-78 victory over Detroit. With Wade clearly sick Shaq took over scoring 28 points to go along with 16 rebounds and 5 blocks. The Miami Heat were the Champs of the East. Heat win 4-2 <div align="center"> <font color="#FFCC00"><font size="5"> The NBA Finals</font></font> </div> Both teams are in the Finals for the first time in NBA History, but only one will win. Who will it be? The Miami Heat or the Dallas Mavericks? <div align="center"></div> In Game 1, Mavericks guard Jason Terry just couldn't miss a shot. He killed the Heat on 13-18 shooting for 32 points. With Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard, and Shaquille O'Neal all struggling it was a night of defense. Wade tried to give the Heat a series lead, but his 28 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assist performance wasn't enough. In Game 2 it was absolutely horrible basketball on Miami's part. Dallas D was incredible once again on the Heat in a 99-85 victory. This time however even Dwyane Wade struggled so it was an even uglier game for the Miami Heat. The Heat look to rebound in South Beach. <div align="center"></div> The first three quarters of the series were Dallas basketball. The 4th and most important quarter however was not. Down 13 points with six minutes to go Miami goes to Dwyane Wade. Dwyane puts on one of the most memorable performances in Finals History and gets Miami back into it. There were however 3 key plays that led to a Miami victory. First Shaq goes 2-2 from the line. Then Dirk misses a key free throw, then Payton hits his only shot of the night to give Miami the lead. Miami holds on and is back in the series. Game 4 was another case of Game 2, but only this time the Heat were the ones dominating. Led by Wades 36, Shaqs 17, Poseys 15, and their amazing D on Dallas Miami wins in a blowout 98-74. Jerry Stackhouse fouled Shaq in the third quarter of the game and has got himself suspended for Game 5. Good news for South Beach. Game 5 was another classic game. An overtime thriller. With 1.9 seconds remaining Wade knocks down two free throws to give Miami the 101-100 lead. Dallas cann't capitaliza and Dwyane Wades heroics now have the Heat one win away from the title. His playoff high 43 points are a personal best. <div align="center"> </div> Would anyone like to guess who the star of Game 6 was? If your answer is Dirk Nowitzki you are wrong. Dwyane Wade lifted the Heat with another amazing performance with 36 points. Shaq has his 4th title and Riley his first in nearly 2 decades. The Miami Heat have surprised the Basketball world. They became the third team to win the Finals after being down 0-2. And Shaq keeps his promise he made to the city of Miami nearly two years ago. <div align="center"><font size="7">The Miami Heat are your NBA Champions.</font> </div> <font size="3">Whats Next?</font> "I got about 4 years left so in those 4 years we'll win 2 of the 4 championships at worst." - Shaquille O'Neal
best read that i've read in a LONG time, thanks so much diesel, great article! hopefully shaq will hold to his latest promise, and possibly even exceed those expectations.
That was a long read, but worth it. Great stuff Diesel I especially love this line; <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> However they got to say hello to a much sexier group of names </div>
Yeah, I thought it was a good read, too. But wasn't there another big play in game 3 when Udonis Haslem stripped Terry of the ball, drew a foul, andhit both free throws, despite going 0-4 earlier that night, and that bum shoulder that hurt everytime he raised his arms. That gave Miami a 94-93, first lead of 4th quarter. Yeah.
Thanks a lot for the comments guys. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> But wasn't there another big play in game 3 when Udonis Haslem stripped Terry of the ball, drew a foul, andhit both free throws, despite going 0-4 earlier that night, and that bum shoulder that hurt everytime he raised his arms. That gave Miami a 94-93, first lead of 4th quarter. Yeah.</div> I think we can agree that Wades 12 points in the final 6 minutes of Game 3 were the highlight of the game.
I'm an evil bastard that mocks the Heat (not by spamming though), but even I must admit that this was a splendid read and created by a nice fan.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting huevonkiller:</div><div class="quote_post">I'm an evil bastard that mocks the Heat (not by spamming though), but even I must admit that this was a splendid read and created by a nice fan.</div> Lol Huevonkiller said something nice to something Heat-related!!!
