<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">WASHINGTON -- It's probably not a smart thing to flat-out bury the Miami Heat right now. They are the defending NBA champions, they still have Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade on their roster, and they have been known to rise from the dead on occasion. Let me just say this: Their time is running short. If Shaq and Pat Riley are planning on riding in on their white horses to save the day again this year, well, they better mount up quick. They were 19-25 entering their game against Milwaukee on Tuesday. Shaq is back, but he has made his best moves so far off the court, as Deputy O'Neal, chasing down an alleged hit-and-run driver in Miami. Coming off the first major surgery of his career, and coming off his least productive season last year, how much does he really have left? Is he still capable of hoisting a team on its shoulders and carrying it for three months? I don't think so. Wade has been phenomenal, no question. But he has played a lot of basketball -- a full season, four playoff rounds and a full summer of world competition without much of a break before starting this season. He is showing some wear and tear, emotionally as much as physically. Witness his snippy comments after a 20-point loss to the Knicks last week. He was asked if he needed to speak up, be more vocal with the team. "I'm not a motivator," Wade said. "Everybody is looking to me to come in and make a speech. It's not going to happen." OK, then. Wade continues to miss practices and the odd game with assorted bangs and bruises. O'Neal doesn't seem ready to play every day and is still sitting out games. Jason Williams is still not 100 percent after knee surgery last summer. Gary Payton is down with respiratory problems. And the burden keeps falling on the role players to keep the team afloat, and that is causing some tension in the ranks. Which is probably why interim coach Ron Rothstein sounded the alarm on Monday, urging players to stop pointing fingers and start showing more leadership. "What about the responsibility of everybody sharing the load?" Rothstein told the Miami Herald. "You are a professional basketball player. Part of your professionalism is your responsibility to help lead this team. That may sound like pie in the sky. Some guys step forward more than others. But if you've got one guy not sharing that load or saying it's not part of my responsibility, I don't think it works. "When you start pointing fingers and separating, you don't have any chance. Yeah, we've been up against it. We've put ourselves in this hole. It's real easy to play hard and be happy and work at something when it's going well. It takes a real man to step up when things aren't going good." If the Heat are going to mount any kind of charge, it has to start now. They play five of their next eight games before the All-Star break at home, with four of those against losing teams. As Wade told reporters: "Winning cures everything. All of our games from this point are must-wins until we get to where we need to be." Cato fights for son</div> Source
