The 2010 – 2011 Miami Heat were by far the most talked about, scrutinized and debated team, quite possibly ever in the history of sports. It was impossible to encounter someone who didn’t have a strong opinion on the Heat. They either hated them or loved them. There was no middle ground. The same is still true, despite some of the spotlight dimming.

Even though they lost in the Finals 4-2, I still feel as if they should’ve swept the Mavs. I know that doesn’t really make sense but hear me out. The person most responsible for the Mavs being crowned champs isn’t Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, J.J. Barea, Tyson Chandler, Jason Kidd or anybody on Dallas’ roster for that matter. It had more to do with LeBron not playing up to half of his potential, for whatever reason. That is why I wasn’t that impressed with Dallas’ win, because if both teams played as well as they could’ve, the Heat would’ve won. Easily. I don’t think that’s debatable, nor do I think Dallas did anything to take LeBron out of his game.

But this is now a different year and a different ballgame for the Heat. In my opinion, the Heat absolutely MUST win the championship this year. Now, I’m not necessarily rooting for that to happen, but it needs to happen for their sake this year and here’s why:

1. Dwyane Wade isn’t getting any younger
Quietly, Wade turned 30 in January and has had to deal with a myriad of injuries throughout his career. This year was no different. Now, 30 isn’t that old, but the injuries will now become more frequent since his body is older. He’s still a top 5 player in the League, but I’m not sure how many more years he’ll be playing at this level.

2. The pressure will continue to mount
The Heat listen to the media lot. Probably too much. So, if the Heat come up short again this year, can you imagine what will be written and said about them? And yes, they will be cognizant of that and it will affect them moving forward.

3. The bench will always be a question mark
Their bench is decent but they don’t get enough production out of them. I find it amazing that Juwan Howard is still in the NBA, given the Fab 5 was formed more than 20 years ago (and because he has a son in college). The bulk of their scoring will always come from the “Big 3″.

4. Miami brass may begin to think about dismantling the team
Last year when people were advocating trading Wade for Dwight Howard after the season, I thought that was asinine. But I wonder if Miami’s front office felt the same way. If they don’t get it done this year, I think they may consider (although, I doubt they’ll do it) making a major roster move that will shake up the team big time and cause them to start over in terms of rebuilding chemistry.

5. If they can’t get it done this year, I’m not sure they ever will
Period

Kevin Burke: Kevin Burke here and I have the honor and privilege to spend a few minutes with Alonzo Mourning. Zo, thanks for a few minutes today. Now, we know that you’re in Chicago at Simeon Career Academy where you just surprised Jabari Parker with the Gatorade Boys National Basketball Player of the Year trophy. I know that you usually try to surprise the winner so was he shocked to see you?

Alonzo Mourning: Yeah, he was surprised and it was an amazing day to be able to present and pass the torch, to present the award to Jabari who is very well deserving of the award. The kid truly has it together both on and off the court. When you think about his on the court skills, compiled with the fact that this kid is a tremendous student, as well as his community service…just the balance that he has in his life…he knows what is expected of a student-athlete and is aware of where his priorities lie. And he’s very active in the church as well. So I’m very pleased to have an opportunity to meet this young man and I’m looking forward to following his career.

Kevin Burke: You won this award when you were in High School. Why is this award so special to you?

Alonzo Mourning: Well, it’s special to me simply because when you think about it, it’s truly a prestigious award. The two individuals that won the award before me, J.R. Reid and LaBradford Smith…by the time I received the award, I followed those two individuals throughout their careers in high school…so when I received the award, I felt like that I had arrived as a player simply because those two players were the number one high school players in the country. So by me receiving the award I felt like I had done something right.

Kevin Burke: You and I spoke this same time last year and the year before. Two years ago we spoke right after you presented the award to Brandon Knight and last year after you presented it to Brad Beal. Brandon, as you know, went on to Kentucky and had a solid freshman year before making that leap to the NBA where he’s now doing his thing for the Pistons. Similarly, Brad Beal had a very strong freshman campaign as well and he too has decided to enter the NBA draft. Recently, both David Stern and Mark Cuban have expressed interest in adding a year to the NBA’s age limit. What’s your take on this?

Alonzo Mourning: I’m a huge fan of that decision

Kevin Burke: The decision to add another year?

Alonzo Mourning: Oh, no doubt. Add the year. I wish they could stay all four years to tell you the truth. But it’s a person’s constitutional right to work anywhere at the age of 18. But at the same, some of these kids aren’t mentally ready to perform at a professional level. Physically, yes. They draft these kids on potential, long term and I’m sure that the benefits of having a head start are there. But also, there are some adverse affects from coming into the League early. Being around these 30 and 40 year old men, who have kids their age, you know. You start gravitating towards the habits of an adult when you’re not even quite an adult yet. So, a lot of these kids get exposed to a lot at an early age and they’re not mentally ready to digest those things therefore, they tend to make bad decisions at an early age. Which in turn, will have an effect on their career, whether it be negative or positive. So, I feel like it’s the social environment that they’re missing out on. Not just the literacy skills and the education that you receive in the classroom that would allow you to communicate. But outside of the classroom, there’s a social life that you’re exposed to which is a huge part of your development. So I’m a huge fan of kids staying in school because they’re missing out on benefits they won’t get in the NBA.

Kevin Burke: Was leaving school early even talked about at all when you were in college at Georgetown?

Alonzo Mourning: I thought about it after my junior year but I knew I would be the first from my family to graduate from college and that alone was just as important to me as playing in the NBA. So staying that extra year was the right thing to do. And I’ll tell you, I was so ready for the next level after graduating that I hit the ground running, and that contributed to my NBA success because I was so seasoned as a college player that it definitely had tremendous benefits in my rookie season. It had me ready to go. That speaks to Tim Duncan and Patrick Ewing and all the other individuals that stayed for four years. Three or four years makes a tremendous difference. You know, Michael Jordan stayed three years. It’s amazing what that extra year will do for you.

Kevin Burke: Very well said. Now let’s talk some current-day NBA and your former team, the Miami Heat. Do you feel like this is a must-win year for them in light of how it ended last season, or do you think they are in just as a good a position to win next year if it doesn’t happen for them this year?

Alonzo Mourning: Everybody wants to win every year. So, as far as a must-win, everybody looks at every year as a must-win. You have to build an organization around winning. If anybody has a mind-set that’s different from that, you have to replace your front-office people. Because, that’s what it’s all about in the NBA: winning. Pat Riley has always been about winning. Micky Arison has always been about investing to win. So yes, they want to win right now.

Kevin Burke: You and I discussed the state of the big man in the NBA before and you told me that Centers want to be Guards. They want to handle the ball and shoot. Because of that, the general consensus is that the two best Centers in the League are Andrew Bynum and Dwight Howard and for the first time, there’s a debate over which is better. Which do you think is better?

Alonzo Mourning: I don’t think you can go wrong with either one of them right now. I think they have similar games, to tell you the truth. But if I had to build my team around a Center right now it would be Dwight because he’s so dominant. But both those guys have the size and talent to carry a team, so either one.

Kevin Burke: Lastly, Zo, a quick game of word association. Tell me the first thing that comes to your mind. Jeff Van Gundy.

Alonzo Mourning: (Laughs) Come on man, that’s a no-brainer. I think of him being attached to my leg.

Kevin Burke: Larry Johnson.

Alonzo Mourning: Well, I think of that situation too. I think of the fight at the Garden.

Kevin Burke: New York Knicks.

Alonzo Mourning: Oh, wow. A lot of words come to my mind, brother. I don’t think you can write any of those words that are going through my mind (Laughs).

Kevin Burke: Fair enough. Thanks for the time, Alonzo.

Alonzo Mourning: My pleasure, take care.

Today, Miles has teamed up with POWERADE, which is official sports drink of NCAA Championships and “March Madness,”  and they have launched a new campaign that celebrates the spirit of the underdog. As such, POWERADE also wanted to honor that spirit by looking back at the 15^th Anniversary of Arizona’s ’97 win. They were – and remain – the only team to beat three number one seeds and Miles was named tourney’s MOP.

The Hoop Doctors were able to catch up with Miles over the phone for a few minutes to talk about this year’s tournament and his days as an Arizona Wildcat:

And to think, about a decade ago, many believed Antoine Walker to be the better of the two players and the one who would lead Boston to the promised land. While Walker is still trying to scrape up some loose change in the D-League, Pierce is still playing at a high level. Long before Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett made their way to Massachusetts during the same offseason several years ago, I always thought Paul Pierce to be a grossly underrated player. That was primarily because he always played on losing teams. But when the Big 3 was formed, his talents were front and center and he finally got the loved he was owed.

Either way, when it’s all said and done for Kobe (regardless of if he passes Kareem) I think both LeBron and Kevin Durant will end up with more career points than him. Yes, Kobe came straight out of high school, but it wasn’t until his fourth season where he began averaging more than 20ppg. Conversely, neither LeBron (straight from HS) nor KD (who only played one year of college ball) have ever averaged less than 20 ppg in their respective careers so they have a big head start on Kobe.

Ironically, Kobe passed Shaq last night in his native Philadelphia (not that they care about what he does). Here’s the bucket that did it:

Heading into the famed summer of 2010, many were hesitant to anoint Amar’e as max-contract worthy. Well, he was granted one by the Knicks regardless, and never disappointed. His detractors thought that he was largely a product of Steve Nash, but he proved that theory wrong. His early season play even prompted me to question whether or not he was better off without Nash. He would eventually go on to become the first Knick to start an All-Star Game since Patrick Ewing, led the team its first winning season since the 2000 – 01 campaign, and injected new life into a franchise that so desperately needed it.

Fast forward to today, and things don’t resemble those memories at all. His points are down to the tune of 17.4 (from 25.3 last year) and he seems like he’d rather be doing something else most nights. The obvious reaction to why he’s scoring eight less points per contest is because he’s playing with another bonafide scorer in Carmelo Anthony. But in watching the games, you can tell it’s more than that. He’s not him self. He seems uninterested and uninspired.

It could be one of two things. Either his back isn’t fully healed from when he hurt it in the Boston series last April, or he’s secretly upset that Carmelo has come in and dominated the ball, fan support and attention. The fans absolutely loved Amar’e last year. He could do no wrong. Now he has to share that with a guy who is unilaterally perceived as the superior player. Often times, there are stretches during Knick games where you forget that Stoudemire is even on the floor. Minutes upon minutes will elapse without him even touching the ball, let alone taking a shot. I don’t put that on D’Antoni. That has to do with what’s inside Amare’s chest.

I won’t even get in to the fact that he NEVER posts up any more, or that he’s now shooting entirely too many 3s. For today, I’m just focused on the fact that if Amar’e doesn’t figure out whatever is ailing him, be it mental or physical,  the Knicks won’t even sniff the postseason this year.

Last night, LeBron tried his best Vince impersonation as his Heat hosted the Bulls. In the first half, LeBron was the recipient of a Wade alley-oop pass, but standing in the way was John Lucas. Poor John Lucas. Granted, Lucas isn’t 7’2″. He’s only 5’11″ so Carter has the edge there. But then again, he did it while catching an alley-oop which makes it just as impressive. Poor John Lucas.

The season isn’t even a month old and I already feel as if they can do without Shaq on the set. I’m not saying he can’t add value to TNT’s coverage of the NBA, but I’m not sure he’s needed in the setting in which he’s being utilized. I will say, however, that he has provided a few interesting moments and one occurred last night. The show opened with the guys reliving Barkley’s performance on Saturday Night Live last week where he impersonated Shaq. The guys joked about it for a while before eventually going to commercial. Then this happened…

It’s probably not a huge deal, but I’ll just say that it’s interesting….

This probably explains why LeBron jumped to Tebow’s defense several months ago. Perhaps because he knew what Tebow was going through to a certain degree. Any way you slice it, Tim Tebow is now already the most polarizing athlete quite possibly ever. I don’t think that’s up for debate. His name elicits so much response that it even got Phoenix Suns coach Alvin Gentry to comment. If you don’t follow the NFL, Tebow and Broncos knocked off the favorite Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday in an AFC Wild Card playoff matchup. Not many gave Denver a shot. Also on Sunday, the Phoenix Suns hosted and defeated the Milwaukee Bucks. In the post-game presser however, Gentry wasn’t interested beginning by talking about how his squad held the Bucks to under 100. Rather, he wanted to talk about…Tebow:

Even though we’re only roughly 10 games into the season, it’s worth noting that Kobe is averaging 29.5 points per game this season and will definitely finish the year averaging more than 25. He’s off to this hot start even with a bad right wrist. You may remember in the preseason when he jammed his wrist against the Clippers. I actually thought he broke it the way he landed and based on his reaction. He has to get an injection in his wrist prior to every game and he’s still able to fill it up. I’m willing to bet that Kobe heard the growing sentiment that he no longer has it and it got to him – explaining this hot start.

Here’s a glimpse of what he did to Grant Hill and company last night:

Well, High School is no different. In a recent game in Texas between Houston St. John’s Shcool and San Antonio prep, Justise Winslow of St. John’s got some John Wall treatment. After dunking on a hapless defender, Winslow, a standout sophomore, stared the guy down. That immediately earned him a technical foul. It doesn’t appear as if he’s even aware that he received the tech because as he’s walking back downcourt, he gives the crowd a salute which got him his 2nd and final tech of the game. A bit excessive if you ask me. While I understand that you don’t want taunting at such an amateur level, I don’t think it warranted an ejection. Check out the play, which we saw over at Yahoo Rivals:

One of those teams, of course, was the Los Angeles Lakers. It was widely reported that the players being discussed in a trade for Dwight Howard were Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. While, I love what Dwight brings to the table, I wouldn’t trade both Gasol and Bynum for Dwight either. That’s two more than serviceable 7-footers. When Lamar Odom was traded to the Hornets before it was voided, he pouted. Then we he was ultimately dealt to the Mavs, he pouted some more. In fact he’s still pouting. Well, perhaps the trade rumors swirling around Bynum have impacted him too, but in a good way unlike Odom.

After sitting out the first handful of games this year because of his attempted battery on J.J. Barea in the playoffs last May, Bynum has begun this season as if he has something to prove. One of the biggest knocks on him is that he’s oft-injured and even when he’s healthy, you expect more. Sure he’s only played 3 games so far this season but his average is 22.7 and 17. I don’t know that Bynum has ever had a 3-game stretch posting those number. This includes a 21 and 22 game last night against the Rockets.

But it goes further than just numbers. If you watch him play, he’s approaching games with much more intensity and aggressiveness, to the likes of which he hasn’t in the past. His moves in the post look a bit more refined and he’s attacking the glass feverishly. From my seat, he’s playing as if he has something to prove. That’s because he does. To me he’s trying to prove to those wrong who believe the Lakers should get rid of him to acquire Dwight Howard. That would fuel anybody (not named Lamar Odom).