The Intangible That Needs To Be Done

There are two things that coaches always emphasize to their respective teams to show what it really takes to win it all: the tangible factors and the intangible factors. Both are essential to obtain the desired result. At the end of the game, the tangibles provide us a complete detail of what happened in the course of a ball game. Even basketball fans who became very busy because of their lifestyle sometimes cannot find the time to watch a two hour game, and yet the stats sheet can provide them an insight how did this team managed to pull off a win, and the other one lost. The end score is a tally of statistics that can be measured. Therefore, it is important for a team to exceed the standards that the other team has to pull off a win.

However, with the way our beloved team won series after series (with the exception of Philly) in the playoffs, we somehow managed to overcome the seemingly unbeatable teams that humiliated us in the regular season. Why? It is because of the intangibles, the factors that cannot be measured, since they don't show up on the stats sheet. It can be done on and off the court through hard work, perseverance, passion, sacrifice, and many other things that can't be measured and yet when summed up altogether, can create the necessary tangibles. Sounds paradoxical, right? Not necessarily, because this is the fine line between success and failure.

Since this article is all about the intangibles and can't be measured, we can recall the events that took place and brought Miami where it is right now.

Pat Riley has done a masterful job of assembling Miami's current roster, making sure that this organization won't depend on the lottery just to have good or great players in this team. Keeping Wade while landing two of the biggest free-agent names this season while adding the necessary players to fill in the gaps was risky, but it paid off. Risk-taking. An intangible.

Having three max contract players would definitely hurt the organization, so Dwyane Wade, LBron James and Chris Bosh decided to take lesser money to keep Udonis Haslem from going to other teams. Haslem also agreed to take lesser money to haul in Zydrunas Ilgauskas (who was considering retirement in the post-LeBron era in Cleveland), Mike Miller, James Jones, Eddie House, then-Heat player Carlos Arroyo, while keeping Joel Anthony and Mario Chalmers as well. In the later stages of the season, Mike Bibby literally walked away from his salary to boost his championship hopes. The Big Three gave up at least a guaranteed $50 million combined, and the rest, if not all, took lesser money as well. Sacrifice. Giving up something good in order to gain something better for the best of the team.

The assemblage of this team sparked widespread outrage, something that they never thought about when Boston's Big Three decided to play together. Hatred spread across the country, but the Heat were ready for the consequences that they would have to undergo. They had their struggles under heavy scrutiny, but once they got things going for them, they won 22 consecutive games, and gave us the best Christmas present ever. For the first time, Miami had been the hottest team prior to their loss against Dallas. Frankly, I expected that hot streak to end because of the chemistry issues that they still have at that time, but it was long enough for them to regain their focus.

After the All-Star Break, Miami had a bad streak of lost games that has gone worse, and the game at home against Chicago proved to be the worst loss, triggering the 'Cryami' fever outside the city after Erik Spoelstra announced that 'some of the guys cried in the locker room'. Not to be distraught by the string of untoward events, Wade and James anchored a win against the Lakers in AAA, bolstering their confidence once again and eventually  wrestled the number 2 seed against the Celtics in the closing stages of the season, which would ensure the home court advantage against their opponents in the postseason except Chicago. Leadership. Their teammates followed through their example, and they reaped the results big time.

After going through a relatively easy first round, Miami is bound to have their demons exorcised in the form of the Celtics. In a rather unexpected twist of fate, the seemingly invincible Celtics found themselves two games deep before winning Game 3 in their home court, and eventually Miami won the series 4 games to 1 because of the big time plays from Chris Bosh, James Jones, Dwyane Wade, and LeBron James. They have shown that they need not to defer to each other to win. They have to trust each other.

Facing Chicago in the Eastern Conference Finals proved to be the marquee matchup against two MVP-caliber players. The Bulls have the youngest MVP in NBA history, and Miami has the 2-time MVP. This series was the ugliest series in Miami's postseason campaign so far because the Bulls had more rebounds, more assists, more points off the bench. However, the Heat could care less about those statistics (although Spoelstra is a stats coach) and deal more about how they can limit Rose's teammates because he has been unstoppable in the postseason. And in the end, after Miami lost their series opener, everybody who went in and played for Miami contributed in every single way that they can. Determination. Attention to detail. Aggression. Killer instinct.

We Miami fans have been very lucky to have a team that never held back in what they can bring to the table. They have provided us with entertainment that we deserve, and have done everything in their power to represent who we really are. They have been playing hurt (Wade, Miller, Haslem, Big Z), playing sick (James), playing through big personal problems (Wade, Miller) and playing at the highest level (Miami Heat). I have run out of intangibles that I can think of that they presented us with their whole hearts. In return, we have to give them one intangible in return. Just one, but I'm sure that it will help make a difference when they face Dallas: LOVE. The Heat have faced so much hatred this year than they had in their lifetime. We have home court advantage. There is no place like home, and nobody wants to go home full of hatred. Never boo the Heat, even if we're down by 30 in the last 2 minutes. Chant M-V-P for all players. Give standing ovations on timeouts. Make some noise. And never lose faith. Never mind Barkley, we don't need him there.