Miami Heat: Flameless in South Beach

The Miami Heat, NBA champions just two seasons ago, have officially hit rock bottom.

With a disappointing 8-27 record, the Heat are no where near playoff contention.

On Tuesday, Miami sank to a new low when they lost to the worst team in basketball, the Minnesota Timberwolves. The defeat was Miami's eighth straight.

The decline of Shaquille O'Neal is probably more difficult to watch than that of the team as a whole.

O'Neal, who is arguably the most dominant center of all-time, is averaging a meager 14 points and seven rebounds per.

Shaq still has two years and $40 million left on his contract, which makes it hard to move him, or pick up a replacement.

Miami paid Shaq entirely too much. Sure, they did get a championship out of it—but now they have to eat the other end of the deal.

Dwyane Wade, for his part, has been the only guy on the Heat roster producing on a consistent basis—and is the only chance they have of somehow turning things around.

But Wade can only carry this team so far—and his shoulder is hurt again.

With aging guys like Shaq, Alonzo Mourning, and Jason Williams on the roster, the Heat have failed to add any valuable pieces to complement Wade on offense. The acquisition of Penny Hardaway, who was cut from team, was a joke.

Mourning, who was a spark off the bench defensively, is now out for the season due to injury. We've probably seen the last of Zo in the NBA.

The only decent move the Heat made was the trade for Ricky Davis that sent Antoine Walker to Minnesota—and even that hasn't brought any kind of improvement to the team.

As for head coach Pat Riley—his players don't seem to be responding to him anymore.

Surprisingly, the crowd in South Beach hasn't called for the firing of Riley during games, unlike certain fans in New York.

Riley's past success is probably the only thing protecting him—and he's leaning toward stepping down at the end of the season.

How can a team that won a championship two seasons ago be so bad?

Some say key losses like James Posey and Jason Kapono have something to do with it, but it's more than just that.

I read somewhere that Miami should just shut it down and tank the season.

I don't know about going that far—but I don't think much can be done to save this team's '07-'08 campaign.

Wade and Shaq have too much pride to just tank it, but they need time to get healthy.

Without it, things aren't going to get any better in South Florida.