Which heat cried

He also dismissed the episode as "CryGate" and joked that he would follow the coverage of it after practice. Heat guard Dwyane Wade 's remark that "the world is better now" because Miami is struggling also didn't sit well with some in the league. It's hard to go out yourself and invite that kind of crowd and celebration and attention, and then when things aren't going well, sort of bemoan the fact that you're getting that attention. Van Gundy was referring to the lavish news conference and arena celebration the Heat held after they signed Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh to long-term contracts as free agents in July.

The scene is far less festive these days around the Heat, who dropped to third in the Eastern Conference standings. During the losing streak, doubts have been raised about everything from the Heat's mental toughness to the ability of their star players to execute against quality opponents late in close games. Miami is since the All-Star break and has blown double-figure leads in three of its last four losses. The game that wasn't close was Friday's point rout in San Antonio, the Heat's worst loss of the season.

It does not take away the pain and the frustration we're going through. But we have a resilient group that came in here [Monday] with the right mindset to find a solution. That doesn't mean they're chumps. That doesn't mean they're soft. It doesn't mean anything. James apologized to teammates for "failing them late in games" after he missed a potential game-tying or go-ahead basket in the waning seconds for the fourth time in two weeks.

Wade has repeatedly voiced his frustration with his role as a second or third option late in games. But the two catalysts stood side by side after Monday's practice and made light of Spoelstra's comments about players crying. Actually, they were in a laughing mood this time around and joked about the difference in scrutiny the team received when it won 21 of 22 games earlier this season and the media attention amid the losing streaks.

We understand in the world of sports, you've got a lot of bandwagoners. Personally, I'd like it better if we only see three of you guys [reporters] tomorrow. But when we're losing, we see them. Wade and James then playfully started to point out reporters who haven't been around the team on a regular basis.

James would not say if he felt Spoelstra violated some level of trust with the players with Sunday's comments to the media. But he did say the coach still has their support. It doesn't matter. Spo can go out there and say whatever he wants about the team, and we're going to stand behind him. We do need to change some habits. These aren't easy habits to change. Everybody's just got to do a little bit more.

He has shied away from contact on drives and has looked less than confident on three-point attempts. Pat Riley did Erik Spoelstra and his stars no favors by surrounding them with this roster.

Guys like Mike Bibby and Joel Anthony are members on this team who bring next to nothing to the table.

Miami is soft inside and has no physical presence to help get stops and rebounds during the most crucial sequences of the game. Sure, a lot of this has to do with the three massive contracts on the books for the Heat. But when you talk about winning multiple championships before you even take the court together, you should probably take a look at the depth chart and realize that you're surrounded by scrubs.

If the stars could rely upon some other players who could make big-time plays, maybe the Heat would be winning some of these close games. However, in order to get back on the right track, the Heat have to start making some philosophical changes to the way they run things at the end of the game. Miami needs to start utilizing Dwyane Wade, or LeBron James has to become more of a facilitator as a point forward.

Additionally, Miami needs to start being less predictable during these end-game sets. Yesterday against Chicago, the Heat kept running plays with LeBron and Chris Bosh, and the Bulls—a solid defensive team—sniffed it out every single time. We can't lay the blame at just Erik Spoelstra or just the players; it's a joint effort, and both sides have come up incredibly short against the best teams in this league.

This must change before the playoffs. First of all, there was about a monthlong period of time before the Heat reeled off their first long winning streak of the season in which many people were calling for Coach Spo's head. There was talk that he was only around to hold the position until Pat Riley decided to take the team over, that his players didn't totally trust or listen to him, and that his players were growing tired of him.

Then LeBron James bumped Spoelstra and the world nearly ended I never really thought much of this, as he did it to Mike Brown too, and on multiple occasions, maybe it's just his equivalent to a pat on the rump They then popped off 15 wins in 16 tries in December, one of which being a win in Los Angeles against the Lakers , and the talk very quickly died away.

The talk left, but the problems lingered. Miami has still been unable to beat the best teams in the league, and has been loading up on wins against the bottom half of the standings. Recently, Miami has gotten back into one of the funks that seemed to define the first month of the Heat's season, and grumblings about Spoelstra are returning.

They have lost four games in a row now to the likes of New York , Orlando point lead blown , San Antonio point rout and Chicago. To bring it all together, Coach Spo comes out after their most recent game and reveals that a few of his players were crying after their latest loss. There are many things that a coach can and should reveal about his team to the media, but his players crying in the locker room is not one of them.