Heat Have a Flicker

It's not a bonfire, or even a flame, but a flicker.

A flicker of hope, of talent, of potential.

The Miami Heat are coming off a 15-67 season where there light was completely extinguished. There was no flicker then, but now there is.

This year, with the drafting of promising rookies Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers, the Heat have shed the old skin of Ricky Davis and Jason Williams. A healthy Shawn Marion returns to join Dwyane Wade in the starting lineup to form a talented duo.

The front line is talented but raw. On the eve of the season, fans still don't know who the starting point gaurd or center is. If Chalmers starts at the point, it will be the first time since 2003 that the Heat has started two rookies. The rooks back then?

Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem.

That didn't turn out so bad as it resulted in a championship. But not right away.

It took a while to completely turn around the franchise and what the team is in the process right now. A changing of the guard is evident with the coaching change from Pat Riley to young Erik Spoelstra.

If not having a starting point guard or center wasn't enough, there is no depth at any positions, a major problem. The champion last year, the Boston Celtics, went 10 or 11 players deep into their rotation. The main rotation so far for the Heat is 3: Wade, Marion and Beasley.

The Heat are young and turning it around, but don't expect much this year.