MIAMI _ The Miami Heat are one of the biggest underdogs in these NBA playoffs, something that strikes us as perhaps a wild overestimation of the young Philadelphia 76ers, on whom all of the pressure awaits.
More on that in a bit. First, a quick appreciation of the Heat's rather relentless franchise competitiveness. It is earned. The Big 3 broke up, the national spotlight ran away, and yet, as usual, one pro team is back to doing all of the heavy lifting in South Florida sports. It is what underpins all the talk about Heat "culture" _ that, somehow, Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra are going to find a way to compete and wring the most from a mostly blue-collar team that does it with defense and depth.
Remarkably this is the Heat's 20th playoff appearance in 30 franchise seasons, a 66.7 percent rate. That ranks second among all Eastern Conference clubs, trailing only the Boston Celtics. Miami's other pro teams? The Dolphins are 23 playoffs in 52 seasons (44.2 percent), including a severe skid of only two playoffs in the past 16 seasons. The Panthers are 5 for 24 (20.8 percent). And the Marlins are 2 for 26 (7.7 percent).
The new Marlins owners thought it would be smart to trade the team's best players and now the British Virgin Islands Marlins, a.k.a. Fire-Sale Fish, have the abysmal record and attendance that is the direct result.
The Dolphins must have thought that seemed like a great idea in parting this offseason with their best players, too.
The Panthers, for all of their youthful promise, continue to find ways to fall short.
