Spoelstra: Miami's Young Players Need To Step Up

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra wants to see the team's younger players step up.

"I have to step back and look at everything objectively," Spoelstra said after the team's loss to the Raptors on Friday night.

"It's a collective thing. It's being reliable every single possession to your teammates, to our system, to our identity. It can't just be during certain pockets of the game."

Miami is 7-5, but they have fallen behind early in games at times.

Specifically, Spoelstra wants to see second-year players Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers improve.

"Coach is 100 percent right," Beasley said. "I haven't been able to put it all together, and that's what I've got to do to help the team."

"They're always telling me to be more aggressive, more aggressive, more aggressive," Chalmers said of Dwyane Wade and Spoelstra. "I have to start from the jump and not wait too long to get into the flow of things. I have to take this game and build on it."

Via Miami Herald

Miami Heat

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Executives Expect Iverson To Remain On Market

NBA front office executives expect free agent guard Allen Iverson to remain on the market for quite some time.

Charlotte and Miami have been mentioned as possible destinations for Iverson, but executives told CBS Sports that he'll likely be a contingency option for a team that suffers a backcourt injury.

Iverson's agent, Leon Rose, attended Saturday's game between the Knicks and Nets, but there were no meetings with either side.

Via CBS Sports

General Basketball, Charlotte Bobcats, Miami Heat

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Jermaine Sits With Bruised Left Hip

Heat center Jermaine O'Neal missed the team's win over the Nets on Saturday night with a bruised left hip.

He sustained the injury on Thursday night in a collision with LeBron James midway through Cleveland's win over Miami.

O'Neal has gone through extensive treatment since suffering the injury.

"He feels much better than he did [Friday]," coach Erik Spoelstra said on Saturday. "He felt [then] like he got hit by a train. It's not quite the type of relief and movement we were hoping for."

Via Miami Herald

Miami Heat

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