By Amy Shipley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 4, 2007

MIAMI -- When Coach Pat Riley talks about last season's Miami Heat, he spews so much loathing and disdain it's as if he is describing a band of cross-town scoundrels with whom he wouldn't consider associating. Just five minutes into the first news conference of a new season Monday, Riley matter-of-factly thrashed the character of last year's defending NBA champion, noting that players "came back with an indifference like no indifference I ever had on a team as a coach," "did very little to try to repeat other than talk about it," and "frankly, didn't care."

Riley hardly took a breath as he recited this catalogue of offenses. But, unlike in the days leading up to the Chicago Bulls' sweep of the Heat in the first round of the playoffs in May, Riley seemed at peace. Those transgressions, after all, occurred last season. Even notorious jokester Shaquille O'Neal arrived to this year's camp trim, fit and radiating more intensity than usual, fresh off a long summer (too long, he noted, given the Heat's early playoff exit) of swimming, yoga and mixed martial arts. Riley vowed that players' heads would either be in the right place this season, or he would forcibly put them there.

"There is a different attitude," Riley said. "There is a different approach."

The new approach hit with force soon after Monday's media session. Permitted by the NBA to begin formal practices Tuesday, Riley told his players to show up to American Airlines Arena at midnight Monday. Not a second, apparently, would be wasted. More than 2 1/2 hours later, the team emerged to a darkened Miami skyline, having just completed the season's first formal workout. The only players who missed the wee-hours session were absent because of a Riley decree. Antoine Walker, Smush Parker and Earl Barron failed to meet the team's body-fat standard, so they were barred from participating in practice.

The question, of course, is whether Miami's much-needed mental transformation will do more than restore Riley's sense of basketball decorum and order. An offseason heavy on internal reflection also happened to be short on substantively good news. For starters, surgeries to the knee and shoulder of 2006 Finals most valuable player Dwyane Wade are expected to keep him out of training camp and the first couple weeks of the regular season. Riley said Wade had medical clearance to perform all drills other than those requiring contact in practice, but how soon he can return to the D-Wade of old is unclear.

"I just don't want to have any setbacks," Wade said. "As an athlete, you're going to be more nervous about your knees, 'cuz it's your wheels . . . As a player, anytime you have knee surgery, you want to get your explosion back."

Meantime, misfortune seeped into a variety of personal and personnel matters during the offseason. O'Neal, a father of five, filed for divorce from his wife of four years and put his Star Island mansion on the market for $32 million. Walker was bound with duct tape and held at gunpoint during a July burglary of his Chicago townhouse -- which he also later put up for sale. The Heat also lost dependable veterans Jason Kapono, James Posey and Gary Payton, while failing to add a single sought-after star via free agency.

Riley settled for a handful of unexciting names, including Parker, a five-year veteran of four teams, and Penny Hardaway, 36, who would have been a celebrated acquisition about a decade ago.

"I don't think you could ever count us out," Riley said. "But I'm not going to be talking about a championship on the first day . . . I don't have any of those expectations. It's a day-to-day thing for me."

Riley isn't the only one approaching the season with uncertainty. The second question he faced at the opening news conference reflected the state of doubt. It also elicited immediate irritation.

"I'm, like, tired of hearing that question: 'What are we going to do about the number three scorer?' " Riley said. "Are you going to ask a question about Shaq's weight, too? . . . I don't know. We'll find somebody."

Last year's team arrived to training camp largely intact from the previous season, with Riley holding the belief the entire squad should have the chance to defend its unexpected 2006 championship together. But players, nearly across the board, arrived out of shape: Only half, Riley said, passed the first-day conditioning test.

This year's team, Riley said, got to town earlier and showed up fitter. Many players, including O'Neal, worked out voluntarily at American Airlines Arena for about a month before camp opened. Riley said O'Neal "killed" his conditioning test, doing more than was required. Nearly everyone, he said, performed impressively. Even so, Riley said, he was withholding the team's playbook for the first week of practice, determined that his players would spend the early days doing little more than running and playing defense.

Riley said he would like nothing more than to see a star emerge from the nine newcomers to the training camp roster, who include first-round draft pick Daequan Cook, swing man Jeremy Richardson, former Hampton star Devin Green, rookie forward Marcus Slaughter and diminutive Virginia Tech guard Brian Chase, who already has drawn raves from O'Neal for his hustle. Many wonder if fourth-year guard Dorell Wright will, finally, make a major impact.

"This year, we're coming in with other guys who are hungry. It's a different mentality," Wade said.

The usual issues of age and injuries remain, however. Jason Williams, who claims to be over the nicks and scratches that cost him 19 games last season, will be 32 in November. Walker is 31. O'Neal, who started just 39 games last season, will turn 36. Even Riley acknowledged the Heat would have to be realistic about the expectations it places on a man who once seemed able to carry any team at any time.

O'Neal, however, talked tough this week. A boxing fan, he got interested in ultimate fighting -- which involves wrestling, boxing and kicking -- and became a magnet for challengers. O'Neal claimed he defeated them all, compiling a 77-0 record during bouts in Orlando and setting the stage, he quipped, for a handful of lawsuits.

Turning serious, O'Neal declined to discuss the divorce but vowed he would not use it as an excuse for poor play.

"It's something I obviously have to deal with and I'm going to deal with it in the best way possible," he said. "I've been programmed to deal with any situation."