A Short Heat History Lesson: The 2006 Championship Team Started at 6-4 Too

Do people not understand how the NBA works? What is with all these supposed fans throwing up their hands in disgust and haters flying onto proverbial supercarriers and hoisting a "Mission Accomplished" banner? Yeah, the Heat are sitting at 6-4. It's not a great record by any means, but it's not exactly the kind of numbers that should prove the Heat are a failure. Especially when you remember the last time this team won a championship, back in 2005-06, they started off the season with the exact same record.

Back in 2005 things only got worse too. The Heat slumped to a 11-10 record before Pat Riley stepped in to coach (not that we necessarily think that needs to happen this time around). They improved, but still had troubles beating some of the better teams in the league. Things didn't really improve until February and May of that season, and even then the team limped its way through April. Funny thing happened though: they wound up winning the NBA finals.

That team isn't exactly the same as the Heat of today. The stars of that year, Shaq and Dwyane Wade had already had a season under their belt to gel as team mates. Though, much of the rest of the team was new after an off season of massive trades. The expectation for that team weren't quite as high as that of today's either, but they had come off a promising 2004-05 season too and detractors had written off their chances to improve.

The point is NBA Championships aren't won in November. Hell, last year's Lakers started at a not-too-dissimilar 7-3.

The Heat of 2010 still need time to gel and patch its weaknesses. Of course the team is going to have trouble against the defending East Division champs with a core still intact form last year. Let's be honest though, those weren't exactly blow out losses either. The team can only improve, and the starting point isn't looking so bad.