Last time the Miami Heat won an NBA title, they finished the following season sputtering into a first round playoff loss to Chicago. One of the two remaining players from the ’06 team, Udonis Haslem, says that this Heat team is focused and has learned from the mistakes of the past. The Miami native added that it was about having the right mindset, rather than having a bunch of new faces within the group.
“I think it’s not necessarily about being a different group. It’s about the right mindset,” Haslem said. “I don’t think with the ’06 team we really understood what mindset we had to come in with as returning champions.”
He paused and offered an almost sinister smile, as if sending advance warning.
“I think now we understand what our mindset has to be,” he said, “because the level of expectation has been raised a notch, and we understand that.”