MIAMI – When the doors finally opened to the Miami Heat’s private world Saturday morning, allowing the cameras and chroniclers to flood in as the sound of bouncing basketballs echoed against the gym walls, the Heat’s four power brokers got up from their chairs and evacuated out a side door as if being chased. Outside of that one big moment – when they got a private audience with LeBron James, sold him on the merits of family and somehow reeled in basketball’s biggest whale – they have spent this entire season of extreme Heat in the shadows, away from all the lights, unusually quiet despite all the unrelenting noise that surrounds this famous and unwieldy thing they built.

So there went president Pat Riley, back to his big office filled with trophies and a view of the bay. Interview? Take some credit? No thanks. He learned the lessons of talking too much and shadow-casting when Stan Van Gundy was the coach. Van Gundy was Erik Spoelstra before Erik Spoelstra, a Riley lifer forever grateful for the rare opportunity given by his mentor. But Riley, for so long a public voice and face for his team, didn’t know then quite how to get all the way out of the way. He will never make that mistake again. That’s why the loudest Heat season ever has been presided over by the quietest Riley ever.

He lets Spoelstra come to him, when needed, and Spoelstra said Saturday that he does so every day. The unusual calm a young Spoelstra has shown amid turbulence? It is the kind of confidence a man can exhibit when he knows his legendary boss is right by his side, not over his shoulder. And you can hear Riley’s echoing voice in everything Spoelstra says, right down to how often he uses the words “absolute” and “trust.” Riley was going over plays with Spoelstra on Saturday before noticing the oncoming media and evacuating.

“We do that after every practice,” Spoelstra said.

Billionaire Heat owner Micky Arison sits to the side of many practices, too, but he hasn’t talked publicly all season. For what? He is so uncomfortable around big attention that, after the 2006 championship, celebrating outside the arena, he went to an echoing microphone and, instead of uttering the “White Hot” slogan as he intended, accidentally told a whole lot of black people in the crowd to simply “Stay white!”

Tough and proud

Arison hugged Udonis Haslem with such genuine emotion after Game 2 because, despite all the fame and noise nationally, Haslem is a local symbol for how this Heat organization sees itself _ hard-working, tough, proud and homegrown. The three top members of the Heat’s public-relations team, at Haslem’s side for so long, there for everything from his sobbing in the champagne-soaked locker room in 2006 to the grief at the summer wake for his late mother, were as moved for Haslem after his big Game 2 as they were for the team and for themselves. But talk to Arison about that feel-good story? About that hug? Per usual, as soon as the media flooded in Saturday, Arison got up from his chair and left without a word.

His son, Nick Arison, is the heir to all this. He has more to do with helping this happen than anyone knows. Riley and Nick’s father are a generation removed, but 29-year-old Nick has more in common with James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh – and was with them, involved with the day-to-day operation of the Olympic team, when this idea to join forces was hatched in China in 2008. He is a Heat baby, growing from an intern to an attendant to an account manager to his current position of vice president. There are a lot of people in the Heat organization like that. Riley surrounds himself with that kind of love and loyalty, rewarding people who would take a bat to the head for him. One day soon, all this will belong to Arison’s son. He has been groomed for it all his life. But interview Nick? Not until after there’s another trophy to talk about.

And then there’s Andy Elisburg, Heat lifer, with the organization since it was born in 1988. He is the numbers savant. Luxury tax? Salary cap? Riley defers to him on those with complete trust. Elisburg, a workaholic, cares about little in life the way he does about this organization. He’s the one who explained in palatable terms to James, Wade and Bosh how and why it was a good idea to earn so much less than Joe Johnson. Elisburg also has climbed from intern to vice president. James talked a lot about family when he chose the Heat. That’s what the Heat was selling, walking into the meeting with Alonzo Mourning to do so.

A Special bond

“I don’t think people understand how special this is,” Haslem was saying Saturday. “It is weird that people are so busy criticizing us that they don’t see what is really happening here.”

He nodded over to Spoelstra, who was on the court literally pushing Mario Chalmers. This is how Spoelstra came up through the organization, cutting video, retrieving basketballs, doing whatever menial work was asked during insane 18-hour days. And now the head coach of the Heat, promoted and promoted and promoted again, left behind all the TV cameras to physically push the only Heat player remaining on the court during practice _ a grinding grunt still, just in more expensive suits now.

Spoelstra doesn’t like talking about himself. The team? Yes. Basketball? Yes. Himself? No. A Turkish TV station came over requesting a few seconds. He declined because he had to go push Chalmers off balance as he shot jumpers again and again. The long ESPN profile on him Friday? Spoelstra said he didn’t see it. He made a sour face and said he wishes they had waited until after the season to run it.

“I wasn’t a jump shooter at all when I got here,” Haslem said.

Haslem tilted his chin over to where Spoelstra and Chalmers were doing what Spoelstra and Haslem once did.

“That’s how I became a jump shooter – with Spo,” he said.

Forward Udonis Haslem dripped with sweat as he walked off the practice court Friday, the Heat’s final cram session before the playoffs start Saturday.

The comeback is almost complete.

As the postseason begins, Haslem, who was sidelined with a foot injury for most of the regular season, said that he is close to returning to action. He ruptured a tendon in his left foot Nov. 20 at Memphis. The injury required surgery and months of rehabilitation.

“My legs are there, but my timing is off,” Haslem said. “I’m going to be sore [Friday]; I’m going to be sore [Saturday]. The key is how fast can I get that soreness out and kind of get back to a situation where I can play again.”

Haslem said he believes he could play Saturday, but that seems unlikely. Coach Erik Spoelstra said Friday that Haslem will do “light work or nothing at all” Saturday and Sunday.

Although Haslem’s return isn’t eminent, Friday was a major milestone in his recovery. He participated in most of the Heat’s contact drills, and having the Heat’s co-captain on the court boosted the spirits of his teammates.

“He’s been building up to this,” Spoelstra said. “He wanted to be out here [Friday] for the first practice whatever the cost of that means in the next couple days.”

After Friday’s physical practice, Heat forward Chris Bosh seemed convinced that Haslem was ready for a return.

“You take it easy on U.D. then you’re going to get hurt because he’s not taking it easy,” Bosh said. “U.D., he’s a warrior.”

RILEY SPEAKS

Heat president Pat Riley has taken a behind-the-scenes approach this season, but he came out of hiding Friday to speak at length with Heat on-air personality Jason Jackson on WAXY 790.

Riley said he was pleased with the Heat’s 58-win season but noted that the difference between the Heat and the league’s best mark (the Bulls won 62 games) was Miami’s home record. The Heat lost 11 games at AmericanAirlines Arena whereas the Bulls lost only five at home.

“I look back at it, I try to figure out why don’t we have just this incredible home-court advantage and where we’re winning 36, 37 games a year at home, so that’s the difference,” Riley said during the radio interview.

Riley called Haslem’s foot injury “the tragedy of the season” and said if both Haslem and swingman Mike Miller were healthy throughout the season then “we would have had a much better record.”

During the interview, Riley compared Heat forward LeBron James to guard Jerry West of the Lakers’ ’71-’72 championship season. Riley was a reserve on that team.

“Jerry reminded me a lot of what LeBron did this year,” Riley said. “Jerry West was 25 points a game. He would average six rebounds, nine assists. He became more of an across-the-board-type player.”

Riley said Chicago’s Derrick Rose, the favorite to win the league MVP award, captured the imagination of the NBA this season and had “a great, great year,” but added that James and Dwyane Wade should have received more recognition.

“I’m biased and I watch [James] play all season long and whether it’s LeBron or whether it’s Dwyane, both of them at 25 or 26 points a game, you can’t deny both of them should have been in more contention,” Riley said.

“Hats off if it goes to Derrick, but I think our guy has an MVP season in himself, but he’s already won it twice so he wants to win a championship, and I hope that’s the only thing that counts.”

The Heat expects Mario Chalmers to miss two weeks, possibly a bit longer, with a sprained right knee, but team president Pat Riley said Sunday he has no plans to sign another point guard.

If he misses two weeks, Chalmers would be sidelined for seven games. The Heat has 12 regular-season games remaining over 3½ weeks.

Chalmers, who had to be carried to the locker room after he sustained the injury Saturday against Denver, was able to walk without a problem at Sunday’s Heat Family Festival. He was wearing a brace on the knee.

“It isn’t anything serious,” he said. “I’ll be re-evaluated in a week. I’ll definitely be back by the playoffs and maybe the last couple games of the regular season.”

Chalmers said he sustained the injury after Denver’s Ty Lawson attempted a jump shot late in the first quarter.

“His leg kicked my knee,” he said. “It was very frightening. I didn’t know what had happened.”

Mike Bibby will replace Chalmers in the starting lineup, and coach Erik Spoelstra said Dwyane Wade and LeBron James “obviously will be handling the ball quite a bit, as they have been, but Mike Miller will handle, too. And Eddie House now will step in and take up some of those minutes.”

Riley said “we do feel like we have enough depth to make up for” Chalmers’ absence.

“Maybe coach can play Eddie a little bit more, and James Jones [is available],” Riley said. “And we have two primary ball-handlers in Dwyane and LeBron. So they can handle it.”

In 10 games with the Heat, Bibby has 20 assists, eight turnovers and shot 46.8 percent from the field and 45.7 percent on three-pointers (16 for 35). He’s averaging 6.2 points but played more than 26 minutes only once before logging 34 on Saturday.

“Mike’s great — when he gets the ball, he gets off it if he sees me and LeBron streaking up the floor,” Wade said. “When he gets it back, he’s able to run offense.

“Very good shooter. Most importantly, veteran guy. Very smart. He’s going to be big for us in the playoffs.”

Bibby said his biggest challenge has been learning the Heat’s defensive philosophy, which differs from the system he played under in Atlanta.

“He’s picked it up quicker than most,” Spoelstra said. “He still has a ways to go. … It will be a seamless transition for him to step into the starting lineup.”

Wade and James reiterated they have no objection to playing point guard during stretches.

“We’re fine with it,” Wade said. “To start the game, I think we both appreciate the point guard because it’s an opportunity to play off the ball, catch the ball with a live dribble, but we also like to get on the ball and make plays and attack from the top.”

James pointed out, “I’ve played every position on this team this year.”

Riley’s view

Riley, meanwhile, was upbeat as he spoke before the team’s annual charity event on Watson Island.

“The game is good on the court — they’re winning,” he said. “Everyone is getting excited about a month from now that something good is going to start.”

Riley said the relentless focus on his team “has had somewhat of an effect on everybody because it is a story that’s fatiguing. Some of the things that have been written have been derogatory and you have to deal with it every day. I would just like to have the team be able to play games in a normal circumstance and normal press coverage. This has been a little bit over the top.”

But he said the attention “is subsiding now. I don’t follow the circus. Now we need to replenish the troops and get ready for the playoffs.”

Scouting trip

Riley and Heat vice president/player personnel Chet Kammerer scouted 10 NCAA Tournament games last week. The Heat has no first-round pick in the June draft but has Minnesota’s second-round selection from the Michael Beasley trade.

“We feel [that] pick, 31 or 32 or wherever it might be, is going to be a pretty good pick,” Riley said. “We saw a lot of players that have some potential. We’re going to accumulate the assets over the next couple of years.

“Next year [2012], we’ll be able to use our first-round pick. Anybody that we do draft and put them in the environment with Dwyane, [Chris Bosh] and LeBron, they will raise their level of play.”

Wade joked last week that Riley wasn’t at a Heat game because he was off watching potential second-round picks. Riley laughed when that comment was relayed.

Replied Riley, in jest: “When they come to me and say, ‘Coach we need some help.’ No you don’t. We gave all that help away to be able to get you here.”

Heat president Pat Riley offered support for coach Erik Spoelstra on Wednesday, putting to rest speculation that Spoelstra’s job could be on the line this season.

“It’s the media being neurotic,” Riley told The Newark Star-Ledger during the preliminary rounds of the Big East conference tournament at Madison Square Garden. “It’s their need to make a story, create a story and make that story come true. And that ain’t going to happen. Write it off.”

Riley has maintained a low profile this season, rarely speaking publicly about the Heat. Losers of five consecutive games entering Thursday’s game against the Lakers, the Heat has dropped to third in the Eastern Conference. With games against the Memphis Grizzlies, San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder and Atlanta Hawks in the coming week, the schedule doesn’t get any easier. “We’re just in a tough time right now, we’ll get through it,” Riley said.

During the interview, Riley offered a balanced perspective when asked about the Heat’s losing streak.

“Everyone has to overreact to things right now,” Riley said. “We’re going through some tough times, and we will get through it. It’s like anything else, like I always say, the playoffs will tell. Everything else now is just rhetoric. And we’re getting ready for that time. And I don’t really care what position we play from.”

On Thursday, Spoelstra indicated that Riley’s experience has been invaluable throughout the season. Riley coached high-profile teams in New York and Los Angeles. Recently, Riley helped calm Spoelstra’s nerves following the Heat’s loss to the Bulls. After the game, Riley invited Spoelstra to his office for a low-key meeting.

“We both sat on the couch and shared a bottle of wine and just sat there and thinking about what to do next,” Spoelstra said.

Big need

One reason for Riley’s level-headed demeanor during the Heat’s struggles could be his realization that the Heat is still a few players from unlocking its full potential. Riley was in New York on Wednesday scouting college prospects, and he acknowledged that the roster could use an additional inside presence.

“We need a big, and we’ll get it,” Riley told the Star-Ledger. “We won’t get it this year, but we’ll get it.”

The Heat has started three centers at different times during the season. Erick Dampier is the current starter. Joel Anthony began the season as the starter, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas has started 47 games. Center Jamaal Magloire has only played in eight games this season.

During the Heat’s five-game losing streak, the Heat’s center rotation averaged 5.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.

X-boxed

Lakers coach Phil Jackson expressed his displeasure with the Heat’s offense before Thursday’s game, calling it a one-on-one “X-Box” offense.

“I’m not a big fan of the style Miami plays,” Jackson said. “I like to see everyone involved.”

Jackson said he enjoys watching the offenses of the Boston Celtics and the San Antonio Spurs.

“Basketball is not a one-on-one game,” Jackson said. “It’s a team game.”

The Miami Heat have floundered of late, but not enough to consider removing coach Erik Spoelstra, team president Pat Riley said.

“Write it off. Write it off. It’s the media being neurotic,” Riley, responding to a question about Spoelstra’s job security, told the Newark Star-Ledger while attending the men’s Big East tournament in New York.

“It’s [the media's] need to make a story, create a story, and make that story come true. And that ain’t going to happen. Write it off. We’re just in a tough time right now, we’ll get through it.”

The Heat have lost five straight and play host Thursday to the Los Angeles Lakers, who have won eight in a row.

In its losing streak — in which four defeats have come on its home court — Miami has been unable to score at the end of close games and lost by 30 points to No. 1 Western Conference seed San Antonio, and Chris Bosh has complained about his role in the offense.

After Sunday’s one-point loss to the Chicago Bulls, Spoelstra said some Heat players were moved to tears in the locker room — a possible indication that the pain of losing has turned to despair.

“I know they’ll get it,” Riley told the Star-Ledger. “But everyone has to overreact to things right now.”

The Heat, in fact, can clinch a playoff berth with a victory Thursday night. Still, it stands as little consolation to a team that is winless on its current 11-game stretch against teams with winning records.

Miami is currently the third seed in the Eastern Conference, 2½ games behind No. 2 Chicago and only 1½ ahead of rival and No. 4 seed Orlando.

“We’re going through some tough times and we will get through it,” Riley said. “It’s like anything else, like I always say, the playoffs will tell.

“Everything else now is just rhetoric. And we’re getting ready for that time. And I don’t really care what position we play from.”