DALLAS —
It didn’t take long for Heat coach Erik Spoelstra to develop an early theme to this season.

In fact, it was a simple pregame act that set a symbolic tone, rather than the clever phrase or repurposed military reference that tended to inspire last season’s rallying cries.

Before the Mavericks had their brief, faintly emotional and surprisingly traditional banner-raising ceremony, the Heat quietly stepped away, heading to the hallways of the American Airlines Center rather than watch highlights of memorable Mavericks moments produced on Miami’s home floor.

It wasn’t a dismissive act. It wasn’t a defiant act. It wasn’t even an uncommon act.

It was simply an expression of what the Heat is at the moment: a team playing in the present and looking toward the future.

Reliving the past isn’t what this team wants to do, regardless if every outsider believes last season’s failure is what should motivate this group every moment of every game.

“It’s not about last season’s storylines,” Spoelstra said. “We already left last year behind.”

It’s not only an intelligent way to approach this second season of Mega-Heat, but it’s also largely true that this season should feel like a different experience for the Heat.

DIFFERENT FEEL

Last season was about learning each other and learning on the fly. It was about living up to mostly self-created expectations. It was about fighting off critics and adjusting to elevated scrutiny. It was as much about nonbasketball storylines as it was actual basketball.

This season has a different feel.

It’s about adjustments to last year, yes. But it’s not about redemption or attempting to right a wrong.

This is about growth and reaching a potential the team saw only flashes of last season.

And in this delayed opening game of the season, the one that didn’t start with a group of Heat players strolling down bitter-memory lane, the Heat displayed just how different this team can be.

“We played exactly how we wanted to play,” Chris Bosh said.

It’s a frightening thought that this team can say, with such short preparation time, that it played a game exactly as planned.

But you could see it from the start, with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade continuing the approach established during the preseason. A game dominated by a quick pace, aggressive attacks, ball movement and, of course, both LeBron and Wade spending extra time in the low-post rather than navigating through multiple defenders before even reaching the paint.

This was a team that clearly wasn’t concerned about external chatter, which affected last year’s Heat. This was just a team determined to perfect its style of play, and a few individuals determined to display shiny new elements of their game.

When you have those thoughts running through your head, it’s easy to shake off the past and concentrate on the right now.

“This was about us,” Spoelstra said. “About our journey.”

WHAT’S AHEAD

If this is the version of the Heat we’re going to see all season — and it’s impossible to determine considering how ragged the re-tooled Mavericks looked on a day that was as much about celebration for them as it was competition — then the rest of the NBA should’ve spent at least one brief moment shuddering on Christmas Day in anticipation of what’s to come.

The Miami Heat ruined the Dallas Mavericks’ championship party, handing them a humiliating Christmas Day beat down. Dirk Nowitzki and company were all smiles prior to the game (Mavericks received their rings and hoisted the 2011 championship banner in the pregame festivities), but the smiles didn’t last long, as the Heat cruised on to the 105-94 victory. With the win, the Heat break their 14 game regular season losing streak to the Mavericks.

The Heat wasted no time against the team that ended their championship dreams last season, taking control in the very first half of the game and never looking back. By halftime, the Heat had a 21 point lead, and things only got worse for the Mavericks in the second half. The Mavericks did try to fight back in the final quarter, but by then, half of their fans had already deserted them and it was too little too late.

Solid defense has been a staple of the “big three” era Heat and they obviously haven’t lost a step. The Heat’s defense smothered the Mavericks throughout the game, holding them to 38 percent shooting from the field. Even Nowitzki had problems dealing with the Heat’s defense, converting on only 6 of his 15 attempts from the field.

LeBron James made an emphatic statement in Miami’s first game of the 2011/12 NBA season, dropping 37 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists against the Mavericks.

Dwyane Wade wasn’t playing around with the Mavericks either, finishing with 26 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists of his own.

Miami’s improved bench played their part as well, putting up a combined 27 points and 23 rebounds against Dallas. Udonis Haslem in particular had a strong game coming off the bench, finishing with 9 points and 14 rebounds.

Expectations are high for the 2011/12 Miami team, but they seem to be up to the task. The Heat’s next game will be on Dec. 27, when they host the Boston Celtics at the American Airline Arena.

David is a Miami Heat fan that has followed the team for 15 years. Follow him on twitter @davidkingwriter and check out his blog.

Sources:

Player and game information from ESPN.com

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Miami Heat Rookie Norris Cole Prepares for 2011/12 Season

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Hold up together during the lockout, Heat president Pat Riley, CEO Nick Arison and coach Erik Spoelstra had plenty of time to tinker.

They looked at their team from every angle.

They weighed the positives.

They talked about new offensive philosophies.

They formulated a plan.

They decided on a new vision.

That new vision — Spoelstra’s vision — will be unveiled on Christmas Day against the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks.

In his preseason news conference, Riley called Spoelstra “innovative” and “not afraid to take chances.” Make no mistake, Spoelstra is taking a chance with the Heat’s roster this season.

Faster team

Gone are the aging centers: Erick Dampier, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Jamaal Magloire.

In its place remains a faster, younger but smaller rotation.

If the Heat’s first two preseason games were any indication — and, with no time to waste, they were — Year Two of the Big 3 will be the season the Heat tries to run every other team off the court.

“We are all committed to that as a franchise,” Spoelstra said. “In our talks as a staff, we really wanted to emphasize our strengths, which are our speed and our athleticism, and it’s something that our entire organization is on the same page about.”

Conformity and the offensive sets of the past have been replaced by a looser interpretation of the game.

As Chris Bosh put it, the Heat’s offense will be “free-flowing.”

“We’re just going to get out there and flow into it; we’re not going to make any calls,” Bosh said. “I think last year we were too bent on making calls, trying to run a specific play every time, when the set can really just be free-flowing.”

A fun game

The offense still will have rules and guidelines, Spoelstra cautioned, but set plays that can be scouted, charted and defended in a conventional sense have given way to basic principles: spacing in the open court, cuts to the basket, relying on the experience of familiarity to dictate the pace of the game.

In other words, it’s going to be fun to watch.

“Let’s just play basketball; let’s use our talents,” LeBron James said. “Let’s use our IQs of the game just to play.

“So I think [Spoelstra] has done an unbelievable job so far, in this training camp, of getting guys ready, but making them comfortable, as well.”

Last season, Spoelstra attempted to remove the governor and let the fuel of athleticism run freely.

The team wasn’t quite ready.

The familiarity wasn’t completely there.

“As a player, you say, ‘Yeah, we could have done it.’ No, we really couldn’t,” Wade said. “We kind of had to get structured a little.

“It would have been too much one-on-one because that’s what we’ve done a lot in our careers, all of us.

“So, it would have been a little too much. It wouldn’t have good continuity for the team. It would have been a lot of bad shots.”

From a practical standpoint, the shortened training camp could be an advantage for the Heat and its new offensive tendencies.

Complete team

“Tweaks,” as Spoelstra calls them. Unlike last season [and unlike many of the contenders around the league], the Heat returns mostly intact.

It’s a safe bet this team will not begin the season 9-8, which is where it found itself last season after visiting Dallas. The Heat now can build upon its experience.

“I think it’s comforting, knowing that we have a short period of time to try to get in shape, try to get the new guys involved, trying to do all these things, but not having to worry about that as much,” Wade said.

One perspective: The Miami Heat is the defending Eastern Conference champion. Success.

Another perspective: The Heat collapsed in The Finals. Failure.

One perspective: The city of Miami cherishes this team. Love.

Another perspective: The rest of the world loathes this team. Hate.

One perspective: For nearly an entire season, LeBron James thrived amid scrutiny that would have driven a lesser man mad. Strength.

Another perspective: In The Finals, James imploded under pressure like a sinking submarine. Weakness.

One perspective: The lockout was pointless. Fact.

Another perspective: It was extremely necessary. Fiction.

One perspective: All of this is true.

Another perspective: What is truth? For most, truth is the absence of doubt.

For the Heat, it’s a matter of perspective. SO BEGINS YEAR 2 OF THE BIG 3.

This team has enough talent to win the NBA championship. That’s one way to look at it, and there’s no denying it. Just ask Las Vegas. Two-to-one favorites. Nearly unbeatable.

This team simply lacks the spiritual fortitude to persevere. That’s another way to refract light through the prism. Just ask the Dallas Mavericks. Three consecutive losses. Nearly unthinkable.

Pat Riley understands all of this. Perched high atop the pantheon of his sport, he has a view of every angle. His vantage point is a 360-degree panorama. The Heat’s president sees a team that can win it all. He also sees a team staring into the mirror, searching for itself.

“How we go about, and how Erik [Spoelstra] goes about, and how the players go about having a perspective on this season is probably going to be important to how they end it,” Riley said.

What is the proper perspective? That’s what this team must teach itself. Last year, after The Decision, after The Celebration, after James counted the championships he imagined in his dreams, all perspective was lost. And that was before the season even began.

The Heat was painted a villain of an epic tale it helped create. Darth Vader. The Dark Side. James, loved by all when he was in Cleveland, fueled by happiness, was suddenly cast a traitorous scoundrel. Benedict Arnold, his former team’s owner shouted. James listened. He heard it all; from everywhere. He accepted someone else’s perspective.

He played powerfully but with anger. The joy wasn’t gone, but it was hiding somewhere, tucked away in a shadowy cave, sealed off from the world by frustration. “What should I do?” he asked in a commercial. The world answered, “Be the bad guy.” And so he accepted the role.

James searched for answers during the lockout. Something was missing. Maybe it was his post game. He found Hakeem Olajuwon, who helped James find himself once again. Sure, he worked on his post game, but he also worked on something much more important: self discovery.

James called his time with the Hall of Famer “overwhelming” and said he went searching for answers “not knowing that the experience was going to be much better, much bigger than basketball.”

Now James says the old James is back. He’s ready for the hate fest. He’s impervious to the negativity. Boos from fans of opposing teams that once chiseled an emotionally hardened exterior will cascade off his shoulders.

“I’m just back to being myself,” James said. “I just wasn’t myself last year.”

Back from where? Back from darkness.

Who is LeBron James? A child at heart.

“I’m back to the childhood kid who loved the game of basketball — just playing it and not worrying about everything else,” James said. “Last year, I got caught up in everything that was going on. I’m back to just loving the game.”

Perspective. The Finals. The sinking submarine plummeting into the abyss of not knowing one’s self, of doing and not being.

“I didn’t play my game,” James said. “I didn’t make enough game-changing plays.”

Perspective. Truth. What is truth? The Finals.

“There’s no sense in putting extra pressure on yourself,” Riley said. “But when you get to the moment of truth, you’ve got to be relaxed. You don’t have to be living up to something you said.”

“ Not one, not two, not three, not four … ” Ultimately, James and his teammates will be judged — by themselves and everyone else — in the playoffs. The shortened training camp, the shortened season, all of it will be forgotten come late April.

The seeds of perspective already are being planted for the coming spring.

“We all know what this team is capable of doing,” Riley said. “We are contenders, I believe that, and that’s all we are.”

Hilariously, Amar’e Stoudemire continues to take shots at the rival Miami Heat, saying that his Knicks are looking forward to challenging the reigning Eastern Conference champs. According to STAT, LeBron and co. aren’t ready to claim the NBA throne from the champion Mavericks. Per the NY Post: “Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire said though the Miami Heat are the team to beat in the Eastern Conference, they aren’t the kings of the NBA. ‘The Miami Heat are the guys. [The Heat] are the team to beat, they’re the Eastern Conference champions,’ Stoudemire said. ‘I think Dallas is really on the throne and Miami is trying to climb the throne but it’s too high for them to get up there.’ Stoudemire, who handed out presents to children at Harlem with The Brotherhood/Sister Sol and his foundation, said the Knicks are an ‘up and coming’ team in the East, but are still chasing the Heat. ‘We’re not there yet, we have a lot of room to improve,’ Stoudemire said. ‘We know how good we can be. The potential is pretty much doing what you haven’t done yet and to keep striving for greatness. I think we can be really, really good.’ The vision Stoudemire had for the Knicks when he signed with the team two summers ago is finally coming to fruition, with a roster filled with ‘great’ players.”