Pat Riley fired the first shot Tuesday in the Battle of Shaq's Bulge. The Heat coach wants Shaquille O'Neal to lose weight to aid his recovery from knee surgery.

"Right now I hope his thought process is that he tries to almost reinvent himself physically," Riley said. "Because this is the first time that he's really had something wrong with his knee to the extent that there's been surgery on it."

Riley said it's important that O'Neal "come back a lot lighter, a lot leaner."

Shaquille O'Neal has been sidelined since November 12th with a knee injury and isn't expected to return until the 23rd of December at the earliest.

"I hope his thought process is that he tries to almost reinvent himself physically," head coach Pat Riley said. "He has to come back a lot lighter, a lot leaner. Those kinds of things are really important now."

"I'll be in shape good enough to help the team out and help win games and further what we're trying to do," he said.

The Heat are looking for a veteran point guard and Brevin Knight fits the bill, but wasn't interested in discussing it on Saturday.  The Bobcats received interest in Knight last season and left the decision to him and he decided to remain in Charlotte.

"I wouldn't even answer that at this point," he said. "I'm happy being here. We'll cross those bridges when they come. At this point I'm fine. That bridge is not here."

Damon Stoudamire was surprised to read a report on Saturday in the Miami Herald that mentioned his name as a point guard that could be dealt to Miami.  So was head coach Mike Fratello.

"What are we going to do? Have Jake (Tsakalidis) bring the ball up court?" Fratello said jokingly.

Miami has a shortage of healthy point guards, but so does Memphis, who just lost Kyle Lowry for an extended amount of time.

For the first time this season, Heat coach Pat Riley publicly acknowledged that his search for a boost to get his struggling team going might extend beyond the team's roster.

Injuries and inconsistent play have hampered the Heat through a 4-8 start. Along the way, Riley has changed his starting lineup, his strategy and, he said, his patience level with the team's sporadic play.

Next could be a roster change, possibly at point guard, where Jason Williams and Gary Payton are battling knee injuries and Dwyane Wade has, at times, been overextended while logging extensive minutes at both guard positions.

Asked before Friday's game if it might be time to consider a roster move to land a veteran point guard, Riley said: ``Probably. Yeah. I think, probably. You've gotta do your due diligence. And plus, I'm not going to make any kind of lateral move.

``It's gotta be somebody who can play. I can play Dwyane there. I'd rather have a 50 percent Dwyane as a point guard than somebody who can't play.''

Riley already has gotten a close-up look at two potential veteran point guards the Heat might consider pursuing.

Seattle Sonics reserve Earl Watson has been unhappy with his inconsistent playing time.

Memphis' Damon Stoudamire and Atlanta's Tyronn Lue might also be attractive options because both are playing on short, relatively inexpensive contracts and fit Riley's win-now, rebuild-later philosophy.

''We've got a long list,'' Riley said.

Searching for a spark, Pat Riley has shaken up the Heat's starting lineup.

Antoine Walker and Gary Payton were both on the bench to start the Heat's game against the Magic on Friday night, getting replaced by Dorell Wright and Jason Kapono, who've combined to make four starts in their first 95 games in Heat uniforms.

Wednesday's 20 point loss to the Spurs in many ways was Heat coach Pat Riley's breaking point.

"I'm damned if I'll allow people to crap on this franchise," he said after loudly expressing similar disgust directly to his players in a postgame locker room diatribe that included threats to cut players and eat contracts. "I've been the good daddy. That's history now."

After identifying signs which point to his knee still not quite being ready, Heat guard Jason Williams sat out Wednesday's game against the Spurs, and doesn't want to return until he knows he's completely ready.

''I think my mind was telling me it was wanting me to be ready, but my legs aren't ready,'' Williams said. ``I don't think my quad is strong enough yet. I need to get it stronger.''

Williams said he is experiencing stiffness and soreness after games, but the pain he feels while playing is nothing like the pain he felt last year when he missed 18 games because of tendinitis in the right knee.

''It's nowhere near the same,'' Williams said. ``I don't feel any of that. I just think my leg's not strong enough yet. [Doctors] told me to expect soreness. But like I said, I thought I was ready. But I don't think I am.''

Pat Riley, the president and coach of the Miami Heat, said Monday that the club's next coach "will come from within the organization."

Riley, who said he has no timetable to resign as coach, spoke in response to a Sun-Sentinel commentary that suggested Memphis Grizzlies coach Mike Fratello could be in line for the Heat job.

"I love Mike to death," Riley said. "He's been a good friend of mine for years and years and years and we talk a lot about it, but I just want to put it to rest that if in fact there's ever a change here with me making a decision, it will come from within the organization.

"So the next coach of the Miami Heat is going to come from the guts of this team."

Shaquille O'Neal underwent successful surgery Sunday to repair a flap tear in the articular cartilage of his left knee, according to the Heat.

The 45-minute surgery was performed at Doctor's Hospital in Coral Gables by team physician Harlan Selesnick. The team previously said O'Neal would be capable of beginning rehabilitation immediately following the procedure.