The Heat is not being under-regarded or disrespected or forgotten. It is simply being treated as its talent demands -- as a team that is decent but not very interesting and certainly not a legitimate championship contender.
Miami will win 45 to 50 games because Pat Riley's men always do, but suggesting this team can reach the Lakers sounds silly when you consider this version of the Heat isn't as talented as its Miami predecessors and none of its predecessors could get close to the throne, either.

Don't be blinded by the neon names on this roster. Players such as Alonzo Mourning and Rod Strickland are not what they were, the former because of illness, the latter because of indifference. Players such as Eddie Jones and Brian Grant are not as good as their paychecks. There are very good reasons LaPhonso Ellis, Kendall Gill and Chris Gatling were available to Riley cheap.

What makes you think Jones can go deep into the playoffs with this team when he couldn't go deep in the playoffs when he played alongside Shaq and Kobe? How can this hodgepodge of talent thrown together so abruptly have more success than a team of Mourning, Tim Hardaway, Jamal Mashburn and P.J. Brown that had played together for so long?

Again, the Heat will be good. Mourning's start has been encouraging. But to suggest the Heat will be a lot better than we thought just because of a nice first game against Toronto is as absurd as suggesting Cote will make a smart and eloquent argument just because he somehow managed to spell the first word of it correctly.