Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Pelicans

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The Miami Heat faced the New Orleans Pelicans on the night of the deadline, after a rather quiet afternoon, but still got the win.

A Kyle Lowry triple-double, Jimmy Butler dictating, and Bam Adebayo aggressiveness.

The Heat’s 3 best players were their 3 best players.

Anyway, here are some takeaways from this one…

#1: Another high awareness offensive start from Bam Adebayo.

Bam Adebayo entered this game in New Orleans with some pretty aggressive offensive showings right behind him. He’s found ways to exploit these switchy teams, put his back to the basket when needed, and find some clear lanes to attack. But in this match-up, it was clearly a bigger body than we’ve seen recently, in Jonas Valanciunas. But right from the jump, we saw a similar mindset. It’s one thing to be aggressive, but it’s another thing to be decisive. Tonight, we saw both. Instead of taking advantage of a one-on-one match-up, he found the dead spots on the floor and rose up. That exact area was the middle of the floor inside the free throw line, where he flowed into that jumper early. He dominated around the rim yet again, even with the surrounding size, and that’s when you know we’re noticing change. He’s evolving.

#2: Jimmy Butler hunting again, as Miami tries to find a rhythm.

As we saw in a recent game against Charlotte, there’s one difference in this Heat team compared to recent ones. Even though there’s a similar focus on three-point shooting, it isn’t the only deciding factor in winning and losing a game. In past years, if they weren’t shooting well, they would keep going to it since it was their only choice. This season, that is usually a signal for Jimmy Butler time. He always finds a way to keep them afloat during that time, and that begins with mismatch hunting and camping out at the charity stripe. For one, Kyle Lowry being slotted next to him allows for much quicker insert passes, but it’s still all Butler in terms of seeking out opportunities to get to the line. And that’s how they survive.

#3: Omer Yurtseven next to Bam Adebayo again?

When looking at this Heat roster tonight, without Tyler Herro and Caleb Martin, I was intrigued with how the rotation might shake up. But it should’ve been obvious against a bigger Pelicans’ team that they would go big. We saw Dewayne Dedmon next to Bam for stretches, but Omer Yurtseven entering was the part to mention. It makes sense to go big in that manner when losing depth options, but we saw it in a positive light once again. The reasoning: it’s for short stints. Anyway, we saw the high-low actions being spammed, and man did they look good. Adebayo would get position down low on a 4, no help was in sight, and he went up in the post for a decent look. We’ve seen this as Bam as the ‘high’ one and PJ Tucker as the ‘low’ guy, but Tucker isn’t a post threat. That’s the small difference in the offensive sets, and it’s good to see that diversity depending on the personnel.

#4: Heat dodging a bullet in New Orleans, and it’s not about the game.

As the Heat play the Pelicans on the night of the trade deadline, it blends right into the conversation many have been having about this team the past 24 hours. If a move was going to be made, they needed someone at the back-up 4 to eat up some minutes for PJ Tucker. And well, that’s what the buyout market will be for. Anyway, as Tucker drives baseline for a bounce pass into Bam in the middle of the floor, the play quickly escalated to more than an offensive set. Tucker went down on the floor grabbing his knee, leaving many Heat observers in freak-out mode. (If that doesn’t showcase the importance of Tucker, I don’t know what does.) Anyway, it ended up being named a left knee contusion, and there was Tucker standing on the court as the third quarter started. I personally wouldn’t have played him after he went down, but it’s hard to hold back Tucker when in that competitive state.

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#5: The impact of Kyle Lowry.

Forget the stats tonight, which were as Kyle Lowry as Kyle Lowry stats get. (Triple-double btw.) But when watching impact, there’s no one better. For starters, it is just simply night and day in the ways the offensive sets are run with this Heat team. Their first action begins so much sooner in the shot clock due to his initial full court entry pass, but the half court stuff is much more noticeable. The main element ties back to Bam Adebayo. It isn’t a coincidence that Adebayo’s aggression and comfort aligns perfectly with the return of Lowry to the lineup. Looking at his assist numbers, he just sets Adebayo up quite perfectly, and not just out of the PnR. He finds him. He aborts the play. And forces him to go to work. The best play for Adebayo.

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Wizards

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The Miami Heat took down the Washington Wizards on Monday night, and they were without Tyler Herro due to some knee soreness.

There were some up and downs early, but Jimmy Butler controlled, and the young bench group stepped up big to expand that lead.

Anyway, here are some takeaways from this one…

#1: The first half up and downs.

The Heat came out swinging to start this game, finding the appropriate exploitable match-ups on the floor, beginning with the coveted Duncan Robinson DHO. The reasoning was due to them facing drop coverage once again, which always leaves Robinson with a potential explosion. I’ll discuss the other offensive reasons they got out in front next, but a quick fall-out occurred in the second quarter, leaving Erik Spoelstra running on the court to call a timeout early on like he knew what was coming. The first thing was just not taking care of the ball, and bad looking turnovers had the Wizards getting easy buckets on the other end. But a very odd element was to see Miami’s defense start so strong, then go downhill. They were doubling hard and hitting passing lanes in that first quarter, but the second quarter story was major defensive miscommunications. Not talking on screens, allowing them to dictate switches, and just poor close-outs. It was just for a stretch, but those are the things that can lead to a huge run in the other direction, which happened.

#2: Big Gabe Vincent offensive punch early on.

As I said in my last post-game piece, Gabe Vincent has been outstanding at filling the role of Kyle Lowry in the starting lineup over recent weeks, but his best minutes continue to come next to Lowry instead. In this one, Vincent enters, and man was he shooting that ball. He had back to back pull-up triples in that stretch, and they were from deep, which was almost Lowry-esque just due to pulling it with confidence in transition. Big picture, discussing playoff lineups or rotations is weird due to the unknown of who will be available, but it’s clear the rotation will shrink. With that said, Vincent will be the perfect filler whenever they need a specific boost in perimeter defense, while also providing quite the offensive versatility. It’ll be interesting when that time comes, but for now, what a story Vincent has been in terms of climbing the ranks after going undrafted, then climbing those ranks even further once again.

#3: Jimmy Butler, the release valve, once again for Miami.

Who was the other person to not only get Miami in front early, but keep the steady pace as Washington edged back? Jimmy Butler. Most of it is just Butler doing Butler things in terms of bulldozing his way down the lane and scoring around the rim, but when zooming out into the actions being run, he was their release valve. We saw a bunch of inverted pick and rolls with Lowry, and that’s due to the need to draw the mismatch, then execute it in isolation. Butler began to do that, even throwing in some unique counters on Deni Avdija when in the mid-post, but it’s just so crucial to see this play out two games in a row. There will be smaller teams, or switchy teams like Charlotte, who Miami could see in the playoffs, and man will that have ‘Butler series’ written all over it. That’s when he’s at his best, but it’s also their offensive savior when things begin to get broken up in their base sets.

#4: A Bam Adebayo third quarter shift.

To continue on Miami’s plan of Butler attacking smaller guards, although that was their base, they didn’t have anything to revert to at times. Kyle Lowry still isn’t looking to score, PJ Tucker just takes what comes to him in that corner, and Duncan Robinson was a bit up and down. With that said, all eyes are on Bam Adebayo to do something as the Wizards creep back in. And he did just that. A big time third quarter was filled with some gifted dunks on the roll to start it off, but things trended back in the direction of what we saw the previous two games. One play, he got the deep seal on a smaller guy, which he then turned right into that post hook with no kick-out crossing his mind. The next play, they insert it into him for a post split, but it turns into iso mode on the clear-out, where he drives off the face-up leading to a foul. These aggressive scoring spurts are the stand-out moments of this past week for this Heat team.

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#5: A little winning streak before the trade deadline.

Tonight’s win over Washington was their third straight win, and it’s a pretty good time to start streaking. This was the final game before the trade deadline on Thursday, and well, I wouldn’t expect many things to change. The Heat could end up making some marginal upgrades to find that back-up 4 as PJ Tucker protection, but simply their rotation seems pretty set. A move that seems most likely is maybe sending a piece out to upgrade Caleb Martin’s contract from two-way to a normal roster spot. Either way, this Heat team sits atop the East with so many guys missing time, but the emergence of these young guys is just the most settling part. If guys go down, there’s protection. If they need to plug a certain skill in a series, there’s protection. They’re in a great spot, and the vets haven’t even hit their main strides.

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over the Hornets

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The Miami Heat took down the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night, behind aggressiveness from Bam Adebayo and a scoring takeover from Jimmy Butler.

But here are some takeaways from the match-up…

#1: Intentional Bam Adebayo transcends any potential trade deadline acquisition.

Watching Bam Adebayo to start this game, it looked like it was heading in the wrong direction. Losing the ball at the head of the offense, almost seeming like his wrapped hand is restricting his ball-handling. But that aside, we saw an intentional version of Adebayo on the offensive end, and that transcends any possible trade or any expected version of Victor Oladipo upon return. If Bam is playing like this, by attacking mismatches on smaller defenders, gaining momentum on drives, and straight up trying to score, then Miami’s ceiling is raising. But to be fair, Adebayo was shooting 3 for 13 at the half, which in my opinion should not matter. The attempts is the main element, and he was causing positive things offensively. Now, he even followed up my piece on his defensive improvements with another absolute masterpiece. This is a team that you can switch everything, and man did he switch everything. Locking up anybody they threw his way, which leads into my next point.

#2: Both Charlotte and Miami matching their first half offensive plan.

The Heat clearly struggled to shoot the ball to start, but how did they generate enough offense? Well, it was simple: attack the mismatch on the block each and every possession. Part of that was Adebayo against PJ Washington early, but it was just simply Jimmy Butler doing Jimmy Butler things. Getting position in the post, scoring around the rim, or drawing fouls consistently. But Charlotte began to blend into a similar offensive mindset. While the Heat were punishing them on the interior, the Hornets were searching for the favorable switch. And well, that was Tyler Herro most of that second quarter. Guys like Miles Bridges would get the switch, the Hornets would space out, and it led to either two things: a score inside from Bridges on the mismatch, or hitting the open spacer after Miami’s weak-side defender pulls down. Both teams navigated the offensive advantage, but funny enough, they were much more alike than you’d think.

#3: Big picture, does the winner come down to who controls the pace?

Coming into this game, my overarching take for Miami was the pace would have to lean in their favor. This is a young and athletic Hornets team who love to run, and the Heat should really slow things down and grind it out. And with the poor shooting on both sides to start, that was point Miami. Yet as things began to pick up, and Charlotte made that second quarter run, you could sense the Heat falling into that constant running trap. Now, to zoom out for a second due to the possibility of these teams seeing each other with higher stakes, that’s who will come out on top most nights. Another reason it would favor Miami in a playoff series is because the game naturally slows down anyway, but when a young quarterback like LaMelo Ball is running the show, he can dictate however he wants. It would just end up being the LaMelo Ball-Kyle Lowry show.

#4: The Jimmy Butler takeover upon us again, but frankly, this one was…odd?

As Jimmy Butler walks off the court late in the third with 27 points, it raises an eyebrow in some ways. Why is that? Well, it was one of the weirdest scoring takeovers I’ve seen from him all year. Sometimes it’s just pure free throw line antics. Other times it’s hunting mismatches to get easy looks off the drive. But tonight, that 27 kinda just…happened. All jokes aside though, the way Butler can just slowly chip away and expand a lead like he did in the third is really a skill. Like I mentioned before, he took over to start with his ability to take control of mismatches on the block, but he was a late shot clock killer as time went on. We’ve seen Miami’s role players takeover many nights, but seeing Butler and Adebayo control throughout is a great sight.

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#5: Navigating the first round match-ups.

We’ve seen Miami face many of the teams at the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff standings, we’ve seen some trends. And no, I’m not just basing this off of one loss or one win. The Cleveland Cavaliers can clearly provide some problems for Miami offensively, just due to the length they can throw out there, and pretty much block off the entire interior whenever they choose. The Toronto Raptors are one of the most unique teams in that range, just due to their switchiness and grittiness, but that’s a series that could clearly wear Miami out before moving on. And now, the Charlotte Hornets. It’s a talented young group who have a high ceiling and low floor from night to night, due to the way they can score in a spark fashion, but Miami matches up with them decently. It’s one of the few teams they can switch everything against, and the attack is pretty much there to be taken all night. It’s Heat basketball, and it wouldn’t be the worst match-up in the world come playoff time.

 

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Bam Adebayo Taking Another Defensive Leap As We Speak

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Bam Adebayo has been climbing the ladder of labels for some time now. A good defender for his size to a great defender. A great defender to an elite versatile defender. And now, an elite versatile defender to the the most versatile defender in this league today.

Adebayo has missed a big chunk of time this season to finish off the calendar year, which blended into some of the month of January as well, so that basically hurts his case for defensive player of the year in the big scheme of things.

But putting that award aside, he’s doing things on that end that we haven’t seen from him before. It’s one thing to be so physically gifted and elite at clamping up your team’s favorite perimeter player, but it’s another thing to be taking the necessary leaps on the minor side of things, just like many talented offensive players develop.

Just as a quarterback or a point guard pick up on certain reads to make as time progresses, safeties and back-line defenders do the same. And at this moment in time, we’re seeing the reads of Bam Adebayo hitting new levels.

It’s a pretty tough task to try and dissect a pick and roll that includes both Adebayo and PJ Tucker, but Erik Spoelstra has developed a plan to make that what is seen most frequently against talented guards, while Jimmy Butler roams on the weak-side.

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In this play above, Fred VanVleet comes off the screen as Adebayo blitzes him immediately. Bam gets a decent portion of the ball to throw off the trajectory of the pass, but Scottie Barnes scoops it up anyway. As Barnes begins to make the next simple read, which is the lob inside to the big in the dunker spot since Miami’s rotations are off, Adebayo fixes that problem.

He swarms in to one-hand pick off the pass, just showcasing the amount of area he can cover in a matter of seconds.

It’s instinctive, and that is when the best quarterbacks, point guards, and safeties reach their peak in terms of reads.

Half of the matter is just pure reads, and the other half is utilizing that physical gift of his to make his presence known each and every possession. Like I said before, it’s one thing to lock up these superior guards on switches time and time again, but it’s another thing to do it once ball-handlers try to avoid you.

Since Adebayo has returned, we’ve seen him pick up on something that I haven’t seen before this point. When that offensive player picks up that ball without the ability to put it back on the deck, he’s going to swarm you. At an uncomfortable rate.

This is unlike the sneaky Jimmy Butler steal and scores, since in that instance, they don’t know it’s coming.

With Adebayo, they see it developing, but there’s nothing they can do to stop it.

Looking at the clips above, this is something Adebayo has been doing on a regular basis since his return, which is not allowing any type of entry pass. We constantly have talked about the mismatches on the back-side being problematic following switches, but well, it isn’t an issue when they can’t actually make that insertion.

How is this eventually countered for the offense?

Well, it leads to them making that extra swing pass to their left or right, so that player can then feed it inside to the mismatch, but this isn’t Omer Yurtseven blitzing anymore.

As seen in that earlier play against VanVleet and the Raptors, his recovery speed is one of the best I’ve seen in the half-court. So by the time that swing pass is being made, Adebayo is in route to recover.

But more importantly, it can’t be figured out as easily as it was last year. This Heat team has the personnel to mix things up defensively at an outstanding rate, which just leads to pure Bam Adebayo fun.

Speaking of that personnel around him, that’s what is propelling his play, and that’s an absolute fact.

How is that exactly?

Since this isn’t last year anymore, Adebayo actually has a ton of trust in his back-line help when that switch is made. He couldn’t usually make that gamble to try and break up a pass on an entry pass, since if he was unsuccessful, it was an easy bucket 100% of the time.

Now we see a defensive front-court trio of Butler-Tucker-Adebayo, who can all make up for the others mistakes when they occur.

In that clip above from last night against the Spurs, they’re running their primary action with the Butler-Tucker-Adebayo trio navigating screens. Once again, there’s no clear outlet there.

Butler and Tucker switch on the screen, then Tucker and Adebayo switch again on the next stagger screen. Derrick White ends up losing it into the hands of Adebayo, but the point is that no advantage was created.

Tucker deserves a ton of credit for this all coming together, since it almost feels like he’s the base to it all. But Bam Adebayo is the propelling factor. He’s the guy that can elevate this defense to another level come playoff time, as the dynamic duo with Erik Spoelstra continues to emerge.

Conversations can be had on a regular basis about Adebayo’s play in terms of offensive aggression or different ways to score, but nobody can question his defensive impact. And actually, it should hold a lot more weight than currently viewed.

The amount of consistency he provides on that end of the floor on a regular basis is unreal, and he hasn’t skipped a beat after missing about seven weeks of time.

He’s an elite, versatile talent on that end of the floor, but his increasing reads and stronger supporting cast is leading to these extra steps being made at a faster and faster rate.

“Best defender 1 through 5 that I’ve seen in a while in this league,” said Heat’s back-up center Dewayne Dedmon on Adebayo.

And that’s a hard point to argue.

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Spurs

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The Miami Heat took down the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night, as Kyle Lowry made his return.

Tyler Herro shined, Bam Adebayo controlled, and Jimmy Butler provided just enough to take the 4th quarter off.

So, here are some takeaways from this one…

#1: The early game Heat story: the bench mob carrying the way offensively.

Bam Adebayo got Miami going early with a quick six, and Duncan Robinson followed with the following nine. But other than that for the first 20 minutes of play, no other starter was providing that scoring juice. Yet as the bench group fully got themselves in, we saw things begin to click. Dewayne Dedmon’s solidity jumps off the screen, just through his ability to play such a simple game and receive constant relief points when other things breakdown. Max Strus had moments where he hit the three-point gaps to fire away, and took advantage. Gabe Vincent is an interesting one, since as much as we view him as a high level Kyle Lowry filler, his best minutes this season have actually come next to Lowry. And well, Tyler Herro looked like Tyler Herro when he was out there leading that group, which is the most important element on nights when it seems like the vets just kinda want to coast through.

#2: More big man lineups?

We’ve seen a minor trend that Erik Spoelstra has thrown our way over this recent stretch, and that’s big lineups with Adebayo at the 4. We saw it for longer stretches next to Chris Silva in a recent game, but does that really even count? Probably not. Anyway, as much as many Heat fans seem to be screaming about the insertion of Omer Yurtseven next to Bam, we got to see some more of Dedmon next to him. For one, we’ve actually seen more of that stretch ability from Dedmon at this level than Yurtseven, as he drilled another three tonight, but that’s besides the point. It almost feels like they’re just getting in these reps on nights they know they can have trial runs. Why would they want to get in these reps? Well, some teams like Cleveland could be a potential playoff match-up in the future, and they want to dictate pace at all times. They aren’t going to go to that long in that scenario, but it’ll be on their bingo card.

#3: The best version of Tyler Herro? Third option attacker.

Looking at the first half shot profile of Tyler Herro, it was a good amount of drives. More specifically, it was a lot of fast-break drives, but things were still being generated in the half-court. It’s something to monitor when evaluating the guys out there around him, since he’s not a primary attacker on a team, which we saw when both Butler and Lowry were out. Butler returns, Lowry still out, and Herro is in a secondary attacker role which still is an adjustment in many ways. It isn’t that free-flowing offensive role that he sees so often off the bench. But now as both Butler and Lowry are back, we see him shift back into his usual semi-driving role, which he undoubtedly is most comfortable in. It may not seem like a big shift, or at least one that jumps right off the screen, but it differs in terms of the plate sitting on Herro’s lap.

#4: The telling factor when it’s a Jimmy Butler type night.

It’s one thing to get hyped up for big games so that your skill-set can elevate. But it almost seems like a completely other thing for Jimmy Butler, since when he almost plays in the manner that he isn’t even trying, that’s when his game looks to be at its best. Starting from the end of the second quarter on, we saw that turn with him. Sealing down low for over the top post position for easy lay-ins. Getting to the line. And something that hasn’t been gone to enough recently: driving off the catch. It’s one of Butler’s most elite offensive elements, since simply there’s no one on this San Antonio roster that can handle a shoulder dropping Butler on the attack following a healthy head-start. Once again, that may seem like a minor tweak, but it’s a major shift when he starts getting to it in game 3 of a playoff series. And much of that head-start is adding back their primary ball-handler in Lowry.

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#5: Kyle Lowry back. Heat offense is back.

Kyle Lowry made his return tonight vs San Antonio, and he seemed to burn the most calories hysterically laughing, since he looked to just be having a great time joking around with Jimmy Butler. But in terms of on the floor, Lowry doesn’t have to do a lot to impact the game. Actually, he doesn’t even need to have a made field goal to shift the offense. His presence alone changes the looks for all those around him, and simply, the other main 3 counterparts understood the assignment. Butler-Adebayo-Herro all controlled this game during different spurts, and that’s a good change of pace compared to the heavy reliance on role players as of late. It should be said that the Heat just did what they should have against this low tier Spurs team with missing pieces, but they needed one to get back on track. And they did that.

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Loss to Toronto

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The Miami Heat faced the Toronto Raptors once again on the fourth game in five nights, and the Raptors got the best of them again late.

Miami was in control for the first 2 and a half quarters, but once offensive momentum shifts, a team like Toronto can easily take control.

They struggled once again within their late game offense, but Bam Adebayo dominated on that end all night.

Anyway, here are some takeaways from this one…

#1: Welcome aggressive Bam Adebayo to the show.

Bam Adebayo has been discussed a ton recently, and it’s been highlighted by his need to be aggressive. Well, right out the gate in this one, he was taking advantage of the areas he didn’t the last time around. The first one is when smaller defenders are guarding him. Last time against Toronto, it was post-up, dribble, double, kick-out. But as the Raptors began delaying the double, it left him in no man’s land. Tonight, he wasn’t afraid to immediately flow into that post hook, which is the perfect addition to that offensive bag. The other main element to his game is this: when he gains momentum, man is he hard to stop. He had some fast-break finishes, but one play to finish the first half stuck out. Takes it in from the wing, hesitates as a shot fake, then speeds up to blow by his defender and flip a wild scoop that drops in. When he’s operating from his comfortable spots, while being aggressive, he’s the scary talent we all know he is.

#2: Butler and Tucker back…Heat offense back? Well, at times.

There’s no doubt that the Heat’s offense fell apart in the last game against Boston. Was it due to it being the third game in four nights? Was it being without Jimmy Butler and PJ Tucker? Probably a combination of both, but I would lean the latter. For one, as we saw Miami’s offensive plan immediately in this game, they had counters ready from their past two losses. The drive and kick was back in action as Butler made his return, but they also had beatable slips and planned cuts against Toronto’s complete switching. Now that territory was all PJ Tucker. Many of us would just account offensive struggles to the lack of Butler, but Tucker is more important to this offense than you may think. He’s the functional piece to make it all go, due to his safety blanket ways following a screen and being the outlet to an even better shot. Yet, in the fourth quarter, they got away from it at times again. They reluctantly worked things through Tucker and Caleb Martin late in the clock, just showcasing an awkward sense of control in crunch time.

#3: Dominating the inside early.

To continue on an offensive topic even more, we always seem to have a section on good nights where it discusses their elite three-point shooting. But I’m looking in the opposite direction in this one. This team has a recipe when fully healthy to let that ball go from deep within their sets, then let that bleed into the inside game after blitzing is forced on ball screens. In this one, they flipped the script. They went inside early on a very lengthy, doubling team, and that blended right into the eventual kick-outs that Miami lacked in the last game. If we can see Miami with this type of uniqueness to their offensive game-plan, aside from lineups and individual sets, it makes them a very tough team to defend in the playoffs with all things clicking. Key word: clicking.

#4: Let’s take a second to recognize the opposition.

Watching the way this team battles against Miami every time around, we must zoom out for a quick second. There’s a recipe where Miami could actually end up facing this Raptors team in a first round, and man would that be an emotionally and physically drug out series. Yes I’d take Miami in that scenario, but it wouldn’t be easy. This Raptors team never stops on either end, they have guards like VanVleet and Trent who can pick out mismatches at an extremely high level in Miami’s offensive lineups, and switch at an uncomfortably high level to bother shooters. It would be a fun series to watch, but it may not be the best walkway for Miami in terms of them focusing on the long haul, since frankly, it would be a draining series of games.

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#5: The minutes of Duncan Robinson, again, something to monitor.

This Raptors team definitely isn’t the best defensive match-up for Duncan Robinson who thrives heavily off operating off screens both on and off the ball. The hand-off is made, and immediately two swarming Raptors are forcing Robinson into quick decision making. But when evaluating Erik Spoelstra’s decision making, we see another scenario where he limits Robinson’s minutes in favor of Max Strus. I think there are a ton of match-ups where Robinson can pop off and be huge for them offensively, but the fact that this happens so often is an eyebrow raiser. And well, two high level guards will be returning soon, in Kyle Lowry and Victor Oladipo, which will make these decisions even more complex in terms of Robinson’s minute distribution when coming out cold.

 

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The Main Victor Oladipo Element for this Heat Team

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No Jimmy Butler-no Kyle Lowry on Monday night against the Boston Celtics. What is the product of that equation? Well, it shows an offensive game-plan that lacks one of the Heat’s most crucial elements: rim pressure.

Tyler Herro was pretty much the only one who could semi-do it on a very awkward offensive night, but he’s clearly a complementary driver and attacker at this stage in his career, and not a primary reliable source in that way.

So, those points get you thinking. Missing top dogs on the roster? Missing rim pressure offensively? Missing that main dish on a night where guys like Max Strus provide the complementary 27 points?

Yeah, in theory, there isn’t a better filler/answer to those questions than a healthy Victor Oladipo.

And yet, as the clock hit midnight late last night, could we officially be in the return month of the Heat’s potential shiny new toy?

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The thing about Oladipo is that he can fill a lot of holes and provide a lot of things, but when discussing it this far away from actually seeing him out there, it’s tough to predict how he will look in certain aspects of his game.

Defense is the thing that’ll shoot up his minutes per game immensely, since ultimately I feel that’s what will keep him on the floor for extended time. Guys like Caleb Martin and Gabe Vincent have been elite on-ball stoppers as of late, but adding in one of the better off-ball hounds, navigating screens everywhere on the floor is just another beast.

But once again, there’s a caveat: we don’t know if that’ll still be intact as soon as he returns.

While I could dissect so many different elements of his game that’ll provide a major plus to this Heat team down the stretch of the year, I want to keep this relevant to what we’ve seen as of late, and that’s the need for his on-ball attack.

The last two games from Miami have highlighted the drive and kick that they rely on so heavily. Against Toronto, it was their only good looking offense in those 3 overtimes, but the frequency of it wasn’t as high as it should’ve been. Against Boston, the Celtics wouldn’t help off the weak-side corner, which pretty much eliminates the “kick” in drive and kick.

But was it truly the “kick” that was eliminated? Absolutely not.

The thing Miami was without in that scenario was the “drive.” As pointed out earlier, Herro being the primary attacker leaves a top tier defense picking their poison, and the choice wasn’t a very difficult one.

Yet in a drive and kick offense, it’s something Oladipo is built for.

Looking at those clips up above, you see a guy that can draw multiple defenders into the lane when attacking, almost in Butler fashion when he’s rolling on a certain night. In that second clip, when facing Miami in game 4 of the Bubble playoffs, he takes the iso on Butler, gets past just enough to collapse Herro-Crowder-Bam, then makes a live skip pass to the opposite wing for a 3.

When evaluating talent, that stuff doesn’t just disappear. We can talk about potentially lacking that initial speed to get by Butler on that isolation, but those reads will always be there to stay. And that’s what’ll make the lives of guys like Butler and Lowry so much easier.

Speaking of the debate about him having that burst to make plays at the rim, I’m not so sure he relies on it as much as some think. There’s no doubt he’s an explosive player on both ends, but he uses more finesse than pure quickness.

Looking at the first two clips above, during that short stint with Miami, you can see that little euro step was his penetration go-to when getting that one-on-one under the rim.

No matter if it’s an iso on James Wiseman or a horns set into a hand-off and size mismatch down low on Dennis Schroder, there are ways for Dipo to apply that much needed rim pressure without that “burst.”

But it should be mentioned that this operation should not be looked at like the last. As many reports have shown, the injury has actually been repaired in a way that wasn’t the case when he got to Miami last season. It’s more about eliminating the degree of re-injury instead of worrying about that explosive push, but we will just have to see how that plays out.

Another part of his offensive bag that requires skill over quickness is his ability to get to the line.

In his 4 games with Miami last year, (yes, very small sample size), he got to the line at least 5 times in three of those games. He just has a knack for drawing contact and forcing defenders to make that swipe, which could be his most useful tool in a playoff series.

The Heat currently rank 24th in free throw attempts per game, but that may be one of the biggest shifting numbers once the playoffs begin. Once Lowry and Butler are actually on the floor together for longer than a day or two, while Dipo can be that “Butler off the bench” as a pace provider by getting to the line, it’s essentially the perfect fit.

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Oladipo will no doubt have to earn his spot from these high level role players like Martin or Strus when he makes his return, but there’s also no doubt that his build is the picture perfect type of player for what this team needs at this moment in time.

Rim pressure, check.

Perfect balance off the bench to the game of Tyler Herro, check.

Defensive versatility late in games to eliminate singular defenders getting picked on, check.

And just a high level talent who has done it in this league for quite some time at an elite standard, definite check.

That timer is dwindling down sooner and sooner on Oladipo’s return, and games like last night against Boston will dwindle down shortly after.

We can have the conversation about playoff rotations, and who plays where, but I can guarantee Dipo will be a part of that if healthy.

And when Victor Oladipo is your team’s 7th man come playoff time, I’d say you’re in an OK spot.

 

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NCAA Basketball Season So Far: Surprises Everywhere

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Basketball is a long-drawn, high-scoring game – and possibly nothing better could give you that adrenalin-rush than a match, given up for lost, suddenly turning around and reversing the result at the end of the buzzer. 

The start of the 2021-22 NCAA Season had much of such drama, with many top-seeded teams unable to justify their ratings against unranked adversaries, except pre-season favourites Gonzaga Bulldogs and Baylor Bears, both of which made it all the way to the finals. 


This season talents have sparked quite some interest worldwide, as seen in the NCAA rising stars overview by Vietnamese sportsbook Vwin99.

If the results of the initial matches were any indication, very few favoured teams from the original list of 64 made it to the sweet 16 roll, some of them waylaid by other college teams given less than favourable chances of victory.  For the first time in 45 years, for example, Duke and Kentucky did not qualify. 

But even the eventual Gonzaga Bulldogs versus Baylor Bears faceoff in the finals was not without its share of drama. The Gonzaga Bulldogs, steered by its long-time, 22nd year head coach Mark Few, whose mentoring reputation was on a downslide after years of lacklustre performance, finished the regular season with a surprising perfect record of 24-0.  The Bulldogs achieved success by mercilessly running roughshod over anyone who got in their way, including 2nd ranked Brigham Young University (BYU) and 4th best Saint Mary’s College.  

The Bulldogs’ one final victory over the Baylor Bears would have completed a perfect sweep and won them the championship.  But this was not meant to be.  The Bears played the spoiler’s role with an emphatic 86-70 clincher over the Bulldogs, to win for the first time the much-coveted 2021 NCAA Season.

The Bears were firmly in command for the most part of the game, leading by as much as 20 points at one stage.  Rising star Jared Butler, who now wears a Utah Jazz uniform in the NBA, led the assault with 22 points and seven assists.  It wasn’t a one-man show though.  MaCio Tague contributed 19 points and Davion Micthell added 15.  Bulldog Jalen Suggs, now playing for the Orlando Magic in the pro league, took the cudgels for Gonzaga with 22 points. 

The Bears were 43.5 percent from the three-point area, while the Bulldogs had a measly 29.4 percent.  The Bears were even more ferocious under the net, gobbling up 16 offensive rebounds against only five by the Bulldogs. 

It was truly a season of surprises.  After all, the 2020 NCAA basketball season was unceremoniously cancelled due to health concerns.  The 2021 version would have also been placed in the backburner for the same reason, except that the organizers were more creative in finding ways to ensure that the event was sealed off from the virus. Even if it meant holding all the games only in the state of Indiana for the first time in NCAA history. 

Aside from the Bears’ historic first NCAA title, the other big winner of the season is the NCAA itself.  

Tournament organizers defied the odds of withdrawals left and right due to health protocols, to successfully hold the competitions and to lay the groundwork for another exciting tournament starting in March this year.    

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Loss to Boston

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The Miami Heat had a short rotation in this one without Jimmy Butler, PJ Tucker, and Kyle Lowry, and well, they fell short to the Celtics.

So, here are some takeaways from this one…

#1: Super rough offensive start by Miami.

When looking down the roster of available players, it felt like Tyler Herro starting was the move. The reasoning was that plugging in Caleb Martin and Max Strus for Jimmy Butler and PJ Tucker leaves you with a very little amount of shot creation to open up the game. And well, two Duncan Robinson fouls later and an eventual 14 point first quarter, it was showing that formula wasn’t the right play tonight. The only way to survive in that state is to both bomb away from three and capitalize in that fashion. Yet, nothing seemed to fall in that opening spam, or the ones that followed. Then, a first half turn was made in that second quarter, while it felt the energy levels picked up after some tough Tyler Herro shots and creation. Yet, once again, that was the end of that run shortly after.

#2: Is there more to unpack with Caleb Martin?

When grabbing the defensive rebound with clear numbers in front, a certain outlet pass always seems to be the right one: Caleb Martin on the break. There aren’t many better options in that space, since not only is he an athletic finisher, but he’s hard to slow down in space, and can collapse a scrambling transition defense like seen in that second quarter. But in a big picture sense, I think there might be more to unpack with Martin offensively. Seeing him drive with the right into a strong poster dunk on Robert Williams aside, he continues to show these half-court flashes as a penetration guy. I’m not sure if the handle is all the way there for that consistently, but on night’s like this with limited creators and play-makers, it’s not the worst thing to open up. Since well, his role all year is to just plug right into the role of whatever is necessary in that game.

#3: Silva-Adebayo spark?

When that game turned around early as mentioned before, it was kind of sparked by a front-court of Bam Adebayo and Chris Silva. Totally normal, right? This is not to have the Adebayo at the 4 conversation, since he’s certainly a perfectly fitted 5 on this roster when healthy, but it makes sense in games like this one. If Omer Yurtseven wasn’t in protocols, it would be a great trial run, especially considering Boston’s big front with Al Horford and Robert Williams. Anyway, they went the Silva-Adebayo route for that stretch, and the part that stood out there was Bam not having to play the middle of the 2-3 zone. With clear mismatches, zone was the only usable outlet in this game in general, but rebounding was problematic at times within it, due to the inability to just put a body on your match-up. But Silva got some boards, and it led to a decent run for Miami on the other end. In all, it just didn’t make much sense, so necessary to bring up. (And yet, not something I’d love to see again…)

#4: The hardest game to adjust the offensive plan.

Coach Erik Spoelstra has found a way offensively whenever guys have gone down, but looking around as Miami trails in the third, it just felt like they didn’t “have enough.” The reason is that Adebayo getting his fourth foul meant more on Gabe Vincent’s plate, and not in a positive light. Vincent isn’t a true point guard, but he’s been an incredible filler due to his ability to get Miami into their offensive triggers with the regular starting lineup around him. Tonight, specifically when Adebayo went to the bench, Vincent was asked to work an offense that essentially had no triggers. Like I said, we’ve seen Miami adjust to things offensively, but the one and only way to get out of it was to play the perimeter game and try to shoot your way out of it. Just a rough match-up when you don’t have that main element.

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#5: Onto the 4th game in 5 nights.

Well, after seeing Miami’s struggles without 3 starters, while the others were completely cold from beyond the arc, the fifth takeaway has to be onto the next one. Or more importantly, onto the next injury report. It’s pretty clear that Butler and Tucker needed to take this game off, even if it ended in an L, but I wouldn’t be shocked if they immediately came back tomorrow. This team has fillers for singular players and can step up into different roles, but 3 starters down is just another beast. It’s no longer asking to plug a specific skill or role, but now you’re forcing these fillers to shift the prior theme and simply enter takeover mode. Like I said, Martin had moments, and Max Strus put together a pretty impressive night, but that’s the complementary element. They just didn’t have the thing to actually be complemented in this one.

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Loss to the Raptors

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The Miami Heat were in the mud against the Toronto Raptors. The absolute mud. Down 10 heading into the fourth, then boom, they hit you.

They looked like they had it handled late, but a late foul call gave Scottie Barnes two free throws to send it to OT.

Then it went to double OT. Then Triple OT.

But eventually, they fell short after a missed Herro three to potentially take the lead in that third OT.

So, here are some takeaways from this one, mostly focusing on regulation…

(Full 7 quarter dive tomorrow morning)

#1: Toronto’s unique team providing visible issues for Miami.

On paper, the Toronto Raptors are the type of team Miami should struggle with. Not only do they have length, but they have switchable length. We saw that early in this one with Miami’s offense, specifically in non-Jimmy Butler lineups or pure bench units. The reason is that they can cut off the head of the snake at an elite level, which was Tyler Herro in these stretches. That led to just horrible looking offense, due to the inability to trigger their main actions. On the other end of the floor, there were certain match-ups that it was clear Miami needed to key in on. Gary Trent Jr was cooking, Fred VanVleet provides problems, and Paschal Siakam can really take advantage of the mismatch. The issue: Miami was providing that mismatch frequently early on, since soft switching was seen most.

#2: Pure Jimmy Butler offensive takeover.

Well, Jimmy Butler went nuclear in that first half. We saw him score 24 points in that span, but it was more about how he was doing it. Not only did he spark his entire team, and the whole FTX Arena, to finish the second quarter, but his finishing was being shown at an elite level. Emphasis on elite. It’s something we keep track of often when Butler gets around the rim, but he was finishing in acrobatic ways around the Raptors lengthy match-ups, instead of the usual pure bully ball against weaker defenders. Stuff like this needs to be viewed at a broader level in moments like this: when Butler’s playing like this, he’s hard to stop. And less importantly in terms of team success, that Eastern Conference starting All Star spot looks closer to being filled.

#3: An intriguing PJ Tucker skill.

A PJ Tucker skill on a Heat post-game piece? Who would’ve thought? I could potentially spend way too much time on the things Tucker provides as a spacer on both ends, but it’s important when noticing some areas of him branching out slowly within his role in that corner. Early in the first, Tucker catches in the corner, puts the ball on the floor to drive baseline, hangs in the air, and hits Gabe Vincent in the opposite corner. Shortly after, Tucker and Vincent copied and pasted the same exact play on opposite sides of the floor. Why is this important? Well, when things breakdown in a playoff series to much simpler elements, an ability to have your corner specialist as something other than a stiff shooter is so crucial. And after we’ve seen his play-making surge, it isn’t the worst thing to get to.

#4: Tyler Herro still searching for the length counter.

Looking down the line of this season, aside from the last time Tyler Herro faced the Raptors, some of Herro’s worst games come when he faces a great amount of length. The Cleveland Cavaliers were the first one as they oddly slowed down Herro with one big guy rotating over on him after another as he tried to drive, but the Toronto Raptors seem to provide even more problems. With Herro’s need for the screen, every time one comes it’s a new switchable Raptors defender to hound him. And like I said prior, placing Scottie Barnes on him during the all bench lineups really cut off Miami’s offensive mobility. If he can’t breakthrough that specific match-up, we will see more teams take their lengthy, versatile defender and place him onto Herro in different playoff series.

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#5: Max Strus comes alive to begin the fourth.

Down 10 going into the fourth quarter, while efficient offense doesn’t even seem like an option, Spoelstra rolls out the Vincent-Herro-Strus-Martin-Dedmon lineup. A few minutes later, Nick Nurse is on the court calling a timeout following two big time Max Strus threes and a Gabe Vincent lay-in. More big time fourth quarter plays came after that as well, including a Tyler Herro shake on OG Anunoby for a three and a miraculous shot by Butler as he forced it up and off the glass. But the point is this: seeing Strus do what he does best, which is spark things for the Heat’s offense, sums up his role later in the season quite perfectly. Robinson will probably be the lone rotation shooter, but when offense can’t get going, and you’re down double digits in the fourth, look to Strus since there’s a chance he can bail you out. But yet, he wasn’t the closer. Three more quarters came shortly after, and Miami fell just short.

 

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