Tag Archive for: Bam Adebayo

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Loss to Cleveland

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Miami Heat had another short-handed night, adding Bam Adebayo to the fold, but it still wasn’t enough against a healthy Cavs starting group.

They were blitzed on both ends from start to finish, not even in competition to put up a fight.

So they fall to 7-10 with another game tomorrow night. Anyway, here are some takeaways…

#1: The Cavs taking advantage of Miami’s zone defense for a couple reasons…

With the roster Miami had available tonight in Cleveland, it was clear we had a night of 2-3 zone ahead of us. And well, the Cavs found their way against it early on, which should happen when a team stays with it as long as Miami. The Heat are looking to force a certain push shot in the middle of the floor, mostly known for being inefficient, but Evan Mobley was the consistent hub in the middle of the floor. He chopped Miami’s zone up a bit, which leads into the next element. Now that Miami has to clamp down middle, who should they help off? Well the easy answer is Isaac Okoro, right? Okoro ended up going 4 of 5 for 13 points in the first half. Combine those schematics with a ton of ball movement and a bunch of high low action from Mobley and Allen on Miami’s lack of size, and yeah, it’ll lead you to giving up a 59 point first half.

#2: The two sides of Miami’s offensive shot process in the first half.

The Heat came out clicking offensively to begin the game, with Bam Adebayo and Nikola Jovic running the show. The process was clear: Adebayo had the green light. Every set was being ran through him: isolations, post splits, face-ups, post-ups. The key on night’s like this is movement, movement, and more movement. Why do I say that? Well, a good portion of that first half would give you that answer. The Heat fell right back into the trap of having Miami’s guards and wings create, which is a tough ask without Herro or Butler. None of their guards could burst by Cleveland’s point of attack, leading to a pretty ugly shot profile. I’ve compared this to a first drive in football, where a team has that initial drive that is scripted. The Heat are great as a scripted offense beginning halves, but when they stray, they stray away far.

#3: The Nikola Jovic timeline tracker…

As I began to dip into a second ago, we got the Jovic debut next to Adebayo, but it was much briefer than we all expected. While it was executed perfectly in that opening stretch, Haywood Highsmith entered into the game and it felt like Miami completely went away from Jovic again. At the half, on a night where Miami was very short-handed, Jovic was tied for the 6th most minutes on the roster. Yeah, it’s interesting. It feels like there are more positives than negatives with Jovic on the floor in games like this one, yet there doesn’t seem to be the same level of trust that we’re accustomed to with other guys. Same thing in the last game against Washington where they had 7 total players. We will see if it changes, but the Jovic minutes just aren’t equating with the fan-base’s perception of effectiveness right now.

#4: Injured or not at the moment, here’s the team headliner:

No need to further explain. They need more…

#5: Onto…tomorrow night?

These games have felt like Miami’s trying to get to that final buzzer by any means, as Miami’s without many of their primary guys on the roster. As the Cavs ran out a major lead in this game, I said to myself ‘well, it’s time for them to get the main guys out for tomorrow night.’ But they essentially couldn’t since they only had like three guys to sub in for them. Now Miami is less than 24 hours away from another game against Minnesota, where they will be without the same guys on the roster. And even worse, it’s another lengthy front-court with Karl Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert, meaning the rebounding numbers will be wild yet again. Miami could possibly find themselves at 7-11 after tomorrow night if they can’t generate some lightning in a bottle, which seems near impossible with what we saw in this one in Cleveland. But well, onto tomorrow night…

Miami Heat X’s and O’s: The Defensive Shift

/0 Comments/in , /by

This hasn’t been the Miami Heat defense we’re accustomed to. Currently sitting 17th in defensive rating, they’re leaning heavily into the offensive side of things with this roster, which has essentially led them to a very strong 3 game win streak to get back to .500.

Yet while the box score would suggest it was all scoring, the film would tell you the opposite.

We often focus on the possessions where opposing teams draw a mismatch off a switch and get an easy bucket, making a total observation off a very small sample size. But in reality, they’re currently mixing up their scheme more than ever, and it’s giving me more hope that this team will be just fine for the time being.

We’ve seen them lean heavily into the 2-2-1 press and 2-3 zone, which off first glance makes you say: well they’re just doing that because they don’t have the personnel to guard straight up.

On some night’s that actually is the case, but the real reason for the heavy reliance is due to the Heat trying to find their defensive base in the meantime.

If you played basketball at any level from little league and up, there is always one primary principle taught when approaching a 2-3 zone: “flash middle.”

That essentially opens up and breaks the zone once the sides pinch in to the ball at the free throw line, leading to easy kick-outs for threes. But here’s the thing with the Heat defense: they don’t pinch in.

They stay home on shooters basically daring you to take that inefficient push shot in the middle of the floor time and time again. If you hit that enough to beat Miami, well then take the win.

I talked to Gabe Vincent for a bit after the Hornets game where we discussed the 2-3 zone, and I asked “is this your guys’ comfort zone now defensively?”

He responded, “Nah, everybody just struggles with it. I don’t think it’s our comfort zone, I think they just struggle with it.”

Bam Adebayo then joins in on my right: “If it ain’t broke, don’t break it.”

So I dug in a bit deeper. I asked him about that exact push shot that Miami keeps forcing within the 2-3 zone, and he said “that’s the stat guys upstairs.”

“For every organization, nobody likes that shot I guess,” he continued. “Percentage wise it’s a great shot for the defense, but for the offense it’s not as great of a shot.”

But the key point here to make is that this isn’t just a “2-3 zone” thing anymore. It’s becoming a man to man thing as well, as Miami has altered back into some of their drop coverage with Bam Adebayo. (Something I’ve been calling for a while now.)

Just take a look what Miami did to Cameron Payne in their win against the Suns:

They aren’t going to obtain this same coverage when a guy like Devin Booker is coming off a ball screen, but they will when it’s an inefficient shooter like Payne or Terry Rozier from the night’s prior.

This is a coverage that the Milwaukee Bucks have fully mastered. Since they have an elite rim protector in Brook Lopez, the ideal weak-side roamer in Giannis Antetokounmpo, and one of the best screen navigators in Jrue Holiday, they basically force one single shot as much as possible.

They shut the water off on threes and shots around the rim, forcing mid-range pull-ups all night.

And well, this is a variation of that.

Whoever is guarding the “Payne-like” handler will fight over the screen to force him downhill. Adebayo’s job is now to contain with a back-pedal, where he’s playing back to cut-off the pass or the full-out drive.

And as you saw when viewing that plethora of clips from last night, they just kept baiting them into the same shot.

You may be wondering, well what if they just begin attacking the rim relentless anyway? Well here’s what happens:

Now let me just reassure you that this isn’t a one game sample size thing. They did it in their two-game set against Charlotte as well, but we were just so focused on the fact that they almost blew the game on a night that flowed into OT.

That extra stuff disguised a major shift that we’re seeing at this moment in time. Just take a look at the shot profile in this two-game set as well:

Guys like Kelly Oubre and Terry Rozier were being forced to take shots they didn’t want to. But the bigger point here, Bam Adebayo in drop is just as elite as Bam Adebayo on switches.

Actually he may be more elite.

Yes it’s fun to watch clips of Adebayo clamping up your favorite guard or wing in isolation, but that’s not what makes him arguably the league’s best, and most versatile, defender.

The reason is because he can switch 1 through 5, back-pedal in drop, sit on the bottom box in a 2-3 zone, blitz and recover, or simply rotate at a very high level. Putting all of that stuff together is actually what gives him that label.

When I talked to Jimmy Butler post-game, he gave all of the credit to Bam “back there being an anchor on defense.” He’s the guy that they’re forming this all around, and as seen over the last three games, this shift could really be something that sticks long-term.

 

Video Version Here:

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Suns

/0 Comments/in , /by

Simply this game was insane. If you like scoring, this was the game for you.

The 4th quarter consisted of the Suns and Heat just matching buckets, but the Heat stayed the course with Butler, Bam, and Lowry all coming up big.

Here are some takeaways…

#1: The Heat getting good bench production early on.

This has been a season for Miami where bench production as a whole isn’t the hottest topic. Although guys like Max Strus have shined when entering and Gabe Vincent has vastly improved, we’re talking about a team that is currently rolling out an 8 man rotation. But well, those three bench guys tonight were heavily responsible for the early offensive push. Vincent had 8 points, 3 assists, and 4 boards in the first half, but the bigger point was his half-court control and paint touches. He was generating great looks against a top tier Suns defense. Duncan Robinson was the recipient of that, knocking down an immediate two triples, while mixing in an in-between floater. Lastly, Dewayne Dedmon even provided some serviceable minutes. They’re not looking for anything special from him, just be neutral before Bam walks back to the scorers table, and did that early on.

#2: A substitution change from Miami.

When documenting certain trends that we see from the Heat, the substitution pattern was one of them tonight. The main thing we’re used to is Jimmy Butler playing the entire first quarter after Bam Adebayo exited first, which just basically means those two are being staggered. Yet tonight, we saw a minor shift. Max Strus and Jimmy Butler exited at the 5 minute mark, as Adebayo anchored that first quarter lineup. Then after 3 minutes, he walked back to the scorers table with Dewayne Dedmon. The only main change there is Butler played 3 stretches in the half instead of the usual two. Will find out more on that adjustment, but stood out for now.

#3: I still believe defensive creativity should be coming.

When talking about the Heat defensively, we’ve seen them withhold the switching structure for years on end. But more importantly, they’ve always had the personnel to actually do it. Now that they lack the size, we continually see smart offensive teams punish Miami down low, as the Suns did with Kyle Lowry on Deandre Ayton. But more big picture, this defense needs to lose the predictability from night to night. They may lack size, but they do obtain versatility. We’re seeing them embrace some of that with the 2-3 zone, but we still need to see more drop coverage from Bam Adebayo than a possession here or there. They will lean offense, but still need to tinker in other piles once in a while. We saw a bit of that with Dewayne Dedmon blitzing in the second half, but Booker and Ayton picked that right apart. (Which had to do with Miami’s rotations for the most part.)

#4: Heat fighting through the random scrub Heat killer trend.

The Heat have this bit where random role players seem to dominate them, but it’s been quite some time since we’ve seen it last. Yet this one came in a massive wave. Duane Washington Jr, who I put out there could’ve been an undrafted option for Miami a season ago, came out on fire. 16 points in about 5 minutes of game-time in that first half. A lot of that can relate back to my last section of defensive lapses, but it’s also just a certain player getting hot at the wrong time. Chris Paul being out meant more playing time for him, while the Heat’s defensive game-plan to start was essentially very Devin Booker driven. Giving him the Joel Embiid treatment with doubles was a sign of respect, but Washington made them pay.

#5: The Heat embraced a certain offensive style in the 4th quarter.

The Suns began to takeover to begin the 4th quarter, appearing to fully pull away. Miami couldn’t get rebounds, stops, and were looking different offensively. By different I mean not slowing things down into the half-court. For a minute there that didn’t look like a good thing. Caleb Martin was forcing on the break, and it looked like Miami ran out of gas. But after a string of stops on the defensive end, Miami was getting out and running. More importantly, with Bam Adebayo having his hands on the steering wheel. He was attacking with purpose, including a big time and-1 to cut the lead to 3 halfway through the 4th. It just kept happening over and over: finally, the Heat were letting Bam just do what he does best. Operating in the open floor with the game in the balance.

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Hornets

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Miami Heat played the Charlotte Hornets again on Saturday night, but they had a new face in the fold: LaMelo Ball. Miami coming off an OT win, simultaneously including an unnecessary collapse.

Either way, they came away with a much needed win in this one as well, landing themselves only 1 game under .500. And the way the offense looked, it was a good momentum builder to say the least.

So here are some takeaways from this one…

#1: Miami’s opening stint showed off some of their intentional trends.

Before I get to how some of the things transpired in the first 24 minutes of basketball, I want to discuss some of the Heat’s intentional trends walking into this game. The first one was the Bam Adebayo element. They wanted him going at Mason Plumlee in the face-up game in that high to mid post. He can’t move his feet enough to stay with him, and it just unlocks so many things when Miami begins to move and cut like they did. Plus speaking of moving, the real takeaway from the initial game-plan was their pace. They clearly wanted to push in transition a lot more against this team that likes to do the same. It definitely wasn’t sustainable, but some interesting tweaks to keep track of.

#2: Well the defense has some cleaning up to do.

Although the Heat looked pretty crisp offensively to begin this game, it didn’t seem to matter. It didn’t feel like it at the time, but the scoreboard kept portraying that buckets were just being matched. The Heat were dipping off weak-side shooters and the Hornets continued to knock down shots. To put in perspective, Charlotte shot 54% from the field in the first half. That’s just tough to deal with mentally. To stray away for a second, that’s the reason I’ve said if a starting lineup shift was to be made, the move is to swap Caleb Martin for Max Strus. If the defense generally hasn’t been up to standards anyways, why not lean all the way into offense with Butler at the 4? It splits the reps of Strus and Robinson, pairs up Martin with his defensive pressure point buddy Gabe Vincent, and gives Miami a different dynamic. But hey, I guess that discussion is for another time.

#3: Aside from specifics, consistency and sustainability are the Heat’s main needs for fixing.

Big picture when looking at the Heat’s first few games of the season, we can discuss a couple different issues that need to change. The starting 4 spot, defensive liability, three-point shooting, etc. But the overarching point is that even when those things do make an appearance, it just can’t be sustained. As I stated in my first takeaway, pace was being pushed. Then it faded. Three-point shooting was there. Then it faded. Assisted field goals were at an incredibly high rate. Then it faded. That doesn’t mean things don’t need to be fixed up from the outside to propel this, but they just need to find a way to stop getting away from the intentional game-plans. If they can find that balance of consistent effort, they would be in a much different spot. Take the third quarter for another example. Getting back to the play-book, they scored 25 points in 5 minutes. That reflects the potential of a high powered offense. Yet once again, you can’t stray from that.

#4: Max Strus continues to do things.

While storylines have been flying surrounding this Heat team to begin the year, we haven’t had the time to truly discuss an internal roster one which is Max Strus. Who has improved the most from season to season? I would give that award to Strus this season, who has been one of their more trusted and consistent players. From hitting big shot after big shot upon entering off the bench to begin the year to the all-around polishing across the board, he’s playing at an exceptional level. We can talk about that “all-around game,” but the bigger point to make is he’s taking his role and exceeding expectations. And that role is three-point shooting. One thing you can bet on: Max Strus is going to get his shot off no matter what, and that’s the type of thing this offense needs.

#5: Some minor mental notes I took from this game: X’s and O’s.

We haven’t had a game in a while where I wasn’t spamming late-game execution in the final takeaway spot, but here we are. Instead, I want to just throw out some mental notes I took from this game on the X’s and O’s side. The first one includes the incredible movement we saw from the offense tonight, but more specifically Jimmy Butler. He’s never really a high usage cutter or mover in this Heat offense, but well, he was tonight. And that is the exact key to making the Tyler Herro starting lineup thing work. The second thing I noticed was more Bam Adebayo in drop. A trend that should not be a momentary thing. It works at a high level with his versatility, without shooting yourself in the foot with a smaller roster. The last thing I fed into a bit already, but this team is better scripted. Like a quarter back on that initial drive, this team operates better with structure. Tyler Herro sometimes makes those problems look smaller when he’s cooking, but staying with the game-plan will be a staple for me all year.

Five Takeaways from the Heat Escaping Charlotte

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Heat walked into this game against the Hornets really needing one, and it appeared that they’d be getting it.

Except we saw a repeat of the last few games again: falling apart late.

A 13 point lead beginning the fourth went to a Hornets lead to Jimmy Butler dominance to eventual overtime.

They escaped late to come out with the win, so here are my takeaways from this one…

#1: Duncan Robinson with a strong offensive first half.

Duncan Robinson was the leading scorer for the Heat at half, and easily their most intriguing player from that initial 24 minute stint. He had 11 points, and 1 three. Yes I know, that makes you think. With Tyler Herro being ruled out in this game, Max Strus stepped back into the starting lineup meaning one thing: more intentional reps for Robinson in the second unit. Flying off hand-offs and pin-downs is all cool, but turning those into pick and roll reps is what led him to that scoring mark. Blending into 2-on-1’s with Bam Adebayo inside the lane has been a fun development, especially since his in-between game has looked good. He works heavily on that floater, and we’ve seen it come into fruition a bit recently. When he can not only be that offensive punch off the bench, but also the offensive hub, it’s a good sign for the offense.

#2: More inverted pick and rolls.

There are a couple actions that I feel like I discuss more often than others: one being the post splits they run and well, the second being inverted pick and rolls. For starters, it’s the simplest way to try and get Bam Adebayo downhill. Instead of asking for straight isolations, it builds up some momentum for him down either slot as an attacker. But the other element of this involves Jimmy Butler. It isn’t to get him moving downhill like mentioned with Bam. It’s about creating advantages through mismatches when the guard screens. As we saw in the second quarter tonight, Lowry came to screen for Butler, who bursted to the middle of the floor as the defender cut him off. The point to make: he cut him off under the free throw line. Win for Jimmy. He then put him in a footwork blender leading to an and-1 at the rim. With an offense that has felt bland at time early in the year, more of this continues to create advantages for their main guys.

#3: Yes I’m going to do it again: some more thoughts on the 2-3 zone.

Something I harp on a ton when discussing the Heat’s 2-3 zone as of late: shifting the shot profile from the opposing team. It’s one thing for the Damian Lillard’s of the world getting to adjust their shot diet in a game, but when facing a team like Charlotte who routinely has one offensive base, it can really create chaos. Getting back to the basics, the way to beat the 2-3 zone is getting to the middle of the floor one way or another. Off the bounce, entry to the free throw line, etc. But even though the Hornets were executing that early in the game, betting on push shots inside the free throw line to fall consistently is an uneven bet. That’s what makes the zone so effective. My only problem is that we’re seeing them rely on it so heavily this early in the year, meaning teams will be ready for it in no time. But for now, it’s cool to watch.

#4: Jimmy Butler reliance tonight.

Heading into this game without a lot of hype around it, with the Hornets being the third worst offense simultaneously being without LaMelo Ball, Gordon Hayward, and Cody Martin, it was still clear the Miami Heat needed to get this one. And well, Jimmy Butler seemed to want this one. He came out defensively in a way where you know he’s locked in, but as I stated earlier, he was just putting on a footwork display inside the arc. His attacking was evident as he got to the line 12 times through the first 3 quarters, while acquiring 8 boards and 7 assists in the same span. When talking about energy, I do believe Jimmy Butler being locked in means others will follow closely. You don’t necessarily want him hitting the deck time and time again to get to the line against a bad team in Charlotte, but well, Miami needed him doing just that in a close game in the 4th. Isolation, low post, spin moves, buckets. We saw it all in this one. Should we have seen it all in this one though? Probably not.

#5: The continuation of late slippage.

As the Heat walked into the fourth quarter with a 13 point lead, it was certain they couldn’t do it again…to this Hornets team. With Butler playing the entire third, they can close it out early to give some of these guys rest. But well, the inevitable happened again. A 13 point lead turned into a 3 point lead in two and a half minutes. When trying to be in that elite tier of NBA teams, there just can’t be this seesaw of play and leads. Both sides of the floor once again turned off, as the Hornets began to turn up. When Butler is asked to re-enter into the game with 8 minutes left in the fourth in a game like this, there’s a problem. A big problem. Luckily he began bailing them out late in this game as I mentioned previously, getting them across the regulation finish line and into overtime. Miami somehow survived overtime with things going their way. It’s good they got the win, but far from a good win. This wasn’t a positive thing to see.

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Loss to Pacers

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Miami Heat headed up to Indiana for a single road game detour on Friday night, before they have a plethora of home games ahead.

It was far from a pretty basketball showing in this one. Trust me.

Anyway, the Heat fell short, so here are my immediate takeaways…

#1: First half offense: oh, let’s talk 3 point shooting.

The Heat shot 5 of 24 from deep in the first half tonight. Buddy Hield on the opposing side knocked down 4 threes alone in that span. Yeah, I’d say that tells a lot of the story of a game. Miami was generating pretty good looks throughout that period, but it just wasn’t dropping for most of the Heat’s role guys. They were looking their best through strong drives for fouls or post splits for Bam Adebayo to hit cutters, as he did on back to back plays to Gabe Vincent in the second quarter. Yet it’s clear that the blueprint when playing without Jimmy Butler, would be to hit perimeter shots with heavier offensive lineups. To add onto this, Indiana’s defense is one that allows pretty high percentage looks from deep, which is why this was a bit surprising.

#2: The bench looking thin…

No Jimmy Butler. No Victor Oladipo still. No Omer Yurtseven still. Nikola Jovic didn’t make the trip. So the bench was going to look pretty similar to the last game against the Kings. But after explaining that last section of shooting, this grouping had a big part in that. Gabe Vincent, Duncan Robinson, and Dewayne Dedmon formed the 8 man rotation early, and all three of them didn’t look like their best selves early. Robinson was missing open looks, Dedmon had a rough time with the Pacers’ quick guards in drop, and while Vincent struggled a bit early, still gave them enough on both ends in that back-up PG spot. Shortly after, the Heat’s “9th man” on the night Haywood Highsmith entered. At this point, many of us are looking for those minutes to go to Jamal Cain, but we’re just not there yet. Soon…

#3: The Bam Adebayo foul trouble conversation.

As I mentioned before, this team has no Yurtseven and a shaky Dedmon to make up the backline for Bam Adebayo. That leaves the team needing one thing: for Bam to stay on the floor as much as possible. Yet we’ve seen an uptick in fouls to begin this season, which could be for a few different reasons. The main one is that he’s being more aggressive as a rim attacker and roller, which is racking him up some offensive fouls. And I can live with that trade off. On the other end, he’s getting some fouls in the paint on contests, since he’s playing the “cover-up” game at all times, which he’s pretty accustomed to. The process of toning this down is awkward, since you don’t want to backtrack his aggressiveness on either end. But it gets to a point where they need to be mindful, since the trade-off of two points or keeping Bam on the floor, is an easy answer.

#4: Max Strus’ growth continues to shine.

When looking at this team to begin the year, there’s no doubt that Max Strus has been the one guy that’s growth has shined the most. For starters, he has saved this team’s offense time and time again when coming off the bench. His consistent shooting gives this team a different look and flow, but that’s just the beginning of his improvements. The defense has been serviceable, but more importantly, his overall movement and cutting to be a threat inside the arc has shifted his shot profile. We saw that again tonight on his third quarter run, where he scored 7 straight. A three off a DHO, followed by a steal and bucket in transition, then capped off by a perfectly timed cut when he noticed Haliburton ball-watching. Been clear that his bag has broadened.

#5: Bam Adebayo uplifting Miami offensively in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough.

As the Heat look like they have stalled out in their second half run, Bam Adebayo took the keys on a night without Jimmy Butler. He got into the middle of the floor for a good looking pull-up middy halfway through the 4th, giving Miami some offensive hope. Shortly after, on an ugly possession with the shot clock trickling down, he faked a handoff, sprinted at the rim, and got the and-1 to really catapult this group. It’s one thing to call plays for him late, but it’s another when he’s asserting himself at this time of a game. The only issue with all of that: nobody could find a flow from that point on. The ball was sticking, shots weren’t dropping consistently, and well, they still had a chance at the very end. Some back and forth with controversial calls led to the last minute feeling like an eternity. Eventually, down 2 with 10 seconds left, Herro attempted a fadeaway three for the win, that came up short…

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Kings

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Miami Heat won a close one against the Sacramento Kings on the second night of a back to back.

Lets hop right into it.

Here are my takeaways…

#1: Kyle Lowry comes out in a different offensive version.

As the Heat walked onto the court without Jimmy Butler on Wednesday, it was clear they shouldn’t take this scrappy group lightly. They still needed some type of veteran presence to settle this group’s offensive structure, and Kyle Lowry was just that. In the first 15 minutes of basketball, Lowry tied his season high with 17. But the key there was that he looked kind of springy. He was engaged, was getting paint touches consistently, and hitting the necessary pull-ups out of both pick ad rolls, and off some curls. This Kings defense showed early that the middle of the floor would be open, as Lowry read that pretty quickly. Building this type of rhythm is a crucial aspect of this team when Butler returns.

#2: Competent back-up big minutes from Dewayne Dedmon?

The back-up 5 position has been a hot topic when evaluating Heat basketball, and the first name that has generally come up has been Dewayne Dedmon. His minutes haven’t looked great to begin the season on both ends, yet he was looking pretty good early in this one. He kept picking up the phone in that first half, as he celebrated a pair of above the break triples. He also had some strong boards on the interior, made some very nice passes in that mid to high post, and was generally in the right spot. Now, the shot selection is still extremely questionable. You just never seem to know the next shot to come from him on a given possession, but once he finds himself a bit like he did in this one, it’s the perfect innings eater before Bam Adebayo re-enters.

#3: Some extra perspective into Miami’s 2-3 zone.

I’ve talked a lot lately about the Heat’s reliance on the 2-3 zone defensively. It allows them to play two negative defenders at the same time, without having the worry about them being picked on in isolation. It also alters opposing teams’ shot profiles, since they can’t run the same actions that they normally do. But I do have one other thing to add when watching it in the first half against the Kings: when dealing with guard play with quick bursts off the attack, they can muck it up in an instant. As Malik Monk spaced on the right wing, he would attack off the catch and get to the middle of the floor pretty effortlessly. And well, that’s the exact thing you don’t want to happen when in zone. Now it’s a scramble, unnecessary help comes, and an open bucket on a spray. It’s a minor aspect, since the zone has been fantastic for them, but it’s the tweak they will be eyeing.

#4: The Heat’s third quarter offense: the high post/back-cut game-plan.

With the Heat searching for an offensive hub, it seemed like an easy choice for that to be Bam Adebayo consistently in the second half. His mid-range jumper started dropping, which basically forces his defender to stay away from the rim once he enters play-making mode. Well once that occurred, we saw Miami find something that works: it wasn’t a specific set or action, instead it was reading the one-on-one overplays. As Strus inserted the ball into Bam in that high post, his defender was already shedding over on the potential hand-off. Strus reading that, instinctively cut back door with Bam hitting him. Shortly after as Dedmon entered, we saw the same thing yet this time with Herro. High post entry pass, Herro’s defender was playing ahead, and boom another wide open back-cut. That’s how you create the anti-gravity of this Heat offense, so it’s just something to monitor.

#5: Another late-game walk-through.

As it seemed like the Heat stalled mid-way through the fourth quarter, the building got a little bit of energy. A wild Herro tip-in followed by an Adebayo tip-in himself cut the lead to 2 with the team gaining some flow. Speaking of that flow, Herro was the main element of a rhythm finder. Got into his mid-range pull up two possessions in a row for some much needed buckets, tying the game up at 96. Shortly after, the Heat were late on a rotation giving Kevin Huerter a decent look from three, giving the Kings back a 3 point lead. Coming out of the timeout, the Heat had a play in mind: quick DHO to get Bam the ball back in space. He got an easy bucket out of it. Next play, Bam hits Vincent out of the mid-post on a back door cut, like I discussed before. Then to capitalize a run, Lowry gets two feet in the paint, kicks to Herro, who swings to Strus for three. 4 point lead. The Kings came back the next two possessions with a lay-in and a foul on the bonus, tying the game back up at 103 with 50 seconds left. The Heat came back with a Herro-Bam PnR which led to a Herro lay-in, while Mitchell immediately answered back with a lay-in of his own. 32 seconds left, Lowry flows into his favorite turnaround jumper to give Miami a 2 point lead again. Yes, I know. A lot. Now that Kings have the ball, it somehow ends up in the hands of Sabonis at the rim, who gets fouled. 2 for 2. Final possession, ball in the hands of Herro. He gets it in isolation, pump-fakes, leans, game-time. Heat walk away with the win off the clutch bucket.

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Warriors

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Miami Heat faced off against the Golden State Warriors yet again, and well, we saw a different process for the Heat in general.

A better process.

With some great late game execution, they pulled out the win.

So here are some takeaways…

#1: Max Strus and Duncan Robinson coming up big early on.

As Max Strus walked to the scorers table of a messy Heat offensive structure, I sent out a tweet. Can Strus save this offense yet again like he has recently? Somehow, the answer was yes yet again. With 9 minutes left in the second quarter, he was up to 11 points, giving this group some life. But he wasn’t the only one. Duncan Robinson joined the party as well, and he shined in many spots. Spot-up shots, movement (which I’ll get to next), passing, and even some paint touches that generated a lob to Bam. When you are getting this type of production from your two shooters, it’s a perfect formula for this team’s best two players. But let’s just keep an eye on sustainability, since they can’t be reliant on this.

#2: The bench group differences.

Strus and Robinson tie into this a good bit, but the Heat’s bench grouping turned things around for Miami early. What started out as a stagnant offensive bunch, the bench came in for a nonstop function of dribble hand-offs. Here comes Vincent, then Robinson, then Strus. Oh there’s Martin open on a back cut. Everything just operates so much smoother with movement. They provided a necessary spark, but it felt like they also provided a blueprint I’ve been focusing on for a bit. Motion, motion, motion. Once that’s done consistently, specifically in the first unit, we are having totally different conversations about this group.

#3: Side track: a look into the Jimmy Butler three.

To stray away from game specifics a bit, a couple Jimmy Butler 3’s in the second quarter made me think a bit. Watching the Instagram stories of Butler in the off-season were always funny, since you always had these thoughts of “are these really things he will be doing in game speed?” The slow launching three without much lift or movement was basically the headliner of this. Yet when watching him play, it always seems as if he’s better in that spot. Not rushed, not forcing, just pulling up slowly with a sagging defender in his view. Fast forward to the third quarter, Butler ended up taking 3 semi-rushed wing threes. From the same exact spot. All seemed to come up short, which just weirdly shows that his long pause on the face-up is his way of gathering rhythm. But I guess focusing on the stuff inside the arc mainly would be a decent point to make as well.

#4: Dealing with the Warriors offensive structure.

When keeping an eye on the numbers throughout the game, everything was pretty close. Turnovers, rebounds, shot distribution. The only main difference following the third quarter was that the Warriors offense went into Warriors offense mode. Miami’s three point shooting began to dip, while the Warriors shooting shot up a bit. Simply, while I’ve been harping on the lazy rotations from Miami as of late, I thought they were quite good. Mixing from switching to drop to zone, they handled it decently well. There were definitely some miscues on some unnecessary doubles, since that’s when the Warriors offense will get you. Motion, back-screen, skip pass, screen, paint touch, three. It’s just the nature of that offense, and I don’t believe Miami did a bad job through and through.

#5: Late-game walkthrough…

Halfway through the fourth of a tie game, the Heat found a certain offensive opening. Robinson pindown or handoff, two fly to him, Bam with a lane for the bucket. It was there to spam, and they did just that. After a timeout, the Warriors adjusted, yet Miami embraced it. Now that they weren’t two out at Robinson, the shot was there, and he knocked it down to tie the game back up, after Curry went Curry mode the play prior. 2 minutes to go, Bam made a great play as the weakside defender to poke it away and get Miami in transition. They pulled it out, ended up in a Lowry force, but he actually forced something good. Came off the screen, got by Thompson, got the lay-in. Wiggins responds with a mid-range bucket. Back the other way, we get a look at a Butler iso. A nasty move and spin gets him to the cup for the and-1, as Curry goes back in the other direction for a 3 point answer. Went from a foul call to a coaches challenge to a call reversal. After some empty possessions on both ends with the Heat holding a 3 point lead, the ball ends up in Jimmy Butler’s hands with 30 seconds to go. Inverted PnR, gets into pull-up range, pump fakes, bucket. That’s game.

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Loss to Kings

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Miami Heat faced off against the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night, and man did they feel like two separate games.

Horrible offensive execution in the first half, while being way too slow on rotations defensively.

Then a major pick-up in second half led by Kyle Lowry and Tyler Herro, yet they couldn’t get over the hump late to get a stop.

So Miami falls to 2-5, with the Warriors up next at home. Here are some takeaways from this one, though:

#1: First half evaluation: Where’s the energy? The intention? The purpose?

As the Heat slowly walked onto the court for tip-off, the first thing to evaluate is always the vibes. Is energy high? Do they know the importance of this final game of the road trip? And well, the answer to that first question at least was no. The offense for the first few minutes looked as bad as you could possibly project. The actions were not looking fluid at all, and the guys just didn’t seem in it to be completely honest. Yes the Kings were 0-4 coming in, but they have a pretty talented roster full of some hungry young guys who are ready to compete. When the Heat sleep walk into a building like this, bad things will continue to come. They began to dig themselves out of that hole to kick off the second half, but these are still developments to monitor.

#2: Points in the paint.

If you looked at the stat sheet at halftime, there was only one number that stood out more than the 71 first half points: 36 points in the paint. This has been a bit of a trend this season, and the first thing many will point to is Miami’s defensive scheme. It’s still an effective one to run when you have the correct back-side help, which if we’re going to be frank, PJ Tucker was just that. Bam Adebayo switches onto a guard, and Domantas Sabonis has Max Strus or Kyle Lowry on his back in the paint. But I wouldn’t say that was the main issue. If you went back to those buckets, many of the time it’s the point of attack defense to blame. Guys being blown by off the catch, Adebayo having to rotate over, and now the Kings are one quick dump-off for an easy lay-up. Going back to the last section, the intention was the issue here. The reason for that: well, you watched the second half. When the intention and rotations improve, everything else begins to follow suit.

#3: Well Bam Adebayo showed up offensively early on.

Bringing up that halftime stat-line again, I have to be straight up with you guys. I had no clue how Miami scored 49 points up to that point. When eyeing the process, that felt like more than you would expect. But a main reason for that ended up being Bam Adebayo. While everyone struggled generating any space or good looks in general, Adebayo would bail them out in many ways. Hitting his favorite push shot, getting to the basket, and well, that early aggression flipped into some rhythm in his all-around game. The pull-up got into the mix to finish that first half. Yet the other thing to keep an eye on: Bam foul trouble. With the big man room at the moment, they need him on the floor as much as possible. Some have been offensive fouls which means he’s being aggressive, but they have to find a way to tone it down.

#4: A third quarter shift for the Heat.

As I just portrayed the theories of the first half, the Heat could clearly sense it at the half as well. They came into that third quarter with a purpose, and a gameplan. The Kings defense is known for chasing teams off the three. So the Heat basically took that straight on and attacked the rim a ton in that third quarter, leading to Sabonis grabbing his 5th foul. Shortly after, you noticed Miami’s defensive intensity and rotations tune up a bit. And so did the offense, which Kyle Lowry deserves the majority of the credit for. He led by example and got Miami back into their usual ball movement, plus stepped up on the defensive end. They put together a 33 point quarter to open up the second half. If only for consistency…

#5: Well there’s Tyler Herro.

Tyler Herro has been the player of blame after the last game in Golden State, and I wouldn’t just sit here and say he came out firing. As I said previously, the offense in the first half was a whole lot of stagnant play, and a little bit of Bam Adebayo. Yet as I described the job Lowry did in that third quarter, there was one name I wanted to save: Tyler Herro. He changed the scoring outlook for this team in the second half. Attacking the rim in the third to get Sabonis his 5th foul, getting his pull-up to fall out of the high pick and roll, then hitting tough bucket after tough bucket throughout the 4th quarter. The team’s run in general came a bit late, but the silent but deadly Herro scoring run provides a bit more necessary clarity following his past struggles. Now it’s just about finding the correct flow in the half-court around all of these guys.

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Loss to Warriors

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Miami Heat played a back and forth game against the defending champs, Golden State Warriors, yet fell short on the second night of a back to back.

They got a very good version of Jimmy Butler, and a below average version of Tyler Herro.

That seesaw just couldn’t do it for them.

So, here are some takeaways from this one…

#1: A pulse check on some new rotation patterns.

With Dewayne Dedmon being ruled out tonight, and essentially out of the rotation for the time being, Nikola Jovic got some more run at the back-up 5 spot. What does that mean for rotations? Well, the first part of that begins with the Heat’s focus to place him next to Jimmy Butler when he is on the floor. As I said last night, they’re trying to lean into the Butler + 4 shooters method. With that said, we saw Butler basically play the entire first quarter, and I’m not sure that’s the long term plan of the regular season. The other change we’ve seen involves Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo. Spo has been trying to mirror their minutes as much as possible, but things have changed in the search for Jovic’s placing. Just something to monitor…

#2: Jimmy Butler showing up at a familiar level.

Over these last two games, Jimmy Butler has looked like…a Jimmy Butler many Heat fans are used to. The way to clarify the version of Butler you are getting begins and ends on the defensive end. If he’s shooting passing lanes at a high level and rotating with a purpose, he’s hitting those strides. And for a better example of that, he had 4 steals in the first quarter alone. Something else that’s intriguing to keep an eye on is the three-point shooting. He shot 3-for-3 from deep to begin the night, mostly since his shot profile out there always looks the same: stand-still triple with a slow wind up since defenses will dip off of him when he isn’t on the ball. But simply, he clearly recognizes this team’s need for energy.

#3: The Heat’s 2-3 zone/2-2-1 press.

When facing an offense as dynamic as the Golden State Warriors, defensive adjustments on the fly are necessary. And well, that just so happens to be Erik Spoelstra’s specialty.We saw a good amount of zone early on, and that wasn’t just to make up for defensive deficiencies, since they were running it with Bam on that low side plenty of the time. They definitely stayed with it for a bit, and the Warriors’ shooters began figuring it out and finding a rhythm, but the point was that they weren’t just staying with the same soft switch game-plan all night long. The other side of things was the 2-2-1 press, which always has my attention. Gabe Vincent and Caleb Martin pressuring up top, while the goal isn’t to generate a steal. Of course that would be nice, but it’s to make the offense play against the clock. Variety will be needed on that end this season.

#4: Tyler Herro not finding any rhythm.

In a game that included the Heat’s offense pretty much flowing throughout, Tyler Herro was the one true sore thumb on the floor for the Heat. His shot wasn’t falling from deep, which hasn’t been a great start to the year from that range in general, and that bled into the other parts of his game. Golden State did a good job of keeping him out of the paint, while also hedging hard to initiate that pass on his part. But simply, Miami can’t survive many games against teams like the Warriors when Herro looks like *this.* The main issue with it is that this type of stuff then blends into the defensive end, plus leaves him reluctant with good looks on following possessions. It was just a tough night, as everybody on this Heat roster has had to this point, but pretty obvious to say they need just an average offensive Herro and they would be fine on nights like this.

#5: Max Strus and Gabe Vincent deserve some words.

When talking about “true takeaways,” this would have to be at the top of my list on not only this game, but this season. The previous two-ways Max Strus and Gabe Vincent are obviously playing big roles this season for Miami off the bench, but the bigger point is that they just keep coming up big. Same thing occurred a night ago against Portland, but everybody was playing good against Portland (lol). Yet in this one against Golden State, it’s not as much the amount of shots they’re hitting, but instead when they are hitting them. The Warriors begin to punch them in the mouth a bit, and well there’s Gabe Vincent with a tough left wing step back with his back against the shot clock. Butler can’t get anything going on a possession half-way through the 4th, and there’s Max Strus to shoot over the top as a bail out three. I must say that I was a bit surprised to see Tyler Herro entering for Vincent late in this one to close. Kind of thought Herro’s struggles and Vincent’s play earned him the closing spot for the night. Especially considering the way he was hunted by Steph Curry late.