Tag Archive for: Jimmy Butler

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Loss to Raptors

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The Miami Heat fall to the Toronto Raptors this time around, after some back and forth late.

Heat now 1-3.

Some takeaways from this one…

#1: A look into an interchangeable defensive system for Miami.

As the Miami Heat trailed 48-43 at half, it always gives you a moment of reflection as to what the primary issue is. Both ends of the floor had problems in prior games, but the defensive end seemed to be cleaned up generally early in this one. From a positive perspective, I thought we finally got the defensive mix that you would be looking for with this Heat group. The first few possessions included some Bam Adebayo in drop, which I’ve been asking for. It then altered back to the soft switching, while shading help over for double teams more often than not. Following those sequences, Miami leaned into the 2-2-1 press and 2-3 zone when Gabe Vincent and Haywood Highsmith were at the top of it. The point is that Miami’s defense was problematic when it was one dimensional. Being creative and unpredictable is all you can ask for.

#2: The Dewayne Dedmon element.

While we imagined Bam Adebayo would be gunning for the DPOY award this year, I didn’t think Dewayne Dedmon would be given any credit for that. But when you open up the on/off numbers, or simply the plus/minus, the Dedmon stuff jumps off the page. But even more-so, it jumps off the game-tape when watching. He can’t truly move at this stage, which creates problems for this team on both ends. He doesn’t have the back-pedaling quickness to fully contain in drop, while his offensive role is just to simply “float” after a screen. Not much intention, not many positive outcomes. Simply, the minutes have looked bad to begin this season, and the status of Omer Yurtseven on the injury report becomes more and more intriguing.

#3: The Heat aren’t being quiet about the offensive combo that works best.

Something I’ve been discussing all off-season for Miami, when projecting the starting lineup on the season, was the Tyler Herro-Bam Adebayo pick and roll connection. And well, it’s lived up to the hype early in the season. Herro has recorded 1.47 points per possession on 61% shooting as the PnR ball handler, which only ranks behind Luka Doncic and Jaylen Brown. Adebayo has recorded 1.25 PPP on 68% shooting as the PnR roll man, only ranking behind John Collins. But the bigger headliner is that they aren’t afraid to lean into it. Heavily. The entire offense seems to be operating around that two-man action, and we’re seeing minor layers added to it and it’s only game 4. One of the more fun X’s and O’s story-lines to follow for this team.

#4: A very great Jimmy Butler approach.

As the Heat made a solid third quarter push, it required us to zoom out a bit. Bam Adebayo with some highlight-type strong attacks. Tyler Herro continues to be the shining piece. Yet Jimmy Butler was just quietly coasting to having a pretty great game. Trips to the line, a couple triples, mismatch hunting, solid facilitating, and great efficiency. We know what the role of Butler in the regular season looks like compared to the playoffs, but this is a great example of him not having to do *too* much while still putting up numbers. Combining my last takeaway with this one, a specific Herro-Bam PnR stood out late in the first half. Butler set-up at dunker spot for interior gravity, while he roams from box to box. Herro hit Butler who knocked down the floater. The shot profile mix is a healthy one.

#5: Late-game execution.

Jimmy Butler walks to the scorer’s table of a close game with 5 minutes left in the 4th. A bit of a back and forth pursued with some forced offense from Miami. A perfectly executed Spain PnR turned South late as Bam took off too early and it clanked off the rim. Raptors started to get some easy buckets down low, seemingly putting Miami in an awkward position with Butler entering with 3 mins left in the quarter. Fast forwarding a minute of a 6 point game, the Heat force a miss and run into transition. Tyler Herro, in Herro fashion, pulls up for three on the break to cut the lead to 3. All of a sudden the ball ends up back in their hands with a little over a minute to go, and we get another Spain PnR siting. Perfect result with VanVleet switching onto Bam, yet Herro shoots a tough shot that just misses. On the other end, Vincent did his best to contain, but Siakam got to his sweet spot for the mid-range bucket. 5 point game. Good play-call out of the timeout for Butler to drive on a curl screen for the easy lay-in. Yet as good of defense they played on Toronto following that play, Gary Trent just hits an insanely tough shot in the deep corner. Ends in a loss for Miami.

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Raptors

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So the Heat bounced back on the second night of a back to back against the Toronto Raptors, getting a much needed win to begin the season.

This game wasn’t a very normal or consistent one, since while they were clicking on all cylinders in the first half, it tailed off and ended up being a close game.

Either way, here are some takeaways of both the good and the bad…

#1: The return of the offensive movement.

A question I posed exactly 24 hours ago was a rather simple one: where is the movement? Two-man actions were being run for this Heat offense against Boston, but not many more layers added on. Tonight, though, they showcased a total flip in that nature through the first 24 minutes of basketball. The first element of movement simply involves the ball. When things got stale, it was because isolations were most of the time the end result. This time around we saw a good amount of extra passes and necessary swings to keep the defense honest. The second element of Miami’s movement regards just bodies roaming. Off-ball screening, simple back-cuts, and perimeter hand-off searching is the engine to positive half-court offense. It was obviously the primary intention heading in, and they responded with a 71 point first half.

#2: Max Strus: doing the *other* things more consistently.

We know what Max Strus is at this stage. He’s a guy who fits next to anybody, and can shoot the heck out of the ball no matter the contest. But while watching this game tonight, I’m sure some other stuff caught your eye. Step 1 included his weak-side defense and timing. I’m not going to sit here and act like the Heat’s defensive rotations were where they want them to be, but Strus showcased incredible help timing to muck up straight line drives and account for some charges. The other main part of his performance ties back to my previous takeaway of movement and cutting. He’s just hard to continually account for. Guys find him around the rim a ton since he’s not a standstill threat. Keys to staying on the floor late in games.

#3: Kyle Lowry the off-ball threat/Tyler Herro the rim threat.

When zooming out career wise, we know Tyler Herro as a high level outside shooter or developed into an elite off the dribble scoring threat. We also know Kyle Lowry as a consistent creator both for himself and others, while always mixing in elite efficiency numbers as a spot-up threat. But sometimes the simple and original read of a player finds it’s way more consistently again. That was one of my primary takeaways tonight, as Herro pretty much continues to soar as a true rim pressure threat. He’s slashing on the ball in ways that make it so much tougher to guard within that two-man action. Lowry, on the other hand, was definitely going to be getting extra off-ball reps with the amount of creators on this roster. But 3 for 3 in the first half on spot-up triples proves this theory to be correct. Catch and shoot Lowry combined with relentless attacking Herro is a formula for very good offense.

#4: Caleb Martin with an ejection…and a lifetime Heat contract?

So things picked up a bit in the third quarter as Miami possessed a pretty comfortable lead. Some emotions were rising as Tyler Herro and Paschal Siakam got tied up a bit after the play. A few minutes later, *the* play happened. What seemed like a usual foul down low turned into a linebacker shooting the gap of the o-line. Caleb Martin stood over the top of Christian Koloko, leading into a body slam takedown into the courtside seats on the baseline. Both players ended up being ejected, but it was an interesting twist to this game. Martin may have gotten thrown out of this one, but he simultaneously may have been thrown a lifetime Heat contract after that display of emotion and toughness. Well, for the moment. It ended up being pivotal in terms of the Raptors storming back in the second half, but Miami pulled it out.

#5: I’m still watching the turnovers.

A consistent theme across all 3 games of Heat basketball this season has been turnovers. They actually forced Boston into double their number last night, but they’re still putting up a pretty uncomfortable number. Some of that is fine if it’s occurring through an offensive process of risk taking in the half court, but I don’t truly feel that’s been the case. Many of them are just playing at a different speed than the next guy, or forcing stuff that is so clearly not there for them. If this team ends up in the bottom 10 in pace again, which will be the case, a high turnover outcome can’t be the result on a nightly basis.

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Loss to Bulls

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The Miami Heat faced the Chicago Bulls in their season opener, and well, it didn’t go as expected.

They came out playing well out the gate, but that stalled quickly. The defensive lapses began to add up, as DeMar DeRozan continued to “heat” up.

So, here are some takeaways…

#1: Tyler Herro kicks off his new role with a scoring punch…with a changing profile.

There was no doubt that Tyler Herro would be a focal point of the starting group’s offensive flow, but his usage was peaking to an even further degree early. An immediate pull-up three to kick things off will always be a good sign, but the next possession spoke volume. Herro pick and roll, Chicago Bulls blitz. He showed patience, waited it out, flowed downhill, snaked insane, and put up the floater. Bucket. Shortly after, as Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo created, the ball ended up swinging to Herro in the corner for a spot-up three. The point is that his shot profile looks much different, while simultaneously looking much better. Pull-ups, spot-ups, blitzes: you know the deal. He’s just confident against all of it to start the season off.

#2: The rotation at the moment…

The starting lineup wasn’t much of a surprise heading in, (Lowry-Herro-Butler-Martin-Bam) but the questions were pointed at the bench unit without Victor Oladipo suiting up. Gabe Vincent, Max Strus, and Dewayne Dedmon were going to form the 8, but how would they regulate the rest? Well, the answer was quite simple. They went the Duncan Robinson route, and played him next to Strus for long stretches. Yet the key about the rotation is that they are matching good combinations. For example, they want to mirror the minutes of Herro and Bam as much as possible. So, they sub Butler out first, to then have him anchor the bench unit shortly after. It’s a solid philosophy to split up on-ball threats, but the next evaluation period will include how Butler and Oladipo look together once he returns.

#3: Caleb Martin isn’t PJ Tucker, and they won’t treat him like so.

Who will be the PJ Tucker replacement? That’s a question that has been asked all off-season, and the answer to that question has been Caleb Martin. Yes, he’s subbing into the position that he filled, but he’s not truly filling his role. Martin is surprising people with his growth at the moment, since he’s doing things that we’ve yet to see from him. Step 1 was the ability to size up defensively. Miami placed him on DeMar DeRozan early for the sole reason of predicting the switch, ending with him trying to hold his own on Nikola Vucevic. He had some good possessions early, but they continued to post him up a punch in the second half, proving the difference between PJ Tucker and himself. But the offensive stuff is a change of pace as well: rim pressure, tighter handle, better shooting, and constant movement. For an unexpected example. the dude literally ran a pick and roll for a tough mid-range pull-up early on. This is a different player right now, and there’s more to explore in my personal opinion.

#4: Bam Adebayo and Kyle Lowry struggling.

When looking at the stat sheet at halftime, two things would’ve caught you by surprise. Bam Adebayo was 1 for 10 from the field and Kyle Lowry had 0 points on two attempts. On the Bam front, he was just missing easy buckets at the rim time and time again. Bunnies, dunks, etc. I mean he was aggressive, but he didn’t have that usual focused flare from the jump. Lowry, on the other hand, wasn’t even looking for his shot. There weren’t many actions I can recall that he was heavily involved. Most of the offense included Bam or Jimmy post-splits, or Herro created buckets off pick and rolls or curls. I truly believe the Bam element is just one of those nights where easy ones don’t drop, but the Lowry part of it is about engagement level. Herro and Butler can only do so much to keep this group afloat. They’re going to need some type of punch on nights like this from Lowry and/or Bam.

#5: A step too slow defensively?

As the Bulls continued to pull away in the third quarter, there was a consistent theme: DeMar DeRozan tough buckets and sleepy Heat defensive possessions. This Heat team goes through shooting/scoring slumps all the time, but their energy and defensive rotations, specifically, usually carry them. That wasn’t the case for long periods in this one. Bulls were getting easy buckets at the rim and simple back-cuts were end results, which is far from a Miami Heat product. If there’s one thing this Heat team can’t afford to lose this season, it’s those crispy rotations on the defensive side of the ball night in and night out.

One Thing to Look for from each Heat player in the 2022-2023’ Season

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Since signing with the Miami Heat in 2019, Jimmy Butler has been one of the top all-around wings in the NBA. The single flaw to his game has been his regular season jump-shooting, with the three point shooting aspect declining the most. Butler was a career 34% three point shooter before coming to Miami and has been a 24% shooter in the three seasons he has donned a Heat uniform. If Butler can shoot slightly below league average* at around 33-34% from three, lineup construction becomes much simpler for Miami.

* NBA League Average from 3 was 35.4% in the 2021-2022 season.

While Bam Adebayo has statistically improved as a scorer each season and has increased his ability to create his own shot by a sizable margin (39.2% of made FG’s unassisted in 21-22’), his potential for a “scoring leap” was mitigated by his inability to assert himself as an efficient mid-range scorer last season. Adebayo shot 42.4% on mid-range shots in 20-21’ but regressed to a 35.3% mid-range shooter in 21-22’ on lesser per game volume. While many want to see Adebayo stretch his game out to the three point line, it is more important for him to master the mid-range and expand his face-up game from there, asserting himself as one of the league’s most efficient two-level scorers.

The low hanging fruit for Tyler Herro’s development is the ability to handle blitzes in the pick and roll. Yes, that is an important development for Herro in a playoff setting but the most urgent development is Herro increasing his efficiency as a scorer in pick and roll to the point where a Herro and Adebayo pick and roll can be the centerpiece for a good NBA offense. In 20-21’ Herro scored 228 points on 208 shots out of pick and roll, in 21-22’ he maintained similar efficiency but on a sizable increase in volume scoring 401 points on 357 shots. While we can’t project the overall volume of pick and rolls to increase, the goal is for Herro to improve his efficiency from being an above average scorer (61st percentile) in pick and roll to being one of the league’s best (75th percentile or better).

It is no secret that Kyle Lowry’s age will impact his ability to contribute in facets that might’ve been expected upon his arrival to Miami. If last season is any indicator, the ability to drive has started to decline, as Lowry recorded his fewest number of drives per game (7.2) since the NBA started tracking the stat in 2013. Lowry can counteract this decline by reshaping his game into being more of a floor spacer, who functions both as a high volume, high efficiency catch-and-shoot and pull-up threat from three. Lowry’s ability to orchestrate offense parlayed with the ability to keep defenders from helping off of him will amplify the games of Butler, Oladipo, Adebayo, Herro and Yurtseven, who like to operate inside the three point line.

When you play in a starting lineup with Kyle Lowry, PJ Tucker, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, it’s likely that you will be hunted in isolation by good teams in a playoff setting. Max Strus took on that test and passed with flying colors in the playoffs. Of the 16 players who defended 25 or more isolations in the playoffs, Strus allowed the 4th fewest points per possession, ranking behind only Draymond Green, Grant Williams and Tobias Harris. Strus also did this on the second highest volume at 44 isolations defended, only behind Al horford, who defended 69 isolations in the playoffs. If these defensive strides from Strus are real, and he is capable of making teams look silly for hijacking their offense simply to hunt him in isolation situations, Strus can be cemented into the Heat’s starting lineup.

After dealing with injury rehabilitation for the majority of the last year and now finally having a full offseason to train, Victor Oladipo’s entire game could look differently upon return but one of the “x-factors” for the Heat’s season will be his ability to generate rim pressure off the dribble. What Oladipo possesses in terms of a first step along with craftiness around the rim is something that has been lacking in Miami for a long time. If Oladipo can assert himself, either as a starter or off the bench, as someone who can get to the rim and make the right decisions while doing so, he will elevate any unit he plays with. Having another player outside of Jimmy Butler who is capable of not only getting into the paint but also finishing at the rim is a crucial development for the Heat’s halfcourt offense. Oladipo or Herro are the most likely bets to make that leap.

Gabe Vincent was one of the few playoff risers for the Heat as his versatility on both ends proved valuable in multiple matchups. Vincent has flashed the ability to create his own buckets at all three levels thus far; however, he now needs to find “his spot” where he can consistently be relied upon to score points. While shooting threes Vincent is primarily a catch-and-shoot threat as role players typically don’t have the freedom of routinely creating a shot that’s inherently inefficient, the pull-up three. While going to the rim, Vincent is generally taking advantage of a slower footed wing or big and being crafty to finish. Being that Vincent can attack closeouts and poses the threat of getting to the rim, pulling up from mid-range is a shot that will be available often for him. After shooting 43% on pull up twos (Regular Season and Playoffs), it’s safe to say Vincent can build upon this skill to further solidify himself as one of the league’s top backup combo guards.

Caleb Martin was probably the single biggest overperformer relative to expectation for the Miami Heat last season. After going from two-way to mid-level exception in less than a calendar year, it’s reasonable to assume that Caleb is not done improving his game. One of his most valuable skills on paper was his 41.3% shooting from three, but the question remains if he can produce similar results as the sample size continues to expand. For a player who is making a career off of “3-and-D” potential, three point shooting is always going to be the ultimate swing factor. If Caleb can prove himself as an efficient floor spacer yet again this season, his contract might be one of the better ones signed this offseason.

Most Miami Heat UDFA projects come into their own in year two of being a part of the program. After seeing flashes in both the NBA Summer League and the “dog days” of the NBA season, Omer Yurtseven has earned the right to be considered to be a part of the Heat’s rotation this season. One way he can seize that spot is by proving he’s capable of anchoring a defense via zone or drop coverage. At 7 feet tall and 275 pounds with a 7’1” wingspan, it is reasonable to say that Yurtseven has the frame to make his presence felt in the paint. With his ability to dominate on the glass and as he is likely to be surrounded by multiple plus defenders off the bench, Yurtseven is in good shape to take a step forward on the defensive end this season.

Duncan Robinson’s value as one of the league’s most respected three point specialists will remain consistent independent of how the shooting percentages fluctuate throughout the season, unless teams change the way they defend him. One thing that we are yet to see from Robinson is the ability to diversify his offensive skill set. Until Robinson is able to consistently feel comfortable attacking closeouts, take and make a mid-range shot or keep a live dribble off of a handoff, Robinson will be subjected to nothing more than the ebbs and flows of being a floor spacer off at the end of the rotation. Any development of the aforementioned skills could make any actions featuring Robinson more fruitful than they have already been.

Haywood Highsmith, like Yurtseven, is entering year two of being in the Heat’s system. With a clear need at the forward spot, Highsmith’s ability to defend multiple positions, rebound despite being undersized and shoot catch-and-shoot threes makes him a contender to earn a spot in the rotation as early as training camp. While PJ Tucker has been a comparison that has been made by some, I believe Highsmith plays more in the mold of a Jae Crowder-type, where volume 3 point shooting from all over the perimeter is his calling card on offense. If Highsmith can shoot at or above league average from three on solid volume, odds are he will find his way into the top 11 for Miami this season.

Dewayne Dedmon likely won’t be counted on much if Yurtseven’s development is going according to plan, but if Dedmon were to be called upon, the hope is that he can continue to hold down the paint defensively and bring the energy on nights where the team might be lacking. The mean streak that Dedmon plays with is one that is a bit more scarce now that PJ Tucker has moved on to Philadelphia.

While he was drafted near the end of the first round, Nikola Jovic has the offensive upside of a lottery level talent with obvious question marks on the defensive end that made him slip to 27. The fix defensively likely won’t happen overnight but if Jovic can display an ability to catch-and-shoot and make quick decisions off the catch, he can find himself on the NBA floor sooner rather than later. If he does see time in the Sioux Falls this season, it would be nice to use that as an opportunity to explore his talents as an on-ball playmaker where he can function as the “big guard” he has labeled himself as. Either way, this season will likely be the equivalent to a redshirt year for the 19-year old where repetitions should take priority over production.

Udonis Haslem is back for a 20th season with the Miami Heat. If this is Haslem’s last season, all we can hope for is that the Heat and their fans give him the proper sendoff at FTX arena.

While he played on the Spurs summer league team, Darius Days was signed to the Miami Heat on a two way contract which surprised most, including the Spurs. While UDFA’s don’t typically produce in their first season with the Heat, it could be very possible that Days could be the rare exception to that rule, given he has prototypical size (6’7 245lbs with a 7’1 wingspan) at a position of need with an offensive skill set that fits next to the Heat’s best players. After being trusted as the primary floor spacing forward for multiple years at LSU, Days could be one good defensive showing in training camp away from having the opportunity to be this season’s Caleb Martin.

While the Heat’s stacked guard rotation makes it unlikely for Marcus Garrett to see NBA minutes this season barring injury, Garrett has proven himself over the last year as someone who could be worth developing. There is no doubt Garrett would be a positive defender in an NBA game if given the opportunity but there are legitimate questions where he fits offensively. If Garrett can find a niche, preferably solidifying his game as a scorer inside the three point line, he could find himself being the prized possession of the Sioux Falls Skyforce this season.

 

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Jimmy Butler: His Area of Expansion this Season

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This Heat off-season, when viewing from the outside, has had a very clear theme to it: 1) making the necessary improvements internally within the roster, which I’ve been addressing throughout this article series, and 2) building correctly around the captain of the ship, Jimmy Butler.

After watching what he has been able to do 2 out of the last 3 years in the playoffs, it puts a lot of things in perspective when viewing this roster. But the key point to make is that Playoff Jimmy won’t get going until April, so how can he sustain his play over the next few months of a pretty crucial regular season in the packed East.

We all know his play-style varies from regular season to playoffs, but there are a few things that can be just as effective in both. It’s all about sustaining both high level play and health. Not putting too much stress on him in the first 82, since it seems that’s always what ends up happening once the “real season” begins.

Looking into his game a bit more, it’s not like other guys where we’re awaiting certain jumps in their offensive game. For veterans like Butler, it’s more about tweaking role and volume to maximize them within a system.

Speaking of that exactly, there’s one part of his game that deserves a deeper discussion, since I believe it’s utilized more than ever this upcoming season: Jimmy Butler as the roll man.

Everybody knows what he can do as an on-ball threat and pick and roll ball-handler, but this roster is absolutely full of that same exact build. Guys like Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro, Victor Oladipo, and hopefully Bam Adebayo will need to have decent usage to be effective in their respective roles. And while it’s clear Butler will be high on that list as well, there’s also the part of this where they can shift him into different spots to be just as effective.

Butler scored 1.29 points per possession this past season as the roll man, while shooting 54% on those reps. To elevate this point even more, that mark jumped up to 1.75 points per possession in the post-season on 78% shooting.

Just an insane number.

Of course this isn’t on the same volume of the average big man, but his efficiency and effectiveness on the short roll opens up so much for him as a scorer.

The first level to utilizing him within this play-style is shown in the clips above. Simple pick and rolls, most of the time being mirrored with Kyle Lowry. It was a combo that almost guaranteed a Butler bucket at the rim. Screen, slip, float pass, lay-in. It’s a hard set to guard if the defense respects Lowry’s pull-up 3 enough, which will be a critical part of this season.

Aside from that, it creates mismatch heaven for Butler, which as seen in the first clip above, almost always ends in a post-up with Butler punishing. This is right in his wheelhouse, simultaneously representing the reasoning we saw that uptick for him in the playoffs. Teams like the Hawks could not make up for the hunting that Butler could provide.

But the reason I bring up this entire topic is that it can be branched out immensely. It’s not as simple as running pick and roll after pick and roll with him, since there’s no fluidity or diversity there. Instead, it’s the fact it can be maximized within so many of their base sets already.

After losing PJ Tucker this off-season, a specific element they lost that isn’t being talked about much is the screening decline. Tucker was probably the best overall screener on the team, really doing damage off the ball.

To bounce off of that, Butler will see an increase in that department as wild as that may sound. Not to be taking a toll on his body, but instead to create chaos with slipping, hand-offs, and more. As seen above, it’s just an initiator of movement for guys like Herro to flow off the DHO for pull-up looks.

We often bring up the word “gravity” when addressing the shooters on the floor, but do you know who is a direct definition of that word? Jimmy Butler.

The difference is that he has interior gravity even at his size. If you’ve ever watched the way defenses guard him off the attack with the ball or not, it expands the court with the collapse that follows.

Plus if his hot shooting carries over from the playoffs/off-season, a little pick and pop off these hand-offs could go a long way.

The point of all of this is finding a sound and comfortable role for Butler to be effective within the possessions that Herro and/or Oladipo are dominating the ball. Butler always enjoys being more of a play-maker during that time of year anyway, and this is a way for Miami to bridge that gap with a passer off the roll that isn’t named Bam Adebayo.

To continue through the different options they have with him in this area, I must reiterate a point I’ve been bringing up in any article or podcast you may have read or heard from me: the Miami Heat should be expanding their motion offense.

More guards, more creators, more offensive threats. This is a team that falls right into that category of non-stop movement in the half-court, since they have all 3 elements necessary: high level play-makers, spot-up shooters, and multiple shot creators.

The reason I tie Butler into this as a roller can be seen in the clip above. Bam orchestrating, Herro and Robinson moving, Butler screening and slipping. It’s clockwork, since you simply cannot prepare for that slip to come when there’s chaos with the offensive threats on the back-side.

This team’s motion actions always look better when Butler is the receiver than when he is the quarterback. That has nothing to do with his passing ability, but instead Bam drawing out the opposing big opens up the possibility of opportunities at the rim.

And speaking of Bam drawing out that big, my last point within this new look adjustment consists of just that…

This play right here is Miami Heat art.

Bam above the break running an inverted PnR, Butler as the angled screener, and a perfect feed and roll for the eventual bucket. That right there is the picture perfect set for this offense.

Why is that? Well, other than the fact you’d like your two best players to be able to spam two-man game anyway, this set working consistently takes this entire Heat offense to new levels.

When talking about Bam, the main thing we call for is finding ways that he can flow downhill with the ball in his hands. With that said, inverted PnR’s are always the area we come back to, since it creates mismatches while putting Bam in a spot he feels comfortable.

The second part of this is everything I’ve discussed in this entire article. Butler as the screener/roller for him can hypothetically be the blend each of them are looking for, instead of the repetitive Butler-Bam PnR’s that connected on less points per possession (1.03 PPP) than the Butler-Dedmon combo (1.10 PPP) and the Butler-Yurtseven combo (1.22 PPP).

Yes, a lot of this stuff isn’t much of a change from what we’re used to, since they’ve ran a lot of this stuff before. But the main point here is increasing the frequency of it. Of course Butler’s on-ball usage won’t be declining, but it’s just about shifting things to maximize the lineups around him.

And as I said before, it can simultaneously be less physical stress for him in certain pockets of the game.

Jimmy Butler is always going to be Jimmy Butler, so don’t expect much change from him. But this minor adjustment could change how effective certain lineups look with multiple creators. (For example, the Lowry-Herro-Oladipo-Butler-Adebayo lineup.)

 

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The Ways to Maximize the Butler-Oladipo-Herro Pairing

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When talking about the Heat potentially running it back to begin the season minus PJ Tucker, you could also make the case they’re running back the regular season by swapping Victor Oladipo for Tucker.

He was a guy that played a couple games late in the year, but was thrown in the mix during the playoffs to try and make it work on the fly.

But now that Miami re-signed him, this no longer consists of trial and error.

This is the real thing.

Yet when talking about him specifically, it’s more about how things will fit around him with certain lineup combinations. One of those awkward combos gained a ton of steam in their post-season run, but like I said earlier, they were basically trying things out to see how they’d look.

The combo that was gone to religiously was the Oladipo-Jimmy Butler-Tyler Herro grouping. They turned the keys over to a bunch of creators, basically knowing that the defending role players would hold up on the other end.

Looking at raw numbers within the advanced statistics, that three-man combo wasn’t the greatest. It logged a 107 offensive rating and 111 defensive rating over 97 minutes. But the issue with that is numbers like that don’t tell the full story.

Tyler Herro’s advanced stats were very poor late in their playoff run, bringing down a ton of lineup data. But something that always tells the truth: film.

I ended up rewatching all 97 minutes of the time they shared the floor, mainly focusing on the offensive end. And to scope even further, the half-court stuff. We know how and where all of them operate individually, but where do they blend all together?

There were some mixed variations, but I’m going to highlight the primary stuff that jumped off the screen. Starting somewhere that many of you can guess without even watching the film: spot-up shooting.

Just when using simple math, combining three on-ball creators means one has the ball in a pick and roll set, while the other two space out on each corner or wing. That, at times, became an unnecessary homebase for this Heat group, since there was zero consistency within that process.

Drive and kick, drive and kick, drive and kick. Yes, Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo can knock down a spot-up corner triple, but it’s most definitely not the role you want them in.

Other than the fact that they’re better after putting the ball on the deck, the purpose of utilizing three creators is to ‘utilize them as three creators.’ The second they enter the three-point spacer role, the original purpose of this lineup has lost it’s value.

Now, this isn’t to say they won’t take advantage of the spot-up triple, but the process is the key element here.

With these three offensive builds, swing-swing-shot just won’t cut it.

Yet, swing-attack-paint touch-kick will cut it…

A common thread in their minutes together was that things always looked great when one of them got two feet in the painted area. When one of the three trusted mid-range threats build some momentum, the defense collapses slightly, which is basically the plot of how this can work.

Constantly move. I’ll get into that a bit more in a second, but when you look at some of the clips above, you’ll notice a difference in defensive disposition compared to normal spot-up shots.

They really found their groove in this department in the Philadelphia series. The Hawks series was a quick experiment late in the round, leading them into finding something offensively in the 76ers series, leading into facing a Boston defense who shut the water off around the rim if your name wasn’t Jimmy Butler.

But when talking regular season for the time being, that 76ers series is the blueprint.

We can talk about the starter competition all we want, but the truth is that doesn’t hold as much value as this does. Finding a way for this grouping to work changes everything. Lineup versatility, death lineup status, lengthier lineups on a team full of guards, etc.

But as we get into how they can make it work exactly, I must go back to the comment I made a second ago. When they share the floor, the key is to take the “motion offense” label and absolutely run with it.

Before I even say a word, watch the two clips above.

I can guarantee most of us are aligned on what we saw. Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo impersonating statues.

Whenever it included Jimmy Butler isolations or pick and rolls, even considering how great he was at carrying this group, it was never a good sign for the offense in a specific run.

Herro is a rhythm player. Oladipo is a rhythm player. This type of standing around only leads to them being behind the 8-ball, and as I said earlier, you must bend the defense to be successful.

I hate comparing things like this to the Warriors, but they’re a great example. They have two of the greatest shooters ever to make it work, but the idea of constant movement to create opportunities off the dribble, not only from beyond the arc but at the rim, is how Miami can replicate things with this grouping.

When going back through this film, this created a ton of big time offensive runs in the playoffs, mostly at home. They started playing to the crowd, got out on the break, and were moving in the half-court.

But the next question becomes: how do they make this movement stuff work?

And well, this was my biggest takeaway after watching possession after possession of these three guys.

The answer isn’t even one of the three.

If we expand this into a 4 man lineup with Bam Adebayo, the offensive rating shot up to a 121 offensive rating over 53 minutes. Yet after watching the way they utilized Bam in these time slots, that number didn’t surprise me at all.

For starters, they played Bam much higher out in these lineups than they usually would. There are a couple reasons for that, but I’ll just give you two: 1) Taking that weak-side big away from the rim with 3 attackers on the floor is the way to go and 2) they basically said ‘hey Bam, play some quarterback for us.’

If you watch that 45 second video above, it’ll give you an idea of that in video form.

Miami completely played Bam above the break, and used guys like Herro and Oladipo as rim blitzers off the wing. It’s simply a way to beat the overplay, but it’s also a main priority of creating some offensive movement in the half-court while bending the defense.

Sometimes you’ll see a simple overhead pass over the top to an open cutter. Other times it’s a weak-side misdirection where two fly at Herro.

The point is that Bam Adebayo could be the clear connector to make this pairing work, specifically late in games. We’ve talked about letting Bam operate in more space. We’ve talked about giving him more of the offensive reigns.

This could end up being a way to blend all of that together.

Trust me: if I learned anything from those 97 minutes across 10 games of basketball, it was that they found certain pockets to make it work with Bam playing distributor. The next step will be combining all of these checkpoints into a strong offensive base.

The groundwork is there. Now it’s all about consistency.

I’m heavily focusing on select players in this piece, but that doesn’t mean I forgot about them working guys like Kyle Lowry, Gabe Vincent, or Caleb Martin into this mix.

This is a season where they’re going to use more three-guard lineups whether you like it or not, and Jimmy Butler at the 4 could most likely be the closing go-to, while I don’t believe it’ll be the starting choice.

Yet since Lowry was out for so many games over this stretch, I didn’t get a good enough idea of the specifics of that lineup. But another lineup addition jumped off the screen to bump this 4 man group into a full 5 man lineup.

Max Strus.

While it may seem odd, adding a shooter to this mix with constant screening, sprinting, and gravity shifted their half-court diet. Not only am I noticing this now, but the coaching staff clearly picked that apart with the amount of times they levitated toward that insertion when it truly mattered.

In 29 minutes, the lineup of Herro-Oladipo-Strus-Butler-Adebayo recorded a 132 offensive rating and 95 defensive rating. Yes, a VERY small sample size, but that wasn’t a coincidental occurrence. They found a blend to make things look clean, and if you look at the two clips above, you’ll notice the floor open up much wider when he’s moving around.

I know there are a lot of layers to this, but there will be a lot of layers to this season. And one of those layers is that if they run it back, making the Herro-Oladipo-Butler operate at a high level will be key.

You won’t get 2022 playoff Butler in this upcoming regular season. So now it’s time to equally split up the load. Or better yet, a Herro emergence or Oladipo comeback dominance may push this in the right direction even quicker.

Either way, it’s going to be unleashed.

 

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The Miami Heat’s Roster Season Review + What’s Next

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Looking back over this season for the Miami Heat, they finished as the first seed in the Eastern Conference, yet capped out in the Eastern Conference Finals in game 7, one win, or one shot, away from another NBA Finals appearance.

So, now that it’s officially off-season time, it’s time to project forward. But you can’t fully look ahead until you evaluate the past, so let’s take a brief look throughout the roster to establish both what happened and what’s next…

Jimmy Butler:

What happened?

When talking about the Miami Heat, you must start out with the headliner, which is clearly Jimmy Butler. Sometimes a season is remembered by how you start, and other times by how you finish. And in Butler’s case, he capitalized in both of those fields.

From MVP ladder rankings to begin the year to a 47 point masterpiece in game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals facing elimination, it’s no doubt that it was a terrific season. We all know about his defensive excellence when surrounded by strong defenders, but carrying the offensive load yet again to this degree was eye opening.

Y’all can have fun with NBA player rankings, but Butler cemented himself as a clear top 10 player in today’s league.

What’s next?

When talking about the next steps for individual players, I’m going to do a lot of talking about simple on-court improvements or the next stage of a contract/trade possibility. Yet for Jimmy Butler, it’s about just the opposite.

It’s just building a roster to get him that ring that he so very deserves, which was one of the primary reasons he landed in Miami in the first place. Watching him put it all out there in this post-season showed one thing that we probably already knew: build fully around Butler to get this group over the hump. Basically the playoff motto for the Heat in this recent run: get Jimmy Butler some help.

Bam Adebayo:

What happened?

Offensively he may have his ups and downs on picking when to go and be aggressive, but his impact was felt from game 1 to game 100. One of the league’s best defenders, even if the voters couldn’t recognize that. Games 3 and 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals showed flashes again on the other end, mostly about the hope of what he would look like as a full-time third option on the offensive end.

In the mix of things throughout the season, Adebayo receives a lot of blame from the public. When they lose, it’s easy to look over at his stat-line and make that the reason it occurred, but it truly isn’t the full story. There’s no doubt the aggression will have to pick up in a more consistent manner, but Adebayo did his job this season, and that game 7 proved the focal points of this Heat group.

What’s Next?

Clearly Adebayo is locked into contract and isn’t going anywhere, so what’s next for him is much more game-based. His defensive traits are here to stay, meaning the offense will always be the primary focus in an off-season.

When players talk about that specific focus, it’s usually prefaced by “perfecting my all-around game.” But when it comes to Adebayo, I don’t believe that to be the case.

The next step for him: a go-to offensive move that we’ve discussed for quite some time. Is it a post-up move? Face-ups? Jumper? It’s tough to say, but it comes down to his comfort level in certain spots.

Something to watch for though: Bam Adebayo loves that baseline. No matter if he’s in position for a post-up or a face-up, the end result is most likely going to be a baseline dash or a post spin down that line for position under the rim. So I’m thinking they’re going to find a way to maximize his skill down there.

Tyler Herro:

What happened?

As I stated earlier, the way you finish a season is usually remembered much more than the main chunk of your production in a certain time frame. And for Tyler Herro, he wasn’t even lucky enough to actually “finish” his season correctly after dealing with that groin injury in the Eastern Conference Finals.

But to zoom out a bit, he grew a ton this past season as an offensive player. Aside from winning the sixth man of the year award, he was right up there at the top of the scoring list with Butler in the regular season.

But it isn’t about the numbers, he grew as a creator in terms of finding healthy step-backs and fade-aways to get his shot off against good defenses. He even grew to the degree that teams through the entire playoffs threw different defensive coverages at him since they were so worried about him. Those obstacles slowed him down a good amount, but there’s no doubt he made strides this year as a scorer in this league.

What’s next?

When hearing what is next for Tyler Herro at this time of year, I know what you all are thinking. Donovan Mitchell. Zach LaVine. Damian Lillard. Probably even LeBron James or Giannis Antetokounmpo. The point is that he’s going to be thrown into any conversation for those stars to improve the team, and I mean rightfully so. Everybody is pulling that trigger to land a star in this league next to Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.

But the realistic element: it’s not that likely. Yes top players always move around every off-season, but this is totally out of the Heat’s control. It’s 1) on the specific player to ask out and demand Miami and 2) the opposing team has to actually like the trade package you’re offering.

Aside from all of those fantasies, there are clear areas for him to improve on the basketball court. The first step is his driving game, which did make strides throughout the regular season, but the physicality of the playoffs blocked the rim off for him to attack.

He must find ways to draw contact on those stop signs standing in the lane, which may develop with his focus on adding some extra upper body strength.

The last thing is a combination of a live dribble and his play-making skills. That’s another thing that was peaking late in the regular season, but the constant blitzing and doubles he faced found ways to stall out both him and the team’s offense. Working on those quicker passing triggers will be key for his off-season development.

Oh, and the last thing to note, the next step for him personally is becoming a full-time Heat starter.

Kyle Lowry:

What happened?

I feel like the Kyle Lowry section is one of the hardest to sum up into words. He had a strong regular season in terms of carrying the team when guys went down, which was pretty much what the Heat needed when they acquired him.

But the other thing they needed was the two words he used pretty often in the regular season: “real season.” His ramp up process was hitting new levels late in the regular season, which Erik Spoelstra joked recently that they wished the playoffs could’ve started then. But well, they didn’t.

Lowry started off the “real season” pretty well with some strong performances at the beginning of the Hawks series, but the fall-off came a little after as injuries struck. In and out was his story-line the rest of the way, as that hamstring never truly allowed him to look right. He had a big game 6 in the ECF next to Jimmy Butler, but it capped off there.

I feel like he exceeded some of the regular season expectations with the hot pockets throughout the year when guys went down, but the playoffs plummeted quite a bit. Was it simply derailed by injuries? Was that usual burst to the rim and pull-up shooting gone? I’m not sure, but I do know that hamstring situation didn’t help.

What’s next?

Kyle Lowry is locked into a decent sized contract with this Heat team moving forward, meaning “what’s next” seems to be characterized by a potential trade for some. But let me just say this in simple terms: Kyle Lowry came to the Heat because of Jimmy Butler. Kyle Lowry and Jimmy Butler are close friends. Jimmy Butler isn’t allowing Kyle Lowry to be traded.

Maybe that last sentence has an exception if it’s grabbing a top tier star and he needs to be packaged, but even then it gets a bit cloudy. The point is that Lowry is a part of this current build, so the focus on what is next is how to maximize him.

And this isn’t young player development like improving on a specific skill, this is honing in on his body and physical build. Something Spoelstra danced around in his exit interview presser was the idea of Lowry getting into Heat shape, finishing the convo off with “I think Kyle will come back next training camp in the best shape of his career.”

That fixes a lot of what we’re discussing. He needs to be in great shape, preserve himself in the regular season, and be fresh by the time the playoffs roll around. That’s what Butler did this past year, and that’s what Lowry will need to do.

PJ Tucker:

What happened?

PJ Tucker simply exceeded all expectations in everybody’s eyes from the front office to teammates to fans. We knew he was a defensive dawg, but increasing the offensive display of a 37 year old isn’t easy. Speolstra talked about how he was surprised of this ascension, as he even carried the load of the front-court when Bam went down with injury for a month and a half.

Tucker told Spo that he used to play some point guard, and he didn’t believe him. When he reassured, Spo tweaked the December game-plan of giving Tucker some more play-making reps, which included a hot stretch of running some post-spits and different sets for him for a good chunk of time.

We also can’t just say he was great defensively while not punching that point home. He made Trae Young’s life horrible in the first round, handled both James Harden and Joel Embiid off switches all series long, and didn’t allow Jayson Tatum maximum comfort all 7 games. He was the rock of everything they did, and every Heat player has made sure to point that out all year.

What’s next?

Contract wise for Tucker, he’s one of those flexible off-season pieces to watch as he has that $7.4 million player option at the moment. I’m not the guy to fully project forward on what he will do with that, but it’s clear no matter if he opts in or out, the Heat will be very focused on bringing him back.

Yet as he isn’t getting any younger, the enticing part about his return would be making his life a bit easier with some type of front-court addition. More than anything though, he just wants to be out there and play, and it’s clear he fits Pat Riley, Erik Spoelstra, Jimmy Butler, and this organization to an absolute T.

Duncan Robinson:

What happened?

As Tucker may have exceed many expectations, it’s pretty clear that nobody saw the Robinson season coming at all. After receiving his healthy bag, he endured some shooting struggles to begin the year.

Spoelstra and the Heat stuck with him all the way through, yet he could never really find his usual comfort and consistency from deep, while it felt like the offense was being restricted at times to get him going.

One Jimmy Butler and Erik Spoelstra fight and a 4 game losing streak later, a change was made. The Heat shifted the starting lineup and rotation to have Max Strus start at the 2, trying to find a spark in anyway possible. And that was exactly found.

Robinson then began to trickle down the Heat’s rotation little by little, eventually finding himself on the outside looking in by playoff time.

What’s next?

The next stage for Robinson is unclear, but the next stage for the Heat with Robinson is a bit clearer. As I pointed out earlier, yes, he’d be included in the big time deals for the star-powered players in Heat jersey swaps on social media. But the Heat’s off-season isn’t going to consist of waiting around for something that probably won’t even happen.

So, could a Robinson deal be done on its own to patch up some holes in the roster? Very much so. Talking about Tucker possibly needing some front-court help on the surface, the question becomes: who could Robinson get you as a potential stretch big?

We have a full off-season to talk about that now, but the point is that’s the next outlet for Robinson and the Heat. There are clearly teams that can use the shooting gift that Robinson possesses, and the Heat may need to shift in another direction.

Gabe Vincent:

What happened?

Entering this season, there was one hole on the Heat’s roster according to many Heat observers: back-up point guard. Gabe Vincent was going to be a fine third string point guard, but they needed a trusted back-up.

Not only did Vincent emerge into that, he progressed into a solid starting point guard for many slots of the regular season and the playoffs.

Not enough is said about the strides he made in his all-around game. Many were eyeing his shooting from deep since that’s what landed him on the roster in the first place, and that began to click as well. But more importantly, he became a big time defender, his play-making skills grew more than expected, and they transitioned him from a small 2 into a solid 1. In terms of production and progression, Vincent was one of the true success stories from this year.

What’s next?

Some may call Vincent or Max Strus sweeteners for a potential star-powered trade, but I don’t think it gets much sweeter than two highly productive rotation players on minimum contracts next season. That is just incredible value from a contractual perspective.

On the other side of things, I truly believe Vincent’s off-season development approach will be the cliche “improving in all areas.” It’s working on the consistency of the outside shot, the effectiveness of the pull-up, a tighter handle, and most importantly, quick play-making attributes.

Max Strus:

What happened?

As illustrated in other areas of this piece, Max Strus emerged this season from out of nowhere. Sometimes it’s not about fully jumping onto the scene, but just arriving at the right time. As much as we group Vincent, Strus, and Caleb Martin together in that young undrafted branch, many Heat observers compared them often.

Why is that? Well, there were only so many rotation spots, so the question continued to be ‘who was going to be the odd man out?’ For a good stretch of time with Vincent and Martin’s offensive game surging, that guy seemed to be Strus. But well, you know how that story ended up going.

Robinson struggled, changes were made, and Strus found himself in the starting lineup on the biggest stages. In the same breath as Vincent, he was a major success story for this Heat developmental staff who just continues to do it again and again.

What’s next?

Not to be too repetitive, but as described previously with Vincent, his contract is just an insane amount of value heading into this next season. But as much as that’s a thing, they’re going to be playing for even bigger pay-days next season heading into free agency.

For Strus individually, the shooting is clearly his staple. He had some flashes of strong attacks and defensive stops, but those will need to improve heading into this next season.

But since he’s going to be a part of this Heat offense yet again, he’s going to need something out of Duncan Robinson’s book from previous years: effectiveness off dribble hand-offs.

Strus is a tough shot maker and a clear movement shooter, but a lot of his shooting stretches came off slip screens or ghost screens into a spot-up jumper on the wing. Or just the usual catch and shoot from anywhere on the floor. But the smoothness of a Robinson hand-off would be crucial for Strus as the “best shooter on the team,” as he proclaimed with semi-air quotes.

I can say that he works on it a ton in practice after watching a ton of his post-practice shooting drills this season, but that’ll be a primary focus in the Summer.

Victor Oladipo:

What happened?

Victor Oladipo’s season consisted of an incredible comeback story and extremely small sample sizes. He made his return late in the season showcasing some high level defensive moments, yet the offensive insertion slowed down the Heat’s strides late in the year.

They shelved him for some time for that very reason, but when Lowry went down in the playoffs, his number was called again, and he answered the call. He did a very good job as a shot creator when they needed him to be, and a second half against Jaylen Brown and the Celtics in game 1 will be on his career highlight tape.

We know he’s a high-level talent, but the question was how he’d round into shape. He did a good job responding to that, but now the attention turns to what the title of his next chapter will be…

What’s next?

Oladipo is currently a free agent at the moment after he took a chance with the Heat earning the minimum, but now it’s about what his market looks like. The Heat do hold his Bird Rights, so they will have some level of control, but it’s much more on the rest of the league.

Personally, it feels like there’s a good chance he finds his way back onto this Heat roster, which quickly transitions into what is next in his production.

As much as I’ve highlighted individual improvements for much of the Heat’s roster, it’s more about role for Oladipo. Trying to blend him into their game-plan on the fly this season wasn’t the easiest thing to do, since a lot of his play was either standing in the corner as an off-ball threat or going isolation mode.

Once the Heat find out his plans in free agency, they’re going to jump on that pretty quickly. Dissecting what his job on the offensive end will be for this team, so the outline is totally understood by opening night.

Caleb Martin:

What happened?

I feel like I could just copy and paste the story-line of many of these undrafted players who climb up the ladder, since Caleb Martin falls right under that category as well.

Betting on himself by signing a two-way contract with the Heat after being cut by the Charlotte Hornets, then turned into a key rotation player who finished the season on a regular contract with Miami.

A big time game early in the year against the Milwaukee Bucks showed his abilities under the bright lights with so many guys out, but one major defensive run around January capitalized on his effectiveness. A point guard clamping tour from Steph Curry to Chris Paul to De’Aaron Fox to Fred VanVleet. The way he was able to size down proved to be very helpful, and he just fit the build of this team.

What’s next?

Martin is also a free agent, but they will throw him the qualifying offer as Miami can match outside offers if necessary. But after Martin spoke in the exit interviews on Tuesday, he voiced over and over again that he wants to come back to Miami.

So, to continue on what’s next for him personally, I’d like to retreat back to a point I made about Oladipo. When I asked Martin about his focus in improvements and role next season, he kept bringing up one guy’s name: PJ Tucker. The focus won’t be on an individual attribute, even though he noted his shooting consistency will be big, but instead his role is going to be laid out on the table from day one.

Screening, rolling, play-making off the slip. Martin wants to be that dirty work guy that can be relied on regularly much like Tucker has been this past season. This team had a lot of depth this past year, but now they need assigned roles to that depth. And Martin accepting that type of stuff can do just that.

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Dewayne Dedmon/Omer Yurtseven

What happened?

Yes, I’m going to merge two very different players who only share the same position, since both of them are in two totally different spots.

Dewayne Dedmon is coming off a year as the team’s trusted back-up big, while Omer Yurtseven was in an evaluating state as the third string big, who popped into the lineup when needed during Adebayo’s absence.

Dedmon had a strong showing early on, but the minutes declined rapidly in the playoffs as his production slowed down. Spoelstra began going smaller, which is always his most comfortable area, leaving Dedmon on the outside looking in.

Yurtseven, on the other hand, was a garbage time killer. I don’t mean that in a bad way, but his biggest moments came when he’d enter with 3 minutes left and come away with like 6 rebounds out of nowhere. That’s definitely a skill, and he has a good amount of skill while being very young,

What’s next?

The reason I grouped them together was much more about this section. Dewayne Dedmon will be a free agent with the Heat holding Bird Rights, but it pretty much feels like Miami got everything out of him that they needed. The next stage for him in terms of contract could be the end with his Heat tenure.

Omer Yurtseven on the other hand could have a bit more responsibilities. I still believe that the Heat grab some extra front-court pieces either in a possible Robinson trade, or low level free agency options, but Yurtseven will have a fighting chance.

He will have another run in Heat Summer league, now as more of the focal point after Strus dominated the last time around. He’s been working majorly behind the scenes with the coaching staff, so I’m interested to see the way he’s grown by the time Summer league actually starts.

Either way, the back-up big slot feels to be the one area of speculation to kick off this off-season.

Markieff Morris/Udonis Haslem/Haywood Highsmith/Javonte Smart/Mychal Mulder

What happened?

Lastly, we can’t leave anybody off. Markieff Morris had some moments to begin the year, but one Nikola Jokic shove in the back basically ended his role on this Heat team, since his time of recovery kept being extended.

Guys like Haywood Highsmith, Javonte Smart, and Mychal Mulder didn’t really have any major impact on this Heat group, but they’re always important to keep an eye on in this Heat organization.

One moment they’re just some guys in Summer League, and the next thing you know they’re starting 12 games in the regular season. More than anything, the developmental group deserves all of the credit.

What’s next?

Morris will be a free agent as well after earning the minimum, so it feels like it could be the end of the road there, unless no other reserve 4’s come available in free agency. (I’m eyeing Thaddeus Young possibly.)

Haslem just never seems to be done, as his exit interview every year seems to go the same way. He said he will think it over in the off-season, which will probably mean he will be back breaking up bench altercations again next year.

And as I said before, Highsmith, Smart, and Mulder will have some chances in Summer League to show what they’ve got.

(Yes, that’s everybody on the current roster. No, I won’t be addressing the Kyle Guy’s and Mario Chalmer’s from earlier 10-days.)

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Celtics in Game 6

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The Miami Heat force a game 7.

While the Tv shows were previewing a Celtics-Warriors Finals, the Heat were preparing a gameplan to go into TD Garden.

Jimmy Butler went LeBron James game 6 mode and absolutely dominated.

Here are some takeaways…

#1: Jimmy Butler entering that mode.

Coming into game 6, I had a consistent blueprint for the Heat. And well, that was Jimmy Butler. To put up a fight, they were going to need a LeBron like game 6 in Boston, and a 21/9/6 half-time stat-line was a decent start you’d say. He was attacking the basket to create perimeter shots, knocking down the outside jumper, and saving Miami late in the shot-clock. He was it for their half-court sets. Right before tip-off he walked from the bench to the scorer’s table for his usual hand-shake routine. The only change: no smile, no reactions. That’s the LeBron comp in that sense. He needed to be superman early on for Miami to give that opening punch, and he was just that.

#2: Boston’s defense forcing Miami’s passive players to make plays early.

Looking on the other end, there were times in that half where we were once again discussing the need for Butler help. But before talking about that, it’s important to mention what Boston was doing. It was clear in that first half Max Strus and Duncan Robinson weren’t the fits in this game. The Celtics were forcing him to catch the ball high to turn into a ball-handler, which is when they would pounce. That is the reason I said during the game they’d have to transition into all defensive lineups with the Vincent-Lowry back-court making a comeback, which is exactly what happened. The other guy Boston was forcing aggressiveness on was Bam Adebayo. He was searching for hand-offs, he was loose with the ball, and the attacks weren’t there. It was measured from the Celtics side, as he got his first couple baskets under a minute to go in the second quarter, 23 minutes into the game. But this topic just speaks to what Butler was doing even more.

#3: The free throw battle.

Looking at the free throw comparisons over the last 3 games, they’re pretty absurd. The Celtics continues to get to the line, while the Heat continue to struggle in that department. But I won’t go immediately to one-sided calls. Yes there are times when the whistle may sway, but this is an example of schematics. The Celtics current offensive structure is for Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum to make drives in the slots for force back-line rotations. The usual outcome is a take to the rim for potential contact. While that was the Heat’s gameplan for Butler for some time, the injury shifted things. He was a methodical transition and jumper threat in that first half, which led into some sprays for outside shots. That’s the key though: Butler and 3 point shooting goes hand in hand. The counter to a charity stripe disparity is balancing that middle ground, which was clicking in that first half.

#4: Third quarter: Butler getting the help he deserves.

The theme entering the second quarter: who would give Butler the necessary help? Or would it ever come? To kick off the third quarter, he came out clicking just like the first half. But the biggest difference: so did the supporting cast. A stretch that as crucial included a Victor Oladipo insertion after PJ Tucker’s 4th foul, leading to a big floater followed up by a massive step back jumper with Robert Williams hovering. Right after that, Strus flowed into the half-court as Lowry pushed pace, and Strus took a deep pull-up that extended the lead to 12. But then, Boston responded. The Heat began to ease up and the Celtics continued getting to the rim and the line, cutting it immediately to 6. Timeout. Yet, they responded again. Butler continued getting to his spots, but the crowd was on Boston’s side. Arena roaring, Butler driving, Oladipo swinging, Strus shooting. Silence. He loves quieting that crowd, and that shot was as big as any.

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#5: Forcing a game 7.

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Loss to Boston in Game 4

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The Miami Heat entered game 4 up 2-1, and the Celtics were clearly desperate.

But the issue with that: the Heat looked the exact opposite of desperate.

Much like the theme of this series, one team dominated the game, which in this case was the Boston Celtics.

So, here are some takeaways on what went wrong for the Heat…

#1: I can count the Miami Heat’s first half buckets on one hand…

6 of 32. What do those numbers portray? Well, that’s the Miami Heat’s shooting from the field in the first half, excluding Victor Oladipo. They didn’t have a made field goal for like 3/4’s of the first quarter, leaving them with 11 points over that initial 12 minute span. Jimmy Butler didn’t look like himself, Bam Adebayo’s aggression wasn’t there and they were collapsing on him in the lane, and the perimeter players like Kyle Lowry and Max Strus were being absolutely blanketed. The Boston defense deserves credit for flattening Miami out, but bunnies wouldn’t even drop for the Heat in that half. Short on floaters and mid-range pull-ups, which was the spot on the floor they kept funneling them to. No Tyler Herro created extra half-court hurdles, but that wasn’t the absence. It was a complete team offensive absence. Actually, except Victor Oladipo.

#2: Well, Victor Oladipo showed up.

Why is Oladipo being mentioned briefly throughout the beginning of this piece? That’s because he was the only player who made a first half appearance, as he scored 18 points off the bench in that first half. For one, it’s sometimes just as simple as saying he got in a rhythm and hit some shots, but he created those things himself with his early approach. Right when he entered, his mindset was clear: I’m going right at defenders to get to the basket. That line of thinking puts so much stress on an individual defender, leading into his success in iso ball. The Heat didn’t have one workable set or functional player, so they allowed Dipo to work some magic in isolation. They saw good results there, especially in contrast to the rest of the team. The last time Herro missed a game, which the rest of the team missed as well, Dipo dropped 40. And now we see this. He looks comfortable, but maybe it’s time to give him some more on-ball time.

#3: Could Miami eventually give Robert Williams the Bam treatment?

Marcus Smart was ruled out in game 4, but Robert Williams made his return to the lineup. It’s clear his impact is felt every time he plays, not just defensively, but as a vertical threat on the offensive end. His size and rebounding skill has given the Heat some trouble, but the true topic with him is on defense. And well, it’s clearly adjustment time for Erik Spoelstra and the Heat. Yet while watching him operate on that end by covering ground and protecting the rim, it brings you back to the way other teams treat Bam at times. Could the Heat find ways to pull Williams away from the play? Playing 4-on-4 could be positive or negative depending on context, but finding a way for a shooter to draw that switch and clear could lead to some good outcomes. The focus is offense, but I’m interested to see Miami get to that more.

#4: So, how can the Heat adjust their offensive approach?

Instead of evaluating the 48 minutes played in this game, let’s make a quick shift and look ahead to the next 48 minutes of this series. Heading into this match-up, one thing was clear about this Heat team in terms of blaring weaknesses: the half-court attack could become problematic. And looking at tonight, as I touched on earlier, it’s one thing to miss open shots and another to generate a poor shot profile overall. The latter feels like the more important element here. Tyler Herro is a major part of this team’s offensive success, but do you know the only way to make up for that? Jimmy Butler rim pressure combined with kick-outs to shooters. When neither of those things are clicking, it’s going to be a long night. Bam Adebayo also followed up his aggressive showing with a quiet night, but it definitely was a focus to flatten him out. Shooting being a non-factor means less room for Bam to operate, plus he just wasn’t aggressive. So an offensive adjustment must be on the way.

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#5: So, it’s 2-2 by the way.

It’s no doubt that this was a horrible loss. But so was game 2. And so were games 1 and 3 for Boston when eyeing the context. Moral of the story: this is a long series. After the Celtics stole one back in Miami, the task for the Heat heading up to Boston was pretty clear. Just steal one. And they did just that in game 3, while the Celtics came out in game 4 with the necessary urgency. Momentum just isn’t a thing in this Eastern Conference Finals. Right when you think one team possesses it, the opposing group kicks you right in the mouth. But now it’s a clean slate. The Heat are currently tied with the Celtics 2-2 in the series, turning into a best of 3 to get to the Finals. They positioned themselves to have home court advantage, and now it’ll come in handy. Now it’s just about taking care of business back home on Wednesday in game 5.

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Celtics in Game 3

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So, that was some game…

The Miami Heat steal one in Boston in game 3, simply led by that excellence of Bam Adebayo throughout on both ends. No Jimmy Butler in the second half, Kyle Lowry coming off injury, and pure role player dominance.

So much happened, but here were some things that stood out…

#1: Bam Adebayo responds to the noise with an early masterclass.

Heading into this game, all eyes were on Bam Adebayo. The basketball public were looking at him to step up if this Heat team wanted to progress forward in this series, and well, he responded big. Erik Spoelstra and Bam Adebayo had to come in with an early approach to get him going, since he simply is a rhythm player. We began seeing Miami run sets for him above the break, allowing him to blend his two offensive threats together: turning a face-up into a post-up. That led him into low post play with some nice hook shots, comfort around them rim, and speedy pull up fades. But that last point is the key element: speedy. When he’s decisive and instinctive as a scoring threat, things look much different. That quick pull changes the game for his offensive slate, and forces defensive adjustments.

#2: Erik Spoelstra’s substitution adjustments carrying some weight.

Erik Spoelstra threw some haymakers early in this game from a coaching perspective, and it deserves some love. Aside from some schematic adjustments that were noticed throughout, the substitution changes were major. Usually the pattern is for Herro and Dedmon to enter at the 6 minute mark, consequently meaning that Bam exits. But today, only Dedmon found himself at the scorer’s table at that 6 minute mark. Why was that? Well, as I’ve been saying since the end of game 2, Bam and Herro need to play together much more than they have. So, Herro entered at the 3 minute mark instead, while Bam re-entered for Dedmon. He did just commit a quick 2 fouls, but something was found there. A couple high PnR reps later, Adebayo continues to dominate as a roller in space. Duncan Robinson and Caleb Martin also got spot minutes while Victor Oladipo was squeezed. Well, for a half. After Butler wouldn’t return coming back from half, Dipo was inserted into his spot as a starter. That’s the name of the game for this team though.

#3: Kyle Lowry’s insertion was felt early.

When Kyle Lowry was announced early in the day “intending to play,” it felt like there were some mixed emotions there. Yes the team’s starting lineup is returning, but is he fully healthy? We saw what happened when he tried to return in game 3 against Philly, so how different will this look? And well, his presence was felt immediately. For one, the difference in pace was staggering. A Jimmy Butler and-1 early in the game took place 2 and a half seconds into the shot clock due to a Lowry touchdown pass. And plus, this ties back to the Bam discussion. He was setting him up in his spots to trigger those offensive sets, and that’s the difference a true point guard makes for a team. Yet if you’ve been watching sports talk on TV, the game 2 loss of Derrick White was much more crucial. As the game unfolded, you could see that hamstring having more and more of a pull. The jumper was shorter, the passes were lazier, but they still needed his calming hand late. And a final steal down the stretch iced it fully.

#4: Third quarter: Butler goes down, Boston makes a run, role players turn up the clamps.

As I mentioned before, Jimmy Butler went down to start the second half, meaning Victor Oladipo had his number called all of a sudden. Offense got stagnant for a bit and the Celtics began building their run, which was pretty much expected. Yet, one thing, that might be overlooked, saved in that span. Role player defensive dominance. I must start with Oladipo, who wasn’t heavily involved in the offensive flow, yet was overpowering perimeter options for the Celtics on defense. Not just on the ball, but he was all over the place on rotations. PJ Tucker owned that quarter as well, pretty much aligned with those same descriptions, except his dominance came through physicality. Fighting through screens, overplaying Tatum, and making his life difficult. Even Caleb Martin entered late and got a much needed steal to finish the quarter. This was a gritty one, and that started with the guys mentioned who put it all out there.

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#5: What a finish.

Jaylen Brown hits a 3 to cut it to one, looking like Miami has finally hit that wall. They kept that lead for so long, but the car has finally stalled. But then, the next possession pretty much saved them. Flare screen for Max Strus, he squares up, and fires away. Bucket. The lead back up to 4 all of a sudden, from a guy who clearly isn’t afraid of the moment. A bit later after a timeout, Lowry brings the ball down. Strus forces something in the corner, and Bam finds himself with the ball with 5 seconds on the shot clock. Pump-fake, jumps into Horford, and still hits the deep jumper. The Heat have finally taken some control back, but now they need a stop. Heat swarm, the ball floats to the weak-side corner, and Lowry dives on the floor to retain it. This game was one of a ton of heart, on both sides, but the will Miami showed late was outstanding. And it was led by their franchise player: Bam Adebayo.

 

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