Beating the best team in the NBA, the Utah Jazz, should be enough for those who have been doubting this team since the beginning of the season.
A team that didn’t have a great preseason (no team did, but still), that brought several pieces that couldn’t fit, and that had to face several games without starters or key subs because of COVID-19 related issues.
All of that, plus an apparent lack of enthusiasm or coordination at some points of the season, led to a frenzy on #HeatTwitter or all social media outlets in which fans discuss the Heat.
The Heat was in a dark place. We can’t deny that. They were seven games under .500 at some point (7-14), and it looked like the only way to relive it was to trade somebody, or something.
Jimmy Butler took over and since he’s been back, the team looks different.
However, not even Butler himself would say this version of the Miami Heat is similar to the one that was two wins away from a championship months ago.
Kendrick Nunn has also gone back to what we saw during the regular season last year, and that has made that we barely notice the absences of Dragic and Herro.
On a re-watch: Kendrick Nunn did a really nice job defensively last night even when he wasn’t scoring.
Some people may forget, but the Heat is still missing pieces. I don’t even remember the last time Spoelstra had the entire roster available, or if that has ever happened in this 2020-2021 season at all.
That’s why I was suprised when the team was getting bombarded by their own fans, and even some of our own guys here in the Five Reasons Sports Network lost a little bit of their guts (you know who they are).
Here’s a good podcast you should listen, on assessing the adversity narrative.
The beautiful thing about sports is that everything can change rapidly. I personally have never asked for a trade, but I did think the team needed to adjust several aspects of their game.
No team is perfect, and it is just not that easy to get rid of Kelly Olynyk, Chris Silva and Max Struss to get James Harden or a similar star in return.
Some people pulled the trigger too early on this team, or as Bam Adebayo said right after beating the team with the best record in the league, too many counted the Heat out, when there was a lot to play left.
It’s ok, though. The reality is that the team is still playing under .500 (16-17), and it’s not where it should be, so you’re on time to jump back on board.
The second part of the schedule is out, and the Heat should do better (it’s not that hard if the team is healthy and playing the way they’ve been playing, anyway).
They’re in fifth right now, because the East is better this season, but it’s really not, and even the third place doesn’t look that far away for a team that was in the middle a “crisis” just weeks ago.
Enjoy the rest of the season, and thank you for the support that you’ve been showing us in all of our platforms. We’re growing thanks to all of you, and we’ll keep grinding and getting better, for you.
In case you missed it, you should check out the Miami Heat – Utah Jazz postgame show…
https://www.fivereasonssports.com/wp-content/uploads/Butler2ED-scaled.jpg17072560Alejandro Villegashttps://www.fivereasonssports.com/wp-content/uploads/FiveReasonsWebsiteLogo.svgAlejandro Villegas2021-02-27 10:16:272021-02-27 10:16:27The Heat Bringing the Jazz Down: Time to Get Back on Board
The Miami Heat finished their west coast trip with four wins in seven games and will be coming back to south Florida in a similar situation to the one they were when they left.
Still three games under .500, and still very close to the top four spots in the Eastern Conference.
After Monday night’s win against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Heat is only two games from the fourth-place Pacers (tied with the Raptors), and four games behind the Milwaukee Bucks, in third.
Looking back to it, I think we all though a 4-3 overall result would be great, given the circumstances the team was facing at the moment.
The Heat had lost to the Hornets and the Wizards, and barely beat Ethan Skolnick and Ricky J. Mark beloved Knicks in a couple of close games before leaving to face Houston.
As you can see, since James Harden left, that team has just sunk, and that was the perfect opponent for the Heat to start this adventure.
After that Houston team, it was time for the Heat to face the best team of the moment, the Utah Jazz, and it was clear that once they got going, this version of the Heat had no shot at them, so we probably went to bed that night knowing that it was just not meant to be against that opponent (If they were to meet in the playoffs in some sort of crazy scenario, I would take the Heat anyway).
What happened after was just the perfect example of what this season has been for this Heat team. Miami lost to a really depleted Los Angeles Clippers (not the barely depleted Lakers that ESPN likes to portray), and then blew a very solid lead against the Golden State Warriors, who didn’t have Draymond Green available, in one of the worst nights I’ve seen from a superstar like Steph Curry.
Just like that, the Heat was in another losing streak, but this time, with almost everybody back. At this point, and with hundreds of people asking for trades desperately on Heat Twitter, as they do all the time, anyway, regardless of what happens.
Being 1-3 in the trip, after those bad losses against the Clippers and Warriors, and knowing LeBron was waiting for them on Saturday, it seemed impossible that this trip would end up on a positive note.
With the Lakers on the horizon, the Heat defeated the Kings in another “must-win” even game against a lower quality opponent (the Heat struggled even more at home against them), and headed to Los Angeles again for a rematch of the 2020 NBA Finals.
Jimmy Butler has a positive record against LeBron James. We all know what happens when the real games come around, but somehow, and thanks in part to a great defensive game by Bam Adebayo, the Heat held up to upset the Lakers, who are now in the middle of a minicrisis, in case you haven’t watched ESPN lately, after losing to the Brooklyn Nets, the Miami Heat and the Washington Wizards in a row.
It also happens to the best teams in the league…
Closing out the trip with a solid (ish) win
Facing Oklahoma City with the opportunity to finish the west coast trip meant the Heat had to ended up on a positive vibe.
We know the Heat plays down to opponents, even though Oklahoma had a better record than the Heat. The team struggled in the first half, missed shots that should not miss, and were hanging around up to the fourth quarter, when they finally got away.
First solid win in a couple of weeks (or months!?), and a 4-3 record, that we would have taken before it all started, but that seeing what went on, looks like it was not enough.
This trip could have ended up with five or six wins for the Heat, and the team would be a little closer to the actual spot they should be in.
I would say they might be satisfied with a winning record on the road (just talking about this particular trip. The Heat is actually 7-10 on the road this season), but I feel like they should not be content.
This trip meant a lot to the team in a matter of getting closer to each other, as Erik Spoelstra pointed out in one of his press conferences, but it could have been better.
Like everything in this season so far for the Heat (maybe exaggerating a little bit). It could all be better…
https://www.fivereasonssports.com/wp-content/uploads/Heat-Timeout-scaled.jpg17072560Alejandro Villegashttps://www.fivereasonssports.com/wp-content/uploads/FiveReasonsWebsiteLogo.svgAlejandro Villegas2021-02-23 08:24:572021-02-23 08:24:57Should the Heat be content with the West Coast trip?
The Miami Heat has really struggled this season. On Tuesday night, against the Knicks, it wasn’t different.
Jimmy Butler is back, is his best version, aggressive, leading the team, and on Tuesday, it was him all over again. A +25 that almost ended up in a loss, believe it or not.
That’s how bad the second unit was at some point.
The Heat has finally found a way to win consecutive games, something they’ve really struggled with this season, and ended up tied for the ninth place in the East, just one game behind the Raptors, eight place, one and a half from the sixth-place Hornets and two games away from the Pacers, in fifth.
The Heat wins it 98-96 behind a great defensive effort to close it out.
Jimmy Butler +25 Kelly Olynyk +19 Kendrick Nunn +8
Not that bad, considering they lost games against the Wizards, those same Hornets, and the Pistons, that should’ve been wins.
At this point, Miami should already be in the top four of the Eastern Conference.
However, after 24 games in, the team is playing way below .500, with only 10 wins.
Trade everybody, get a whale
How many times have we read this in the past month?
And I get it. Heat fans are desperate from watching a team that seems to be lost, and very far away from that one that made them feel so happy just few of months ago.
Trading for another player is not necessarily what this team needs. I get it if they do it, but looking at the circumstances they’ve been facing, with a tough schedule, injuries and COVID-related absences, I wouldn’t get to crazy with a team that is just three games away from the third place in the East.
I know fans were tired of some moral victories, like those games they almost won against the Sixers, Nets and Celtics. But taking a look at it, that’s how close the Heat has been to change the narrative.
There are five or six games that could’ve gone the Heat’s way, and nobody would be talking about trades. That’s the reality of it.
It’s not only about the winning streak, or the losing streak they had. It’s about those games they only won or the ones they should’ve won.
That’s the difference in the narrative.
Olynyk, Nunn & Herro stepping up
Duncan Robinson struggled once again, going 0 for 5 from the three-point line. And guess who came to save the day?
Kelly Olynyk. That same guy that frustrates a lot of fans, I would say, more often than not. 6 for 8 from threes, and second only behind Jimmy Butler in points, with 20.
At some point, it was him and Kendrick Nunn leading the way to come back from a double-digit deficit in the second quarter.
Later, Tyler Herro redeemed himself with a couple of baskets and a clutch three in the last minutes of the game. All of these, signs of a team that seems to be finding their way.
A path to a winning streak that could lead to fans believing in this team once again.
We’re still waiting to see Bam Adebayo back in a more aggressive mentality, but he keeps finding the way to almost score 20 every game.
There are a lot of things this team can do better. Hopefully this is just the beginning of them figuring everything out, and the beginning of many winning streaks…
https://www.fivereasonssports.com/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Shot-2021-02-09-at-9.57.58-PM.png385618Alejandro Villegashttps://www.fivereasonssports.com/wp-content/uploads/FiveReasonsWebsiteLogo.svgAlejandro Villegas2021-02-10 09:20:372021-02-10 09:20:37A streak to start believing again
Miami has now hit the 20 game mark of a 72 game season, which is when most teams would normally have an idea of what they are. For the Heat, that hasn’t been the case for reasons out of their hands. But things aren’t as simple as merely blaming COVID protocols. Questions and frustrations are starting to add up at a rate that can’t be ignored. And now they find themselves at 7-13 and tied for 11th in the East in this bizarre NBA season.
*record scratch* *freeze frame* Yup, that’s the Miami Heat. You’re probably wondering how they ended up in this situation. For starters, the team has had 14 different starting lineups already, and Jimmy Butler has played only 8 games. They’ve had to play Gabe Vincent, Max Strus, and Chris Silva more minutes than anyone should feel comfortable with. It’s not even that they’re getting minutes, but that they’ve been relied upon to do more than what they’re capable of in their prolonged stints. That’s been the tip of the iceberg that continues to threaten to sink the Miami Heat season. But the time for excuses has seemingly run its course on the fanbase. No longer does anyone want to hear about “getting everyone back” and seeing what you have. The very same glaring holes the team had coming into the season are still there. The same holes you had even before a game that should never have happened in D.C. started a protocol tailspin into sports hell.
“What you have” is a defense that is still struggling to contain dribble penetration and giving up 3s at an almost historical rate. Not to forget the turnover and rebounding problems that have lingered and stuck around like an unwelcome houseguest. Losing to the Magic and squeaking by teams like the Wizards, Hornets, and Kings on a nightly basis isn’t going to calm anyone’s worries. That very first game of the season against the Orlando Magic was a precursor of things to come. A game where they had everyone on hand yet allowed 113 points and gave away the ball like a Panda Express employee giving free samples at the mall. That game showed the flaws that are still apparent to this day.
While it’s true that the team has been hit hard by COVID protocols, it shouldn’t blind people to the fact that they aren’t good enough as is. They haven’t proven it in their limited time out there. Even going back to last season, the team was at .500 when the calendar flipped to 2020. It was until the team finally answered their questions at the Power Forward position and started a reinvigorated Goran Dragic when they reached its best and most cohesive form. A form that found the perfect balance of defense and offense they wanted all along. That form eludes them now, as both the team and fans clamor to fill those very same gaps that they had filled before. They didn’t answer those questions in the offseason as they struck out on every free agent power forward that would help their current situation. They were hamstrung by wanting to leave space for the 2021 offseason, which was supposed to have some major stars available. But now that all those stars are off the table, it makes it all the more frustrating that you were left with an empty plate. A plate that includes a generous portion of Moe Harkless that hasn’t filled up a starving appetite.
So you can understand the frustration being shared amongst everyone involved as time runs out in a shortened season filled with so many uncertainties. They just saw you go to the Finals and come within 2 wins of another title. Please don’t blame them for having even just an ounce of expectations for you. The organization itself knows competing for a title is first on their mind, especially after their comments that spoke of owing it to Jimmy Butler to win now. So why shouldn’t fans feel the same way? They’ve seen what a championship-contending team looks like — and what they see out there is a team in desperate need of a tune-up.
There’s a certain point where a never-ending avalanche of questions overwhelms you as you continue to struggle for answers. You can’t find yourself staring at a 9-15 record before a 7 game west coast road trip is at your doorstep. And that’s what everyone is afraid will happen unless things change in the immediate future. There is a genuine and terrifying chance that things could get even worse soon. You want to hopefully get the ship somewhat afloat before the sinking can even begin. You can imagine just how frustrated the actual players must be. They want to win as desperately as any Miami Heat team before them. But the answers are more than likely not on the team, which could be tough to swallow for them as they’ve grown so close together. The timelines of some of the player might not line up with where the Heat want to be. It’s why you see so many people clamoring for a trade. The answer could lie in a move similar to the Jae Crowder and Andre Iguodala trade of last season. It might have to be even more moves than that, to be honest.
Are you willing to wait until the trade deadline to possibly find that answer? You might be too late at that point, which adds even more throbbing to the headache. Make no mistake about it; if the team wins a few more in a row in the current “soft part” of their schedule, many of the same questions will still be there. It will just be a nice bandaid to a hemorrhaging patient. You’ll still need the tourniquet and sever what isn’t working. Most of the time, it feels like people want a trade just for the sake of a transaction, but this team is in genuine need of a change-up. Maybe it’s for the long-desired PJ Tucker along with Victor Oladipo? Or even a guy like Otto Porter Jr or Thaddeus Young, along with a swing at Lonzo Ball, might help. At this point, it’s just about who, not when—someone to spark that same magic and fill those gaps that you got at last year’s deadline.
Hopefully, things will get better soon, but you can’t simply hope. There will need to be some action. Whether that’s improved play on the court or a move that’ll reignite everyone, it needs to come soon. Time is ticking on not only this season but for the clocks of Jimmy Butler’s best years and Goran Dragic’s waning career. The frustration around this year will soon either be put to a stop by the team, or it’ll boil over into a wasted year that no one wants. Hopefully, the team and organization soon figure out how to stop the dam from breaking before the drowning starts.
Marco Romo (@Marco_Romo) is a new contributor to Five Reasons Sports Network.
https://www.fivereasonssports.com/wp-content/uploads/2761AB39-2FA2-4EE7-8B7E-78383C22D25D.jpeg6751200Marco Romohttps://www.fivereasonssports.com/wp-content/uploads/FiveReasonsWebsiteLogo.svgMarco Romo2021-02-03 10:12:162021-02-03 10:12:16The Current State of Frustration Surrounding the Miami Heat
The story of the NBA’s prototypical sharpshooter has been as predictable as the plot of a Hallmark Movie. The sniper of 3 point shots takes the league by storm, teams start game planning, and the player eventually gets figured out to a point, thus making them less valuable. The shooter is more than likely a bad defender and leads to the downfall of their minutes and effectiveness. It’s up to Duncan Robinson and the Miami Heat to figure out how to rewrite the script and keep their once-in-a-lifetime shooter on the floor as much as possible. So far this season, they’re off to a promising start.
Duncan Robinson is not your ordinary NBA sharpshooter. He might be the best non-Steph Curry shooter lacing them up today. He bends and shifts defenses to his whim, creating chaos in his path. One second the defender will think he’s bottled up, only to be foiled by an improvised dribble handoff with his right-hand man Bam Adebayo. He’s relentless in his pursuit of getting a shot off, and if the defense relaxes, even for a second, it’s already too late. Miami relies so much on this to make its offense the well-oiled machine that it can be at its peak. It’s why improving his defense and keeping him on the court as much as possible is vital for the team to reach another level.
Last season Miami found itself choosing between keeping him on the court late in games or bringing in someone else for defensive purposes. Duncan would get hunted by the opposing team, knowing they could take advantage and play him off the court. They wanted to get rid of the headache he was causing on the other end by any means necessary. The aspirin they were looking for turned out to be a constant barrage of pick and rolls Robinson’s way. However, this season there hasn’t been as much noise concerning the sniper’s availability late in games. Duncan seems to be getting the grasp of all the small things on defense, and he’s being rewarded with the trust late in games that alluded him last year.
Watching him on the court and you can see a stark difference in how he’s paying attention to detail and not allowing mistakes to compound themselves. One of his most significant shortcomings last year was how prone he was to fouling so much. Those were the mistakes he kept allowing to build until Coach Spoelstra was forced to show him to the bench. He’s become careful, but not to a point where he’s actively disappearing on defensive possessions. So far this year, he’s averaging 1.8 fouls through the first 15 games, as opposed to last year when he averaged 2.6 per game. That may not seem like much on the surface, but the difference during a game is palpable when you don’t have to sit after picking up two quick fouls. He has made sure to avoid getting his golden arm caught in the cookie jar. He’s not picking up cheap fouls as he was so prone to doing last year. He’s now trusting that his size will be enough to bother the opposing players. Diving deeper into the numbers, Duncan has only had two games of 3 or more fouls.
Compare that to the six such instances he had through his first 15 games last season. The three penalty mark is where things get sketchy for players, and not only do their minutes get in trouble, but their defense suffers, as well. The player becomes more tentative to be physical, and an edge is lost. Duncan has managed to avoid these pitfalls so far, and Miami has gotten to enjoy his elite offensive presence late in games because of it. While it hasn’t resulted in much success, there’s no denying it won’t hurt once the team is back to somewhat full strength. It’s something that can’t be taken lightly, considering just how much good havoc he creates. That kind of chaos could create a much-needed bucket for the team as the game begins to bog down.
Duncan’s continued to grow even as a team defender. He’s become visibly more vocal, calling out teammates when they’re not where they’re supposed to be. He was essentially a rookie last year, but now he knows he’s a veteran leader on the team. The reluctance he carried has left his shoulder and, in turn, boosted his presence on defense. Learning from mistakes is a growing pain, and now he’s enjoying teaching those same lessons to the younger and new guys. He’s hedging even harder on screen and rolls, avoiding an easy switch that the defense wants to bait the team into eventually. He’s digging on post-ups and recovering to shooters under control. It’s such a vast difference to the wild closeouts last season that he’d resort to as he helped too far off on the dig.
The lineup numbers bear these improvements out as well. Duncan is part of 5 of the top 10 best defensive rating two-man lineups with at least 100 minutes played. What’s most surprising is how the second guy next to Duncan in these duos doesn’t include Bam Adebayo, the team’s defensive anchor. Expanding this even further, he’s also a part of 3 of the top 5 three-man defensive lineups with at least 50 minutes played, including being in the top-ranked one featuring Avery Bradley and Goran Dragic that boasts an 87.2 rating. On/off-wise, the team has its second best defensive rating of 108.8 (among those with at least 200 minutes played) with him out there. And even if single-player defensive stats aren’t your thing, it’s still worth mentioning. And it’s very evident when watching the games as well. I haven’t found myself uttering “ugh Duncan” under my breath so much this year. It’s a good sign that the amount of yelling being directed his way on Twitter has mostly been for wanting him to shoot more. It’s been apparent that the team hasn’t been bleeding points because of him specifically. The mistakes have cleaned up to where it’s nearly negligible.
Miami will continue working with Duncan on his defense, and he’ll continue to get better from game to game. He’s always had the work ethic to get better on that end. After all, we’re talking about a kid who made it to the NBA from a D-III college. The effort is half the battle on defense, and with his unquenched thirst for improvement, he’s well on his way.
You can tell he wants to be out there late in games with his teammates. He doesn’t want to be just another “shooter” like JJ Redick or Wayne Ellington that gets played off the floor as soon as playoff teams start hunting them out. Those guys didn’t have a near 6’9 foot frame and 7’1 wingspan to help them out. Those are the same qualities that made him such a unique shooter, to begin with. He’ll find a way to incorporate that unwavering motor, footwork, and impeccable balance he has on offense into his defense. Look at Jim Carrey, he was a great comedic actor in his prime, but he didn’t let that stop him from showing off his dramatic chops from time to time. Duncan needs to find his ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ or ‘The Truman Show’ to go along with his ‘Ace Ventura’, aka his 3 point stroke. Sure, we know how legendarily amazing you are at one aspect, but immense acclaim will come your way when you can be versatile. He doesn’t need to be Daniel Day-Lewis or Leonardo DiCaprio, but he needs to make sure he isn’t Rob Schneider, pigeonholed and typecast the rest of his career.
I don’t expect Duncan to become Robert Covington or Josh Richardson, and neither should anyone else. He’ll make sure not to be just another sharpshooter but a once-in-a-lifetime offensive weapon with more than capable defense. Duncan will show you he can do ‘Man on the Moon’ but won’t let you forget what got him to where he is. He’s changing the narrative one shot and rotation at a time.
KZ Okpala’s major motion picture with the Miami Heat is just about to go into year 2, but it feels like we’re still waiting for the opening credits. The fans feel like they want to see a closer look and better understand the case at hand. When will they get to see the story truly unfold? Answers seem to get hazier as the fog of a weird season continues to make this harder to see.
Taken with the 32nd pick in the 2nd round of the 2019 NBA Draft after a solid sophomore showing with Stanford, Okpala was seen as a reach by many experts. But the Miami Heat were in love with him and traded multiple future second-round picks to select the versatile Forward. Reports would later come out that they had him right after Tyler Herro in their overall draft board. The team was seemingly in love with the young and raw talent. His athleticism and length seemed to have caught the eyes of the scouting team. They saw so much potential that could eventually be unearthed by the famous Miami Heat developmental staff. We’re now into KZ’s second year as a pro athlete, and he has yet to etch a role out for the team that took a chance on him. While that’s understandable for a player taken in the 32nd slot, something still seems to not sit right with Heat fans. It’s hard to imagine why Okpala hasn’t been given much of an opportunity in a year where you need youth and seem to be down at least four players every other night.
Maybe it’s just the usual impatience from fans? They want to see the shiny new toy that Erik Spoelstra can unleash on the unsuspecting basketball universe. And you know just the type of magic the Coach can make happen out of seemingly nothing at his dispersal. Yet, the “shiny new toy” remains kept in the sealed package despite what seems to have been a more than willing taker. It could always be a case that has to do with more of what we’re not seeing. After all, Coach Spoelstra and the organization have always been big on showing in practices just how bad you want that playing time. Even with all that, there are still minutes there up for grabs because the choices aren’t very plentiful at the moment. You can’t blame the fanbase for wanting to see what the team saw when they took somewhat of a gamble when they selected him. The team kept lauding him as a first-round pick that they stole right from under the league’s noses. Especially after the same fans just finished watching Duncan Robinson and Kendrick Nunn start almost all of last season despite them being an undrafted second-year player and a rookie.
Granted, those guys are a lot older, but NBA experience isn’t easy, no matter the age. But Tyler Herro and Precious Achiuwa seem to have had quite an easy time when getting at least constant bench minutes as rookies. To go even further back at examples like Justise Winslow and Josh Richardson, who both found roles so early in their careers despite one of them spending so much time in the D-League (now G-League). KZ himself spent all of last year in the G-League developing his game almost the same way Richardson did. So shouldn’t a player who was touted as being almost equal to Herro prospect-wise be getting a much longer leash? Or it could be that Okpala was just hurt the most by not having a Summer League or regular Training Camp to work out even more of the rawness he still has. There are so many factors that fans keep going through in their heads that’ll eventually have them spinning out of control.
So far, it’s been an endless cycle of getting a taste of what Okpala could be, followed by a quick DNP the next day. And those tastes have left the fanbase craving more. Like an excellent teaser trailer of a crowdfunded movie, you want to see the full version of what so many people invested in. It’s always been on the players to force the coaching staff’s hands by showing them what they can do when they get opportunities. It’s hard to argue he hasn’t done as such. He’s shown you glimpses at that player you know he can become. He’s improved his shot, expanded his dribbling ability, and gotten so much stronger. The defensive skills have been the most promising, and that’s something “Heat Culture” has always preached. Okpala has made his mistakes here and there, but every player needs to have their growing pains sooner or later. Especially someone you’ve indicated will be a part of your future.
There is the argument that the team needs win-now players to see the floor to counterbalance the amount of youth getting such critical roles. Hence why you’ve seen players like Andre Iguodala and Moe Harkless continue getting those minutes instead. Even with that, I still think it wouldn’t hurt to showcase a guy like KZ in a year where it’s almost like a preseason half of the time. The worst case is that you’re taking minutes away from guys who will become more critical for possible trade bait or future playoff minutes. It’s a sort of fork in the road that Miami finds themselves in where they’re looking at both the win-now and future. There’s also the argument that the staff is trying to protect him from any deal he could be attached to in the future. While I can see where that’s coming from to an extent, I don’t think the Heat staff operates in that sort of manner.
It could very well be a case that he isn’t ready. And that may be the hardest pill to swallow for fans and even the staff itself. He may still be too raw and immature (basketball-wise) to have out there. It’s a difficult thing to let sink in because of how much you’ve been hearing about him. The fans have been fed this idea that he’s such an invaluable commodity of the future. Like a folk story, everything they’ve heard seems to look better in their heads than the actual reality. And fans don’t want their reality to crumble before them. But if he continues to play well in the minutes he gets, they’ll be right to keep asking questions.
For Okpala, one thing is for sure in that he’s going to keep trying every single time he’s given a chance. Miami always drafts guys who are willing to become the best versions of themselves. If the minutes continue to be uneven and uncertain, he’ll be there waiting to seize the opportunities, as slim as they may be. Even if his current role is slightly murky, he’ll make sure his future is bright in some capacity. He’s in the right environment and with the right people to do so. Soon he won’t be a mystery, but a thriller that you’ll need to see the endgame of. Hopefully, the ending doesn’t disappoint because you have all the right cast and crew on hand.
Marco Romo (@Marco_Romo) is a new contributor to Five Reasons Sports Network.
https://www.fivereasonssports.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_1984.jpg405500Marco Romohttps://www.fivereasonssports.com/wp-content/uploads/FiveReasonsWebsiteLogo.svgMarco Romo2021-01-22 17:52:302021-01-22 17:52:30The Curious Case of KZ Okpala
I don’t believe there is a story about the Miami Heat that Brady Hawk hasn’t written. He has covered the well-known free agency targets and even got to the point of desperation where he was making a case for Josh Jackson to join the Heat. He almost convinced me until I remembered it was Josh Jackson. The one name that hasn’t been mentioned throughout his onslaught of articles — Udonis Haslem.
That’s right. The culture captain himself has been left off of the laundry list of prospective Heat players for the 2020-2021 season by the man with 1,000 articles (and apparently no bedtime). *Scoffs* some boy wonder he is. Just kidding. Brady has been carrying Heat coverage on FiveReasons and has left some of us wondering if we are even worthy of calling ourselves contributors. Great job, bro.
So what does the 17-year veteran’s future hold? The answer is the same as it has been for the past few seasons — mind your own damn business. That final roster spot will have UD’s name on it until he is good and ready to retire.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. This conversation has been tossed around for years always resulting in number 40 still being on the roster. My guess is that this year will be no different. Udonis will once again patrol the sidelines and the locker room snuffing out any and all counter-culture mentality. And being honest, it should be no other way.
Royal A. Shepherd (@RoyalAShepherd) has written for several major newspapers, including the Tallahassee Democrat and the Augusta Chronicle, and now contributes to Five Reasons Sports.
https://www.fivereasonssports.com/wp-content/uploads/image.jpeg559850Royal A. Shepherdhttps://www.fivereasonssports.com/wp-content/uploads/FiveReasonsWebsiteLogo.svgRoyal A. Shepherd2020-11-03 09:03:452020-11-03 15:03:55The Udonis Haslem question…again
Miami has become the new sexy pick for best free agency destination after the Heat’s run at the NBA championship in the bubble this season. With the new-found popularity, the Heat will have some tough decisions to make when looking to improve the roster.
5. Demarcus Cousins
Despite being injured for the better part of the past two seasons, when healthy, Boogie Cousins is one of the most skilled big men in the league. His ability to shoot, pass and be a presence in the post should all be attractive lures for Miami. If Cousins buys into the now famed Heat culture and improves his fitness level and conditioning, the Heat could grab a steal. A year in the Heat organization could also help Cousins recoup some of the value he has lost due to injuries. He was in line for a max contract that never materialized after he ruptured his Achilles in 17-18 while playing for the Pelicans.
Does Boogie to Miami interest you at all? #HEATTwitter
Oladipo has made it apparent that he wants to win now. He has also expressed, albeit less overtly, his love for the city of Miami. At his peak, Oladipo is an all-star level two-way player that adds scoring, defense and some playmaking ability to a team. However, according to Ethan Skolnick on the Five on the Floor Podcast, Oladipo’s behavior in the bubble has raised some eyebrows about whether or not he is a winner. His injury history is also an area for concern — returning from a torn quad tendon in January. He averaged 14.5 PPG on 39 percent (32 percent from 3) shooting in 19 games.
3. Christian Wood
Brady Hawk has already detailed everything I wanted to in his article on Wood’s fit with Miami. Over Detroit’s final 13 games as the starting center, he posted numbers of 22.8 points and 9.9 boards on 56.2 percent shooting and 40.0 percent from three. Prying Wood away from Detroit will not be an easy task considering his breakout season following the trade of Andre Drummond. However, there is a chance and that is all Miami can ask for.
2. Jrue Holiday
Point of attack defense has been an area of concern for the Heat dating back to the beginning of the season. Holiday is an immediate upgrade in that area and many more. Not only is he an elite perimeter defender, but also a capable combo guard that can both facilitate the offense and score the ball. The 30-year old’s averages of 19.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 6.7 assists will fit in nicely with the current Heat squad. Holiday has also recently been recognized by several of his peers on various platforms as one of the most underrated player in the league. We all know where those types of guys can find a home.
1. Giannis Antetokoumpo
The reigning back-to-back MVP is at the top of every team’s wishlist. Rightfully so. His gawdy averages of 29.5 points, 13.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game and recent earlier-than-expected playoff exits (you’re welcome) have GMs around the league salivating at the opportunity to acquire his services. Miami is believed to be amongst the frontrunners to land him should he decide to part ways with Milwaukee, along with Dallas, Toronto and Golden State. What the Heat offer Giannis is a ready-made championship contender that fits his style of play. In turn, Giannis gives the Heat another star to pair with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.
Royal Shepherd (@RoyalAShepherd) has written for several major newspapers, including the Tallahassee Democrat and the Augusta Chronicle, and now contributes to Five Reasons Sports.
https://www.fivereasonssports.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_1704-e1562471414371.jpg695950Royal A. Shepherdhttps://www.fivereasonssports.com/wp-content/uploads/FiveReasonsWebsiteLogo.svgRoyal A. Shepherd2020-10-15 11:36:112020-10-15 11:36:11Five Players The Miami Heat Should Target
First, I would like to congratulate the Miami Heat organization on a marvelous season. The run made by this team should go down as one of the more remarkable displays of maximizing talent that this league has ever seen. It should. But it won’t.
The three reasons it won’t:
LeBron won another title. That will always be the story.
The NBA was robbed of two potential matchups they’ve been pushing because Miami eliminated those teams ahead of schedule (Giannis vs. LeBron and Lakers vs. Celtics).
It’s the Heat.
These things all point to the same conclusion — despite the temporary praise, the Heat will return to its all too familiar comfort zone of being underrated. Not by players, who watched as the Heat embodied what most of them believe is the right way to play the game, but to the general public that only listen to the Nick Wrights, Mike Greenbergs and Colin Cowherds of the world.
All of that leads me to as a simple question. Is it too early for Heat fans to feel slighted?
The reason I’m asking is because it hasn’t been 24 hours, but casual basketball fans and the national media are already trying to bury one of the greatest accomplishments in the Miami Heat’s history. In an effort to cheapen this team’s accomplishments, several commentators have credited our wins to the shortcomings of other teams. Conversely, talking heads have also used Miami as a punchline to try and poke fun at the validity of this championship.
Skip Bayless discredits Miami, per the usual, by claiming Miami should have been swept.
It took two all-time Finals games by Jimmy Butler for the Heat to avoid what should've happened – a sweep.
He isn’t alone. CBS NBA reporter Sam Quinn predicted that Miami won’t return to the Finals again during the Jimmy Butler era because the circumstances surrounding the run aren’t sustainable. He doesn’t take into account the roster flexibility Miami will have with the number of free agents we have coming off the books or the amount of cap space the Heat will have to be major players in the 2021 market.
I don't think the Heat will make it back to the Finals during Jimmy Butler's contract.
I doubt they're getting Giannis. I don't think they're better than the Celtics or Bucks next year, or the playoff Nets. A lot of things went right for them that I don't view as sustainable.
In other tweets, he suggests Milwaukee and Dallas are more attractive free agent destinations because the Luka Doncic/Kristaps Porzingas duo is better than Bam and an aging Jimmy Butler.
Milwaukee is the front-runner, and Dallas is the non-Bucks front-runner imo. I would much rather play with Luka and KP than Bam and aging Jimmy. Giannis needs shooting around him. Heat have it, but it's too concentrated in a few guys.
And then we have ESPN and their way too early Power Rankings where they have Miami listed 9th. 9th?!?!? There are some things in the world that cannot be explained. The placebo effect, Alf954’s uncontrollable hatred for Tony Brother’s eyebrows, Hassan Whiteside and this shit. How are the NBA’s first runner up behind two teams they beat (Milwaukee and Boston), a fully healthy team that didn’t push the Lakers nearly as hard as Miami with injuries (Denver), one of the biggest super team disappointments in recent memory (Clippers), a team that lost in the first round (Dallas), a non-playoff team (Golden State) and THE FUCKING 76ers.
Whatever, some things will never change. But some things do, like the trajectory of this franchise moving forward.
Royal Shepherd (@RoyalAShepherd) has written for several major newspapers, including the Tallahassee Democrat and the Augusta Chronicle, and now contributes to Five Reasons Sports.
https://www.fivereasonssports.com/wp-content/uploads/22A97886-75D2-487F-854A-D79C60AA5D2D.jpeg6751200Royal A. Shepherdhttps://www.fivereasonssports.com/wp-content/uploads/FiveReasonsWebsiteLogo.svgRoyal A. Shepherd2020-10-12 14:25:042020-10-14 08:11:12We, Heat Fans, Just Want Our Damn Respect
The Ultimate Miami Heat Playlist To Get You Ready For Game Time: Compiled By You, Heat Twitter
I asked and you delivered. Put this playlist on while you read this. Then put it on repeat every game day and get ready to run through a god damn wall. LET’S FUCKING GO.
The Block And The Importance of Being Cultured
Every NBA playoffs has a series-defining moment. And for the 2020 Miami Heat, it was The Block. The one where Bam ripped Jason Tatum’s soul directly from his body while sealing a Game 1 victory for the Heat and setting the tone for the rest of the series. Not only did Bam block the ever loving shit out of Tatum’s potential game-winning-oh-my-gahhh-Jason-Tatum-is-the-next-Kobe-hurrr-durrr dunk, he utterly wrecked everyone’s expectations of how this series would and should go. It was a block that woke up the basketball-watching to the fact that Bam Adebayo has arrived: fully armed and operational. It was a block that quieted all the Colin Cowherd mouth breathers of the world, not to mention alleged NBA scouts that called Bam’s matchup with Daniel Theis a wash (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA), and every single member of Celtics Nation — as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.
If you could bottle #Culture, or at least encapsulate it with one image — it’s The Block.
The Block is a loaded cornucopia of how and why Miami Heat Culture works: A largely unknown and dismissed young player taken middle of the first round and cast off by the so-called experts taking on a highly touted Future Star one-on-one.
Jason Tatum, the Next Guy Up, the Celtics’ Golden Boy Chosen One Danny Ainge Is A Genius And Supposed Heir to Kobe Bryant, takes off towards the basket for a supposed monster dunk that would have made all of ESPN collectively climax into their pants. But he is suddenly and violently met by Bam at the rim. Bam, showing impossible strength and apparently a wrist made of hard rubber, emphatically blocks the attempt.
Clean, strong, with authority.
A nation cheers.
A world watches in awe.
The image is forever burned in our collective brains.
Holy and shit what a play.
And with that, all of what Culture is supposed to be — hard work, dedication, sacrifice, defense first, blood, sweat, courage, ego-aside, badassery — flashes before the NBA’s collective consciousness. The Block was more than just a brilliant defensive play, it was a message to the rest of the league that Heat Culture is open for business and, brother, business is A-BOOMIN. Heat Culture is the cure to what ails all your losing ways. Tired of losing? Come take up the Culture. Want to be the best player you’ve ever been? Come take up the Culture. Want a real shot at winning a title and upping your legacy? Come take up the Culture.
It’s why Andre Iguodala told reporters on Tuesday, “Every young guy should experience what Heat Culture is like because it sets them up for success their entire career.”
ARE YOU NOT LISTENING, GIANNIS? DO YOU NOT SEE, BRADLEY BEAL? HAVE YOU NOT WITNESSED, KAWHI?
Every kingdom LeBron James has ruled over has turned to sand upon his exit. The Cavaliers in 2010, the Cavaliers again in 2018, and we can only guess once he leaves L.A., and Anthony Davis goes too, how that will all turn out (history says: Not great, Bob!).
But the Miami Heat have remained.
The Miami Heat is the Infinity Stone.
Even after a few bad years wandering the wasteland of the Hassan Whiteside Era, bad contracts, and early playoff exits, the Heat still managed to right the ship by unloading bad players, refilling the coffers with young up-and-coming future All Stars, undrafted badasses who shoot lights out from downtown, and attracting top disgruntled talented vets like Jimmy Butler. The Heat are steady even as teams with once promising futures like the Cavs, Sixers, and Thunder all fall by the wayside.
Not only did Bam’s block usurp all other moments during these playoffs (and there are many “fuck yea!” moments, including the Heat dismantling Giannis and the Bucks, the sweep of the Pacers, Butler morphing into Playoff Jimmy), it sent a clear message:
Yes, we’re a fifth seed.
No, we weren’t expected to have gotten this far.
Yes, you can take your expectations and Vegas odds and roll them into a PVC pipe and shove them into your shit-hole.
The sheer impossibleness of that block is mind boggling. Bam, with his WEAK HAND, had to contort his body mid-air to not only contest Tatum, but meet him at the rim without putting a body on him as to not get a foul called by the shit-for-eyes officials. On the strength of an explosive hop and leap, Tatum brought the ball down full force, as he has a million times before in his career. And Bam somehow met all ball and pushed it back (again, with his WEAK HAND), stuffing the dunk and ending Tatum’s quest to be The Hero. It’s a block that needs to be sent to labs at NORAD and studied for decades to come.
Watch this nerd’s breakdown of how it was even better than we all think:
Things were never truly the same for the Celtics after The Block. Sure, they took two games in the series, but they also imploded in a locker room ruckus, wilted under the oppressive Heat zone defense, succumbed to The Baby Goat, and lost yet another Eastern Conference Finals, falling short of expectations and making ESPN very sad about the death of the dream of televising a Lakers-Celtics Finals where they could show more riveting images of Deuce Tatum on the sideline watching cartoons on an iPad.
And all of the experts’ insistence that Boston would storm back and take control of the series, and all of the hopes heaped upon Gordon Hayward’s Antebellum MAGA mustache, and all of Marcus Smart’s gritty-you-wish-he-was-on-your-team-flopping, and all of ESPN turning the camera on Jason Tatum’s kid every two minutes, could not and would not put it back together again.
Bam Adebayo’s block announced to the world that Culture is open for business, even as it takes care of business.
Bam’s block broke the Celtics.
Bam’s block made Paul Pierce shit his pants again (probably).
And it was all very beautiful.
And now we’re here.
Why This Whole Thing Matters
The Miami Heat are back in the Finals (!!!) And it matters. It matters because holy shit nuggets is it hard to get to this point. I mean, stupid hard. Never mind winning it. Just getting here is ridiculously difficult. Like, solving the Collatz Conjecture while someone taps you in the nuts with a ball-peen hammer difficult. So, let’s drink it up and enjoy every moment. DON’T TAKE OUR GREATNESS FOR GRANTED, DUMMIES.
Here’s the thing: Since 2000, only 14 NBA teams have reached the Finals. At the top, the Los Angeles Lakers (thanks to Kobe and Shaq and now LeBron and The Brow), getting there eight times. Know who comes in 2nd? YOUR MIAMI HEAT FUCK YEAH.
The Heat have now reached the NBA Finals six times, thanks mainly to Dwyane Wade and Shaq and then Dwyane Wade and his Two Amazing Friends (feat. Ray Allen). The Warriors have been there five times, as have the Spurs, and the Cavaliers (there’s LeBron again), then the Mavs (twice), and Celtics (also twice LOLOLO), and Pistons and Nets (twice). After that, we’ve seen the Raptors, Thunder, Magic, 76ers, and Pacers (remember Rik Smits? What a weird time that was) all getting there once each. That’s it. Out of 30 teams, 14 of them have Tenzing Norgay’d their way up the NBA mountaintop. And while the Heat have gotten there the second-most times (which in and of itself is fuckin bananas when you think about it), it’s really tough to get to this point.
The NBA Playoffs are a gauntlet-crammed crucible filled with rage-fueled barbarians in leather-and-spike thongs hurdling spears and tridents at your throat. It’s filled with collapsing ancient booby-trapped temples and man-eating sharks and giant boulders rolling down hills from secret chambers. You have to not only be gifted at putting the ball into the hoop more times than the other team, but you have to have the mental toughness of a Shackleton and the physical dexterity of that guy in the meme with the giant cock (don’t Google it, trust us, let’s just move on) to get through it unscathed.
Point is, this moment right here, right now, is a rare one. It’s never guaranteed. And it can never be taken for granted. The moment we start thinking “oh we’re going to be here every year” is the moment we all collectively become the 2008 Celtics. Fuck that.
10 Most Important Miami Heat NBA Playoffs Moments Ranked
1. Dwyane Wade Announce His Presence With Authority In the 2006 NBA Finals: The franchise’s first ever trip to the Finals, which culminated in their first-ever title. There was old Shaq, acquired via a trade with the Lakers a season ago, trying to win one without Kobe. And there was Alonzo Mourning, fresh off his kidney failing him, staring at the eternal abyss that consumed other Greats To Never Win A Title Like Barkley, Malone, Ewing, and countless others. And there was Coach Pat Riley, telling his guys to pack only one suit and dunking his head into a vat of ice water until he almost died to show his guys what it took to win (Pat Riley is fucking crazy!) And there was young Dwyane Wade who, when facing an 0-2 series deficit that included the city of Dallas already mapping out the championship parade route, said, “Fuck this! I’m not going out like that!” and then proceeded to ram his fist into the Mavericks’ collective chests and pull out their spinal cords and skulls like Predator to add to his trophy case. Wade basically singlehandedly won the ’06 Finals, becoming the youngest player to win Finals MVP since Magic Johnson, and the first shooting guard to win Finals MVP since Michael Jordan. This was the Finals that put the Heat on the map as a world class organization. The Finals that announced to the world that D-Wade had joined the chat. The Finals that cemented Riley’s promise of a parade down Biscayne Blvd. This is the one that started it all.
2. The Shot: When you have a play that can be instantly recognized by its own name, you know it’s fucking iconic.
3. Young Dwyane Wade Takes Down the New Orleans Hornets: “Stan Van Gundy went to the rookie and he delivered! Haha! Listen to the crowd, baby.”
4. LeBron’s First Title: LeBron James’ legacy as one of, if not the, greatest players in NBA history has already been cemented. And when they do a career retrospective whenever he decides to hang em up, the first clip they’ll inevitably show is his chase-down block on Andre Iguodala in the 2016 Finals. Followed by all the hoopla about him bringing a championship to a title-starved city of Cleveland, followed by other frivolous bullshit. But never forget — his very first title was with the Miami Heat. This is where he learned how to win. This is where he’ll have won the majority of his career titles. This is where it began. They can hate and hate and hate all they want. But that doesn’t change this one irrefutable fact: This is where LeBron James broke his Larry O’Brien cherry.
5. LeBron’s Cobradick Game 6 vs The Celtics: With the Heat facing an embarrassing elimination and the certain avalanche of shit to come from fans and media alike in the wake of failure, they traveled to Boston where it was win-or-end the grand experiment. The stakes had never been higher, for him or the Heat. So, with Boston fans breathing down their drunken assholery all over the team at the Garden, and no one knowing how shitty the Heat role players might be on this particular night, one man had the coal fire nuts to make a stand against the sea of green douche and obliterate their hopes and dreams into a fine powder: LeBron Raymone James, aka COBRADICK. 45 points, 15 rebounds. An underly devastating performance. The game would catapult the Heat into a Game 7 win and an eventual Finals win. This game also gave us the most iconic LeBron image ever, which the internet insists on using to plaster other people’s faces on because the internet is filled with fucking hacks.
6. The Block: Bam Adebayo serving up rectum sandwiches to every dipshit who thought he was just some guy. And against that team, of all teams. Somewhere Bill Simmons is walking his dog, sad texting his dad and his buddies Sully and Bean-O. No matter what happens from here on out, The Block is a seminal moment that lives in Heat Lore forever.
7. Purple Shirt Guy: It was 2016 and Dwyane Wade, post-Big Three, wasn’t considered the spry young warrior he once was. The Heat entered a slugfest with the Charlotte Hornets that went seven games. The Heat dropped Games 3, 4, and 5 to a team lead by Jeremy Lin and his manbun. To make matters worse, at every Charlotte home game, some doucher in a purple shirt sitting court side endlessly taunted Wade and the Heat from the opening tip. He became a media darling, because he was rich and wore a purple shirt and because he actually took credit for those three Charlotte wins. So when a win-or-go-home Game 6 on the road rolled around for the Heat, there he was — Purple Shirt Guy, choosing to once again taunt Dwyane Wade. He chose poorly. Wade went on to personally kick any hopes of the Hornets taking the series headfirst into a ditch and then promptly introduced Purple Shirt Guy’s asshole to his foot a few dozen times. Not only did the Legend of Dwyane Wade successfully murder the shit out of Purple Shirt Guy’s bullshit, sending him away into obscurity, forever banishing him into The Forbidden Zone, the Heat went and won Game 7 as well, taking the series from Charlotte’s cold dead hands. Dwyane Wade was awesome, in case you didn’t know.
8. The Other Block: Fuck a Danny Green. CB Forever.
9. Dwyane Wade’s Dunk On Kendrick Perkins: Look, I know he’s suddenly our friend and coined the nickname Dem Goons From Dade. But he’ll always be Moose Pussy to OG #HeatTwitter. A big menacing oaf who only knew how to hack players and run his big dumb mouth. So when D-Wade took it to him on this ridiculous dunk in Game 1 of the 2013 Finals, leaving Perkins a heaping pile of ash under the basket, it was one of the most satisfying moments in Heat Finals history (Edit: The video above is from a regular season game but we’re keeping it up because, fuck Kendrick Perkins)
10: Mike Miller’s Shoeless Three: Remember how Mike Miller ran around like a mix of the Scarecrow and Tin-Man, all flailing injured limbs, held together with duct tape and gum? And then remember when he came into the game and turned the tide with his 3-point shooting prowess WITH ONE SHOE. Mike Miller is fuckin awesome.
Erik Spoelstra Is the Best Coach in the NBA Right Now, or How I Learned To Hate The Analytics Nerds’ Unearned Love For Brad Stevens
Ever since the Celtics hired Brad Stevens back in 2013 and all throughout the time since, we’ve had to deal with the ceaseless yammering of a million whining gravy-stains-on-their calculators analytic nerds about how Brad Stevens is supposedly the best and brightest coach in the NBA because he likes math and defense or some such horsecockery. And that Spo, for all his winning, was only successful because he had the luxury of having LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh suit up for him. Because Brad Stevens only coaches sock puppets and not an actual NBA team filled with All Stars and big-play guys, apparently.
So, as these things go, it was time to settle this nonsense once and for all in this year’s Eastern Conference Finals. Stevens and his team of really good players versus Erik Spoelstra and his Wade-less, LeBron-less seemingly less-talented, grungy-ass dog squad.
And then Spo proceeded to make things bad for Stevens and worse for the pasty basketball podcast nerds.
In just six games, Spo settled the argument by reaching into Brad’s high-waisted mom jeans and tearing out his proverbial heart through his proverbial asshole with his beautiful basketball mind.
Spo has always had the “disadvantage” of having coached Wade and LeBron in terms of those things counting against whether he’s an elite coach or not. Never mind that these same people consider Phil Jackson the greatest coach ever even though he’s never won a title without Jordan or Pippen or Kobe or Shaq, and never mind that LeBron had his most dominant years in a Heat uniform. Spoelstra finally had a chance to show the world his meddle. And he showed them the shit out of his meddle.
So enough already with crowning a guy as the best when he hasn’t won jack dick in the NBA.
Erik Spoelstra is the best coach in the league. Period. Done. Shove your unearned love of Brad Stevens into an Elon Musk billion dollar fart rocket and shoot it directly into the sun.
2020 Finals Storylines Ranked
1. LeBron vs Riley: Everyone talking about this series say that this is the main narrative of these Finals and they’re damn right. The Heat getting here six years after LeBron left, showing up with a rag tag group of hard-working Culture-fueled warriors built in the mold of a Pat Riley team. LeBron versus the team that gave him his first two rings. A dog fight shall ensue, and LeBron knows it. The LeBron-Riley breakup has been mired in messiness, pettiness, and bitterness over the years. There’s mutual respect, to be sure. And the two men are cut from the same competitive cloth. But LeBron left Pat hanging high and dry when he left, not alerting the team of his intentions of going back to Cleveland, and reportedly treating a World Cup game on TV more important than a one-on-one meeting with Riley. In turn, Riley threw shade at LeBron, making comments about guts, and agendas, and not leaving when things get hard. Two GOATS. It’s great.
2. Riley vs Lakers: Pat Riley cut his teeth with the Lakers. Lakers fans love him. Wild that, after all these years, they’re finally facing each other in the Finals.
3. Jimmy’s Collective Fuck You To His Doubters: It’s crazy that just a little over a year ago, Jimmy Butler was introduced as the newest member of the Miami Heat. Everything that transpired to get him here is amazing. From Dwyane Wade leaving us after things turned sour with Pat Riley and he signed with the Bulls where he met Jimmy and proceeded to plant the seeds of Heat Culture into Jimmy’s brain, to Jimmy having to endure an awful time in Minnesota, to him then being traded to a championship contenting Sixers team, to having a balls-out playoffs series performance against the Raptors that was lost by an improbable shot made by Kawhi Leonard, to the Sixers deciding he was the problem and shipping him off, to Riley pouncing on all that, to the experts saying Jimmy whined his way out of Philly to go to the wrong team — a team that would only end up being a pathetic first round exit to…… well…… HERE. THE NBA FINALS. Holy shit what a ride. And now Jimmy Butler is where he belongs. And no, he did not suffer a first-round exit with the wrong team. He led that team into the NBA Finals.
6 Reasons The Heat Can Win
1. They Can Be The 2011 Mavericks (or the 2004 Detroit Pistons): The Heat are once again entering a series as an underdog and it’s appropriate that this run ends with the Final Boss Battle against LeBron and Anthony Davis. So, the Heat have their work cut out for them. But, as we’ve seen against the favored Bucks and again against the favored Celtics, it’s not an impossible task. We’ve seen Davids take down Goliaths in the NBA Finals before. The 2004 Pistons shocked the world when they defeated Kobe, Shaq, and the mighty L.A. Lakers. And then there was the heart-wrecking pain that was the 2011 Finals when the Mavericks beat LeBron and the Heat. If the Heat can key in on the Big Two, clog the paint and force L.A. to shoot, and muck things up with their vaunted Zone defense, knock down their threes, stay aggressive in attacking the rim, they have a puncher’s chance. We’ve seen LeBron get outplayed and man-handled by a scrappy JJ Barea. Now he has to face a full squad of scrappers. It’s very possible the Heat can do this, especially if they can frustrate LeBron and defuse the Anthony Davis bomb.
2. Jimmy Buckets Turns Into Jimmy Cojones: Jimmy has been ferocious in these playoffs. He’s also had moments where he’s vanished. Those moments usually meant a Heat loss (only 3 of them). So we have Jimmy Buckets, which consists of heady plays and drive and kicks and whatnot and that’s all good and fine. But to have a chance against these Lakers, we need more than Jimmy Buckets. We need Jimmy Cojones. Jimmy Cojones flexes his nuts and rescues his team from certain doom. Jimmy Cojones just doesn’t set up his teammates, or dive for loose balls. Jimmy Cojones takes shit over. He attacks the basket, he makes threes, he knocks down jumpers, he plays suffocating defense and causes turnovers. Jimmy Cojones incinerates his opponents into a fine powdery ash. Jimmy Cojones doesn’t do pushups, he pushes down the Earth. Jimmy Cojones is a badass motherfucker. We need Jimmy Cojones.
3. Tyler Herro Unlocks BABY GOAT Mode and Fucks Shit Up Good And Proper: The stage has been set for young Tyler to show the world that he belongs in the conversation of Future Ball Wreckers of the NBA. From Magic to D-Wade, the Finals have had their share of young players announcing their greatness with championship performances. Tyler has shown he can go all NBA JAMS ON FIRE and take over games. With all the talk about Luca and Booker and Tatum being Next Up, it just might be 20-year-old Tyler Herro that gets there first.
4. MECHA BAM: Remember when Godzilla fucked up all of Japan and then they had to build a mechanical Godzilla to keep the original Godzilla for wreaking more havoc? Mecha Godzilla was the baddest monster on the block. That’s what we need from Bam in this series. We need more than Bam. We need MECHA BAM. Expect the Lakers to throw all of the big men at Bam. AD, Howard, JaVelle — they’re all going to get a crack at him. But, just as he showed against Boston, Bam has the ability to turn on the thrusters and take the fuck over. We’re going to need more Game 6 Against Boston Bams to win this series, and we believe he has it in him.
5. GORAN BEING DRAGON: Goran Dragic has been playing out of his Slovenian mind in these playoffs. He’s the engine that makes this thing go, and you know he’s going to come out ALL DRAGON in his first-ever Finals appearance. We’re going to need The Dragon more than ever. It’s his time.
6. The X-Factors: Andre Iguodala and Jae Crowder were brought here because of their defensive prowess, to be LeBron stoppers. They came through big in the Eastern playoffs. Now it’s time to sweep the damn leg. Then there’s guys like Kelly O, and even Solomon Hill. Shit we might even see Meyers Leonard. All hands on deck. Aside from Jimmy, Goran, Bam, and Tyler, someone else is going to need to make their mark — the kind made by Shane Battier and Mike Miller and Birdman before them.
Prediction
Heat in 4.
Why in 4?
Chris Joseph (@ByChrisJoseph) is a host of the Five Reasons comedy and politics podcast, Ballscast. He’s written about sports and movies for Deadspin, Miami New Times, CBS Sports, and several other outlets.
https://www.fivereasonssports.com/wp-content/uploads/FiveReasonsWebsiteLogo.svg00Chris Josephhttps://www.fivereasonssports.com/wp-content/uploads/FiveReasonsWebsiteLogo.svgChris Joseph2020-09-30 12:00:112020-09-30 13:53:10Drink It In, Heat Nation: Your Giant-Ass 2020 NBA Finals Preview
(Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)
