Tag Archive for: Miami Heat

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Late Loss to Lakers

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The Miami Heat faced the Los Angeles Lakers in a late-night showdown and it was a wild one. The Heat ended up losing in OT, but there was an overarching theme in this game: chances.

So, here are five takeaways from this game…

#1: Who’s going to step up for Miami in an early drought? Just look to Tyler Herro.

A similar theme seemed to loom over to begin this game: offensive issues and defensive swarming. The thing about Miami missing shots was that Jimmy Butler was the only one who had it going once again, which isn’t always the best formula for success. The Heat need that second guy if they want to win these tough games, and well, they were quickly in search mode for the “first” guy, after Butler left the game with a sprained ankle meaning he wouldn’t return. Anyways, Tyler Herro stepped up early. Big time. Pull-up threes, mid-range control, and nice looking kicks and skip passes. Something to remember with Herro in games like this: when he has his lift, he has it going. And yet, he had both tonight.

#2: The revolving door of big man options.

Without Markieff Morris and Caleb Martin already plugged into the rotation, the question became ‘who will be the ninth guy?’ That expanded quickly in this game, when Bam Adebayo and Dewayne Dedmon each found themselves with an early three fouls. And well, I will say that I called the “next man up” early in the day. The last thing we remember from Udonis Haslem was a wild 3 minute sequence that included an altercation with Dwight Howard before getting ejected. Tonight, that match-up was in-store again. Some back and forth occurred throughout, and a sweet looking baseline jumper was sprinkled in. But now that Haslem is being subbed out, they’re back to the regular guys, right? Wrong. Here comes Omer Yurtseven in the second quarter, who just needed one thing: confidence. The play that summarized that was when he received the ball on the roll absolutely wide open. He looks to the corner to pass, then realizes what is in front of him, leading to an and-1 dunk. Ultimately, the upside is there with him.

#3: The Heat’s defensive scheming fits teams like the Lakers.

Russell Westbrook swings the ball to the wing for a quick downhill isolation to quickly follow. But as he relocated to the weak-side wing, Kyle Lowry stays put at the nail. That forces a kick-out to a Westbrook three, which Miami was clearly willing to live with. It clanked off the rim, and it represents Miami’s comfort against offenses like this. Now, some of this stuff can be jumbled up because the Heat were without one of their most important defensive pieces for most of the game, in Butler, but the early trends still prove this to be true. Big picture, you should feel good heading into games where you can confidently double guys in the post or isolations, without a Nikola Jokic to throw a wild skip pass and ruin your defensive fun.

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#4: Bam Adebayo ramping up the aggression once Jimmy Butler goes down.

When it was reported at halftime that Jimmy Butler would be out the rest of the game with a sprained ankle, my initial observation was this, which I said on Twitter: this is Bam Adebayo’s time. He wasn’t having the best offensive night up to that point, but that needed to change. And well, the third quarter was his time, consisting of one of his best all around quarters that I’ve seen him play. Hounding defense through and through with great contests and accumulated steals, a 14 point quarter through lob finishes and mid-range jumpers, and perfect passing through back-door cutting. The Heat needed him to step up, and seeing him realize that the added aggression was needed from him in that moment, no matter if shots were falling or not, is a great sign as he moves forward.

#5: Kyle Lowry showcasing his passing skill late, but the deep ball not falling.

Yes, everybody wants to look in the direction of Kyle Lowry for a scoring burst when one guy drops. Although he is definitely capable, while putting up a 37 and 11 stat-line the last time he was in Staples Center, he doesn’t necessarily need to worry about that. Instead, his job is to get the scorers going. And in tonight’s case, it was getting the young bucks going. Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo were driving the ship tonight on that end as we’d all expect, but don’t give them all the credit. Kyle Lowry was the one in the shadows getting them going. Hitting Adebayo on the lob to get him going in the third. Finding Herro on the drive and kick in the fourth quarter, forcing a timeout. These combinations are still growing, and he’s learning their tendencies. But in terms of his own scoring ability, it wasn’t his night. Rough shooting from deep meant even more reliance on feeding them the ball in their spots, leading to the majority of his turnovers. Speaking of poor shooting, another poor night from Duncan Robinson was upon us. And well, that entire situation is clearly more mental than physical.

 

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What Went Wrong for the Miami Heat in Denver?

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Aside from cheap-shots, Jokic brothers, Morris brothers, and poor Twitter takes, the Miami Heat had a pretty uneventful night in Denver in terms of on-court production. Some may look at the odd officiating at times or offensive droughts, but the place to start is with your best players.

And their best *player* showed up big time. Jimmy Butler continues to dominate on both sides of the floor, really keeping Miami’s offense afloat when other things begin to breakdown. He finished with 31 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds.

Looking back to Miami’s other rough loss against Boston, a main takeaway of mine is that the Heat can’t survive poor offensive games from Butler. Against good teams, it’s hard to put the entire burden on guys like Tyler Herro and expect to walk away with a win.

But on the other side of things, Butler can’t do it by himself either. Miami simply outplayed the Utah Jazz on Saturday night due to the even scoring spread throughout their top 4 guys- Herro: 29 points, Butler: 27 points, Lowry: 20 points, Adebayo: 17 points.

They just won’t lose many games like that.

But when Lowry, Herro, and Adebayo shoot a combined 6 for 30 from the field, you might as well send Omer Yurtseven and KZ Okpala to the scorers table early.

Getting elite level Butler against really good teams means you need one of those other 3 to be elite. Just one. You get the usual Tyler Herro scoring and Miami’s in that game to the very end.

But well, that just wasn’t the case.

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Another point to make about this game is that the Heat can make runs to overcome big leads. Yet, while they can make a comeback down 14 in certain circumstances, they just can’t when the opposing team has 91 points at the end of the third.

If they’re trailing at the end of the third by double digits but the score is in the upper 60’s or lower 70’s, then you feel really good about it. But this team can only control the game when it is completely “in the mud.”

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Now, the Nuggets’ rolling offense was a bit different when looking over the stats after the game. Even while they dominated on that end, Denver finished the game shooting 29% from three, and if you subtract the hot night from Will Barton, they shot 16% from beyond the arc.

In all, a 12 for 41 three-point shooting night is on par with Miami’s defensive structure this season. Opposing teams are currently shooting 13 for 42 from three this year, as Miami continues to give up the most triples in the league, but the missing results lead to a pretty interesting scheme.

So, if that was the case, how did Miami find themselves in this defensive hole? Well, Nikola Jokic is a good place to start.

Opinions can fly around all day on his “dangerous, dirty play,” as Erik Spoelstra called it after the game, but he absolutely did whatever he wanted in those minutes prior. 25 points, 15, rebounds, and 10 assists is a pretty good day at the office.

On the downside, I don’t see a way Miami can counter anything Jokic does on that end, much like every team in the NBA.

On the bright-side, there is no other player like Nikola Jokic.

Miami only faces him one more time this season, and defensive schematics won’t be on their mind. A hard fought win, some physical plays, and hard fouls will be the theme of that game on November 29th, which I’m sure Jimmy Butler and crew have circled.

Yes, this game added an L to Miami’s record, but it definitely wasn’t the worst loss in the world.

It’s a wake up call, it’s the opening act of Miami’s new villain persona across the league, and there won’t be many nights where Herro, Lowry, and Adebayo are all simultaneously out of sync.

“Luckily we built different over here,” Markieff Morris proclaimed on twitter about that altercation that transpired. And yet, that’ll be tested toward the end of this road trip to see how Miami answers.

 

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A New Miami Heat Theme: Master Adjusters

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The Miami Heat took down the Utah Jazz on Saturday night to improve to 7-2, while clearly embodying plenty of their identities.

For one, the number one theme of this Heat squad that comes to mind is toughness. Plainly through defensive grittiness, in the mud offensive nights, and fun skirmishes like the one between Kyle Lowry and Jordan Clarkson as Jimmy Butler and Markieff Morris slowly lurked as back-up.

As much as that theme will continue to take the cake, another primary theme seems to be rising up the charts. And although a lot of players on this team can fall under this category, it begins with the head of the snake, Erik Spoelstra.

The phrase “master adjuster” is one that I’ve used to describe Coach Spo in the past, specifically in a playoff series. You may think that he’s already played all of his cards, but before you know it, he throws a 2-3 zone at you and it shifts an entire series.

But the interesting thing about having options and weapons on a roster, is that you don’t have to necessarily hold everything for the post-season. You can have some creative fun in the regular season as well.

And yet, Erik Spoelstra is the reason Miami beat Utah on Saturday night…

How did Miami beat the Utah Jazz? Start with Erik Spoelstra…

Early in this game, and much of this season, we’re seeing Miami switch more than ever, but the players on the roster are clearly much more built for this defensive scheme. Guys can cover up in other positions really well, and they will just fully commit to a double if necessary. Hence, more threes are given up.

To that point, guys like Rudy Gobert were finding Kyle Lowry and Duncan Robinson on them constantly. And while it may not be Gobert exactly punishing them, it’s what quickly follows.

Jimmy Butler drops down, Gobert kicks, the Jazz swing, and an open three is found. Luckily for Miami, they weren’t dropping for the Jazz once again, but there were some stretches where they found themselves getting right back in the game, leading to a close halftime score.

So, what is the adjustment from there?

Coming into the third quarter, Spoelstra switched the Mike Conley assignment from Lowry to PJ Tucker, which may sound a little odd when you put it that way.

The reasoning behind it: the Jazz run a ton of 1-5 pick and rolls with Conley and Gobert, meaning when they go to that in the second half, Tucker can smoothly switch onto Gobert, as Bam Adebayo skips up the perimeter onto Conley.

In many ways, no mismatches are found.

Yes, you may say that the 7’1 Gobert is a mismatch for the 6’5 Tucker, but it’s no easy task to either score or rebound on him on the block. He may not have the length that can alter a shot, but he has the width.

Looking at all of the clips above, you can see the simple, yet major, adjustment in the second half. And that led to the Jazz scoring 2 points in that 3 minute stretch to start the quarter. All due to an assignment change.

Spoelstra clearly has more offensive weapons, but he has extra defensive options as well. Last season, he couldn’t really move guys around in this way, but this is just a brand new team.

The master adjusters.

Tyler Herro dictating opposing defenses, instead of defenses dictating his shot profile

Since we’re on the topic of making adjustments, that is what Tyler Herro has done this season.

Not just because he’s putting up crazy points in the scoring column. Not just because there was a shift in his role. But instead because he’s forcing adjustments in how he’s choosing to score.

What I mean by that is Herro has always been a very comfortable scorer against drop coverage, as he’s continually said it himself after games. The previous reasoning behind that was it was much more simple for him.

Get the ball at the top of the key, wait for the screen, hit the elbow, and pull.

Now, that isn’t the case anymore with the increasing eyes on him on a daily basis. Drop coverage doesn’t just equate to an open elbow pull-up, but it’s also a much different way of reading your on-ball defender.

And that’s the adjustment Herro has made.

He isn’t waiting to see the big drop, then say “oh, I’m gonna hit *that* spot all game.” Now it’s him doing what he chooses, and forcing the defense to adjust to him.

Looking at the first two clips above, we see two possessions where his on-ball defender goes under the screen, almost indecisive on what to do next. And while his mid-range mastering is still the case, that was an indication all night to let that ball go when they fly under.

And yet, that three-ball was falling.

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Now, let’s move on to the second two clips, where we see the exact opposite. Defenders are flying way over the top of screens, and he immediately realizes it. He doesn’t run full speed to get away from the defender that’s out of the play. He just calmly dribbles as Bam slots into his spot on the roll, and an easy bucket comes out of it.

Or, as seen in the final clip, he can do what he does best and operate downhill with a ton of space against a big in that deep drop. Easy floater comes out of it, and an easy takeaway comes out of it.

These reads Herro is making as a scorer are brand new. Like I said, defenses aren’t dictating his shot profile, he’s dictating the defense.

Tyler Herro picking how to score, while Kyle Lowry picking when to score

Herro’s adjustment has been picking how to score against certain coverages, but Kyle Lowry continues to make the slow shift into when to score. And clearly, nobody was ever worried about that.

We know what Lowry is at this stage, and play-making and defense are going to come first. But don’t let that discredit his scoring ability, since even though it wasn’t dropping early in the season, it is now.

Taking a scan through some of his buckets from his 20 point triple-double masterpiece, the thing to focus on is the scoreboard. Why is that? Well, it continually felt like his points came when they were needed most.

Either following a Jazz scoring run or during a rough offensive possession, he always comes through.

If there’s one thing that truly sticks out about Lowry as a scorer, it’s that he picks those moments better than most players in this league. He can just sense when the guys around him are leaning on him to pull through, and that’s when he will let that ball go.

And combining these past two points, it’s what makes the Lowry-Herro minutes so interesting. These adjustments allow them to pick their offensive moments without stepping on each others toes, which is intriguing for a new combo that has no previous relationship.

When I asked Lowry after the game if Herro’s scoring is still “surprising” to him, he responded, “No, it’s not. He’s playing extremely well, and we’re going to continue to need this. He got hot, he hit 6 threes. He’s just gotta continue to keep going, and I think we’re giving him the confidence to be him. And he’s gonna keep getting better and better throughout the season.”

The next adjustment on the drawing board is going to come way down the line, but it’s the question marks next to the eventual return of Victor Oladipo. A potential Herro-Dipo back-court can be in store, and I’m not talking about a starting lineup.

Obviously there’s still so much to work out in terms of timetable and overall ability once he returns, but either way, they don’t need a ton from him. Some defensive pressure, an extra initiator, and a guy to take some pressure off Herro.

And per usual, Coach Spo will be ready to tackle that next rotational adjustment.

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Utah

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The Miami Heat took down the previously 7-1 Utah Jazz on Saturday night, following up an ugly loss to Boston. This wasn’t just one guy. Miami’s “big four” all contributed greatly on the offensive end, and they slipped away with a win after a wild ending.

So, here are five takeaways…

#1: Kyle Lowry setting the pace early…through scoring. 

The scoring at the half for Miami was pretty well spread out- Lowry: 12, Butler:10, Herro: 10, Adebayo: 10. But there’s no doubt that Lowry was the one to start Miami off. The three-ball was falling both off the dribble and off the catch, which is not something we saw early in the season. And in many ways, while the offense continues to trend in an upward spiral with post-ups and isolations, it’ll be needed for Lowry to mediate with the spot-up three. Another big offensive moment for him was waving off his teammates for a clear-out on the perimeter with Rudy Gobert switched onto him, and took him to school with an eventual mid-range following a smooth pull-back. If he can score to get Miami out of holes this season, it changes things, and I’m not just talking about transition pace.

#2: Yeah, in terms of foul calls, Jimmy Butler doesn’t ever need to play the flopping game.

I’m not bringing this point up because Jimmy Butler exploded at the free throw line, which he didn’t, but instead the ways he draws contact. That body contact initiation isn’t just because of shooting a couple from the charity stripe, but due to the fact it gets him into full shooting rhythm. There aren’t many players better at using the shoulder in the progress of his two steps to the basket, before pulling back for the mid-range. And well, it’s even better when they’re falling. It felt like that was the case for all 4 of Butler’s first half field goals. As Spoelstra said, it’s nothing to worry about because he isn’t a “flopper.” He’s just physical.

#3: This Heat team looks much more comfortable against drop.

I know this is a lot of offensive centric talk for two teams that are in the top 3 of defensive rating, but this jumped out. Tyler Herro is well known for his navigation against drop, and even more-so now that he’s added more to his bag in the mid-range. But in terms of middie navigation against drop, we know that already. But it doesn’t end there. Bam Adebayo had some miscues early upon where to go with the ball, but his best moments came as a roller. Slotting right in the correct spots for easy opportunities, leading to a confused Hassan Whiteside after a slam and timeout. To these points, it was a lot more inside basketball early on, as Utah doubled Miami’s first half three point attempts.

#4: A second half defensive adjustment from Miami.

This wasn’t really the defensive game that we expected from both teams, but there were interesting adjustments from both sides throughout. The main one was that Miami was switching a ton to start this game, leading to perfect perimeter ball movement from Utah before feeding it to the inside with a guard on a bigs’ back. Plus, I should mention, every one of those switches were coming from 1-5 pick and rolls. So, the adjustment from Miami’s side to start the second half was giving PJ Tucker the Mike Conley assignment, meaning the incoming switch would leave Bam Adebayo on Conley and Tucker on Gobert. Simply, no mismatch territory.

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#5: Tyler Herro’s mid-range specialty step aside. The three has arrived.

Tyler Herro’s scoring inside the arc has been the highlight of his year so far. Carving out the middle of the floor against drop, utilizing more than just his rookie year snake dribble. But tonight wasn’t just Herro letting the defense dictate the shots he would take. It was Herro dictating how to defend him late. Plenty of possessions the defender would go under the screen and Herro would make him pay. Catch and shoot threes aren’t going to be his role much more going forward. It’s the step-in pull after the defense picks their poison, and he took advantage of that tonight.

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Loss to Boston

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It’s been all rainbows and roses for this Heat team to start the season, but that storm came in real quick tonight against Boston. The Heat’s inability to score or generate space in the half-court led to the Celtics rolling right through Miami for a win.

So, here are some takeaways from this loss…

#1: First half recap: offense, what is that?

30-5. That is the run the Boston Celtics went on in the first half, in one of the worst offensive quarters that I’ve witnessed. Poor passing, horrible spacing, and spammed isolation possessions. For starters, this Boston defense wasn’t giving the Heat anything. They were pressuring Tyler Herro in a way that makes him extremely uncomfortable, but lacking the urge to keep sending up screens basically eliminates him in that space. Secondly, Miami actually did a fantastic job of forcing mismatches. The issue, though, is that they were attacking the wrong ones. Dewayne Dedmon with Marcus Smart on his back and Jimmy Butler with Al Horford on the perimeter. That led to an eventual Butler step-back mid-range that clanked off the rim, which was the definition of their play in this game.

#2: Duncan Robinson slowly shifting his looks.

Duncan Robinson came out firing tonight, but much like the rest of the Heat, it tailed off quickly. An immediate three triples looked like he was fully back to himself, but that jammed offense led to him following that up with 5 misses to close out the half. Aside from the make or miss stuff, something must be mentioned: the ways he’s getting his looks. Looking back to last season when teams were blocking Robinson off on the perimeter, what did Miami do? They gave him a bunch more looks out of the high pick and roll. And well, that’s the formula for him yet again. That gives him more than enough space, it gives him options, and it gives him comfort. His first make of the day came off a high catch, running with the screen, and a quick pull. He really struggled the rest of the night like the rest of this Heat group, but all eyes are still on him just making the wide open ones.

#3: Does Miami always need a “stupidly locked in” Jimmy Butler?

Can Jimmy Butler ever take the night off in terms of coasting through a game? Well even if he could, tonight wouldn’t be the one to do it. Two of the three of Butler, Adebayo, and Lowry must provide *something* offensively, no matter if it’s spacing, passing, or pure scoring. Continuing the theme of the awful offense, none of them were clicking early. So that raises a question when evaluating this game, and it’s can Miami still dominate when Butler has an off night? Butler was actually one of the few guys who could generate points at all by getting to the line a few times, but I think the answer to that question is no. They’re going to need Butler to play at a high level to win these games, and that’s far from a hot take. Yes, Miami’s one loss to Indiana gets characterized as going wrong due to not having Lowry in attendance, but a similar theme is it was Butler’s one rough offensive night of the season. And that isn’t a coincidence.

#4: Some moments of that Kyle Chaos.

Miami showed some life in the third quarter, and when I say life, I mean some tough buckets “in the mud.” Kyle Lowry had a rough night in terms of play-making with all of the turnovers, which was fully due to the Celtics’ activity in the passing lanes all night. Aside from that, some of that “life” was all because of Lowry’s sparking ability. Hitting a three, finding guys wide open under the rim for easy lay-ins, and diving on the floor time and time again for loose balls. When Butler can’t make free throws, Adebayo is out of rhythm, and the role players can’t breakthrough, it was interesting to see that develop from Lowry. But the story of the night with him was when Robinson flew back onto his foot, leading to Lowry hobbling to the locker room. It ended up being an ankle sprain, which just furthers the theme of the night.

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#5: Oh, and Rick Ross is dropping an album.

After diving into a ton of the negative aspects of this game, there needs to be some perspective that this team is now 6-2. I don’t want to be the one to break it to you, but this group was not going 81-1. In many ways, a game like this is almost needed to put their weaknesses on blast. Absolutely dominating defensively these past few games while exploding in specific quarters has kind of masked some of their flaws, so now it’ll be an in-house focus. Aside from that, going on and on about this horrific looking game leads me into this final takeaway: Rick Ross announces in FTX arena that he’s releasing his new album on December 10th. The reason I bring this up: well, the only positive thing from the night was him hyping up “Spoestra Nostra” while sitting court-side, so I’m rolling with it.

 

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The Heat’s Second Quarter Vs Dallas is an Eye Opener

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The Miami Heat entered the second quarter with 24 points on the scoreboard last night. Twelve minutes of game-time later, they were walking into the visiting locker room in Dallas with 70 points next to their logo.

Yeah, you can say they had an explosive quarter to say the least.

Miami shot 17 of 25 from the field in that stretch, which can also be displayed as 68%. The eye opener about that was the three-point shooting was fully revived in that span, going 8 of 9 from deep.

They key element there: when those triples are dropping for this team, they are absolutely deadly.

Anyway, after going through this entire quarter from the Heat, let’s take a walk through some of the things that stood out, which was headlined by the offensive end…

The Markieff Morris Post Usage

Looking through the clips above, you can see why Coach Erik Spoelstra raves about the versatility of Markieff Morris.

He’s actually used in a lot of the same spots that Bam Adebayo sets up in, which makes their minutes together so interesting. It’s setting up in that inner wing in the post, while a bunch of layers are added on top of that off the ball.

The first clip shows the ability for him to score in that position, and it’s a play I’ve brought up a lot with Kyle Lowry and Adebayo. Lowry inserts the ball to him and totally clears to indicate that it’s go time for Bam in that set.

With Morris, though, that safety blanket is there for him with Lowry on that wing. The defender drops down as much as he can, before Morris gets in good position and rises over the top of Tim Hardaway Jr for the bucket.

In the second clip, Morris gets another mismatch on the baseline, and look at the eyes of all the defenders.

Immediately everybody’s focused on that incoming double and the rotations that would quickly follow. Tyler Herro, on the other hand, doesn’t let the defense get comfortable. He loops around the perimeter and receives the ball for a catch and shoot three while his defender is still gazing at Morris on the baseline.

Lastly, the final clip shows Morris shift from that post position into a dribble hand-off with Lowry, which ends up right back in the hands of Morris on the roll. He hits Adebayo on the loop around and an and-1 comes out of it.

You get the point. Having the option to run this much offense through a role player like Morris has really proven to help the overall flow of this group. And due to his mid-range jumper falling regularly to start the season, he can heat up quick.

The Tyler Herro Run

Tyler Herro is no longer just a bottle of energy. He’s a bottle of energy and production.

You insert him into the game and 17 minutes later he’s got 17 points. This isn’t just considered a hot stretch anymore, this is just Tyler Herro.

This second quarter included a lot of big moments from him, since his 15 points in this quarter was a big reason Miami exploded for 46.

Kyle Lowry pushing the pace in transition per usual, before he redirects right into the way of oncoming traffic. Herro is in that trailing bunch, as Lowry hands it off to him and he doesn’t think twice about firing. Bucket.

The intriguing part about that play is the ball left Herro’s hand with 19 seconds left on the shot clock. I must say that is a lot different than what we’re used to.

It’s not that Miami’s just out-speeding ever single team, since they’re actually not as high as you think in pace so far, but instead it’s the looks being generated in that fast pace when Lowry is on the floor.

We hear a lot about “Kyle chaos,” but that second clip above showcases a little bit of “Tyler chaos.”

He’s trying to create something out of nothing with the shot-clock trickling down, as two defenders collapse on top of him on the drive. That was a theme for Dallas’ defense last night, since they were really closing off the paint on Herro to start off the game, leading to him shifting into more outside shots.

Following that block, he repossesses the ball, fades away, and drops it through the net in a wild fashion.

But once again, this is just Tyler Herro doing Tyler Herro things.

The Back and Forth

It’s always fun when two talented players get in an incredible shoot-out in a quarter where neither can miss. That usually consists of the top players in the league in a headlined show-down, but last night, it was Luka Doncic and Tyler Herro.

I discussed some of the shots he was generating in the last section, but the difference with this stretch is the way he reacts to a faster paced game. Not when Lowry is dictating it, but when the opposing team is dictating it.

Doncic buries a wild scoop layup where he thinks he got fouled as he looks over at the ref, and Herro is already about to cross half-court. He runs right by the much slower Dwight Powell, and lays it in with a scoop layup of his own.

Not many players want to play a game of “horse” with Doncic due to his absurd shot-making and ability to catch fire quick, but Herro isn’t scared at all.

In the second clip, shortly after that layup, Doncic tries to take Herro in isolation as he sizes up for a tough step-back three on the wing. It clanks off the rim to PJ Tucker who gives it to Jimmy Butler, while the only Heat player not in frame is Tyler Herro.

Where is he? All the way down the floor awaiting the throw down.

Butler then hits him and it’s Herro’s turn to have this dance. Similarly, he steps back to his left in the face of Doncic and buries the contested triple.

Kyle Lowry Finding His Shot

It was a good time for Kyle Lowry to find his shot last night, but it’s not even about the makes. It’s about how he picks his shots.

The second quarter for him consisted of 3 attempts from deep which is higher than usual, but he knocked down all 3 of them in that span. He’s not always going to put that many up, but he waits for the right time when the team needs a bucket from him.

So, let’s look at these attempts.

In the first clip, this is the way Herro and Lowry can benefit from each other so much. Herro gets the ball and drives baseline, but just look at all 5 blue jerseys. You would think the guy with the scoring title had the ball in his hands.

Herro hits a wide open Lowry at the top of the key, and we all know he won’t miss many of those.

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The next clip is fast forwarded toward the end of the quarter, where the Heat can elect to go 2 for 1. Lowry ends up going with his well known transition pull-up three and makes his third of the quarter, which is something we should see a lot this season.

He’s not taking anything away from others with this type of shot. It’s basically a “free play” in football terms, and Lowry always knows how to take advantage of those possessions.

The last clip is what I mean by Lowry’s ability to choose specific times to let it go. It was a pretty ugly possession with the current spacing and movement, but Lowry ends up getting it back in a tight corner. Looked like another late shot-clock heave was coming, but he doesn’t let it get to that point.

He takes the most difficult shot possible with a hand in his face as he’s moving left in the corner, but he still knocks it down somehow. Much like how Herro was doing Herro things, Kyle Lowry was doing Kyle Lowry things.

Dewayne Dedmon: The Release Valve

When the Heat brought back Dewayne Dedmon, it was such a smart move. A trusted back-up big, added rebounding, and known toughness. But I don’t think anybody realized how much he really brings to the offense.

Like I said, he’s the release valve for most of Miami’s sets.

Things breakdown, the shot clock is ticking down, and a double is coming, the ball will probably find Dedmon on the roll or under the rim. And frankly, there’s about a 90% chance or higher Dedmon makes an awkward sky-hook in the meantime.

The clip above is a great example, as Herro gets stuck with the shot clock at 7 seconds. He hits Dedmon and flies across to receive the hand-off right back. Both defenders try and trap Herro as he’s driving baseline but he finds Dedmon, the release valve, on the roll and scores.

This isn’t just a one time thing. Or even a one game thing. This is multiple possessions each and every night.

“He gives us a different kind of feel at the center position than Bam. And he has a great knack for the ball, offensive rebounding, sliding into open spots and making himself available so he can finish in the paint, and he has a good touch at the rim for a big,” Spoelstra said when I asked him about Dedmon after last night’s win.

“Couldn’t be happier about the minutes and productivity he’s given from that position.”

DPOY

“And Bam, who should win defensive player of the year,” said Kyle Lowry on the post-game interview on TNT last night.

This defensive stuff from Adebayo is no longer going to go unnoticed. Opponents are currently shooting 28% when Bam is guarding them this season, which doesn’t even almost project the whole story regarding his importance and talent on that end.

Stats say one thing, but film says another. Just take a look at this play above on Luka Doncic.

Doncic waves his hand around to get enough space to take Adebayo in isolation, but he clearly doesn’t know what’s coming. He tries some hesitations on the face-up but there is no bite coming from Adebayo’s end. He then turns into post position, which gets even worse for him real quick.

He gives him two bumps and spins for his usual over the top one-legged shot attempt, but Bam is waiting for him on the turn. He follows that up with a few fakes and fades away for the shot, while Adebayo is absolutely blanketing him with perfect contention, leading to an air ball.

That play represents him as a defender.

Nobody can breathe or take a break when they find him on the perimeter, while it’s usually the exact opposite when big men switch out onto guards or wings.

He’s just in a different category on that end, but he needs to be in the same category of defensive player of the year.

Adebayo’s continually been a top defender in this league, but the stat watchers who vote always sell him short. But that 28% that his opponents are shooting should be as big of a stat as any for him to get that award at the end of the year.

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Dallas

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The Miami Heat got off to a slow start, but finished it off against the Dallas Mavericks to improve to 6-1 on the season. Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro were active offensively early on, but Kyle Lowry was the story of the night.

It was his scoring debut.

Anyway, here are five takeaways from this game…

#1: Tyler Herro continues to do Tyler Herro things.

The beginning of this game had Jimmy Butler on an island written all over it. He was the only one generating points in the starting lineup, leading to them falling behind early. But then, here comes Tyler Herro as he stands at the scorers table. 17 minutes later and he had 17 points in the scoring column at the half. The guy is just a bottle of energy and production on the offensive end, pretty much matching the scoring dominance of Luka Doncic in the second quarter. Doncic buries a three, and the camera couldn’t even pan back out before Herro’s laying the ball in on the other end. That play just defines Herro, which was quickly followed by back-to-back pull up threes off the dribble. Simply: Tyler Herro is doing Tyler Herro things.

#2: Kyle Lowry picking his moments offensively, which is a fun twist.

As I noted before, the first half of this game was summarized by Butler scoring out the gate and Herro dominating in the second quarter. But don’t overlook Kyle Lowry once again. He was doing his usual offensive things by flinging the ball down the floor and hitting others in their spots in the half-court, but the outside shooting was back. And he’s not just letting it fly all of a sudden, he’s waiting for empty spots of the game. Transition pull-up three, late shot clock chuck, etc. They don’t need the full-out scoring Lowry every night, but awaiting for those needed moments is going to be key, and his IQ of the game allows him to do that so well. If Lowry can shoot like that more and more from the outside, with expanded catch and shoot opportunities, then something really is brewing.

#3: Dewayne Dedmon’s impact even bigger than originally expected.

We knew what Dewayne Dedmon was going to be upon arriving. They got a back-up big who can grab you some rebounds off the bench, provide a certain level of physicality and toughness, and score on the inside when needed. Yet the latter has stood out more than the others. For one, let me just put it to you straight: Dedmon just doesn’t miss around the rim. Yes, that may sound weird, but the guy combines a mixture of Kareem sky hooks, awkward finger rolls, and simple bank shots, while they always seem to drop. His impact has been huge to begin the year, and not just focusing on him stepping up into the starting lineup last game. He was a big reason Miami beat Brooklyn earlier in the year, and he made tough bucket after tough bucket again tonight with 10 first half points.

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#4: The three-point shooting night arrives.

As Miami takes an eleven point lead halfway through the third, I decide to take a look at their three-point shooting up to that point: 65% shooting on 17 attempts. Yeah, that’s a bit different than what we’ve seen so far this season. Part of that tonight was Herro rolling and role players hitting the shots available to them, but Lowry deserves most of the credit. As I mentioned earlier in this piece, the outside shot was falling for Lowry in a multitude of ways, which will be his primary scoring role in the regular season. This Heat team has totally shifted their offensive structure. More post-up reps and less spot-up shooting opportunities. But making the most of those catch and shoot jumpers can truly capitalize on the updated diversity of this offensive scheme.

#5: Could it be time for Duncan Robinson to take a step back? Not in role, but literally backing up.

This wasn’t another night where Duncan Robinson struggles to make shots, but instead he struggled to attempt shots, which might be worse. Yes, teams do fly out at him at an outstanding level, but the one-dribble mid-range pull up doesn’t seem to be the outlet right now. Stepping back, though, feels like it’s arriving soon. One of Robinson’s three-point makes included a deep heave early in the game which dropped through. I’m not basing this off of one make, but finding a spot on the floor where he can release freely feels like it should be utilized. Focusing on the production of Robinson night after night isn’t the reason I bring this up, but if he’s going to play extended minutes down the stretch, the attempts have to be higher. I wasn’t worried in earlier games when they weren’t dropping, but the lack of getting them up draws my attention.

 

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Heat’s Bench/Role Player Production Continuing to Win Them Games

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It’s one thing to have your top guys like Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo rolling right out the gate, and it’s another thing to keep it sustainable throughout an 82 game season.

The first part of that has a lot to do with Kyle Lowry. As many have highlighted nonstop since the season began, Lowry has allowed guys like Butler and Adebayo to become those true scorers and not have to worry about the facilitating side of things as much.

The second part of that regarding sustainability has less to do with Lowry or Butler/Adebayo themselves, but instead the slack the role players are picking up to start the season.

For one, it definitely helps when you have a specific bench guy who is on track for the sixth man of the year award 6 games into the season, especially when that player is a 21 year old Tyler Herro.

Herro is the guy who can pace some of the star veterans the most, just due to the scoring burst he can provide night in and night out. Plus, unlike some others, he is actually capable of running lineups himself with the bench group around him. Erik Spoelstra has done a good job of keeping one of Butler, Lowry, or Adebayo on the floor next to him, but it’s not absolutely necessary.

Shifting into the front-court off the bench, I think we all pretty much knew what Dewayne Dedmon is as a player. He’s not up and down at all, is extremely efficient around the rim, and adds some physicality and toughness which translates to the results on the boards.

Comparing that to the back-up big last season, it was quite the opposite. Nothing against Precious Achiuwa, but he was a rookie without a true off-season and had to do so many things on the floor in that role. He’s undersized so rebounding wasn’t great, and he indeed was up and down on the offensive end due to those limitations.

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Markieff Morris was an interesting addition to this squad, and as I noted when he was acquired, the one way to maximize his play is to limit three-point attempts as much as possible.

So far, Miami has done that.

He’s actually pretty effective when he gets in that mid-range, and it’s not just due to the shots falling so far this season. Placing him in the middle of the floor in the non-Adebayo minutes gives the Heat’s offense a release valve to find him and allow him to make the next decision from there.

And finally, Max Strus capped off that nine-man rotation so far this season, and after an awkward fall on Saturday night against Memphis, he received good news this afternoon that the MRI came back negative.

Strus just had one of his better games of the season against Memphis, really shooting the ball well due to the fact that his reluctant ways didn’t kick back in. No matter the situation, no matter the contest, he was pulling it.

The best way to utilize him is the way they did in that last game. Less standing around in the corner, and more top of the key actions by slipping screens into pin-downs on the wing. That should be his homebase.

Now, he still will miss some time, but the severity of the injury was the focus. I’d expect two-way standout Caleb Martin to step right in, and play the picture perfect “plug and play” role that we know he can. Decent shooting, strong attacking, and hounding defense, which was a surprise to me to this extent.

The point is that this Heat team’s bench has really stepped up so far, and more specifically, role players have won them games multiple times this season.

That wasn’t the case last year.

The Heat currently lead the league in bench points at 47.2 PPG, while the Detroit Pistons are second with 42.2 PPG.

Huge gap.

To put that in perspective, the Heat were 22nd last season in that category. Once again, this is a small sample size, but the trends we’re seeing so far have been quite intriguing.

And well, this bench group isn’t done growing yet. Victor Oladipo will be on his way into that 9 man rotation at some point this season, and that’s when things will get scary.

Some may point to the necessity of a back-up point guard, but the correct term may be that they need a third string point guard. The reason for that is I can’t really see a point guard cracking their playoff rotation once acquired.

If they decide to hit the buyout market later this season, like I’d expect, they should try and grab some Kyle Lowry insurance, but other than that, it’ll be interesting to see how they go about it.

“I found that interesting already this year that people on the outside have sometimes questioned the depth,” Coach Spoelstra said. “We’ve always felt the depth was one of our biggest strengths.”

And that has shown to be true.

To refer back to an earlier point, the way these bench guys are helping Butler, Lowry, and others is due to the elimination of the rushing substitution that occurred so much last season.

With Butler on the bench, he’d look up at the scoreboard and see it getting worse and worse and worse. This season, on the other hand, there’s been points when he takes a couple more minutes rest since the bench is just “rolling.”

A pure point guard changes things, the emergence of young players changes things, MVP level play from Jimmy Butler changes things. But don’t overlook the bench production and the hot start from the role players.

Once again, they didn’t have that last season.

 

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Jimmy Butler Not Just Doing Winning Things, But MVP Things

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It’s wild that one of the league’s top two-way players doesn’t receive the same praise that some of the league’s best scorers do.

Jimmy Butler is one of those hard nosed defensive guys, who can pass the ball at an extremely high level, get to the free throw line whenever he chooses, and can lead a team as well as anybody in this league. But in that description, notice how I didn’t mention scorer?

That’s always the last thing to come up when discussing Butler, and it shouldn’t just be a shoe-in adjective. He is currently averaging 25.3 points a game, which is 12th in the entire league.

Yeah, I’d say the guy can score a bit.

When bringing up the “Most Valuable Player” award, his name should always be floating around the top due to his “value” for this team every year. But after an incredible start to the season, basketball reference has him first on the MVP award tracker.

Why is that? Well, scoring Jimmy is back.

And even more importantly, he’s not going anywhere.

It is far from an overstatement to say Kyle Lowry is the reason for this flipping of the switch into scoring mode. As some Heat players voiced after last night’s win, Butler had a lot on his plate last season in terms of facilitating and hitting teammates right in their spots, but now that is Lowry’s job.

Butler’s role is to not only be that true scorer, but also collapse the defense any chance he gets. He may not have to play quarterback at the top of the offense as much anymore, but assists are still being generated through those drive and kicks that worked so well in the past.

And as the shooting numbers on this team continue to rise, those numbers will rise for Butler as well.

Now, the first interesting piece to his scoring mentality is his body of work getting to the rim. The league is cutting back on a lot of the foul calls that began to go overboard in previous years, while Butler is still continuing his success.

Guys like Trae Young and James Harden are trying to find their way in that department, since although they were smart in how to draw the whistle, they weren’t physical in doing it by any means. And that’s the difference with Butler.

Top 3 players in free throw attempts so far are Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, and Rudy Gobert. It makes sense that bigs can continue that trajectory of getting fouls since it’s inevitable with the amount of post-play that is thrown in there. But Butler is just continuing his full-back ways, plowing right ahead to the rim.

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The second element to this is that he’s taking advantage of mismatches at a pretty incredible rate. There’s no more waiting around while the shot clock trickles down. It’s now a full embodiment of the Lowry mentality.

Lowry doesn’t play to the clock, he plays to the best shot that comes available to him on the floor.

Looking at that first clip above, we see Butler get the ball with Ish Smith defending, the entire team clears out to the weak-side, and he goes to work down-low on the box. That is the formula for him.

That right there is a sign of sustainability. While the next part of his game that I will discuss may be up and down, this won’t be going anywhere.

All because he has a point guard unleashing those limitations. “Kyle’s telling me to be aggressive,” Butler said. And as much as Butler is always telling others to be aggressive, he needs that voice in his ear as well.

I can’t say that I expected Butler’s jumper to be back to this degree to kick off the year, but I guess an actual off-season gives you a chance to properly rest your body.

To that point, there’s no doubt that his legs are fully back. Looking at last season when threes never seemed to fall, every shot was short. No air time, no three-point makes.

Looking at the first two clips above, I see a guy that is getting off his feet and firing in a way that I haven’t seen from him in quite some time. Not that I expect to see a ton of stuff from him beyond the arc moving forward, but forcing defenses to even semi-respect it changes things completely.

The same goes for the mid-range jumper, which although it has seen a slight decrease from last year, those shots have been falling frequently over this 4 game slate. Also, these numbers would be even more ridiculous if he didn’t go 7 for 22 in that game against Indiana.

Another indication about him having his legs back are the amount of dunks he’s getting this season compared to last. He has 8 in six games, while he recorded 39 all of last season. Catching Lowry alley oops this regularly wasn’t an expectation of mine, but we’re seeing it right out of the gate.

And do you know another reason those dunk numbers are higher than normal?

Self generated defensive plays.

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Two of those eight dunks are seen right here, both being generated through Butler swiping the ball away from Ja Morant.

As I spoke about a ton heading into the season, Jimmy Butler will shine on the defensive end more than usual, since the numbers will actually mirror his activity and production in this new role.

He’s back in that sneaky, free safety spot where he can play from behind, double when he chooses, and make the instinctive reads for himself that he has always been so good at making.

The first clip just showcases a continuation of his activity on that end whenever the handler has their back to him. When someone’s eyes are focused in another direction, that is always Butler’s cue to pounce on them or go for that sneaky steal.

The second clip is that wrap around steal that Butler always gets away with, but doesn’t get credit for since the teammate who scoops it up gets the steal. His steal numbers would be even higher if that was the case, and it almost feels like they should record it like sacks in football.

Give each guy half a steal.

This may not seem important, but it is when discussing the way the league evaluates so many players according to stats. Defensive player of the year awards continue to take block and steal stats into account a little too much, and the overall production and value on that end of the floor too little.

In many ways, I feel Butler would have a better chance at DPOY than MVP. It just feels like one of the younger guys will emerge as the season progresses since it’s only game six, and that guy would get the nod.

And frankly, Jimmy Butler probably wouldn’t care one bit.

He has one thing on his mind and that’s an NBA championship, but somehow he has himself right on track for both as we continue to move forward in the season.

Butler’s value on this Heat team is clearly greater than any other, and I’m even saying that following Miami’s only loss coming without Kyle Lowry. Bam Adebayo is a major engine to this group as well, but I can’t see the Heat escaping with many wins if Butler isn’t on the floor.

Defender Jimmy continues, passing Jimmy takes a step back, and scoring Jimmy takes two steps forward.

25 points a game on 53% shooting, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. And the most important number, a 5-1 record.

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Memphis

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The Miami Heat had a tough matchup on the second night of a back to back without Bam Adebayo, but came away with a win against the Memphis Grizzlies. Jimmy Butler led them with 27 points, as they prance into a 5-1 start to the season.

So, what are some takeaways from this big win?

#1: Bam Adebayo out calls for Miami going 5 out.

With Bam Adebayo being ruled out before tip-off tonight, there were some rotational adjustments for Coach Erik Spoelstra. While I expected to see an Omer Yurtseven insertion, they went with Dewayne Dedmon and relied on small-ball play when he wasn’t on the floor. And with his early foul trouble, we saw a lot of those minutes. PJ Tucker and Markieff Morris making up the front-court, before mixing it up with some Max Strus minutes at the 4. With that said, a theme was in place for the offense. They couldn’t work it into their centerpiece center in the mid-range tonight, leading to a total shift, beginning with 5 out offense. It’s not something we’ve seen a ton of in recent years, but with the names I just mentioned in the front-court, they were kind of forced into it. And well, the outstanding ball movement allowed it to work perfectly.

#2: Miami’s bench as a whole comes out big to start.

I touched on Miami’s bench being a lot smaller in this game with Dedmon moving to the starting lineup, and that means they needed immediate offensive production. And I’d say they did just that. Late in the second quarter, the Heat bench shot 65% from the field on 17 total attempts. Max Strus pin-down pulls, Markieff Morris’ early hot hand, and continued Tyler Herro aggressiveness. Last season, Miami didn’t have the ability to be without Adebayo and have the bench pick them right back up, but simply, this is a different team. Herro deserves a lot of credit for his ability to lead lineups for stretches, but the role player play on this team has been incredible, and another “role” player with a higher ceiling could be on his way soon.

#3: Silent scorer Jimmy Butler returns.

Jimmy Butler is a lot of things. He’s an unbelievable passer. He’s as good of an off-ball defender that I’ve seen in this league. He can get to the free throw line even while officials are keying in on eliminating that some. But well, the scoring description doesn’t come up enough, since he’s just a silent killer in that department. His finishing this season has been outstanding, and the interior having some extra space this season allows him to get those easy put-backs that he’s always relied on. Another thing to mention is that it’s not all being generated at the rim. Butler has his legs back. He’s shooting three balls with confidence, those mid-range jumpers are falling, and the bunnies are flowing much smoother than they were against Indiana. More on Butler’s plate without Adebayo was no problem as he strolled into a 23 point first half. Key word: silently.

#4: Heat’s defense continues to wreck havoc as much as possible without the anchor.

One of my focuses watching this game was going to be the defense without Bam Adebayo holding it down on the back-side. And well, Miami actually held their own more than I expected. For one, the Heat going small did not mean they were losing anything defensively, since Morris and Tucker are both strong and quick enough to match-up with so many different guys. But as much of an anchor Adebayo is, Butler continues to shine as he’s right at home, which I drilled all off-season. Adding so many extra defenders obviously is a plus to that end of the floor already, but it shifted Butler’s role. He’s now outside of actions more often, meaning more anticipating passes that develop in front of him and doubling whenever he chooses. I may have said that would be his role, but I didn’t think it would click this early. Yet, Butler always finds a way to settle in quickly.

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#5: So, are the three-point worries surrounding Duncan Robinson officially gone?

Do we worry about Bam Adebayo defending at a high level? Do we worry about Kyle Lowry passing at a high level? Then you shouldn’t worry about Duncan Robinson shooting at a high level. As I’ve said after all these games where he’s struggled shooting from deep, it’ll come together. Tonight, Robinson was at 5 threes on 50% shooting from deep and it wasn’t even the fourth quarter. A run in the third quarter from him sparked it, which is always the case with shooters like himself. Seeing the ball go through the hoop 3 straight times in a stretch is all it takes to get back on track, and Robinson did just that. Plus, he had one of his better defensive games of the season, moving his feet in isolations and contesting/recovering on shot attempts. A game like this was needed, but now it’s time to build off it.

 

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