Tag Archive for: Tyler Herro

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Thunder

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The Miami Heat faced the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night, and it went as you would expect.

A bunch of guys chipped in, leading to an easy win in the process.

So, here are some takeaways from this one…

#1: Duncan Robinson, literally telling opposing teams to step up in that drop coverage.

Duncan Robinson opened up this game against the Oklahoma City Thunder in a way many would want to see, but more importantly, in a way many should expect due to the extra space he sees against drop coverage. Hits three straight triples to start this game out, and they all looked identical. Same hand-off guy, in Bam Adebayo. Same defenders both on the ball and in that drop. Same look on that curl. After making the third, he runs down the floor as the Thunder call timeout, telling the bench that someone needs to step up. A lot can be talked about from these short bursts that many want to see, but he needs that confidence back. It’s one thing to hit threes, but it’s another thing to get back in some type of comfortable NBA rhythm.

#2: The real winner of the PJ Tucker-Markieff Morris minutes is a 22 year old guard that you may know of.

The more we see the PJ Tucker-Markieff Morris front-court, the more there is to like. PJ Tucker can take care of his hammer screens and hand-offs, while Morris runs the post-splits and takes the mid-range jumper when it’s presented within the post. The common thread: both can space at a very high level. And due to that specific spacing, mostly within the two corners, Tyler Herro benefits greatly. We know the usage has been high for Herro, but as seen early in this one, it consists of a lot of crowded drives where four guys collapse down. In this lineup, there’s some reluctant variants where guys think twice before dropping off the shooters. This lineup will be seen frequently, as the new question becomes depending on match-up: Dewayne Dedmon or Markieff Morris?

#3: Max Strus: king of the slip screen.

You already know we must take at least one section in every one of these to talk about the minor “basketball” aspect of things. Tonight’s topic is something I’ve brought up frequently, but it shines more and more every time Max Strus plays. If he’s coming to set a screen, he’s slipping it. Yet, it feels like every team he faces isn’t ready for that specific burst. Ghost screens with guys like Herro right now are pure gold, since teams are more worried about keeping two on the ball than trailing the shooter. In a playoff series, teams could obviously adjust, but with the discussed role of Strus in the post-season of small spark bursts, teams may not have time to figure it out.

#4: Tyler Herro scaring Heat nation for a bit.

As Herro runs another pick and roll midway through the third, this one goes a bit differently. He throws a skip pass to the weak-side corner in mid-air, but lands awkwardly. Didn’t seem to be a consensus if it was a slight ankle twist or a knee buckle, but either way he was down in pain. A lot of pain. Face first into the hardwood as everybody in the building held their breath. Spo made his way out there as Herro rolled over before walking off on his own. He stretched out on the bench for a bit, then headed back to the locker room. Clearly, his night was over. Yet, that wasn’t the case? Everybody got to breathe a little as he made his way back onto the Heat bench, but better yet, he made his way to the scorers table to enter. Why, you may ask? I simply have no idea.

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#5: Time to get some guys an off day.

Some people hate to hear when certain guys are taking games off, but others really do need it. Jimmy Butler getting it right now isn’t the worst thing as Caleb Martin returns, but a front-court mate needs to take it when it’s there as well: PJ Tucker. Now that they’re getting healthier on the front line, Tucker’s going to need to sit a few going down the stretch of the season. He’s been one of the few constants all year, but the problem is that if he gets in his car to drive to the arena, or goes through warm-ups with a questionable tag, he’s going to play. Dewayne Dedmon is another name that fits into this conversation, but Miami did it in their own way with him. With the ability to go small and versatile, Dedmon wasn’t a part of the 9 man tonight. And as I hinted at before, could be a consistent trend at times.

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Pistons

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The Miami Heat played a weird one against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night, yet came away with the win in wild fashion.

Tyler Herro and Max Strus keep the team afloat throughout on the offensive end to get Miami over the top.

Some takeaways from this one…

#1: Tyler Herro can score the basketball, but doing it in the first half mud is something else.

The Heat offense in the first 24 minutes was probably the worst half of offensive basketball I’ve seen from them this season. Over-passing, Jimmy Butler’s obvious struggles, and an inability to trigger any base sets. But then, Tyler Herro happened, per usual. We’ve seen Herro scoring out-pours before, but this one was different. Being able to do it in a clunky offense, and in a game that is completely in the mud, is some of the most promising things we’ve seen from him this year. With the Pistons swarming, he made it his only objective to get to the rim, and consequently get to the line. That kept Miami somewhat afloat offensively before the end of second quarter perimeter scoring spree. He’s doing big time stuff, but finishing that muddy first half with 20 points somehow is simply different.

#2: Navigating the good and the bad of Heat combos.

When looking at the way the first half developed in this one, there were some clear offensive combos that aren’t meshing at peak levels. The one I’ve monitored, and mentioned, quite a few times is the Butler-Tucker-Dedmon front-court. Not enough creation, not enough spacing. Yet since Bam and Lowry usually exit together first, we see it frequently. Oladipo and Herro are still trying to find their way of balancing on-ball reps, but that shouldn’t be a worrisome note. But on the positive side of things, during Herro’s second quarter spurt, the front-court in those minutes were Tucker and Morris. Now that’s a lineup that has plenty of spacing for the creators to work, yet may be troublesome on the boards in certain match-ups. But not tonight, and it’s something that was peaking right before Morris went down with injury.

#3: A minor note: a 2-3 zone best case scenario.

When watching Oladipo’s placing in the 2-3 zone since returning, it wasn’t as simple as slotting into the Gabe Vincent role. He was playing that bottom box often, as Herro rotated to the top of the zone. Tonight, on the other hand, Oladipo played at that top spot next to Herro with Caleb Martin out. Simply, that’s the spot you feel much more comfortable with him playing due to his natural quickness and activity. That said, it gets you thinking about a healthy rotation. In a perfect world, Oladipo and Martin headlining that bench 2-3 is best case scenario. Two guys with total speed, defensive skill, and length is the ultimate dictionary description for a dominant half-court zone. Yet it may be kept on the low, as a playoff surprise that we know Spo likes to keep handy…

#4: Jimmy Butler struggles, Jimmy Butler goes out.

When harping on offensive struggles, Jimmy Butler has to be the headliner to say the least. An offense that relies on his on-ball attack, needs him to actually be able to convert on those downhill attempts. His first half concluded with 2 of 9 shooting, which always seems to blend into something like this: 0 of 2 from deep. When he can’t convert inside, it’s a mind game that leads to an unwillingness to get back to that attacking grind, which ends in some three-point chucks. Aside from that, on one of his drives in the second quarter, he tweaked his right ankle which left him hobbling. He stayed on the floor but ultimately was held out in the second half. That was the right call for obvious reasons, but this team’s reliance on his downhill juice is evident. Tyler Herro can only get them so far as a scorer.

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#5: Max Strus doing Max Strus things.

After Bam Adebayo got himself in some foul trouble and Butler went out with injury, the rotation was forced into a major shift in the second half. Vincent started, Morris jumped into Adebayo’s minutes to start the third, and Strus entered in Morris’ spot. Strus had a quiet 4 minute finish to the third, but then the 4th quarter happened. 13 points in 3 minutes just defines both Strus and his role. Slipping screens is his specialty, but Detroit was nonreactive to it every possession, which reflects the pressure Herro puts on a defense. And once Strus gets one to fall, more are coming. He doesn’t see contests, and even doesn’t see weak-side defenders as he tried to punch one down in that stretch which got denied. Either way, he’s a “situational player” as Spo likes to call it, but he plays with a very Heat-like chip on his shoulder every night. That small stint we saw tonight, will be his playoff role. Game in the mud, time for Strus to try and get them out of it.

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Loss to Timberwolves

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The Miami Heat fall late to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night, even considering Tyler Herro had a 30 point night.

Minnesota got hot from the outside, and they couldn’t counter.

Well, here are some takeaways from this one…

#1: Max Strus making his rotation case yet again.

Max Strus walked away as the player of the half over the first 24 minutes just from a spark perspective. He’s clearly not afraid to shoot it, but he also went 4 for 7 from deep in that span. Part of that had a lot to do with Miami’s attackers, which is a fantastic story-line considering they were without Jimmy Butler. Guys were getting into the teeth of the defense, allowing Strus to thrive as that extra pass in the corner or wing. Aside from that, his shot creation goes under the radar a bit in terms of screen navigation. One play to start off his offensive night began with him refusing a screen with a spin, turning into a wing pull-up. His catch and shoot is his base, but the on-ball creation is what makes his rotation case interesting. But simply, once the playoffs get here, a potential offensive spark when needed will be his primary role.

#2: Bam Adebayo making a small offensive critique.

Looking at Bam Adebayo’s offensive punch as of late, we’ve seen it in a different light. We’ve seen the big time performances when the jumper begins to fall, but this interior stuff is new. I talked about his presence down there against the lengthier Cleveland, but he wasted no time going right at the bigger Karl Anthony Towns. And it’s one thing to score frequently inside, and another thing to do it with complete authority and bully ball. That’s the key. Everybody highlights the need for more post-ups in his game, but when he’s going strong and using his body before going up is essential. The foul calls will come, but not shying away from that size is important. And man is he using that right shoulder before going up in the painted area.

#3: Heat edging away on the boards.

When monitoring the rebounding situation from Miami in this one, the Heat kept chipping away against a Timberwolves team that didn’t have Vanderbuilt who is one of their better rebounders. This isn’t to say that the simple Markieff Morris insertion means they need to go big to win that battle, but part if it was on Bam Adebayo, and the rest was just pure team crashing. We’ve seen Miami’s defensive plan against teams like Minnesota, where PJ Tucker and Bam Adebayo switch every pick and roll on a talented combo, like Towns and Edwards. The issue is that sometimes means Tucker is battling on the boards against that much bigger center. Yet tonight, I felt like there are some positives to getting by that, mostly through Bam sagging off the shooter immediately after that ball goes up, leading to the crash.

#4: Tyler Herro silently sliding under the scoring radar, but not from the Timberwolves’ perspective.

When going down the Heat roster tonight, many guys popped in the scoring column from the eye test. Strus was shooting really well, Adebayo was attacking. But somehow Herro’s 21 first half points outdid them all, and from my perspective, it didn’t feel like he was the leading scorer by that margin at that point. The reasoning: it’s the typical at this point. He was facing a Minnesota team that doesn’t allow many mid-range jumpers, meaning he would have to alter his shot profile slightly. Cutting that mid-range out is a quick indication to Herro that he’s going to get his three-ball up, which led to a plethora of pull-up jumpers. We saw that against Milwaukee about a week ago, which is a good sign for the playoffs. When it becomes half-court basketball and they limit him, stretch out into high pick and rolls then go to work. And if they throw extra bodies at him like Minnesota did, it all comes down to the supporting cast hitting shots.

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#5: Markieff Morris return: sticking to an offensive base.

Markieff Morris returned essentially out of nowhere hours before tonight’s game, as some other key wings took the night off. I think we know what he is at this stage, so no major surprises, but I’m pretty sure the reliance on him as a play-maker would need to decline, even though I’ve highlighted his previous comfort in mid-post sets. Either way, that “mid-post” phrase is the key to anything involving Morris. His three-ball isn’t a consistently trusted piece of his offensive package, and the rolling reps are a bit uneven, other than transition. But a simple slip at the top of they key into the mid-range is his home, and Kyle Lowry will hit him in his “home.” He still provides obvious components defensively and on the boards, but his role moving forward is still in question. Another big man insurance piece to potentially insert in, since it still feels Caleb Martin has his rotation spot locked up.

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Cavs

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The Miami Heat faced the Cleveland Cavaliers for the third time this season on Friday night, and things looked differently.

Not only that it ended with a win for Miami, but Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo matched up with them for the first time this year.

So, here are some things that stood out in this one…

#1: Heat offense stagnant early, but Tyler Herro breaks that statement solely.

Although the Heat found themselves with a 1 point lead at the half, 58-57, I wouldn’t say you walked away feeling comfortable about their offensive attack. You felt comfortable with Tyler Herro’s offensive attack. After Miami came out the gates with a 9-0 start, stuff began to tail off. PJ Tucker’s recent struggles mean that weak-side defender can loom around a bit more to force you into that skip, while there was a general lack of movement across the board. But Herro’s 3-level scoring boost keeps Miami in games nightly. Not only is he reading his defender at another level in terms of screen navigation, but he’s getting into the teeth of the defense in a way that makes up for Miami’s stagnant possessions. That’s major for this team, but it also raises an eyebrow that if Herro doesn’t provide that one game in a playoff series, what happens?

#2: Darius Garland foreshadows players Miami will see in playoffs, but Heat adjust well.

Watching Darius Garland in that first half, then looking at a stat sheet at that point may not seem like linking factors. It may have said he had 14 points, but he was also 2 for 8 at that point in the game. Translation: he was getting to the line in similar ways that Butler likes to do nightly. The reason I bring this up is that Garland being so slippery in open space provides such problems against teams like Miami that double and blitz. While it may look like they have him in a box, his ability to turn corners at abnormal speeds can counter Miami’s rotation reliance rather quickly. Looking forward, there are teams like Boston or Chicago that have similar players in that sense. It just comes down to backing out of that coverage before it’s too late, which is exactly what Miami did in the third. They used it much more situationally, which threw off the Cavs offense for a decent stretch, triggering a 12-0 run for Miami.

#3: A minor, yet major, first half reflection: a lack of shot attempts from select few.

We’ve had moments in the season where we constantly discuss the lack of aggression from Heat center Bam Adebayo. The lack of taking advantage of opportunities is just as bad as an inefficient night, which caused plenty of discussions. Yet when reflecting back at halftime, Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry combined for the same amount of shot attempts in the first 24 minutes as Dewayne Dedmon. That can’t be the case. Butler was at least able to counter some of that by getting to the line, but that length still was clearly deterring his strong attacks. But more importantly, the scoring factor of Lowry’s game is going to need to be seen more often. His structure in the offense is definitely noted, but there are too many times where the pass is forced instead of trusting his skill. With as many PnR’s as he runs, the pocket pass just can’t be the outcome in every one, which will need to be the post-season tweak.

#4: Aggressive Bam, patient Bam, interior Bam.

When looking at this match-up with the Cavs, there were two components that were in question: Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler. Why? Well, neither of them have matched up with this team so far this season, while obviously Cleveland is without Jarrett Allen on the other side. That said, Bam Adebayo was decently aggressive throughout this game, but it doesn’t end there. Schematically, it was a nice change of pace to see him catching, posting, and sealing in the interior, which said that his initial touches they wanted much lower than normal. With that, it’s one thing to highlight aggression, since that always feels linked to quick scoring bursts, but that wasn’t how he was doing it. He was patient on the catch, worked his pump-fake, then rose up with aggression for plenty of buckets around the rim. That was a third quarter synopsis, since he was a big reason they were able to make that run.

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#5: A game of runs. A team of runs.

We often hear about how the game of basketball is a game of runs, but there are teams within that bracket that fit the description much better. The Miami Heat this season have shown to be one of them, as many of their bench pieces are offensive sparks that can create runs. But as much as the offense may stand out when seeing a 25-6 run, the defense is equally as important to hold the opponent to 6 points over an extended stretch. And that’s the theme of this Heat team. Yes, Herro’s pull up triples and side step crowd explosions may seem crucial, but back to back possessions of Jimmy Butler steals on the perimeter for transition dunks transcends that. The playoffs may be a half-court game for sure, but that only makes this point more valuable for this team defensively. The offense may have a low floor in certain droughts, but the defense has as high of a floor as it gets.

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Loss to Suns

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The Miami Heat faced the Phoenix Suns in a potential Finals preview on Wednesday night, and it didn’t go as planned.

Suns without Chris Paul, Heat without Jimmy Butler. There were some key advantages in Phoenix’s favor through this matchup tonight, and that starts and ends with size.

Plus Miami couldn’t counter that with offensive firepower, since missing Butler meant a total absence of attacks and rim pressure.

Anyway, let’s get into that a bit more…

#1: The Duncan Robinson-PJ Tucker offensive combination.

Watching Duncan Robinson explode for an immediate 3 triples to start this game, and 5 in the first half, definitely leaves you with some positive opinions on the shooting of Robinson. But how was he getting those looks? Some of Kyle Lowry as he glided to 5 assists in about 5 minutes of play, but the answer is PJ Tucker. Last season, it felt like Robinson had to be glued to Bam Adebayo to be effective with that DHO. A pretty great development has been that Adebayo doesn’t have to worry about it as often, since Tucker has it covered. If Robinson has an open corner look, it’s because Tucker is setting a hard hammer screen. If Robinson is dominating against drop, Tucker is laying out that single perimeter defender. Robinson was shooting that thing with confidence and deserves a ton of credit, but Tucker is so crucial for his offensive success.

#2: The Suns interior force in the first half.

To simplify this down to 24 minutes of basketball, as great of a start that the Heat had, how did the Suns just immediately storm back from that? Well, Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges came out aggressive offensively for different reasons. Ayton found the openings on Miami’s planned defensive agenda in Booker-Ayton PnR’s, leading to quick slips for interior dominance. Bridges on the other hand had some favorable match-ups with Miami going small for long spurts. Bridges may not be a post-up guy, but that mid-range jumper over a smaller defender was becoming a staple. And of course, the Heat were losing the rebounding battle 27 to 15. Some of that was the product of Adebayo switching out to the perimeter, but a lot of it was back-up board dominance from JaVale McGee over Dewayne Dedmon. These two teams have similarities, but there are also major differences. That is one of them.

#3: Some minor evaluations on both sides of the ball.

Once again, there always has to be a segment to discuss some small elements that I noticed from the Heat. The first part of that included Miami’s 2-3 zone, and that relates back to Monday against Houston as well. When that zone has been utilized, the top of it doesn’t look so familiar. What used to be headlined by Gabe Vincent and Caleb Martin, who exited tonight’s game with a left knee injury, quickly shifted to Tyler Herro and Martin at the top as Victor Oladipo slotted into the lower box. Back to the offensive side of the ball, we saw the advantages in certain Heat sets. This team can trail you on the ball at a high level, meaning off-ball movement is the only way to score at a high level. For example, the Robinson shooting, that one Oladipo cut and lay-in, etc. But as soon as Miami got in some post split reps, we saw higher effective offense. Obviously you don’t throw everything out there at once, but in a potential Heat-Suns finals (?) that’ll be seen frequently.

#4: The back-up four question marks put on blast.

Caleb Martin came out in this game exactly like he has in every big game this year. Absolutely everywhere on both ends, as I tweeted in the second quarter. But as he came down on the left knee, ending his night early, that same question came right back up about this roster. Their depth may be a major part of this team’s identity, but as Martin exited, that was a blaring hole on this team. Markieff Morris has been that looming piece all year, and who knows what his role would even be when he did return, but that’s the task. Martin has locked up that job, but they’re one injury away from being very thin in the front-court, specifically with size. So a Morris return would actually be quite helpful in the long run.

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#5: The importance of Jimmy Butler’s rim pressure.

This isn’t one of those things where you focus on the guy that’s missing in a team’s loss, even though it may seem that way. In actuality, it’s focusing on a player that receives some unfair criticism when broadening things to a big picture sense. Watching this Heat offense tonight without Butler, and more specifically that starting unit, one thing was more clear than anything else: Jimmy Butler *is* this team’s rim pressure. It’s one thing to bring up free throw attempts and pace dictating, but it’s another thing when they don’t have those initial paint touches to trigger all of the other actions. I brought up earlier that off-ball movement is the exploitable area here, but the only way to get a Suns defense in a frenzy is to pull them away from shooters on the initial attack. It may be as simple as they missed Butler in this one,  but the interior forces and rebounding numbers were probably happening either way.

 

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Tyler Herro’s Making the Inside the Arc Leap

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Victor Oladipo’s return day is finally upon us, as he’s expected to play on Monday night against the Houston Rockets, leaving many other story-lines flying under the radar.

The Heat just went 3-1, which could’ve been 4-0 if it wasn’t for poor late game execution and a rough go for Jimmy Butler vs the Bucks, against the premier teams in the Eastern Conference over a week span. The team was obviously without Kyle Lowry, Bam Adebayo continued to hit offensive strides, the team’s defense could be at its best, and the depth of this group looks to be their biggest strength.

But among all of that, Tyler Herro is quietly making the biggest offensive shift of his career, just at the right time.

In a fake world, if you were to build the perfect counterpart to Herro off the bench, it would probably look identical to a healthy Victor Oladipo. We don’t know about the “healthy” part clearly, but we do know about the “Victor Oladipo” part.

Either way, Herro is currently doing things on the offensive end that transcends any numbers he put up early in the season, which he’s currently averaging 21 a night off the bench and is top 15 in 4th quarter scoring per game.

We know he has that coveted mid-range pull-up that has been a staple of his for quite some time against drop coverage.

We know he has a three ball unlocked in both catch and shoot and pull-up situations.

But all eyes have been on that first level, and he’s now exceeding at that too.

So, how is he evolving currently in that element of his game?

I could stretch some game film out to three games ago against Milwaukee where he dropped 30 points in a total pull-up shooting display, but let’s just simplify it down to the past two games of floater dominance.

Looking at the play above, what is the initial thing that is noticed?

Seems to be just a normal pick and roll where Herro keeps his defender on his back for the 2 on 1, flowing right into that floater that he just can’t get enough of lately. But let’s rewind back a bit more to the beginning.

As he immediately comes off the screen, he doesn’t burst into that open floor right in front of him. He gives a subtle hesitation before the attack, but why is that?

Well, staying at the speed of your roller is pretty essential when talking about enhancing every option on the floor in a PnR. And when that guy is a slower footed LaMarcus Aldridge, look what that one move does to his feet. His waist turns toward Dewayne Dedmon, leaving Herro with the clear lane to go up for the bucket.

That’s the new part of this.

Another instance, we see a much better fitted match-up for Herro to stick on him following the screen, in Bruce Brown. Herro still ends up finding space in front of him again, but he doesn’t just burst forward into the open floor.

That would lead to an easy recovery, so he pauses, bumps, and sprints. That gives him the and-1 finish on the back-pedaling Andre Drummond, but the outcome isn’t as important as the process.

We continue to see him mix in these minor elements to broaden his bag, which is simply making him harder to guard with a higher on-ball usage.

Not only is he gaining confidence in top of the key PnR sets, but he’s also not afraid to take that extra step in on that baseline. Here, we see Miami set some staggers for Herro to catch it on the inbound–which by the way, a baseline inbound for Miami almost always means a baseline shot attempt–and now it’s decision making time.

He isn’t looking at the basket, or the defender in front of him. He’s looking back at how Mills recovers on that stagger. And as he edges around, Herro loops in one more step which eliminates any back-side contest.

Once again, easy floater.

Same shot, different process.

Something I asked Herro about recently was not only the use of the floater, but the disguise of linking it with the lob pass. That is something guys like James Harden and Trae Young have mastered, since it just puts that dropping big in a very awkward position.

The reason is that there can never be total commitment on one or the other, since they look the same on the wind-up.

Looking at the play above, here’s an example of that. Herro once again gives that hesitation following the Dedmon screen to stay at his pace, and the 2 on 1 is in their favor. He skies his floater up in the air, as Dedmon is still trying to figure out if that was on the way up for him to throw down, or a shot attempt.

“I try to switch it up, and take that 1 or 2 extra dribbles in the pocket to be able to make the right read,” Herro said.

“Whether it’s a lob when the big’s coming up, or if the big’s back it’s a lay-up or a floater. So just being able to make the right read, being patient, and keeping my dribble alive.”

Fast forwarding to this past game against the Philadelphia 76ers, we got to see more of that PnR manipulation on that dropping big man.

When watching this play above slowly, there are two elements to it.

Herro comes off the screen and fakes the long range runner to freeze Paul Millsap just enough. As he keeps his dribble alive, he gets up in the air which appears to be a lob to Bam Adebayo, before he quickly adjusts in mid-air to go right back to the floater.

It’s one thing to have a go-to shot against drop coverage like he did last year with the elbow pull-up. But this evolving factor of freezing these bigs within the action is next level.

When listening to players talk post-game most nights, you probably hear the word “reads” used a ton. Upon hearing that term, the things that immediately strike your mind is a skip pass, beating a coverage, or taking a shot that is being given to you.

But the main part of making “reads” is knowing exactly what that second defender in an action, or a potential help defender, is doing at all times. That’s what makes the league’s top players elite.

And with the extended bodies Herro’s been seeing lately, it’s interesting to watch this slowly develop.

Looking at the possession above, Matisse Thybulle begins to hedge the PnR as Tobias Harris simultaneously begins to fight over. Herro seeing that, he rejects the screen immediately and bursts down the left side of the floor for the easy lay-in, since the Joel Embiid help isn’t all the way there.

In a playoff series, there will be plenty of stints where things won’t just come down to Herro as a scorer, but Herro as a primary on-ball offensive piece. And with these type of decisions, I have a feeling they could go quite well.

I know the focus is the on-ball stuff with him, but the truth is that once the playoffs come, rotations shrink. Herro will be sharing the floor with the three of Butler, Adebayo, and Lowry much more often, meaning he will have to work into his spots off the ball as well.

Right here, Butler sits in the post split with the movement beginning to set in, and Herro improvises early in the action. While Herro is the first player to shoot off into space, he cuts back-door on Maxey as the expectation is that an end-around DHO is coming.

But even when off the ball, he gets to that coveted floater in the middle of the floor yet again.

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The reason this all ties into the Oladipo return is that Herro is making these strides at just the right time. There won’t be a need for a major adjustment period for the young guard, since he’s been put in so many different spots already this season and succeeded.

It’s been noticeable that Oladipo’s catch and shoot attempts always rise following a return from injury, making this combo even more seamless on paper. They should be able to bounce off each other well, but what is the number one focus when talking about an Oladipo offensive insertion?

Rim pressure.

And right now, Tyler Herro is providing that at an all time high.

The story-line surrounding the Miami Heat right now is obviously Oladipo for good reasons, but what makes this whole thing so interesting is the meshing point with the current level of Herro.

With that floater, that pick and roll dissection, and that confidence, it’s hard not to fit alongside him on that end of the floor.

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Nets

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The Miami Heat were in a similar position tonight as they were last, as they were sitting with a 12 point lead with 4 minutes left, yet the Nets stormed back.

Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro stood strong to hold them off on a terrific night for each of them.

So, here are some takeaways from this one…

#1: The process to try and stop the unstoppable Kevin Durant.

When heading into return night for Kevin Durant without Jimmy Butler and PJ Tucker, it’s clear that it is going to be a challenge. The early idea was to place Bam Adebayo on him immediately, while starting Omer Yurtseven at the 5 next to him. But as we know, it really doesn’t matter who you throw at him because he will get into his shot no matter the contest. Then we saw him hunting some switches, which just puts so much pressure on a Heat defense. When guys like Tyler Herro find themselves in space, Miami was forced to send that double across, which most of the time was Caleb Martin. The issue with that is you have the rely heavily on rotations on a night where you aren’t able to play your best defensive 5, leading to hot streaks from Patty Mills and others.

#2: The Heat’s free throw line antics keeping them alive.

After the Heat only got to the line 12 times a night ago in Milwaukee, they tied a season high with 21 first half attempts tonight in Brooklyn. When looking at this team on paper in this game, then watching them play in real time, the big key was that they did not have enough attackers out there to provide that rim pressure. That also limits space that shooters are getting on the perimeter. That’s where Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro entered. They were the only ball-handlers who could truly provide that, and they added 13 of the 21 first half trips to the line. I truly believe Jimmy Butler would be huge in a potential Nets series, and that has a lot to do with the ability to switch smaller guys onto him and getting to the line without true rim protection on that back-line. But tonight, drawing fouls kept them above water.

#3: Caleb Martin: a lock in a potential Nets playoff series.

Speaking of a potential playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets, one specific player jumped off the screen today as the perfect rotation piece for that match-up: Caleb Martin. That was even before he provided big time offensive energy in that first half for increased scoring and pace. The reasoning has a lot to do with the guard firepower off that Nets bench. When looking at Patty Mills and Cam Thomas, Martin is the perfect bench piece to enter with Herro to hound those talented scoring guards. Obviously there’s a lot that could change with possible Heat rotations by that time, but for now, that’s a pretty obvious baseline to lay down. And if he can provide the stuff he showcased offensively tonight, it’ll definitely be tough to look away from him.

#4: This is the match-up for Bam Adebayo…clearly.

We’ve seen Bam Adebayo put points up in this building before, as he glided to a 41 point night in there last year. But he picked right back up where he left off tonight. It was clear from the jump that this match-up really favors him schematically. With the spacing around him due to constant shooting, combined with this Nets defense having a perimeter base, pocket passes are there all game. Meaning: Bam Adebayo is there all game. Aside from that schematic element, the fact that Andre Drummond is his 1-on-1 match-up on most face-ups speaks volume, and tells him that it’s go time. When Adebayo is flying to the rim like he was in this one, you can see why he’s so special. But it just comes down to the consistent trust to run offense through him completely, more specifically on isolations.

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#5: The Duncan Robinson-Max Strus dynamic tonight.

When looking at this game big picture, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro are definitely the story-lines. But a major element of this game was the Duncan Robinson and Max Strus dynamic, and they weren’t for the same reasons. Strus simply caught fire in that third quarter, providing a huge boost for this group who struggled hitting from deep tonight. Robinson, on the other hand, was one of those “struggling from deep” in this one. Yet, he still impacted the game in quite some fashion, and that was through his passing. As I said before, this is a Nets defense that focuses heavily on perimeter related stuff, meaning Robinson continued to see two in his face. Pocket passes were made for Adebayo runways, but that wasn’t all. He was getting into the lane a bit, which led to a big play in the third where he threw a two handed kick-out to the opposite corner for a Strus 3. That combo was huge, but clearly for different reasons.

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Loss to Bucks

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Heat fall short to Bucks as they storm back.

Here are some takeaways from this one…

#1: Hometown Tyler Herro, pull-up killer Tyler Herro.

Some may begin Tyler Herro evaluation tonight by pointing out his hometown return, but you guys already know how I roll with throwing narrative right out the window. The more important aspect is the way he was generating his looks, as he pranced into a 17 point first half. Pointing out that he was facing drop coverage is a great starting point, but it’s a bit different look than he’s used to. This is a crowded drop, which means the attack element of a pick and roll could be taken away. His floater has been surging as of late, but as he started off this game a bit rocky, I pointed one thing out on Twitter: abort that floater. The mid-range pull-up is sitting there for you to take, so it must be utilized. But instead, Herro spaced out into more high PnR sets, flowing right into that pull-up three. Stretching out the floor in that way is the exact read, and I’m not sure if the credit goes to him or the coaching staff yet.

#2: Duncan Robinson finding his set, and finding his rhythm.

Speaking of strong first half performances, Duncan Robinson was soaring from deep to begin this one. 5 for 6 from deep at the half I’d say is a pretty decent stat line for him in a potential Eastern Conference Finals preview. But this wasn’t the same as Herro shifting his shot profile against this specific defense. Instead, it was the exact opposite. Duncan Robinson thrives against a crowded drop coverage, since it basically translates to DHO fun. Only one defender is needed to eliminate with a screen, which means the next step is turning the corner, squaring up, and firing away. Robinson has seen these looks recently, but the simple analysis is that he was able to knock them down in this match-up. Shooting the lights out against this team is always going to be the game-plan, but this version of Robinson changes things dramatically for the offense.

#3: The transition narrative.

I’d like to take a second to address transition offense in a few different lights, which is odd due to the fact Kyle Lowry wasn’t associated with this game. It started when Bam Adebayo couldn’t put the ball in the basket, then all of a sudden, a quick steal, fast-break run, and mid-air switch of the hands for the and-1 finish shed some light on this topic: Bam Adebayo is a different player on the break. It means that he can be instinctive, he can be physical, and it allows him to find a scoring rhythm. Now, some may counter that by saying that avenue can’t be explored as often in a playoff series. And to that I’d say that’s partially true. There seems to be this overarching narrative that playoff basketball is a half-court game, which is true, but it should be noted that transition play and a faster pace can still be explored in that setting. It almost feels like some imagine that to be fully eliminated when that time comes, and it should be said with this specific team especially, it’ll be explored frequently with the young bench unit.

#4: Third quarter analysis: Gabe Vincent’s spark, Jimmy Butler’s struggles.

To hone in on player specifics a bit more, Gabe Vincent had as good of a start as humanly possible in this third quarter. Three straight offensive possessions, three straight Vincent triples. The interesting part about that is it wasn’t because he was being left open off the catch. It was just pure strong side dominance, due to defenders going under screens or PJ Tucker utilizing his hammer screen specialty. On the other side of things for Miami in the third, Jimmy Butler restricted some things. 2 for 13 from the field was where he stood entering the fourth quarter, but it transcends a stat sheet, since it’s actually about the half-court shift for Miami. With his top of the key ball dominance, especially without Lowry, he relies heavily on that help at the nail. That allows him to manipulate the strong side to his advantage as that defender drops. And well, that defender wasn’t dropping tonight. It limits thing, which leads to them looking in the direction of guys like Herro even more often.

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#5: Heat fall late due to poor execution.

We’ve seen Erik Spoelstra’s ATO excellence work in the past, but that needs to be addressed in the larger scheme of things. It’s one thing to bring up Miami’s 3 man offense late in games, while Tucker and Vincent land immobile in the corners, but it’s another thing to fall short on an inbound up 1. They tried to go to the usual ATO with two guys in the back-court, but a timeout was forced. The next trial run was to only leave one guy in the back-court, and have three in the front flash. Nothing was there, and he lobbed it up to Butler which led to a jump ball. Late-game execution lost them this game, and well, a poor Jimmy Butler performance.

Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Spurs

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The Miami Heat faced the San Antonio Spurs, and man did it fade far away from expectations.

A close game was not expected whatsoever, but some big performances came out of it as Miami closed it out late.

Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro were big, but Bam Adebayo was the storyline as he completely took over this game on both ends.

So, here are some takeaways from this one…

#1: Rough beginnings for starting group yet again.

There’s been a trend at the start of games recently for this Heat team, and it’s something to keep track of. A 10-0 start for the Knicks occurred on Friday night, and a 10-2 run for the Spurs on Saturday night followed that right up. Except this time around, the opposing team just kept piling it on, putting Miami in an awkward position. They were switching absolutely everything on and off the ball, which led to plenty of miscues for a copy and pasted free lane for San Antonio’s offense. Now, looking forward, it definitely is something to take note of. It almost feels like they’re looking around for that Tyler Herro spark to save them, which he kind of did again in this one as soon as he entered. They may have put up 40 in the first, but the starting group’s defense isn’t the worry. Instead, it’s the stagnant and lost looking offense that appears way too often than it should.

#2: Jimmy Butler’s first half offensive takeover.

There were some ugly things offensively for Miami early on, as I mentioned, but Jimmy Butler mitigated pretty much all of it. For starters, he kicked off his scoring display with quite the route on the low block. And it wasn’t like he was getting a smaller match-up so he went to it, because that really wasn’t the case. He brought a plethora of moves down there, and had some great touch around the rim whenever he got the chance. Secondly, it was another display of clock work in terms of getting to the free throw line. Strong attacks one-on-one, side pick and rolls to perfection, etc. He simply took-over on that end for Miami to race their way back in it, and that quickly leads into other things. After that hot start, we see them go into a Duncan Robinson back screen for Butler, as Duncan raises up for a potential DHO with Bam Adebayo. The thing is that wasn’t the first option. The only reason Robinson got that three off was the entire Spurs defense collapsed at the thought of a wide open Butler cut. We often discuss Robinson’s gravity, but Butler’s gravity is right there with him in an opposite fashion.

#3: Another Bam Adebayo DPOY case?

Watching Bam Adebayo in that second quarter specifically, some takeaways were clear. For one, the things Adebayo was doing to finish off that second quarter not only spearheaded Miami’s first half come-back, but a portrayed the pure dominance he can provide on that end. We saw the individual stuff at times, but nothing stands out to me more than when Adebayo is lined up on that weak-side dunker spot, as the ball-handler simultaneously comes steamrolling down the lane on the attack. For about three possessions in a row, it either ended in a Bam block, or him just mucking things up enough to lead to an awful shot attempt. As much as I discuss Butler’s ability to take over offensively, it’s equally impressive to see what Bam did on the defensive end. While it must be stated, his offensive turnaround after the rough start was crucial in the Heat’s comeback, as we saw him continuing to both attack and run the floor with great pace.

#4: One minor evaluation: Tyler Herro disguising his floater/lob pass.

In many of my post-game takeaway pieces, I like to take one section to highlight a minor piece of the game that may hold high importance moving forward. And well, that one tonight involves a very active Tyler Herro inside the lane. Something he has gotten to a ton over the last two nights is his floater out of the normal pick and roll, but there’s an interesting twist to that. One of the major elements to a player’s floater game is how similar it may look to a lob pass when your big is running right alongside you on a 2-on-1. With that said, Herro seems to have really improved recently in that category. And for a player who goes to it as frequently as him, that is quite the addition moving forward if he can master it even further. His lob passes have been a focus in general to clean up a bit, and that definitely will do the job.

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#5: Bam Adebayo again? Yes, Bam Adebayo again.

I felt it was necessary to devote an entire section to the greatness of Bam Adebayo defensively, and more specifically the impact he had in that second quarter, but I need to address some more, because this wasn’t a one-sided affair. Actually, it was quite the opposite. To think that he started this game out a bit non-aggressive and inefficient is just wild. He started taking that face-up on the Spurs rotating bigs time and time again, realizing they couldn’t stay in front of him. That spiraled into an increase in pace, which led to easy basket after easy basket with about 19 seconds left on that shot clock. And of course, he still dominated as a roller. Kyle Lowry’s double digit assists deserve major credit, but he was getting the ball in the gaps and just going. When he’s attacking the rim like that and making defenders pay for that deep drop with big time slams, it’s something to discuss. Bam Adebayo was absolutely elite in this one.

 

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Five Takeaways from Heat’s Win Over Knicks

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The Miami Heat faced off against the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden on Friday night, and fought through some adversity to exit with the win.

Tyler Herro offensive domination, Bam Adebayo defensive control, and trying to balance the RJ Barrett showcase.

So, here are some takeaways from this one…

#1: Tyler Herro is back? Oh yeah, Tyler Herro is definitely back.

It feels like we haven’t seen Tyler Herro play in quite some time as he was healing from that knee bruise before the All Star Break. But he returned tonight, and man did he provide something offensively as he entered early into Miami’s awful offensive start. I’m going to talk about the team’s pick and roll attack in a second, but Herro was making plays in the lane in a way that was needed majorly. High pick and roll, pauses as he awaits his screened defender to recover, and loops in front of him to hold him off. He then bursts forward into his floater with absolutely no-one in sight to contest. That summed up his hot start early with 15 first half points, but he was also 3 of 4 from deep, taking advantage of what came his way off the catch, while mixing in his pull-up comfort zone against drop coverage.

#2: The need for the screen, and the PnR effective spam from Miami.

Speaking of Herro’s control inside the lane, that was the Heat’s game-plan early as nothing was being generated from the deep mid-range or three-point line. The Knicks did a good job of blocking off the paint, as the Heat continued to plummet inside into contact, while consequently not receiving a friendly whistle. But one change in the set shifts the entire outcome: the need for the screen. Eliminating that initial defender and running 2-on-1’s against drop bigs is always the outlet that should be looked at first. Kyle Lowry began to get to it, which led to Bam Adebayo and Omer Yurtseven finding themselves on the positive end as rollers. We’ve seen nights where three-point shooting keeps them in a game, but pure pick and roll spam is what got them back into this one in that first half.

#3: Miami’s view of their defensive structure tonight.

When reflecting at halftime about Miami’s defensive game-plan, it was slightly different from what we’re used to against this team. For one, it should be said that this Knicks offense falls right into the Heat’s biggest defensive strengths. Swarming guys like Julius Randle in that high post is what they basically live for, leaving him with a 1 for 9 first half. But the issue was that in the meantime, RJ Barrett was gliding into a 30 point half himself. And well, it almost felt like Miami was okay with that. Essentially the opposite of their game-plan against Dallas. My issue with them on that end tonight wasn’t the way they were defending Barrett, but the reason he got hot. Poor transition defense kept feeding New York good looks on the break on kick-outs, sparking that run. That’ll need to be cleaned up.

#4: Jimmy Butler’s inside play the third quarter go-to as Barrett and the Knicks chip away.

It was an up and down matter for Jimmy Butler’s scoring throughout this one, and the reason I say that is he was a bit inefficient to start. But once the third quarter arrived and Miami’s starting group still wasn’t generating enough offense, Butler began to turn it up. It felt like the isolation possessions were seen a little too frequently, but they began finding outlets to free him up, and attack certain match-ups right back. One major element that was found was using Butler as the product of screening back-door, as guys like Adebayo scan from the top of the offense. Then he continued taking it into the body of the scorching Barrett, getting him his fourth foul late in the third quarter. Butler ended up scoring 8 straight for Miami in that span, just through his physical attack, which once again aligns with their offensive game-plan I discussed prior.

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#5: Pure Bam Adebayo dominance on the defensive end.

Julius Randle gets into the deep mid-range late in the shot clock mid-way through the second quarter. Only Bam Adebayo stands in his way, as he throws him up a pump-fake to get him up in the air. The issue: once you picked up your dribble with Adebayo defending, it doesn’t matter what comes next. Bam lands, turns, and still finds a way to absolutely blanket the Randle shot attempt. That’s why he’s the best defender in this league. While some may question his urge to create shots for himself in those one, it was pure defensive dominance all the way through. Aside from the one-on-one match-up with Randle, he was everywhere in the passing lanes, recovered on pick and rolls at such a high level for big time blocks, and most importantly, shined as the weak-side threat all night to both deter and send shots back. Offense is obviously the primary side of the ball in this sport for most, but man will you value the defensive end much more when watching these masterclasses.

 

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