jordan’s heat bløg

starting this off with nikola jovic putting up 10-3-5 on 4-7 shooting, 2-4 from three, 2 steals and a block

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDLdlk42iUk

i wasn’t impressed by his athleticism in summer league but he is skilled and seems to have a good feel for the game. and if he is a 35%+ three point shooter he will be able to play.

Spoelstra says Jovic is still doing his final exam over Zoom to graduate from high school.

— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) October 7, 2022

liked and subscribed!

i thought that guy played for the nuggets haha

xp ditto

heat sat all their real players tonight vs memphis so duncan robinson had 29 on 7-11 shooting, 5-7 from three. made a few crazy ones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Sqb7bA2M9E

i think perceptions of the down turn in his play have become exaggerated and i wouldn’t be surprised if he had a bit of a bounce back season

13-8-3 with 3 blocks and a steal for jovic. his three point shot is starting to intrigue me, it’s plug and play in the heat’s system if he can hit some of these shots in real games

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHjK83yT2rk

Declining perception of Robinson seemed as much influenced by his falling out of favor with Spo as it did his actual play. Iirc he was benched in the playoffs beyond just playing the matchups no? If he gets minutes I suspect you’re right on the bounce back

Declining perception of Robinson seemed as much influenced by his falling out of favor with Spo as it did his actual play. Iirc he was benched in the playoffs beyond just playing the matchups no? If he gets minutes I suspect you’re right on the bounce back

Declining perception of Robinson seemed as much influenced by his falling out of favor with Spo as it did his actual play. Iirc he was benched in the playoffs beyond just playing the matchups no? If he gets minutes I suspect you’re right on the bounce back

Declining perception of Robinson seemed as much influenced by his falling out of favor with Spo as it did his actual play. Iirc he was benched in the playoffs beyond just playing the matchups no? If he gets minutes I suspect you’re right on the bounce back

Oof very sorry. I blame Zing as always

i mean his 3pt% last three years was 45, 41, 37, you need better than 37 from a pure hoister, if you can hit 45 on ten attempts a game youre really valuable but its really hard to do that almost no one has been able to sustain that sort of shooting theres kyle korver not sure who else

even at 40% hes not worth that big contract, i think generally you just dont want to pay guys like that big money theres just too much variance in high end shooting numbers, like bertans got that bigish contract and he wasnt putting up nearly the numbers that robinson was now hes a bench rando getting paid like a quality starter, and then theres the playoff matchup situation to worry about if he cant hold up on d

Sure but whether or not he’s overpaid is a totally different question

its connected, basically hes playing like a bench guy so hes being played like a bench guy

his play was up and down for a lot of the year, he had a stretch in the regular season where he was barely getting off the bench. to what extent you can use him in the playoffs is a separate conversation but i think he can still be a good regular season player. he lost his confidence last year but he’s hunting for shots in the preseason.

not sure he’ll ever shoot above 40% again bcuz almost all his threes are high difficulty, he doesn’t get many clean catch and shoot looks anymore. but if he can get back up to 38% or so at his volume he’ll be a good player again

heat put UDFA jamal cain on a two way after averaging 17/8 in the preseason

Cain is in the top 10 in preseason wins above replacement player so far by my metric. https://t.co/Y31Rc3HXiv

— Kevin Pelton (@kpelton) October 9, 2022

skinny but long athletic wing type. he's shot it well in the preseason.

15-11 and 5 steals vs brooklyn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW5rOlXSVZA

this team is desperately in need of a 4 who can play small ball 5. bam's +20 to dedmon's -18 was the story of the celtics game. dedmon gives them decent back up 5 mins on most nights but he can't play vs a team like boston.

caleb martin is really more like a 2 to me than a 4, he has a wing skill set but is so skinny that he can't credibly hold up in that role. they tried a super small line up at the end of the third last night w/ butler at 5 and haywood highsmith on the floor to go w/ more wings but highsmith doesn't look ready for primetime and spo went away from that pretty quickly. jovic is being groomed for the small ball 5 role based on how they used him in the preseason but understandable that spo doesn't trust him yet vs a team like boston.

i wonder if they make a move for jae crowder fairly soon. i think there's a hard ceiling on his ability as you get deeper into the playoffs but he seems like a fairly logical stop gap option at the 4 until they can figure out a more significant move closer to the deadline. it would be a seamless fit given their history and there's also the connection between james jones and the heat front office, it just feels like a really obvious move for both sides if the suns are still intent on moving crowder. also wonder if they look at olynyk tho not sure if there's any working relationship between the ainge and reilly front offices.

the defense has been pretty poor overall in both two games, they're just very small. you could see last night vs boston that they were double teaming a lot and bleeding threes as a result, especially in the corners. will be interesting to see how they match up vs toronto the next two games. i'm curious if the heat look more comfortable or if toronto's size on the wing really strains the heat's roster. i'm leaning more towards the latter

on the bright side, the starting 5 played at a high level last night when bam was on the floor. lowry looked way better, his shooting especially off the dribble from three is much needed. but it's hard to know how often he can get there. gabe vincent looks like one of the better back up 1s in the league but this team is going to need a good season from lowry to stay out of the play in in all likelihood.

herro has also looked even better than last year. 24-6-2 on 50/42/85 shooting in two games so far. he has improved his ability to finish at the rim especially through contact in each season and looks physically stronger again this year in his upper body. he's showing a devin booker like skillset as a scoring guard at all three levels of the court. lengthier defenders can still give him trouble but his shooting ability, creativity, and skill as a scorer really plays in the modern game.

haven't seen a finish like this from him previously

Tyler Herro is special. ⭐️

pic.twitter.com/sTaTsAD0r3

— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) October 20, 2022

yeah the dropoff from bam to dedmon was rough for them last night, they shd get myles turner

not getting much attention nationally but oladipo has tendinitis in his other knee and hasn’t played this year and didn’t travel with the heat out west

Victor Oladipo isn't traveling to Portland, Golden State and Sacramento, meaning the chronic condition that has developed in his non surgically repaired knee will sideline him at least the first 7 games this season.

— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) October 25, 2022

sad

nice blowout win in portland last night. the game shifted when they put jovic at the 5 w/ butler and three other shooters. jovic was actually quite bad (2 points, 5 fouls in 14 minutes) but his presence on the floor opened the offense up. the heat look like how the heat are supposed to look when bam is off the floor with jovic out there.

elsewhere, caleb martin was +19, duncan robinson was +12 and max strus was +24. teams like portland that are/want to play small are going to be great match ups for the heat. if two of martin/strus/robinson can credibly play the 3 and 4 at the same time (w/ herro on the floor too) the heat are gonna score a ton of points on you and will be able to do enough on defense w/ butler & bam around to win most games. the issue is against teams like boston, milwaukee & philly who have the size to punish those guys. martin in particular was awesome (16-8-3 and 4 steals), portland just has no one on their roster who could make him pay for being a 200 pound PF.

17-2-6 on 5-7 shooting from three for lowry last night. he seems to have righted himself. they used him a lot off the ball, only one of his 8 shots was a two. it feels like a viable path forward w/ him on the floor if he can shoot ~38% from three. the offense can be run thru herro, bam, and butler but they need lowry to essentially be a 3 and D guard. he's shot 11-21 from three in three games (wins over toronto and portland, competitive loss to boston) and 2-15 from three in two other games (losses to toronto and chicago). feels like that correlation is gonna stick for most of the year because if he isn't hitting threes it's going to be tough for him to make an impact offensively on a lot of nights and they need him out there

4-1 over their last five after the nice win in boston last night. they’re healthy for the time being now for the first time in weeks and it’s right as the schedule gets a little soft. it feels like if they can make a run over the next 3-4 weeks they can put themselves in solid position for a 4-5 seed. their schedule to finish out the calendar year…

@ grizzlies
pistons
clippers
spurs
@ pacers
@ thunder
@ rockets
@ spurs (mexico city)
bulls
pacers
wolves
lakers
@ nuggets
@ jazz

if they can go say 10-4 over that stretch they’d get to 5 games above .500 which would prob give them a little breathing room ahead of the play in race. if they can make that push the formula appears as if it will be pretty uncomplicated: their highest paid players playing very well.

bam has averaged 27-9-3 over the last 5 including games of 38 and 32 with butler out. herro put up an efficient 48-11-12 while shooting 8-16 from three on some pretty difficult ones in the two games vs boston. lowry has had some great games the last few weeks more or less carrying the team w/ a lot of guys hurt tho you do have to wonder about the wear and tear on his body. and of course jimmy comes back last night with a 25-15 and some crazy shotmaking to beat boston.

the other development is haywood highsmith who i’ve never particularly been a fan of… but he was a team leading +12 vs boston last night & was noticeable for his individual defense. he’s one of the league leaders this year in individual field goal percentage against & this team has desperately needed another wing defender so this is worth monitoring. his offense is still in utero to be polite but he’s gonna see the floor playing the 3-4 swing spot and even some small ball 5. the rotation feels more complete with a player like that out there tho it still ultimately feels like there are gonna be multiple trades swung before the deadline to bring in new bodies for the playoffs.

one of the bigger variables here & with basically every team in the east outside milwaukee, boston & cleveand is how the top 3 shakes out. there will prob be a lot of jockeying around the standings hunting for match ups depending on team preference… i think if you’re the heat you’d rather see boston in round 2 than milwaukee, so maybe you’re pushing for the 4-5 if boston is gonna be the 1 or taking the 6 if the they’re gonna be in the 2-3 spots

bam, herro and lowry have looked so good. and of course jimmy. he wants that ring. who am i to say he shouldn’t get it?

feel like they need more from vincent and strus

highsmith was very impressive in game 1 against boston, a non-factor in game 2 though it seems he did rebound the ball pretty well

herro averaged 24-6-5 on 47/42/94 shooting in the month of december. included games of 34, 35, 41, 28, and 29. he is playing like a $30 million per year type of player.

he showed the full skillset last night in utah... hitting pull up threes, scoring from mid range off the pick and roll using pull up jumpers and floaters, and then athleticism at the rim w/ several finishes on the fast break. he also got to the line 7 times and was the heat's leading rebounder with 9.

when he's clicking like this he's a very fun player to watch. he's so fundamentally sound, his footwork is pristine and his jumper always looks good. a three level scorer w/ creativity to his game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfWZqE-Jjuw

26-10-5 on 9-18 shooting, 4-9 from three two nights ago in denver. the combo of the pull up game from three and mid range plus the ability to make those floater shots is a really nice combo. and showing some ability to find open shooters as a ball handler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8DSPmq5vnE

the heat feel like a different team when oladipo is out there and having a positive night on offense. the difference it makes for them to have a guard who is a plus defender and who can make some plays on his own w/ the ball changes the complexion of their line ups. of course the offense comes and goes -- to put it politely -- but when he's contributing on that side of the floor putting him out there w/ herro, bam and butler + any of their other guys has felt like their strongest line up. he's much more dynamic athletically and as a playmaker on both ends than either lowry or gabe vincent. his ability to cause turnovers and finish on the fastbreak is major for them given the state of their half court offense.

last two games for victor are 15-5-4 on 6-11 shooting vs the clippers and 23-5-5 on 7-15 shooting vs utah. just massive contributions for where this team is at. of course, in the previous three games he had 16 points combined on 5-20 shooting and 1-9 from three. nobody will guard him in the playoffs but he proved his value in the boston series last year. it's just gonna be a really tricky balancing act for them trying to squeeze real games out of him in the regular season and keeping him healthy enough to try and contribute for two rounds in the playoffs. they didn't need him at all in the regular season last year but that just doesn't appear to be the case this season

another awesome herro game last night putting up 23-7-3 on 7-15 shooting, 5-9 from three. he's up to 8.5 3PA per game this season after being at 6.7 last year and 5.5 the year before. in the month of december that was up to 9.9 3PA per game and obv he put up another 9 last night. if he shoots at that volume above 40% w/ his ability to shoot off the dribble, catch and shoot, on the move etc he becomes one of the most dangerous three point shooters in the league & it kinda changes things for him and this offense altogether. it almost moves him more into a klay thompson kinda realm offensively w/ a bit more ability off the dribble

last year he shot 60% of the time from 2 and and 40% of the time from three. this year it's 49% from two and 51% from three. a huge and very effective change in shot diet for him and that will prob keep widening. on top of that his 2 pt% is actually up this year to 51% from 48% last year. he's traded a lot of his tougher mid range shots for threes (and is also going to the basket a bit less) and the result is a career high 59% true shooting (last year he was at 56%)

just some high level three point shooting in this clip in terms of off the dribble as a ball handler as well as some tough catch and shoot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSoFNfG-dKc

Also:

Over the last 11 games that the Heat have gone 8-3, Miami has a 115 offensive rating and 106 defensive rating when Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo are on the floor together

You add Victor Oladipo to those two, Miami has a 119 offensive rating and 104 defensive rating

Insane

— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) January 3, 2023

i really like the heat

i like the bucks too

and the celtics

i’m conflicted

i mean don’t get it twisted i’m a boston fan but i feel like

i feel like i know these guys

hows this not a foul wow

Wow. Jimmy Butler misses at the buzzer. No foul call. Game over. Nets beat Heat 102-101. pic.twitter.com/krtyZCEnRb

— Will Manso (@WillManso) January 9, 2023

two time champ norris cole courtside tonight

bam went 14-14 from the free throw line tonight

norris cole is a true heat legend salute

one of our most exciting young players

haha he’s the guy that originated with right?

Yes lol

in the house in brooklyn tonight

with lowry oladipo and herro hurt the heat are putting out some unwatchable line ups when butler sits

Just leaving this here btw

Bam vs Embiid in the clutchpic.twitter.com/F8IhJUJkif

— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) February 28, 2023

trae young is shooting 30.3% (with 49 turnovers) in his last 8 games vs. the Heat.

— Rohan Nadkarni (@RohanNadkarni) March 5, 2023

Trae Young had one of the worst games this season - going 2/13(lowest this season) with 5 TOVs

The Heat had a similar game plan as they did in the playoffs. They prevented him from getting inside - having multiple defenders pinching in, helping off, timely doubles pic.twitter.com/1gOBKwz2h5

— John Jablonka (@JohnJablonka_) March 5, 2023

im not sure theres a less talked about solid team in the league. i hear nothing and seems like theyre never on national tv either. weird team.

it’s been a weird season, right? their point differential is negative. jimmy has been spectacular, but lowry, oladapo, and duncan robinson are complete zeroes now. jimmy in particular could always make noise in the playoffs but for this to be basically the same roster that took them to the finals a few years ago has to be pretty depressing. I don’t follow them closely enough to know what their off-season move is going to be. I assume it starts with extending udonis haslem

halsem said hes hanging it up!

it’s been a very dreary season. nobody talks about them bcuz there is nothing to talk about… aside from jovic who has been hurt they didn’t add a single player to the team between the end of the finals and the buyout period

they had a nice 4 year run with this iteration of the roster. i don’t necessarily fault them for their lack of action bcuz it’s a function of them understanding they need to make a big move. ultimately i think staying pat and hoarding assets at the deadline was the right move but jimmy has been outstanding this year & it’s a shame to not give him at least a fighting chance in the playoffs

the good news is they can’t possibly bring this iteration of the roster back. jimmy & bam aren’t going anywhere but i have to imagine everything else is on the table. i’m excited to see what the team looks like next year bcuz i think they’ll have 2-3 new starters

You're gonna need tissues handy for this one 🥹

Ahead of @ThisIsUD's final game his teammates from all eras of his 20 year career have nothing but love for OG pic.twitter.com/YjrE7wvkc5

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) April 8, 2023

Can’t believe Spo called the “Tyler Johnson for the win in 2015 Summer League” play for Jimmy in a close out playoff game on the road vs the #1 seed @MiamiHEAT @5ReasonsSports @5OTF_ @BradyHawk305 @DosMinutos @Alf954 @jeremytache @MarcHochman pic.twitter.com/2GxrbzvVc6

— Jonathan Keller (@JKeller5) April 27, 2023

congrats Jordo, that must've been awesome to watch

Jimmy Butler para Jrue Holiday “I OWN YOU!” pic.twitter.com/QDMtPnUw77

— MIAMI HEAT DEPRÊ ™️ (@MiamiHeatDepre) April 27, 2023

thanks frogs. it was a lot of fun

jimmy & jrue were complimentary of each other in the press all series so i feel like this was just a heat of the moment type thing but i really can’t remember seeing a guy just completely go at another player like that, in that important of a playoff game, and with the game still very much in doubt the entire time. it’s not like heat were up 15 and jimmy started running his mouth. and on top of it the guy is maybe the best defender at his position in the league. it was crazy. that fake spin into midrange jumper he put on him in overtime (before staring him down all the way up the floor) was nasty. it must be some thing jimmy was doing to psyche himself up to close out the game bcuz based on their interactions otherwise in the series i don’t think he looked at jrue was like “lemme be a huge asshole and embarrass this guy bcuz i don’t like him.”

jimmy was in the zone lol

Jimmy definitely seems like a likable guy who has to put himself into asshole zone to get every ounce out of his talent.

in G4 Jrue made this weird floater off the high glass and Jimmy was yelling at him saying something like "did you call that?". it was such a weird thing for him to be concerned with especially given it was like a tie game with a minute left at that point. like he was just playing streetball out there. whatever it is obviously it's a zone embodied in the true hooper spirit that brings out the best in Jimmy as he basically transforms into Michael Jordan in those spots. but unlike Jordan I don't think Jimmy is an asshole in real life, in fact I actually really like him, or at least I used to before he put a knife in my heart

last night spo called jimmy psychotic in the post game presser lol, in an admiring way of course

i loved his quote about how some guys in the NBA are playing basketball, but jimmy is competing to win, and "that's a different language"

yeah everything he said there was perfect heat culture

otm. jimmy really the perfect heat

jimmy was supposedly this unmanageable malcontent, until he finally landed with a serious team

remember when the bulls were gossiping about how he got a big head from being friends with mark wahlburg lmao

that whole wolves ending is still so funny to me.

honestly w/ every passing year the thought of pairing jimmy butler & karl anthony towns together gets exponentially funnier. like, if you tried to select a single player in the NBA who would be the worst person to pair w/ butler from a personality perspective i'm not sure you could do better than KAT. it's really hysterical. almost like it was a science experiment? butler must have seriously been losing his fucking mind

i also think these last two games gave us a very realistic look at what the infamous "jimmy scores on the wolves every possession in practice while talking shit the whole time & then peaces out from the franchise entirely" day probably looked like lol

lol yeah that was primo nba dramedy

i also think these last two games gave us a very realistic look at what the infamous "jimmy scores on the wolves every possession in practice while talking shit the whole time & then peaces out from the franchise entirely" day probably looked like lol

― J0rdan S., Thursday, April 27, 2023 9:45 AM (seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

haha yup

It’ll get lost in the mix

But Jimmy Butler did this in a 20 second stretch in the 1st quarter LOL pic.twitter.com/uRyDzeu1H9

— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) April 27, 2023

one thing you could say about these two teams is that the bucks folded mentally at the end of two games but bam who had a noticeably awful series & was hearing about it from all sides shook it all off and was dominant on both ends in the 4th Q & OT when the heat needed someone to step up. the defense on giannis in these clips is so sound

Bam Adebayo started the game 2 for 8 in game 5

He closed out going 6 for 12 from the field, along with 5 major assists down the stretch

Plus an absolute defensive masterclass against the 2x MVP

Bam took over the 4th before Jimmy took over the 4th

Don’t forget it

Thread:

— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) April 27, 2023

I can't wait for Jimmy to strangle the bing-bong in the crib.

from your mouth to god's ears my friend...

this was an absolutely deranged reaction to his shot given the circumstances. just pure wrestler shit. he really had no doubt in any fiber of his being that they were gonna lose that game, even tho they totally should have

pic.twitter.com/xzWCFERZVm

— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) April 27, 2023

lol yeah that was primo nba dramedy

― lag∞n, Thursday, April 27, 2023 9:46 AM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Jimmy Butler been the 🐐
Story time with Teague >>> pic.twitter.com/PBuNBZgNAa

— SBWells (@wellssssssssss) April 27, 2023

lmfao

i think he felt disrespected by the timberwolves entire existence on like a base molecular level. just pure disgust over what they stood for (losing)

I've never heard that whole thing, just remember the story and the Jimmy interview, so now I'm on a deep dive and, this is incredible:

Butler: Competing. If you love to compete, you would’ve thrived in the environment. Seriously. Everybody wanted to beat me to show. The crazy part is the most interesting detail wasn’t told.

The most interesting detail of that whole scrimmage that nobody knows: I only shot the ball once.

Redick: Really?

Butler: I only shot the ball one time. I only shot the ball once.

Redick: But every quote coming out of there was like: “Jimmy was getting buckets. He was dominating.”

Butler: Oh, I was dominating, but I only shot the ball once. Dimes, boom, boom, boom. Steals, blocks. I only shot the ball one time.

oops, missed the entire quote, but you get the idea.

lol @ "Oh, I was dominating."

Jeff Teague talks about Jimmy Butler's infamous Timberwolves practice 🤣

"When Thibs gets excited, his hands shake. Jimmy walks in and his hands start shaking."

(Via Club520 Podcast/YT)pic.twitter.com/gFShq0D41Z

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) April 28, 2023

it's kind of wild to me that no one really deeply discusses (at the deserved level, but maybe i'm not reading the right pieces) just what a model team the Heat have been. they're almost like the East Spurs, the difference being the multiple coaches and the chips being more spread out. it's an enviable and fearsome franchise. i'm also a bulls fan and therefore used to incompetence and failed potential.

theyre just not a dominant team, like they're consistently a good defensive team that struggles on offense and wins like 45-50 games, except for the lebron years

spoelstra is clearly one of the best coaches in the league tho

in history imho

again i'm a bulls fan so they seem like a dream franchise.

i’m NOT gonna use the c word but i do think it’s fair to zoom out from the jimmy t wolves story, the jimmy-heat unification, and the success miami has had w/ jimmy as well as over the years vis a vis minnesota & conclude that some franchises are really competing to win & others, to use spo’s term, are just there to play basketball. like imagine KG on the heat… that would’ve been perhaps an overload of competitive spirit. but they damn sure would’ve made more than 3 playoff appearances or whatever it was in minnesota

i always give the heat org props theyre def top level

Wolves went 8 years in a row with KG, seven first round exits in a row then the Western Conference Finals

being serious and having a brand, culture and reputation that you adhere to is really important for a franchise. sometimes it can bite you a bit but overall it sets a floor of competence and winning.

that wcf year was a bummer with the cassell injury i had them winning it all

i always give the heat org props theyre def top level

aw lol

cuet. lagoon is the epitome of heat culture its true

Cassell injuring himself doing a "big balls" celebration is a top Timberwolves moment

if youre gonna go out go out big (balls)

epic timberwolves moments

what’s the c word

culture i think?

actually it's celtics

i used it above. heat CULTURE baby

heat celtics 2023 ecf

el heat

does kinda feel like they're gonna take down the knicks now too huh. would be anticlimactic if they didnt

“c”heat

Jimmy Butler next target has been acquired pic.twitter.com/3Q6igBeyRd

— HEAT NATION (@Zachppp) April 27, 2023

lmao

my god i cannot WAIT

It's going to be great.

Erik Spoelstra walks in and says:

“This closeout game was a nod to our president. That was fully in his image and personality.”

— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) May 13, 2023

The @MiamiHEAT have more Eastern Conference Finals appearances than the @nyknicks have winning seasons since 2001.

— Greg Sylvander (@GregSylvander) May 13, 2023

Erik Spoelstra and the Miami Heat are in the East Finals for the 7th time in last 13 years. pic.twitter.com/PSpHgGshVY

— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) May 13, 2023

Bam Adebayo averages in 9 elimination games

23 Pts / 12.2 Reb / 5.2 Ast pic.twitter.com/wXMvkZgCXP

— 🏎…💨 (@PatRileyBurner) May 13, 2023

Miami HEAT legend Joel Anthony - AKA The Warden - in the building tonight! #HEATCulture pic.twitter.com/6lUZr7rf1T

— Alejandro Solana (@AlexMSolana) May 13, 2023

Crazy stat from second round: The Heat’s bench combined to outscore the Knicks’ reserves 183-90 in the series.

Heat's depth has been a big strength. Miami has outscored opponents by 14.7 points per 100 possessions when Jimmy Butler is off the court in the playoffs.

— Anthony Chiang (@Anthony_Chiang) May 13, 2023

btw happy birthday dude

thank you i appreciate that. go heat.

this can be cross posted to the celtics thread

Most conference finals appearances for “stars” since 2020 (updated)

Butler + Bam 3
Tatum + Brown 3
LeBron + AD 2
Jokic 2
Giannis 1
Luka 1
Kawhi + PG 1
Curry 1
Paul + Booker 1
Durant 0
Irving 0
Embiid 0
Harden 0

— Five Reasons Sports 🏀🏈⚾️🏒⚽️ (@5ReasonsSports) May 14, 2023

hb j0rdan S, salute to one of the greats

hb jordan!!

something i've been thinking about the last few days is to what degree should spoelstra be considered an elite playoff asset (for lack of a better term) on par w/ some of the top players in the league? i.e. how many players left in the playoffs would you take over him if you were trying to win a 7 game series?

jokic, bron, davis, tatum, butler are givens. would you take spo over jamal murray? jaylen brown? i think you could go either way on those. if heat fans had to give up spo or bam i don't think there would be much of a debate. once you start getting into pure role players even great ones like horford, brogdon, gordon etc i don't think those guys are more valuable than spo in a 7 game series, tho it would kinda depend on the make up of your team and your other available options as a coach yada yada this is just a fun thought exercise

spo or trae young? spo or jalen brunson? julius randle? for a playoff series i think you'd take spo over anyone on brooklyn's roster, minnesota's roster, atlanta's roster. spo or ja who you taking to win you a 7 game series?

it's kinda fun to think about but ultimately i feel like spo (in the playoffs) is on the level of a second or third team NBA type player? would def be on the level of an all star reserve type of guy (top 20-24 players instead of top 15 players). spo prob makes something like $9-$10m per year which is a crazy steal if he has the approximate value of a $30m-ish player. and there's no supermax escalators for when he finishes third in coach of the year voting

the thought experiment requires the coach matching up against the other coach, its like you have six players on the court instead of five, so if spo is worth as much as a borderline allstar how much is the other guy worth, it kind of falls apart idk, but trying it out nevertheless just based on nothing on a game to game basis the best coaches are prob worth like a solid starter and the worst are scrubs, then theres longer term stuff like player development team cohesion etc thatre a bit murkier and not totally the product of just the head coach but are prob worth more than in game coaching

if im the heat would i trade spo for anothny edwards? sorry erik youre moving to minnesota buddy

would i trade him for kat? no but i hate kat

i then who replaces him i guess, celtics had to cut udoka but found a better coach just hanging out on their bench

i’d rather have spo and max strus than edwards and chris finch for this upcoming series against boston. maybe i’m crazy! would boston fans be more worried about the heat? i feel like no. for the regular season the calculus is much different. but i feel like we see how much coaching matters in every game in the playoffs, a great coach can effect the totality of the game in a way that rivals the truly elite players. of course a hot night from i.e. brunson can render that moot so there is some level where a third team all NBA/all star reserve type player just rises to a level that a coach simply cannot hit by function of not playing in the game. a great great game from a horford or brogdon type prob gets there too. it’s a permeable line & everyone will see it differently but i still don’t think ppl account for how good spo is when they’re talking about how the heat are back in the ECF. they essentially have 3 all stars on their roster imo

I think coaching is mostly overrated in all sports. Gimme that GM. It's mostly about the talent and luck.

Does anyone think Spoelstra would have pushed the Sixers over the top in Gm 7?

no of course not. but might he have pushed them over the top in game 6? entirely possible! he may have figured out a way get embiid a single touch in the final 5 mins of that game. the heat clinched on the bucks in large part bcuz spo called three plays in the 4th quarter that got butler touches right at the rim and he got 7 points out of those including an and 1 that prob flipped the game. bam & butler had to make great plays sure but spo was as instrumental in that equation. the gap between spoelstra and bud in that series was larger than the gap between anyone on the bucks and his counterpart on the heat

I think Spoelstra is a good coach, I just wonder how much affect it has. My feeling is it's like 60% talent (GM), 20-30% random (execution by players), 10-20% coaching.

It's hard to argue though when you see the Heat do what they do.

10-20% of the recipe is significant. agree that some of spo’s in game play calling and strategy have been crucial this post season

I’m with lagoon on this one, you have to consider the fact that the value is relative to other coaches for one thing, and also a lot of the value coaches bring is more long term than short term. having the best coach is probably closer to having the better 8th guy on a postseason roster

I do think it’s pretty hard to argue there’s a better coach out there than spo though

he may have figured out a way get embiid a single touch in the final 5 mins of that game.

― J0rdan S., Monday, May 15, 2023 3:58 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

tbf he did touch the ball a number of times he just didnt try to actually do anything with it

this is an interesting conversation although i think coaches are much less plug and play than players....like some of the things that matter about spo are that he's been there forever and has this infrastructure around him that seems to work in lockstep with how he coaches. i'm avoiding saying heat culture but i think just extracting spo from miami and dropping him in philly or wherever would blunt some of what makes him successful

where does pop fit into this (besides being too old to really count)

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2023/5/19/23727949/jimmy-butler-dreadlocks-media-day

lol i had never heard that one from spo. “Sometimes, the psychotic meets the psychotic.”

Real Sideline Story: how @JColeNC helped @Calebmartin14 get off the sidelines and become our X-factor pic.twitter.com/1on4Jcjp9q

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) May 20, 2023

why are j cole and caron butler old friends…

🤫 pic.twitter.com/kLASYzQtGv

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) May 30, 2023

OFFICIAL: We have waived Caleb Martin

🔗: https://t.co/KHzg3DlIJ0 pic.twitter.com/Jxj7YueOO2

— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) August 7, 2021

congrats to The Heat of Miami - rootin for you guys

❤️ #HEATCulture pic.twitter.com/h1FOFQgwnG

— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) June 16, 2023

overall this is sweet but it's killing me that he says "the undrafted" the way they say "the unsullied" on game of thrones

Top 10 distance runners in the NBA for 2022-23:

Bam Adebayo - 248.6 total miles
Mikal Bridges - 235.6
Jayson Tatum - 234.8
Max Strus - 232.5
Caleb Martin - 230.2
Domantas Sabonis - 225.6
Jaylen Brown - 224.7
Harrison Barnes - 219.9
Jimmy Butler - 219.7
Anthony Edwards - 218.8… pic.twitter.com/6nPlX33WVW

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) June 28, 2023

i made this point during the playoffs but bam's stamina & energy is really underrated as a skill. the number of bigs who could run the most miles in the entire league and then be banging w/ jokic in the finals as if it was mid-january is an extremely small list. and then to do it w/ the skill that he showed in that series (22/12 on 45% shooting)... it might be a nonexistent list beyond bam. i know he isn't a better basketball player than embiid & bam couldn't be the no 1 option on a contending team but i really do think that if your goal is to win an NBA title he's prob the second most valuable center in the league bcuz he's going to be bringing it in round 4 the way everyone else does in round 1. and when you get that deep in the playoffs that fact alone carries a ton of weight, and it comes with w/ an extremely high level of activity and skill on defense... it might be as important as being able to put up 30. sabonis was third team all NBA which was cool and all the kings had a great season but there's now way i'd take him over bam if i'm trying to win big & i can't think of any other center except for draymond who would even really merit discussion

jordan, talk me into "tyler herro, starting PG for the san antonio spurs"

i… don’t know if i can do that. he’s prob not a point guard unless it’s running a second unit but i do think he would be a really nice fit there with vassell, keldon & sochan. he’s a true 3 level scorer and an elite shooter and can do it off the dribble, he would bring an element they don’t have

i think PG is more nominal, just as a "lead guard" i guess. playmaking by committee kinda thing with sochan, vassell, herro, wemby. trying to think abt if miami wants dame, they may have the spurs as an option to turn herro into picks which can be flipped to portland.

two good performances from jaquez & jovic in summer league yesterday, though against a lakers squad whose best players are jalen hood-schifino and max christie

21-8-3 for jovic on 7-12 FG, 2-4 3PT, 7-12 FT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ec_kUn-oQE

he's added a noticeable amount of bulk in his upper body. still need to see him on the floor w/ real NBA players but he looks like he can hold up physically now. could see him having a gallinari type frame in a few years. if that's the case he looks like he'll be a rotation player at worst. he shot 35% from three in the g league this season and he looks like he will be able to credibly stretch the floor, the form on his shot is good. he also has great feel for the game, he should be able to put the ball on the floor against a close out and make the right pass including directly for assists. he showed some euro step finishes at the rim in this game, we'll see how well he can finish at the rim against real NBA players. he still doesn't look like a great athlete to me but i think he's going to be a very good offensive basketball player. if he can bulk up and hold up in the post it at least gives him a role on defense though i don't think he'll ever be able to move his feet very well. he was also one of the youngest players in the league at 19 last year, he just turned 20 last month. he's actually younger than brandon miller and the thompson twins. the fact that you can see the work he put in to get stronger is encouraging. the heat's g league team gets guys prepared to play in the league. i'm high on him, i think he has the potential to be not necessarily a 6th man of the year type player but a good 7th man who could prob start for stretches if needed. thinking of guys like olynyk, gallinari, kyle anderson

22-3-1 for jaquez on 8-15 FG, 3-7 3PT, 3-3 FT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH8s7cMK8Bs

jaime played as advertised. he looks like, for lack of better term, a basketball player. he's actually a good athlete when he can get some runway to jump -- he had two dunks in transition in this game including an and 1 poster on one of the lakers' centers. you see his lack of athleticism in the halfcourt though, i think taller guys who he can't bully will be able to guard him bcuz i don't see the same elevation when he only has a few steps. but he also showed an ability to hit the 3, he hit one from the wing coming off a screen on an out of bounds play and from the corner. he shot 39% from three as a sophomore but was down to 31% as a senior. maybe some of that was bcuz he had the ball in his hands more as he got older and was shooting less catch and shoot threes, because i thought his shot looked pretty good in this game. will def be watching his three point numbers going forward bcuz if he can shoot 35% (primarily off catch and shoot) and finish in transition that gives him a baseline way to contribute. he also showed some passing and off the dribble ability -- not too many assists but you can see a few good hockey assists in that video. he also made a nice one legged fade away from floater range off pick and roll as a ballhandler. he's another one where you have to see how it all translates against NBA athletes but he appears skilled and smart and there is some athletic pop there in a certain context.

if i'm portland i want jovic in a dame deal, he'd give them a guy on scoot & sharpe's timeline who can be a wing or big and he's plays in a way that wouldn't detract from their development

i think the heat will prob want to keep jaquez bcuz of his age. if he can match up w/ nba athletes it looks like he can contribute this year to some degree and they'll need to have some cheap guys playing

he was a guy I was really hoping would fall to denver, just seems like nugget and a baller

i have exactly one friend who is a college basketball nut (do not understand these people), mostly he just loves pac-12 sports (do not understand these people), and the only question he asked me about the draft was "who got jaquez from ucla"

New chapter means a new venture as a @JaiAlaiLeague team owner. Honored to be part of a sport with deep-rooted history here in my city and to me personally through memories of my dad. Excited to be doing it for Miami, for the players and for the fans around the world. #OG ⚓️ pic.twitter.com/45lbWij0Tq

— Udonis Haslem (@ThisIsUD) August 7, 2023

https://x.com/currypistonn/status/1704326458619969941?s=46&t=delhXlmZBYazm252j4iaFA

pat riley

forget which pod it was, maybe hollinger/duncan, but they had riley pretty high up on their GOAT front office rankings, deservedly so

yeah hes obvs one of the very elite alltime basketball geniuses

it was hollinger and duncan, the whole discussion was a rare miss from them though. they came down to buford/pop vs. riley/elisburg but kept hemming and hawing about how it was hard to separate buford and pop's contributions.....not sure why the same couldn't be said about riley/elisburg since elisburg is always regarded as the best cap person in the league.

they also barely nodded at danny ainge who built a championship team, a second championship contender, and is having a successful-so-far third run at it in utah. his teams have achieved way more actual success than morey or presti or ujiri.

i agree it was really odd that ainge only warranted a passing mention. i thought he was a no brainer name that got raised in these discussions

the heat vs spurs debate was interesting. probably no right or wrong answer. the spurs were forerunners in international scouting and style of play -- they basically ended the heatles w/ a more modern style of basketball than the now rudimentary version of small ball the heat were playing at the time. the heat also changed the entire league, likely forever, in putting the heatles together. and i think when you see the way a lot of these superteams have gone subsequently, you have to give the heat a lot of credit for keeping that together for 4 years and getting to 4 finals. especially given that lebron tried to stage a mutiny 3 weeks into the whole thing.

i think in terms of the concept of culture, the idea that the success of a franchise flows from the top down etc ... the heat really loom large over that entire worldview, and it's basically the dominant way that the media covers the game now. certainly ESPN nowadays. and bcuz of riley's history it's easy to situate it w/in a historical context. i think that's a complicated/controversial legacy for a number of reasons. but you can get why nate duncan, given the nature of his coverage, sees it the way he does

damn... its true tho

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F6lxo4EXwAAedSo?format=jpg&name=large

is herro cousin greg

w/ the dame stuff finally behind us these are two potential heat trade moves that i'll be keeping an eye on as the season goes on

1. paul george

impending free agent w/o a contract. i've never gotten the sense that he is as hellbent on playing in LA in the same way as kawhi. if they have another year where they're floating between the 5-10 seeds or whatever i could see him being available. clippers have also repeatedly been seeking out guards (bones, kennard etc) in recent years, and in terms of draft equity they're back to having their own future picks to trade but they're far from having an asset war chest -- by my count they could trade two firsts and two swaps which is a nice start but they'll need to add to that if they want to make a really big swing. for both of those reasons i think the herro + picks package could be intriguing here

2. the nets

i think there was smoke to the stuff about the nets being a herro team in a blazers-heat three way deal. they also just weren't in on dame at all apparently and i haven't seen their name brought up in relation to jrue at all. so despite having a potential ready-made role player roster they don't seem to be trying to compete at the top of the east this year. if they're floating in the play-in ether i could see the two teams looking at some sorta finney smith & royce young trade that allowed the heat to keep herro and add around their roster. i also like the idea of a bigger trade that involves one of those guys + cam johnson and brings herro back to the nets w/ picks but that seems more far fetched

https://x.com/mikeascotto/status/1708964078293512355?s=46&t=delhXlmZBYazm252j4iaFA

the one thing i really disagreed with in the tyler herro value wars was the idea that he’s on a bad contract, because of the cap spike and some of the deals that are being given out now. the heat getting herro at 4/120 means they have him at market rate at worst but potentially at value

that link is to the vessel 5/146 news…

one thing with herro is that he ended the season injured teams really dont like to trade for guys who arent demonstrated healthy, if he comes back and starts ripping it up takes a step forward hell get a lot more interest

When the shuffle goes from Young Nudy to Yves Tumor pic.twitter.com/SnqcRLXdZN

— Jose (@Glick_Owens) October 3, 2023

lol that's a quality niche tweet for the ilh audience

lol

Hope Jamal Cain gets a chance to play this season. Might take some injuries to open up a spot since as constructed they'll prob just run with who they have, but I would love to see him play defense in some regular season games. He really popped during the preseason games.

compupost, heat fans were up in arms that he didn’t get the final roster spot but from what i can tell they put him on the 2 way to protect his eligibility a bit? i think they like him.

if they can hit a stretch where they have martin, robinson, haywood, jaquez, jovic, cain etc all healthy i think that is an interesting wing rotation

feel like herro was his ideal self last night little less lead guard little more three point gunner, if he can fill that role consistently he could be really good

i like the slow transformation of his look into a kind of corsican sabre duellist

lol yes

his look this year is hysterical it’s true… he responded to the dame stuff by showing up looking like karate kid

i didn’t get to see the game but the big thing for him is less mid range Js more threes. i think he has the skill set to be a really efficient three level scorer

Another thing on Tyler Herro’s night against Boston was scoring with ease against tough matchups

Shot 7 for 11 when defended by Jrue Holiday or Derrick White

Quick decisions and quick shots

— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) October 28, 2023

i think if he builds his game around getting as many threes as possible like say steph curry does then thatll make the rest of his game easier

yeah i think he’s got a real hooper’s heart and wants to show off his mid range game. and i do enjoy it aesthetically. but we need them threes baby

herro launching to start the season, kudos, 2p% is off tho, could be just random but also he might be pressing a lil

most of his increase in attempts is coming from long 2 prob has something to do with it

jimmy and bam have both missed games already & jimmy has looked bad when he’s played, i think herro has had too much of the offensive load. he was also just weirdly awful vs detroit in the opener which feels like noise. but i’ve liked how he’s been getting his shots so far

you can see him being a lot more intentional about what he's doing in the pick and roll, keeping defenders on his back, using his body etc

Usually the rule for ball-handlers is to stay linear with your roller to have that available

But when you need Tyler Herro to score, it’s better to wait it out and see if your roller can pull that drop defender down a bit

Herro keeps Dame on his back the whole way, fades for 2 pic.twitter.com/C2CrDBjqlO

— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) October 31, 2023

Herro receives the handoff extremely high and refuses that screen

Now immediately has the 2-on-1 he wants

Keeps Connaughton on his back, help is peeling in far, and Portis is playing high in drop

So he does what he did all night: find the spot for the floater

That’s his game pic.twitter.com/OlZBc5QODZ

— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) October 31, 2023

idk those are really difficult shots but if theres nothing else happening i guess it is what it is, whats jimmys problem did he really go emo

those are hard shots but i do think small guards need to have that pin the defender/floater game in their bags if they're going to have the ball a lot. i think trae is one of the best at this?

yeah def pinning the defender on yr hip is a nice advanced technique and the fact that herro has it in his game now is good

i think one of the reasons along with him being a great shooter that it makes sense to tilt his game more towards 3s than standard lead guard stuff is that he doesnt have great athleticism to finish once hes in the lane and ends up taking more difficult shots than you might like, getting stronger would help tho he has a pretty slight frame so hes prob not ever going to be super strong

if he really starts hunting threes out of the pick and roll and is effective thatd open up driving and passing lanes, but if hes mostly looking more to drive or pass and not exploiting every little hole for a 3 attempt hes kiinda playing into the defenses hands IMHO

idk that hed actually be successful with that steph approach but it seems very worth a try, he even has his own draymond ready to go in bam

also i would just like to see it

i think one of the reasons along with him being a great shooter that it makes sense to tilt his game more towards 3s than standard lead guard stuff is that he doesnt have great athleticism to finish once hes in the lane and ends up taking more difficult shots than you might like, getting stronger would help tho he has a pretty slight frame so hes prob not ever going to be super strong

― lag∞n, Wednesday, November 1, 2023 12:07 PM (three minutes ago)

for sure i think the major difference between him and maxey is maxey has speed that eliminates his size disadvantage. herro has to rely a lot more on creativity around the rim & while i think he has gotten better at that every season, there is prob going to be a cap on what he can do at the rim

also -- i think most people would guess that herro is a great free throw shooter but i'm not sure people realize he led the league in FT shooting last year among qualified players and it wasn't particularly close. he shot 93.3% from FT last year -- the next highest player was KD at 91.9%

that's free money that he just has to figure out how to access. i think you can tell he's worked on drawing contact this year & i think as he develops that pin/floater game he should be able to draw fouls from guys trying to get him from behind. but also can he hold up physically if he's trying to draw 5-6 fouls per game every night in the NBA?

if he was shooting 4-10 from three every game and making 5-6 free throws per game, that's like 18 points per game right there w/o having to make a single two pointer in game action. i think that's the ultimate goal for him. the first part should be achievable, i think the second part is the real crux of it all

yeah increasing his ft rate would be good, its tough to do but not impossible

whats jimmys problem did he really go emo

― lag∞n, Wednesday, November 1, 2023 11:46 AM (thirteen minutes ago)

it's interesting. saw this tweet last night that made me raise my eyebrow

So Jimmy Butler now on injury report with knee tendinitis three nights after sitting out in Minnesota and one night after playing 28:43 in Milwaukee. He is 13 of 40 from the field this season in his three appearances. He declined comment after Monday's game. https://t.co/t1peUnB05I

— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) October 31, 2023

i didn't see the boston game but he definitely did not look spry or athletic vs the bucks

ultimately given what ppl were saying about jimmy this offseason i'm choosing to believe that he doesn't have a debilitating knee injury & is just doing his typical regular season coasting while also not making many shots

also if you look at the heat's injury reports so far this season (embedded in the above tweet) i think they're laying the groundwork for a big load management season regardless of the new rules. they've sat caleb martin the whole season, are already listing & sitting jimmy and bam

i sorta hoped that last season wouldn't embolden them to never care about playoff seedings again. but i think that's prob what happened

yeah jimmy was a non entity vs celtics, what were they saying about him in the offseason

*i kinda think not caring about playoff seeding is the move, im a load management extremist lol, tho from a watching the games perspective obvs i hate it

yeah well they're also starting off w/ 12 of 17 on the road, which is apparently the most in the league over that span, and the most recent stretch was a 3 games in 4 nights road trip vs two of the best teams in the league (bucks, celts) and another likely playoff team (wolves) that also treats jimmy's annual visit like game 7 of the finals. even w/in the context of taking it easy in the regular season it feels like they were particularly not caring a whole lot about the last two games

what were they saying about him in the offseason

just that he was super motivated to have a great season, was looking awesome in camp etc. also he did like a whole SI cover where he talked about making it back to the finals, did the emo thing to draw more attention to himself, has repeatedly said stuff in press conferences like "don't ask me about 82 games ask me about 98 games" and shit like that. if he was feeling uncomfortable physically or w/ the roster he's been doing a lot of PR to lie about it

ah i see, re not caring about reg season record it is prob good to at least try to get in the top six so you dont just randomly lose a game or two and get knocked out, which almost happened to the heat last year

could be jimmy just has a lil knee tendonitis and its not that big of a deal

ah i see, re not caring about reg season record it is prob good to at least try to get in the top six so you dont just randomly lose a game or two and get knocked out, which almost happened to the heat last year

― lag∞n, Wednesday, November 1, 2023 12:50 PM (twenty-three seconds ago)

yes. people also forget that in the season after the bubble they got the 6 seed finishing one game behind the knicks & hawks who tied for 4-5. the heat got smoked by the bucks in round 1 while the hawks beat a shitty knicks team and then rode the simmons meltdown to the east finals. if the heat had simply won a single more game in that regular season they prob would prob be sitting here as having made the ECF in all four jimmy years. so they've already been burned by it! but i think they don't care and i understand the feeling that seeding doesn't matter if you aren't healthy

yeah i dont think home court matters that much but having to play multiple rounds of good teams is bad, maybe making the top five is the move

just feels like this year especially you want to avoid the bucks or celtics in round 1 but i kinda feel like actually the heat would love to play the bucks again in a 1-8 series. i don't think the fanbase handles stress as well as the organization does

lol

can’t wear heat culture jerseys and lose to the wizards (on a neon red court), let’s just say that

idk heat culture seems like more of a playoff thing

30-11 w/ 3 blocks (14-16 from the line) for bam tonight a game after a 22-20-11 triple double vs the lakers

saw a heat reporter note that bam takes the match up vs JJJ personally (team USA hierarchy stuff, i assume)

win in memphis tonight was the first of 9 out of 10 on the road (4 game road trip, 1 game at home, 5 game road trip)

the broadcast team noted they're on the road for 17 of the next 19 days

if they're at .500 and healthy at the end of all that i think they'll be in a pretty good spot

jaime jaquez jr hit the dagger 3 to beat memphis tonight in what i have to assume was the first battle of JJJs in nba history

― slob wizard (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, November 8, 2023 10:41 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

how’s he been? he was one of the guys I was really hoping would fall to denver

― k3vin k., Thursday, November 9, 2023 2:53 AM (nineteen hours ago)

answering this here...

there's not much volume in his offensive game right now but he's shooting 50% from the floor and has a 2:1 A:TO ratio. he's shot 12-17 over the last three games. he just has good feel for the game, he's not trying to do too much out there. he figures out ways to get himself makable looks in the lane.

then there are also plays like this where he comes off his guy, strips jarren, beats two guys down the floor, flies thru the air avoiding marcus smart to lay it in where you can see some of the athletic pop that shows up when he gets a head of steam on the fast break.

This is just pure feel from Jaime Jaquez pic.twitter.com/K9mQhn5Hrj

— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) November 9, 2023

his viability this year and in the playoffs will come down to whether he can make threes. i think if he can just make corner threes consistently he'll be a good player because when he is moving towards the basket he's generally good whether he has the ball in his hands or is cutting.

i think his ceiling is something like PJ tucker -- he's stout enough to play the 4 but can hang on the perimeter too. tucker has a pretty similar feel on offense. i don't think jaime is that good of a defender and he prob has more offensive skill than PJ, but you can already envision a lot of games where jaime is primarily spending his time on offense in the corner and either shooting or making plays from there, picking up some junk points, and then guarding the opposing 4.

i posted some duncan on wemby highlights in the other thread for laughs, but he was legitimately great vs the spurs and has looked better than ever this season, in particular from inside the arc where he's just noticeably a lot better

coming into the season his career high in 2PA/g was 1.4 in the 20-21 season -- this year he's at 3.7 2PA/g and scoring at a 62% rate, which is both very good and aligned w/ his career numbers just at 2.5x the volume. he finished twice in the paint off the dribble last night, including a tough floater on vassell... he also had a nice finish on the fastbreak

Duncan's bag of tricks is starting to seem never-ending 👀 always something new, he led us to our comeback win pic.twitter.com/mCQgtyASDA

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) November 13, 2023

with herro out during the playoffs and now again for a multi week stretch, the heat are leaning heavily on the duncan-bam two man game to generate offense and duncan is showing the ability to expand that beyond their typical balletic passing and screening routines around the 3 point line

Duncan Robinson less than 10 feet from the basket:

Last regular season- 0.7 attempts a night on 59% shooting

(Playoffs went up to 1.4 attempts which felt like a major leap)

This season- 3.3 attempts a night on 64% shooting

That jump is really wild

— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) November 13, 2023

he's also been the best high volume pull up three point shooter this year ... to say this offense needs shots like this is an understatement

40 players have attempted at least 20 pull-up threes so far this season

Who is shooting the highest % among all those pull-up shooters?

Duncan Robinson at 47% shooting

— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) November 13, 2023

he's an easy guy to root for. he was written off two years ago as an albatross contract & could've just happily enjoyed his riches and rode off into the sunset w/ a podcast sponsored by a gambling company lined up. but he went back in and improved his game and reclaimed his spot and then some.

meanwhile bam is on what is possibly the best stretch of his career

his last 4 games have gone

22-19-10, 2 blocks, 2 steals
30-11-1, 3 blocks, 1 steal
26-17-4, 2 blocks, 2 steals
24-11-6, 0 blocks, 3 steals

cherry picking some numbers here but

Over his last four games, Bam Adebayo has averaged 25.5 points on 53.7% shooting , 14.5 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.8 blocks.

The only other players in NBA history to do that over four games are:

Hakeem (2x)
Bird (2x)
Giannis (2x)
Kareem (13x)

— Couper Moorhead (@CoupNBA) November 13, 2023

he's really been playing like a maniac. incredible intensity on both ends of the floor. he's actually 6th in the league in FTA per game -- the only guys ahead of him are embiid, giannis, dame, trae and KD. bam hasn't shot under 75% from the line in 4 years, if he can even hover around the 10-15 range in FTA/g in the league he will be a different offensive player. right now his post game is looking really refined, he's finding his little paint jumper in rhythm, and he's overall just shouldering and relishing offensive responsibility to a different degree -- recognizing key possessions, demanding the ball, getting to his spot, making his jumper. efficiency, intelligence, and effort.

and then he's still doing stuff like this a few times per game that puts him on a very short list of nba players from a size/athleticism/skill perspective

This is just an insane sequence

Recognizing the need for help, making the block, running the floor, hitting the cut perfectly

Bam Adebayo man

pic.twitter.com/tDFbKntPcp

— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) November 12, 2023

if he can even hover around the 10-15 range in FTA/g

I’m confused he’s averaging 7 FTA/g which is really good but 10+ would be lebron/harden level

top 10 to 15 in the league in fta

oic

bam absolutely killed zinger in the second game of the season fouled him out in 30mins, he looked really strong and decisive driving from the perimeter and whatnot

yeah. they gave him the captaincy this year with haslem retiring and he’s playing with an aggressiveness that just feels like him accepting a new level of responsibility on offense. i don’t think his skill level has jumped the way it has in previous years, it’s his confidence and willingness to assert himself physically on offense

he’s also averaging a career high in blocks this year (1.4/g) and i was observing a conversation on twitter about how their perimeter defense is stronger with this roster which is allowing bam to play in drop more. he’s been really effective this year guarding the ball handler in PNR and then sagging off and disrupting the alley oop

All about that White Chocolate today!

Happy Birthday J. Will 🎂 pic.twitter.com/CGYkxF1PHN

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) November 18, 2023

duncan "vanilla pudding" robinson

22 points in 30 mins on 6-9 shooting from 3 for duncan tonight

coming into the game there were 25 players in the league averaging 7 threes per game. duncan ranked 5th in terms of 3pt percentage (41.1%) of that group. the only 3 guys higher than him are steph (44.7%), maxey (44.6%), halliburton (43.2%), and luka (42%).

he's been pretty easily the best role player shooter in the league this year -- the only other non-star shooting above even 40% from 3 at high volume this year is tim hardaway jr at 40.5% on 9 attempts per game. porter jr is at 37% on 7.3 attempts per game, hield is at 36.7% on 7.5 attempts, max strus is at 36% on 7.7 attempts.

plus the fact that he has expanded his game from inside the arc, shown some ability to finish at the rim a bit off pump fakes etc... if he keeps this up he should get real 6th man of the year consideration. he's not even like completely awful on defense. he's def below average but still competent enough to stay on the floor in multiple finals, conference finals etc

coming into the game there were 25 players in the league averaging 7 threes per game

sorry to be clear i mean 7 three point *attempts* per game. the list of players averaging 7 made threes per game is zero names long

easily the best role player shooter in the league this year

Put that on a tee-shirt and maybe he'd autograph it for you.

go away, you don’t have the license to be a dick to me in this thread

and that’s actually a really good thing to be in today’s NBA!

well apparently jimmy loves jovic (not playing at all this year)

Why did Jimmy Butler make the trip to Wisconsin to watch the Skyforce last night?

Butler: “Niko. Got to go see my boy. I’m a huge Niko fan. I think he’s going to help this organization well after I’m done here. That’s my dawg. I love him to death."

— Anthony Chiang (@Anthony_Chiang) November 21, 2023

I didn't think you'd take that so hard. But you did and I apologize.

i will take shit from people who will also engage genuinely with me on this topic i care about in this thread that is 90% my posts. if you’re just popping in w/ some zing you can save it. you’re in group 2

this shit means something to me pic.twitter.com/Sxkkb0NXli

— flan artest (@FarFarGone) December 2, 2023

love this dude

another borderline remarkable duncan robinson game last night in toronto -- put up 21-6-7 and had the ball in his hands shredding the raptors in pick and roll for much of the 4th quarter. it felt slightly hallucinatory

we know duncan and bam have their two man game down pat, but the heat were clearing out for duncan & orlando robinson to run PNR last night and the raptors simply could not stop it

these are not incredibly complicated reads or anything but he repeatedly put himself and/or orlando in a great spot to score easily and efficiently down the stretch

Now we get to the stuff I really wanted to talk about: the 4th quarter

Offense hit a wall, so use Duncan as your hub out of an empty corner

PnR coverage scrambling to defend at the level, and Duncan throws a sweet lead bounce pass to Orlando for the and-1 pic.twitter.com/H3yno6m7V3

— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) December 7, 2023

Pass to Duncan off the screen into a high PnR, and yeah I wouldn’t go under on the screen like that too often

As soon as Duncan sees him about to go under, he’s in his shot motion pic.twitter.com/d8a4lJS8xd

— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) December 7, 2023

slow play reading the defense and just casually easing in to a wrong foot one handed runner off the glass was when i was like -- oh

So Heat go empty corner again for Duncan

Raptors containing Orlando on the roll after a few possessions ago

Duncan baits that into a runner off the glass

In games like this, find a player/action that’s working and counter the coverage

That’s what they began doing pic.twitter.com/Gq2rEwa8rF

— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) December 7, 2023

this one basically clinched the game ... doesn't panic with the big switched onto him, let's orlando pin his guy under the hoop, little bounce pass, easy bucket

So let’s go empty corner for these 2 one more time

Duncan finds space and now sees the coverage is a late switch

Patiently waits for Orlando to get his seal, and that’s a win for the possession

Being able to make reads of the different coverage play after play is huge to see pic.twitter.com/y7ZbqLcKvO

— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) December 7, 2023

i really hope he gets his due consideration for 6th man of the year. up to 49/44/84 shooting and blowing away his career highs in PPG (15.0) and APG (2.9) w/ no corresponding jump in turnovers. he's also blowing away his career numbers in terms of how many of his shots are being assisted. right now for his career 82% of his 2 point FGs have been assisted -- this year he is at 67%. his career number for 3 point FGs being assisted is 95% -- this year it is at 84%.

you wouldn't say he's a new or different player exactly because he still looks a lot like duncan robinson -- it's just a markedly improved version that is showing up on the court every night now. with jimmy and bam in and out of the line up and herro on a prolonged absence, it's not a stretch to say that duncan has been the most important player on the team given the degree to which they run offense thru him now. last night they sat lowry, in toronto, for basically the entire 4th quarter, had josh richardson in as "point guard" and put the game on duncan's back.

and then the most shocking thing of all is this, specifically the final play in this clip (at 49 seconds) when scottie barnes isos duncan at the top of the arc, drives on him, spins, goes for the lay up and is... just draped and contested the entire time. scottie barnes isn't kevin durant or anything but these kinda guys used to treat duncan like a traffic cone

Some Duncan Robinson defense from last night

One of his best performances on that end pic.twitter.com/JJ3rcvRzGO

— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) December 7, 2023

every time I watch a heat game he does something that makes me do a double take, I need to update my expectations

he was seemingly out of the rotation for most of last season it seemed, very weird turnaround. would be cool if he kept it going.

oh he wasn’t seemingly out of the rotation. he was out of the rotation.

the thing is that he has noticeably improved his game in order to earn his minutes back… he had to go back in the lab. what’s unique is that typically when a guy comes out of nowhere to score a huge contract and then immediately flops after getting the bag we don’t then see the redemption story happening with the same franchise. he’s essentially a “change the scenery” guy except he didn’t actually change any scenery

similarly rare to see a guy inarguably be tabbed as one of the worst contracts in the NBA shift it back not only to “ok this isn’t killing us anymore” but all the way to potentially being a value deal on the same contract

I feel like the turning point for him last season was a string of games late in last season / into the playoffs where Duncan started racking up at least 1-2 pump-fake drive wide open layups, and then added a few wide-open cut layups throughout the playoffs, and it feels like he's kept it up since then.

yeah i think less so the cutting which he developed earlier as a counter to teams “top locking” him but he definitely started showing the pump and drive game early in last year’s playoffs, doing stuff like taking jrue holiday off the dribble and scoring a lay up over him where you’re just like “whaaat?????” he’s carried that over to this season & even expanded it. he’s tall enough to get his shot off on most guys and has so far shown pretty good touch from floater range

There was like a 5-10 game run where he got a wide open layup off of doing basically nothing but going to the basket. It was so clearly that the entire world knew he would do anything but drive to the hoop to shoot, and that perception was so ingrained that he was still getting some of these in the playoffs.

It's cool that his game has finally opened up from freakishly one-dimensional to some more varied skills. Sucked to see someone clearly struggle w/ their role like Duncan did last year; he never stopped shooting, but he was shooting so badly that they had to move him to the back of the rotation so he couldn't play enough minutes to hurt them.

The funny thing is that he wasn't a truly awful, has-the-yips type shooter during his long slump – still above 30% 3pt shooting, and still had defenses chasing him all over the place to defend the shots. Was just falling way short of justifying his contract. Glad he's back!

Highest EFG% on Pull-Up Jumpers:

1. Duncan Robinson: 71.4%—56 FGA
2. Huerter: 63.0%—50
3. Haliburton: 60.2%—186
4. Beasley: 59.6%—52
5. D. White: 57.0%—50
6. McCollum: 56.8%—59
7. Harden: 56.5%—77
8. Fox: 55.6%—144
9. Luka: 55.0%—251
10. SGA: 54.7%—192
.
98. THT: 21.0%—50 pic.twitter.com/cpNt37Hwd2

— NBA University (@NBA_University) December 10, 2023

Eric Reid soft-launching Ride Captain Ride

21 fourth quarter points for duncan last night, and it wasn't on seven threes

Still trying to find the words to describe 4th Quarter Duncan. Just watch what happened 🎥 pic.twitter.com/KxVgunen4q

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) December 23, 2023

as a fan i like watching herro because he scores from all three levels and has great footwork on all sorts of jumpers but the version of him that is the most dangerous is the one that will shoot 13 threes in a game (let alone while making seven of them). he's shooting more shots per game this year than last year but fewer shots from three and that correlation needs to be going in the opposite direction when he's shooting 43.5% from three for the season. the way he steps up a level as a player and thus possibly elevates the heat is by weaponizing his pull up three the way other guards in the league do

Tyler keeps getting better and better since his return.

30 piece tonight 🔥 pic.twitter.com/FVHoLjiJPe

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) December 23, 2023

if you look at pull up 3 pt shooting this year among all players averaging at least 4.5 attempts per game...

luka -- 7.8 attempts per game / 37.3% on those shots
halliburton -- 6.7 per / 40.6%
trae -- 6.3 per / 39.6%
steph - 5.8 per / 38.0%
tatum - 5.6 per / 28.9%
mitchell - 5.6 per / 35.8%
lillard - 5.5 per / 36.9%
bane - 5.3 per / 33.8%
maxey - 4.9 per / 31.8%
simons - 4.8 per / 32.6%
lavine - 4.8 per / 34.5%
fox - 4.6 per / 40.6%

herro is 4.1 per / 35.6%

his percentage is not at the elite level of steph, trae, halliburton, luka but he's been right there w/ mitchell, lillard, lavine and much better than simons, maxey, bane..... they just need him taking several more of these kinda shots per game, he needs to be up there w/ those other guys. his midrange game is great but that should be his counter to bending the defense via the threat of the three being popped if any room is given

its bizarre that he wont take more threes every player loves to take threes

i think he has a bit of hooper's disease

plz stop playing basketball “the right way” tyler

time to hoist buddy

Is Kevin Love moving noticeably better this year, like better than he has since the Cleveland days? Not sure if he's just carrying less weight (he looks slimmer) or if five years of playing off the bench has allowed his body to mend better, but he's looked lighter on his feet the past few games than I can ever remember.

He's essentially playing the same 20min/game he's usually played for the past five seasons (feel like the Heat haven't really had any garbage time minutes for stat-padding, and Love plays against startes a fair amount), but his Per 36 numbers are his best across the board since Cleveland, w/ career highs in assists and career low in turnovers. The difference might just be enough added familiarity to add a few successful full-court outlet passes per game.

yeah he's definitely dropped a lot of weight, he looks like he's 3-4 years younger

i think he's overstretched playing the 5 for them but they don't have many better options right now. he has one of the greenest shooting lights i've ever seen for a role player, it's almost bertans-esque

he needs to get back to this

https://i.imgur.com/Wcn5gB3.png

proto jokic build

he needs to get back to this

https://i.imgur.com/Wcn5gB3.png

― lag∞n, Wednesday, January 3, 2024 11:31 AM (fifteen minutes ago)

round mound of rebound era k love is def one of those things ppl were losing their shit over for 2-3 seasons that is going to be lost to time as everyone just remembers him as a post-bosh floor spacer

he was so good

What’s happening w this team?

i haven't been watching them much lately for reasons that both include and transcend them playing like total shit but

they got healthy finally except butler, bam, and herro haven't actually played consistent basketball together in a long time, and now you add rozier to the mix in a ball handling position, and it seems like nobody actually has any idea of how to play with or off each other. there are no defined roles. like when those 4 guys are on the floor together, who is actually the ball handler? you have 4 guys who *can* handle the ball and want to handle the ball, but how is that breaking down and what are the other 3 guys doing when the one guy has the ball? haywood highsmith knows what he's doing which is standing at the 3 line, but the other 4 guys can just be doing anything on any possession which sounds great but i think in practice may not actually make much sense. one of the reasons why they really took off in the playoffs last year was bcuz there were clearly defined roles where the ball ran thru 1. butler 2. bam end of story

i also think they miss vincent and strus on defense. and jimmy still hasn't really gotten into gear this year which is really the major thing i'm worried about

Non defined roles is really hard to figure out, I trust spo to figure it out. Not to make this a warriors thing but they’re having that same prob this year, no role definition for the rotation guys so you’re not getting the best out of everyone

the thing youd like to see with a bunch of skilled guys is a lot of ball movement searching for advantages, cause if youre just doing a taking turns thing youre not really leveraging having a lot of guys who can dribble it just becomes one guy dribbling

i didn’t see the heat game tonight but i watched the game vs the knicks on saturday and bam was just completely absent offensively… took 10 shots and only had 1 assist and didn’t shoot a free throw. tonight — 5 assists but only 9 shots and two free throws. it’s not about getting him more shots specifically as much as it’s just emblematic of their offensive flow being completely broken since they got healthy and then added rozier

seems like something they can ramp up into at least, assuming jimmy is still good, he’s been kind of mediocre this year but I can’t put too much stock into his regular season performances given his track record

Yeah feel like we have this convo every year since he’s been there

it was just a couple years ago that they finished first in the east

the jimmy heat playoff legend is a lil overstated, last year was legitimately insane, but then the other year they made a run was the bubble which we all know does not count, then they made the east finals the year they finished first in the east, if they do it again this year i will reassess

which is not to say jimmy isnt a gamer cause obvs he is and his game is good for the playoff too since he can get usually get a dece shot on his own

on jan 31 the heat beat the kings to snap their 7 game losing streak. in the 8 games following that game, plus that game (9 total), they are fifth in the league with a +9.3 net rating. they're basically dead even w/ the timberwolves for no 1 defense over that stretch: 104.7 def rating for miami vs a 104.1 def rating for minnesota.

butler has played in 6 of those 9 games, averaging 23/8/6 on 56/53/76 shooting. attempting only 12.7 shots from the field in that span vs 9.7 free throw attempts. he is clearly trying a lot harder than he had been for most of the season (he was definitely trying hard during their losing streak, to be clear) & is just asserting himself athletically in ways i think he was declining to do for the first 2.5-3 months of the season. he had 23-9-6 on 12 shots in 27 mins in new orleans the other night before getting ejected early in the 4th quarter. he was +19 for the game.

i've been wanting to post about nikola jovic's 24-7-3 performance in milwaukee from before the all star break because you can see the vision for him playing next to bam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIfBiF_q-uk

so obviously he was bombing threes in this game which is just one of those things, that needs to be acknowledged from the start. but his shot looks good -- it's fluid, repeatable and he was feeling confident. he showed some ability to relocate as the play shifts and get off clean looks. you can see in this game how he could operate as a floor spacer in pick and roll situations. the heat were hot overall in this game but they got a lot of mileage out of jovic being on the floor w/ other shooters (herro, robinson) that need to be respected. he also scores in semi transition at the rim on giannis, he's very comfortable playing in transition, like a lot of euro guys he just sees the floor well and does not panic, and he can use his size to score around the basket when he can get on the move in transition

more importantly, he is holding up defensively. for as fun as that game was, he has scored only 6 points since. but he's been in the starting line up because the heat don't actually have another 4 and it's an exciting peak at a future where the heat can play bigger while still being able to space the floor and move the ball the way they want. olynyk filled this role well for them and jovic looks like he can be that kinda player if not more. you can see him on this rep here being able to move his feet w/ giannis and use his size to keep him away from the hoop and contest the fadeaway

🔒Nikola Jovic🔒 pic.twitter.com/oLdBrR7Wn4

— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) February 14, 2024

vs new orleans last night they started him on valanciunas so bam could freelance. jonas def had a physical advantage over him but niko held his own, didn't get overwhelmed, and the heat were +7 in the first. the question now is to what extent he can hold up in the playoffs this year because i think the heat will need another card to play in the back up big rotation aside from kevin love.

at 20 years old and not turning 21 until june, he is still younger than several players from the most recent draft including brandon miller and the thompson twins. he has put a lot of work into his body and it's allowing him to play in a role that makes sense for both him and the team. i think the heat scouted him well in terms of his personality, work ethic and all that. jimmy is very fond of him. i don't think he's an all star type player or anything but i'm very optimistic that he has a chance to be a good to high level role player w/ a very contemporary skillset

https://www.instagram.com/p/C3yW1w1P5j2

so about two weeks ago bam seemingly decided to just start shooting threes from the top of the key and he’s looked really good doing so to this point

Good morning.

Since Bam Adebayo randomly decided to wake up & shoot 3s, he’s 9-of-14 (63.8 percent) from 3-point range.

Hilarious development … and his form/rhythm look clean while doing it too.#HEATCulture pic.twitter.com/ITBebGmvyl

— Matt Hanifan (@mph_824_) March 30, 2024

before making 9 of his last 14 from three bam was 9 for 76 on his career. they’ve been talking about him working on this shot — the straight line 3 — for years now, idk if anyone knows why he suddenly started shooting them or what his actual “true talent” is from there but if he gets it to a place over the next few years where you have to even somewhat check him up there when he doesn’t have the ball that would be interesting for the heat. a bam that provides even a modicum of spacing would be one of the better players in the league, it’s basically the only thing keeping him out of the discussion for top 10 guys in the league

they apparently decided to have him focus on the three from the top of the key as his breakthrough into long range shooting, as opposed to the corner, bcuz it preserves his ability to function as the playmaker in their offense from that position on the floor

i always liked the top of the key shot its maybe good for people who are too reliant on looking at the basket rather than just having the shot grooved on a feel level which is what youre supposed to do, anyway shooting threes is good nice move by bam and the heat

It's cool that Rozier finally plays for a good team again and people can watch him drop 30pts in meaningful games. Had some beautiful side-step jumpers tonight.

i’ve enjoyed watching him, his footwork is really nice. he jumps like a foot horizontally on his sidestep three it’s crazy, he beat cleveland on a similar shot recently

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH-88FMnbrM

Heat season doesn't truly begin until they're losing in the 4th Q in the final play-in game.

Garcia will make it interesting.

— TimTTT123 (@TimTtt123) June 22, 2024

jimmy is playing in a high stakes poker game

$121,000 POT!! 💰

NBA superstar @JimmyButler has AA 🏀

Boxing superstar @RyanGarcia has bottom pair 🥊

Tune in NOW for LEGENDS ON THE FELT: https://t.co/AsrO2QjStY pic.twitter.com/MYAocy95aT

— Hustler Casino Live (@HCLPokerShow) June 23, 2024

just took 60k off ryan garcia lol

must feel great for keating to be in that game the fish becomes the shark

Nikola Jovic low post touch into Bam Adebayo threes

I’m ready to go home pic.twitter.com/3EpULEJxBB

— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) October 7, 2024

Jimmy Butler pick and pop with Bam Adebayo

Hits his third three in opening few minutes

3 for 3

— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) October 7, 2024

bam launching from 3 in the heat's public scrimmage tonight. they appear quite serious about this.

its a good idea

i think a lot of people both outside and inside of miami are pretty bored w/ this iteration of the franchise but i'm honestly pretty interested to see what they look like this season. because no one feels like talking about this team i think the bam 3 point stuff is just being treated as standard "hey all bigs should shoot 3s" offseason chatter that happens w/ guys every year but the full picture has me curious because not only are they pushing bam out on offense but they've invested a lot of assets in their front court now too. their last three first round picks -- ware, jaquez, jovic -- are not only all 4s or 5s (obv jaquez plays the 3 sometimes) but they're also all supposed to (eventually) be floor spacers. jovic and jaquez's 3 point shooting has been very hot and cold but there's been plenty of floor spacing flashes from them both -- we'll see w/ ware, that part of his game seem less developed in summer league than what he can do around the basket, but that's definitely supposed to be one of his selling points

it's entirely possible that none of this comes to pass, bam's 3 shooting doesn't click and jaquez and jovic are in the low 30%s and the heat look like they have for the last few seasons. but i think what they *want* to be and are going to actively try and be is a team that legitimately can play 5 out w/ multiple bigs on the floor at all times, which would be a lot more interesting than what their offense has been the last few seasons and, to me, feels like a direct longterm plan to try and keep pace with boston by, basically, matching the . "interesting" is also different than better so we'll have to see whether this would actually get them back over the play in hump, but i think people are sleeping on the chance that the heat switch their whole offensive style up this year

(matching their roster construction** is how that sentence was supposed to end)

Bam finishes 5-of-11 from three in the first half of this only-half-serious scrimmage as far as the shots being taken.

— Couper Moorhead (@CoupNBA) October 7, 2024

bam that actually takes and makes threes for a whole season and playoffs and has to be somewhat respected out there might be one of the 10 best players in the league. so maybe that’s how they get over the hump

could see if hes hitting 3s teams have to close out he attacks and is making plays from the middle of the floor could be pretty cool cause hes a good passer but is often operating out these slow developing elbow actions that dont have a lot of space to make things happen

um

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ga7h5BiWgAA26JV?format=jpg&name=medium

it's amazing that we haven't figured out how to make statues that look like the people they're based on consistently

thats what happens when you blow your budget on uniform wrinkles

That looks like something you put up outside the arena to scare away a particularly aggressive species of bird.

what the hell lol

you gotta respect the sculptors going out for the post-game press conference after the tough loss https://t.co/XiejNsifXq

— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) October 27, 2024

“Who is that guy?”

Dwyane Wade’s reaction to his statue 💀

pic.twitter.com/R7IiYJIEww

— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) October 27, 2024

they're quietly up to ninth in offense and 11th in defense per cleaning the glass

first in offensive rating in the entire league over the last two weeks, herro has been flat out awesome, blowing away his career highs in important stats. 63% TS this year vs 56% for his career. 64% 3 pt rate this year vs 56% for his career. 22% free throw rate vs 17% for his career. among the 12 players shooting 9+ threes per game his 42.7% 3pt percentage is tied for the lead w/ anthony edwards

they dropped rozier from the starting line up and their new starting 5 of herro/robinson/butler/highsmith/bam is +17.5 per 100. for reference boston's starting line up is +20.9 and denver's starting line up is +16.6. among line ups that have played at least 250 possessions together, that heat 5 is third in the league, behind the boston 5 and a spurs 5 man combo of chris paul/steph castle/julian champaigne/barnes/wemby that is +18.1 per 100 (denver starting 5 is fourth)

they caught the suns w/o KD and mobley turned his ankle vs them and missed the second half, so we'll see how it plays out. they have the thunder next week. but this was looking like a hella boring season / nightmare redux of the last two seasons but the projection systems like them as a clear top 6 team in the east now and that perhaps underrates them if they actually really found something w/ this starting 5

64% 3 pt rate this year vs 56% for his career. among the 12 players shooting 9+ threes per game his 42.7% 3pt percentage is tied for the lead w/ anthony edwards

*jack nicholson nodding gif*

j0rdan any thoughts on the spectacle of jimmy's agent and shams sniping at each other on twitter

i think shams basically generated a whole news cycle out of pointing out that 1+1=2, so i understand why jimmy’s side was mad about that. but i’m not sure who is ultimately trying to exercise what leverage thru the media, i def think jimmy is alluding to the drama thru his hair, and i also think if the heat are gonna be in the top 6 of the east there’s no way they’re trading jimmy. pat riley is not punting on a playoff run for B level young talent

jordan what’s the deal with jacquez? I’ve only caught a few heat games this year but his numbers seem to be down across the board including his minutes. loved watching him play last year

my assessment of his season is twofold

1. he caught a stomach virus in mexico early in the season and missed three games and came back for a few games then sprained his ankle. it feels like he's sorta been speeding down interstate sophomore slump since then, just one of those years

2. the heat's line ups and rotations have shifted around a lot. jovic went from the starting line up to out of the rotation and rozier got benched and now plays as a 6th man ball handler w/ the second unit. jaime plays very much in the flow of the game -- it's a lot of what makes him great -- and i'm not sure that he is really figured out how to assert himself w/ the guys he's playing w/ at the moment.

he's also just been in a huge slump from three and that was the big question mark about him coming out of college so we'll see how that plays out

thanking u

Heat finally entering their post-Butler transitional phase, difficult to get hyped for a Bam-Herro #1-#2, but I feel like that + their bench is enough to stay afloat if they want and play for the #6 seed. Especially given how Kel’el Ware has looked after they opened up minutes for him by shipping Bryant, which might end up being more important than any player development they do this year.

Not sure if they expected Ware to elevate this fast, but he's been dominant for tiny stretches over the past two weeks in ways I don't think I've ever seen from Jovic or Jaquez Jr. Especially important since the next biggest Big on the Heat roster is 6'10''/215lb Jovic. Wonder if Ware being on ice for the first half of the season might help him get to the end of the season w/o hitting a rookie wall. A playoff rotation of Bam / Herro / Jovic / Highsmith / Jaquez Jr / Rozier / Duncan / Ware + spot minutes from bench vets could steal some games or a series!

bam-ware twin towers situation developing

ware seems like a per minute beast

he is really interesting. i posted before the season that everyone on earth could tell this era of the team needed to end but i was interested in this season bcuz you could already see their plan for the next phase of the team w/ the combo of the ware pick + playing bam as a floor spacing 4 on team USA. the jimmy stuff kinda derailed the good vibes immediately & you can't expect a rookie center to play that much in the first month or two of the year but i think most of the fanbase has been waiting to see this switch be flipped.

either he or bam will have to be able to consistently make threes for it to work longterm but kel'el is already a monster lob finisher and can do some stuff around the basket w/ the ball. on defense it's pretty exciting, there isn't any team in the league that would be able to deploy an elite rim protector and a second big w/ bam's mobility at the same time.

they shot insanely hot the other day vs the spurs -- their third quarter was one of the 5 highest scoring in franchise history or something -- so some of the ware-bam stuff looked especially good. but what i like is that doesn't really take much imagination to see how it could work & be really effective ... based on what we've seen from kel'el already and what we know about the heat as a franchise there's no way it fails on defense. it will probably be sick. it's just a question of whether the development from both guys can get there to make it work enough on offense especially in a post-jimmy world where your best ball handler is tyler herro who is playing great but far from a real no 1

on defense it's pretty exciting, there isn't any team in the league that would be able to deploy an elite rim protector and a second big w/ bam's mobility at the same time.

― slob wizard (J0rdan S.), Tuesday, January 21, 2025 4:01 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

cavs maybe?

oh yeah, i'm dumb

they're sorta trying to mix the cavs defensive set up w/ the celtics offensive set up

jordan what do you think the heat should do roster wise?

i think realistically they’re not about to rebuild so i’d put everyone on the table except bam bcuz you wanna try and find an offensive no 1 to pair with him. i think the major question is whether they think kel’el ware is gonna be a transformative piece, if even just in style. they’ll obv always be heat culture hard asses etc i think they need to reset their identity a bit in terms of how they’re playing and whether they really wanna invest the next 3-5 years developing a double big starting line up as the foundation. i think it’s interesting to think about and ware had a lot of exciting moments but he’s also not evan mobley or whatever

i’m personally a bit more sanguine about the situation than other people seem to be. i think bcuz they’ve felt stagnant for three seasons now it seems like they need to do something major this offseason to shake things up and while that would be wonderful i do think people have to remember it’s only their first offseason post-butler. there is likely going to be a bit of a reset period

the recent history of this franchise is very peaks and valleys, they pour everything into a nucleus and then take a few years to find the next group. there were rough years in between shaq and bron and then between bron and jimmy, tho the latter may largely have been bcuz of the bosh blood clots. so im personally prepared for a few more seasons of mediocrity and i think they’ve earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to finding the next guy

one other thing i’d say about their future

lebron came bcuz of wade. jimmy came bcuz of the culture stuff, which was preached to him by wade. why does the next guy come?

yeah you just can’t rule out a guy wanting to live in miami

too humid and too many republicans for me personally but I might consider for 40 million dollars or so

VICE, BABY

yeah cool. sounds reasonable to accept a medium term rebuild. i guess with todays cba punishing you so harshly for overpaying the wrong player its not worth rushing into things.

not sure how happy bam will be to stick around on a team that kind of sucks tho