jordan’s heat bløg

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

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.