jordan’s heat bløg

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.