ALARM: Miami Heat’s Winless Preseason, Lineup Experiment and Offensive Concerns | Locked On Heat
Miami’s preseason has been a rocky one, but how concerned should fans be from the 0 and5 start? And we saw a new starting lineup versus the Hawks on Monday. Why didn’t it work? We’ll answer that and more on today’s episode of Locked on Heat. You are Locked on Heat, your daily Miami Heat podcast, part of the locked on podcast network. Your team every day. All right, welcome to Locked on Heat, your daily podcast on the Miami Heat. Whether you’re tuning in on YouTube or on your favorite podcast app, thanks so much for making us your first listen every day. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet us $5 and if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Head to fanduel.com to get started. I’m Wes Goldberg, host of Locked on NBA Daily and Real GM radio. I’m here with David Romel. Both of us are credentialed Heat Media members who cover this team every day. And uh we are excited for today’s show. We’re going to talk about what the He’s 0 and5 preseason record says about the regular season and highlight Jame Hameh Hakez Jr’s impressive preseason. And I think we can hit all of our topics, David, by playing one of our favorite games, big deal, little deal, or no deal. Um we are recording this the morning after the Heat’s preseason loss to the Hawks. A wild ending to this one. um goes into overtime. Kashad Johnson turns the ball over in Miami’s second to last possession. Basically, it could have been Miami’s last possession. Turns it over on the inbound. Uh Caleb Houston ends up drilling a three at the end of this game. Miami goes back to the other side. Can’t really get a decent shot off. And then the Heat end up uh giving up uh blowing a one-point lead with, you know, 10 seconds left in that game and uh and end up falling to 0 and5 in the preseason. We’ll talk about what a winless preseason would mean for Miami here in a second, but um I think the big story from this one or maybe the big takeaway rather is it was the first time that we saw Bam Adabio and Kell Wear together in the front court this preseason. Uh Nikico Yoic he uh sat this one out uh and and so Spo goes the Way Bam lineup alongside Wiggins, Norm Pal, and Drew Smith. And that lineup goes down 14 points right away to a Hawks team that wasn’t playing any of their regulars, right? It was essentially the G-League Hawks. And it looked clunky. It looked messy. It definitely did not look inspiring. And it definitely did not make a case to be the starting lineup going forward. So, they go down 14. They do end up minus three for the night, David. But what were your initial takeaways from that starting lineup? No chemistry. just didn’t seem like anybody knew what they were doing there. And uh No, you’re fine. It didn’t seem like anybody knew what was going on. There just was no chemistry at all with that starting lineup. Everybody was kind of freelancing and there was zero connectivity. We’ve talked about Nico before being a connector on offense. One of the things that he does well is being able to push the pace, find open players, make passes, and things of that sort, or be able to drive downhill and get an easier look at the rim. I don’t know that this was necessarily due to his absence so much as just this starting lineup really felt, I don’t know, discombobulated. There was absolutely something missing there. And it’s kind of hard to quantify just because we’ve never really seen this group before. During the offseason, I remember talking to you about how how little activity we’ve seen from this group. the potential starters. We just haven’t seen any twoman lineup play more minutes than you know Bam Adabio and a rookie last season and Khil Wear and and I think that was pretty obvious like Andrew Wiggins clearly a veteran Norm Powell a veteran player at 31 and yet they’re just they haven’t played together long enough to really establish any kind of sense of uh connectivity or or continuity or anything. No chemistry whatsoever. That’s what really stood out to me. And so, uh, it just seemed like there was really a lack of intent, a lack of kind of knowing exactly where you should be and, uh, shot making was just at a all-time low there. And that’s saying something for a team that has struggled offensively for such a long time. I I ignored the, uh, the big question, big deal, little deal, or no deal. What What kind of deal are you making out of the clunky spot for that lineup? Really huge deal. Yeah, I I really do think it’s uh because this was everybody’s pointing to Nico and thinking that maybe he’s going to be able to help the team. There are concerns about his defense and things of that sort, but at least they look like a semblance of a group that can function together. And again, this isn’t about Khil at all. I just really think that him being in there kind of magnifies the problem to a certain degree just because he’s playing his own game and they don’t have a a playmaker. They don’t have somebody that can set the offense to a huge degree. And so I think for a player like him that needs to be able to have his offense set up for him much more easily, he needs to be assisted on his field goal attempts, I think it just kind of magnifies the problem to a certain degree where you notice the lack of chemistry much more obviously than when Nico’s out there. I’m going littleish deal on this one. Um, I agree with you. There was absolutely zero chemistry, zero connectivity. Uh there was a there was a play where Norm Powell passed it to an empty space where I think Wiggins was supposed to be or something and it was just Yeah. Oh, all right. Like clearly this group is the first time they played together ever, right? And I even tweeted it during the game. I was like, “Wow, it really looks like this team is this lineup has never played together.” That’s because it hasn’t. And it looked like it. Now, maybe you could argue, well, this this group hasn’t even played in scrimmages in training camp at all. I don’t know if that’s true. Certainly, they have not logged a lot of minutes together in practice or and obviously in the preseason. And it is glaring and alarming when you’re going up against a G-League Hawks team and you’ve got guys like Norm Pal, Andrew Wiggins, Bamab Bio, Kell Wear, you know, who second team all rookie last like these guys who are NBA level players if not all star or all-star caliber-ish and and and they can’t beat like the top end that nobody knows, right? Like the the under like the nobody knows top end brothers. So that is alarming, but I’m going littleish deal only because it is preseason. I have seen Bam and Wear have success together on the court. I know Norm Pal and Andrew Wiggins are good NBA players. I know Drew Smith is a good NBA player, a rotation caliber player. And when presented with two samples, one small and one large or a larger sample, I tend to go with the larger sample. And we’ve seen Bam and Wear work together. We’ve seen Wiggins play at high high level basketball. But we’ve seen Norman Pal play high level basketball. So that’s why I’m going littleish deal. They did go down 14. They end up climbing back. They end up just to minus three as a starting group. That’s okay. I was more concerned. I I think people are going to take away, oh well, this is why Bam and Wear maybe aren’t going to work together. I actually thought they were fine. I thought the perimeter rotation between Drew Smith, Norm Pal, and Andrew Wiggins was more of the concern in that starting group, but like I just said, I I’m less concerned about that. I think they’ll they’ll find their bearings together. So, um, I’m going Littleish deal. All right. You bring up a good point though, like it’s one that I I didn’t even mention it and I had talked to you about it while we were watching the game. Uh just the fact that this was against such an inferior lineup and for for the the kind of veteran leadership on this team like the the experience that that starting lineup should have had, that should have been a cakewalk and it looked exactly the opposite. And I understand the the backups for the Hawks, they’re playing with a little bit of purpose because they’re fighting for their NBA lives. They’re trying to establish themselves, etc. But that’s kind of to me even why it’s more concerning because you’re going up against players that like no allstars, no no Trey Young, no Chris. The story line was Vic Cree, Katon Wallace, Nfali Dante, Asa Newell, and Jacob Toppen. I’m not sure I knew most of those people. Like they they literally it’s literally two younger brothers of good players. Jacob Toppen and Katon Wallace. Like everybody knows they’re brothers. I don’t know how many people actually know that Obie Toppin and Kase Wallace have little brothers that are also in the NBA except for Hawks fans. It is a concern. Maybe they overlooked it. I don’t know. It It was also I know most of these guys didn’t play on the front end of the back toback as the second night of backtoback. I I just I’m not trying to make excuses. I’m just saying like do I really think in my heart of hearts that a lineup of Bam, Kell, Wiggins, Powell, and Drew Smith would lose to Katon Wallace and Jacob Toppen in a game that really matters? No, I don’t. I really don’t. I don’t really actually think that. So, I’m going littleish deal because I’ve seen these guys play better basketball in larger sample sizes. So, I I can’t get too worked up over it. One last thing we have to talk about though here uh before we go to break. Bam did uh Bam Anabio got hurt in the third quarter. Left the game after banging knees. Left the game did not return. Did come back to the bench. Looked okay. Nobody seems to be overly concerned about it in postgame, but um it is something worth mentioning really quick. Big deal, little deal, no deal on Bam’s injury. Uh I’d say no deal. I don’t I don’t think it’s something that’s going to be a concern. He’ll probably miss the rest of the preseason and hopefully he’ll be back at practice full strength and we’ve seen that before. We just don’t want these kinds of things to pile up over the course of the season, especially early on when they’re going to need him most. The Heat don’t typically play their main starters in their last preseason game anyway. So maybe Bam was always going to have Friday night off, the last preseason game for Miami. Maybe it was always going to be off for him. But um I’m going no deal also on this. If if he misses the game even, I’m I’m still going no deal. Better safe than sorry. Um, nobody really seemed overly concerned again. Um, in postgame media, the Heat are one preseason game away from doing something that was only done once before in franchise history, and it might not be a good thing. We’ll talk about that next here on Locked on Heat. Today’s episode is brought to you by Pelaton. 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There’s so much specialized training there and it really gets you to make the most out of your workouts. So, let yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Pelaton crossraining tread plus today at onepelaton.com. That’s onepelon.com. We’ll be right back. Thanks again for making Lockdown Heat your first listen every day. The Heat are 0 and5 in this preseason. Had a chance to get this one, David. It looked like they were going to have it. They come back from 14 down early in the game, climb back in, ends up having uh tying the game by halftime. They take a three-point lead. It’s at a point in the third quarter, I think it was. And then um look, I don’t really make a big deal of wins and losses for even the final score. I don’t care that it goes to overtime. I think preseason overtime should be illegal. I don’t know why it even go to overtime, but whatever. Um so the fact that the Heat lost this game with a bunch of reserves in there, right? You’ve got Kashad Johnson turning the ball over. It’s Caleb Houston making the game winner. I’ll make the bold prediction right now that neither of those guys are going to be in at the end of important games in the regular season. So like, you know what I mean? That said, the Heat are 0 and5 in the preseason. It’s one thing to drop one game in this way, but to go winless in a preeason, the Heat have only done that once before in their entire franchise history. So, my question to you, David, with one more game left, big deal, little deal, no deal at the Heat 0 and five so far in the preseason with a chance to be 0 and6 and completely winless. What year did they go winless during a preseason? Why did you come to me with trivia? I think it was like I want to say 1997. I’ll look it up while you’re talking. Okay. No, I I thought it was worth I thought it was a point that you would bring up because I think what I’m looking at is that it’s a little deal. I don’t want to say it’s a big deal, although I’m kind of leaning there, but it’s certainly not no deal either. And the reason why I say it is because the problems was a pretty bad year. It was a pretty bad year. Um, it was the 0607 season. Uh, it was 41 and 41. We know how that season played out. Um, I’m trying to think what was Was there anything to look forward to in 2007208? Because I can’t recall that. I think that was the year Hassan signed his extension, right? And, uh, no, 2007, not 2017. Oh, 2007. Oh. Oh, that was I mean they were talking about the the bad Dwayne Wade like the the the the Michael Beasley. Yes. Yeah. The down Dwayne Wade 0708 was Yeah. That was that was the year that they went 15 and 767. 708. They went 15 and 67, right? That’s how they got the second pick in the draft. Mhm. Not great. My heart my my heart hurts as recollecting that. I I thought I was looking forward to at least 2017, but not 2017. Oh man. Um, so yeah, so my concern there is just that we haven’t seen anything that stands out like uh Ira Winterman to his credit pointing out that during the preseason Miami ranks 32nd in three-point attempts through the preseason. 32nd just because inter international teams have played during this. There’s a team from China, Victor Chinese team. Yeah, the Guangloom Lions are shooting more threes than the Heat. And I think that’s a problem. We talked about this last week. I said, you know what? What the hell, ma? Does the pace matter if you’re not putting up more field goal attempts, specifically from three, you’re averaging 28, 27ish attempts from three-point range, that’s not good enough. There’s no pace. There’s nothing nothing decisive, nothing with purpose. If you’re bringing the ball up, let it fly. Like, what are you doing? And this team is too small and they’re getting blasted on the rebounds every day and and it’s just this is a team that is struggling and I don’t know that where is necessarily going to help much in that regard. I know he’s been out of the lineup. He’s been putting up some big minutes or big points and big numbers coming off the bench. Again, it’s the preseason so it’s hard to take seriously. But at the same time, this you’ve pointed it out before. The process is what we want to see. And I don’t see any I don’t know that there’s anything here that you can point to and go, “Oh, yeah, that’s sustainable. That’s a good foundation. You can build on that during the regular season. I don’t know where this team is going to find its identity. And if you’re waiting for Tyler Herro to come and save the day, he’s going to help, but I don’t know that he’s the kind of great player having to work his way back from injury that he’s going to be able to all of a sudden be plugged in and add instant offense to a team that is desperately looking for it. So, I’m just not sure. You know what to hell with it. I’m going huge deal on the 0 and five star. The numbers don’t matter. All right. It’s not the It’s not even the losses that matter or the wins and losses. It’s just the fact that this team looks so bad in their losses that I just don’t know where they’re going to go from here to take a positive step forward during the regular season. Like where is the spark going to come from? You can go 0 and5 knowing Jimmy’s you playing hookie somewhere and at the same time you know that once he comes back on the team at the very least the baseline of where that group is going to be is significantly higher. Where’s the where’s where’s the team going to go from here? Yeah. So, in terms of teams that are winless in the preseason, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Miami, Sacramento, Utah, Memphis, other than Cleveland, that’s pretty poor company, right? Uh, and Cleveland, by the way, is only 0 and3. Miami is 0 and5. I am going I’m going medium-ish deal. I won’t go huge deal, but it is a deal of some kind, right? Like this isn’t it’s not nothing, right? Like like like I like to say, but because you want at least to feel good about something, right? you want at least a little bit of proof of concept of this works. And to your point, overall, David, I think it is the better point. They don’t really look like they’ve deserved any of these wins. Now, the starters have outplayed opposing starters in some of these games, right? Like I think the Heat starters were better than the Spurs starters. For instance, in that preseason game, the the Spurs were also down two of their main starters. Like the Fox wasn’t in that game. Stefan Castle wasn’t in that game, you know, and there have been guys in and out of lineups for Miami and for their opponents. but you’d at least like to come away with a win or something at least to hang your hat on. The pace has not translated to good offense. Yes, the three-point shooting isn’t where it wants to be. The three-point shooting was way higher than I thought anybody anticipated last preseason and then it kind of got back to average during the regular season. So, I don’t know how much to make of preseason shot attempts in general. But, you know, like they are ninth in points in the paint. They are generating something offensively. They are getting into the paint quite a bit. Um, I think the lob stuff to KL Weer has been really impressive. The Bam has been underwhelming overall, but there have been moments where he looks really good. Um, I think the guard play has been mostly better than expected, and we’re about to talk about my Haka Jr. here in a little bit, but those were just like little positives here and there. It still doesn’t feel like there’s a cohesive something here. And that’s my big concern. and and and I guess we can we can I guess we’ll find out. But my big concern right now is that everything that Eric Spolster wanted to install offensively, it just isn’t going to work the same way. It just didn’t work last year. And you can have the best coach in the entire world, but if you don’t have the players, it doesn’t matter in basketball. You got to have the players. And I have some concerns and and some issues with the with the offense, the way that it’s looked, specifically the offense that Spo has put together. I don’t think it’s a perfect offense. I wish Bam was involved a little bit more. I wish the guards were involved a little bit less. But I am there is it does not seem to whatever plan they tried to make offensively does not seem to be taking hold right now. And that would be my biggest concern. Two of 17. The starting lineup is two of 17 against those G-League names that you just rattled off earlier. That uh field goal attempts. Yeah. Two of 17 three-point field goal attempts. I mean, maybe it’s maybe it’s as simple as they probably never go two for 17. I don’t know. Like, what if they hit what if they hit a normal what if they hit 35% of those shots? Like, we’re pro we might be talking about a heat blowout, maybe. But, I mean, we’re kind of counting on non-shooters to step up as shooters all of a sudden. Like, and Norm Pal was What was the break? He’s a solid. He was two of seven. We went 0 of two. Bam was 0 of three. Wiggins was over three. You know, that’s just not going to That’s five That’s five three-pointers from your centers. Not ne Not necessarily what you want, right? You’d hope it would have been Yeah, you’d hope it would have been actually more from Wiggins and Pal, and it really wasn’t. Yeah, that was two of two. I mean, with Drew Smith in there, you’re going two of 12. Yeah, that’s not going to cut it. No, no, they need to be better. Uh, and to your point about Talah, obviously he helps, but there’s not a player on the planet that goes that makes you go from worse than the Chinese team just visiting here to respectable, you know, like Steph Curry isn’t making that happen for an offense by himself. So, um, yeah, they got to I I think there’s work to do. We’ll see. We’ll see what happens. I mean, again, the preseason, I you I learn this every single year, and I’m so tempted to make huge sweeping conclusions off of a preseason or even any conclusions off of a preseason. And then time and time again, we’re reminded across the league, not just with the Heat. The preseason might matter in the NBA less so than in any other sport. It just doesn’t matter. It’s so hard to draw conclusions off of NBA preseason. So it I that’s why I’m I’m not saying no deal, but I I hesitate to go huge deal. Meanwhile, Hayaka Jr. was one of the few bright spots for the Heat on Monday night. Is he laying the groundwork for a bounceback season? We’ll talk about that next. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NFL season’s here and FanDuel has an offer you don’t want to miss. Right now, you customers can bet just $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if you win. That’s right. Pick a bet, put down five bucks, and if it hits, you’ll unlock $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. You’ll love FanDuel. It gives you so many different ways to play. You can build parlays, you can try player props, can even follow the live lines during games. Well, not if you’re a Dolphin fan, you don’t want to do that. But if you’re watching the other NFL action, believe me, you’ll enjoy it. 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We’ll be right back. Hakas Jr. finished the game with 17 points on seven of 14 shooting, four rebounds, and three assists. He was Miami’s only player to play 20 plus minutes against the Hawks and finish with a positive plus minus. When you talk about lone bright spots, that’s about as lone a bright spot as it gets. Uh he looks not only great in that preseason game, David. I think he’s looked great this entire preseason. He looks healthy. He looks spry. He’s moving well. And I’ve thought this since the first game of the preseason. I think he looks as comfortable as anybody. maybe more comfortable than anybody else in this new uptempo heat offense. This is how Haime Hakas Jr. likes to play. I know we think about him as this old school type of player that wants to get into the post and slow things down. That’s not really like he’s not a he likes to get into the post and do other things. He’s not a slow down player. I remember doing my feature on Himeme for for the ringer a couple years during when during his rookie year and talking to his high school and college coaches and both of them were unprompted said the main thing with Haime is we got to figure out a way to slow him down. He just wants to move so fast all the time. And I think this new offense suits him in a in a in a good way. His preseason stats overall 12 points per game on 50% shooting 50% on threes which is also very good. not, you know, obviously something we expect. Three rebounds and 2.4 assists. Not all-star caliber numbers, David, but in limited preseason minutes, the efficiency is there, but even more importantly, he just looks like he’s moving right in a way that he didn’t look like he was moving right his sophomore year. Should he be in a starting lineup, at least as the placeholder until Tyler returns? Because I know that I wouldn’t rule it out. I’m not sure why the change was made. Like I I understand Drew was making impact plays and stuff like that, but I just it seems like the offense has gone down even a little bit more uh because of his insertion there. I don’t know. Again, there’s there’s so many ways you could look at this. I still wonder if we’re going to see is Drew Smith just the placeholder for DaVon once Da’Von has is cleared for like, you know, minutes. Fair enough. There’s a lot of different options here. And that’s the thing, too. I I know I’m I’m kind of skewing negatively after the 0 and5 start and watching that that team get beat by the you know players that might not be on an NBA roster for much longer and yet uh you know there there are concerns you’re missing your best scoreer and Tyler Herro and you haven’t got a lot of chemistry a lot of opportunity to play a regular amount of minutes and to that point maybe there is some hope that somebody will pop or somebody will figure it out or you know once the regular season starts that they’ll play with a little bit more purpose. I just uh I’m not sure where that’s going to come from. Maybe it’s hiding. It could be like I I I like what I’ve seen from him to your point. I think he looks much more energetic. He looks healthy. He looks stronger. Um able to be a little bit more explosive finishing his post stuff better. Like there there was something that Spo said during Haime’s rookie year. He says just does a great job of eating up space. And I thought he stopped eating up that space last year when he was just so focused on becoming a good three-point shooter. He spent way too much time on the perimeter. Now he’s back to pump faking and driving into space and using that shoulder to create more space and just getting a little bit closer to the basket where he’s got really good like once he’s got two feet in the paint got great touch and you know the highlight the highlight making the the rounds there where he’s like driving the full full length of the court and then he’s he kind of gets into his post up in the painted area. He, you know, kind of dribbles to his left, dribbles back to his right, and then goes back to his left shoulder, lets in a little soft hook in the paint. Yep. Drops it in there, and he gets the and one, too. So, it’s not a very complicated move. It’s not like he was bulling his way in there, but it’s so decisive. Yep. And because he has the strength and speed to pull it up, the quickness, I should say. Maybe not elite burst necessarily, but just he’s quick enough and it throws off players. You hope it translates because last year we saw other teams figure it out, but that might have been more because he wasn’t quite as decisive or maybe he wasn’t quite as healthy. I think if he’s continues to play this way, we’ll start to see a bounce back for him. He just he does look significantly better than he did last year. Last year, I think that same move would have been just a shade slower and would have gotten swatted into the third row. Yeah, the decisiveness is huge, too. I mean, there’s been a lot of players bigger, faster, stronger than Hime that have not played a lick of NBA minutes because they’re not decisive and they don’t know what to do on the court and they don’t have they don’t have a superpower skill. Jame has a superpower. He is decisive when he’s playing like this and that stuff just matters more than straight line speed in the NBA and that and certainly Haime has that. So, um, in terms of people who pop, Haime is popping. Nikolovic has looked really good when available in this preseason. Uh, I I I think that’s what at least we’ve seen so far. Now, who knows what it means, right? We don’t know. But so far, these guys have played really well. I don’t know if Haime Hak Jr. starts. I wouldn’t, like I said, I would not rule it out. Maybe you just start Norm Pal as the lone traditional guard in that lineup and then Haime’s the two guarder. Whatever it is, doesn’t really matter. But I I I still probably think they end up starting DaVon or Drew Smith, depending on who’s healthier to start the season. But they closed this the first half with Haime in that spot with Pal Wiggins, DaVon Mitchell, and Bam. And I thought that that that I that’s pretty close to what I think the closing lineup will be when Tyler Herro’s healthy where it’ll be um where it’ll be DaVon, Hero, Pal, Wiggins, Bam. It was just Haime in the in the hero spot, which is how Miami start. That’s how Spo started the preseason was with Haime in that starting lineup in the hero spot. So maybe there’s an opportunity for him to close games. Who knows? Uh I depending on uh before Hero comes back. That that could be a potential thing for him. Yeah, I doubt. Um a lot of different permutations with this roster and I don’t know that we’ve had a chance to see everything and and with Tyler out that kind of does take a a big chunk out of it too because you know of the few guys that is written in Sharpie in that starting lineup, Tyler is one of them. And then you have other players that could kind of filter in and out there. Um, I think there’s three guys written in Sharpie. I think it’s Bam, Wiggins, Powell with Hero out. I think it’s Bam, Wiggins, Powell. I think this is actually a really good conversation maybe to pick up for tomorrow’s episode, David. Maybe best options for the starting lineup. That could be a segment for us. Um, depend based on what we’ve seen so far. Um, one preseason game left Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies. This was supposed to be the dress rehearsal game. We’ll see if Eric Spolster decides maybe to make Memphis a little bit more of a dress rehearsal. Uh especially depending on guys who might be healthy. If Yoic comes back, if Da’Von’s ready for more minutes. Uh if Bam is, you know, maybe healthy and he wants to give it a go. We’ll see what happens. But that’s going to do it for us today. Uh thanks for making Lockdown Heat your first listen every day. We’ll see you right back here tomorrow.
With just one game left, the Miami Heat have yet to win a game this preseason. Is this cause for concern?
Wes Goldberg and David Ramil break down the Heat’s latest preseason loss to the Atlanta Hawks and what it says about the team and a potential starting frontcourt of Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware. Then they ask if it’s a big deal that the Heat are 0-5 in the preseason before highlighting an impressive performance from Jaime Jaquez Jr.
00:00 – Intro
01:00 – Breakdown: New starting lineup fails vs Hawks
11:30 – Should Heat fans worry about 0–5 preseason?
23:20 – Jaime Jaquez Jr. shines as the lone bright spot
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28 comments
Just Trade Bam and Build around Ware and the real All Stars Leader in this Team !! OUR TYLER HERRO !!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉. Sorry for the Bam ‘s believers 😅😊
Time to trade Bam. Play the kids. Get a higher draft pick. This roster aint gonna do it….
This whole preseason is a big deal. I've been looking around the league at other preseason games, and the competition is already looking stiff. Especially in the west. Those are looking like real games…
We need to start getting up to speed with "Team Ball"
SPO IS unable to build any Team. 😊
You know for everyone in the fanbase & media propping up Bam as the best player it is funny how he can't be depended on to lead this team or score. Whats even crazier is they dont want to pay Herro something reasonable now but need him to come back to "save" this team.
They got a guy on a max contract who plays like a role player and is a 3rd or 4th option at best.
What kind of max player in the league has those kind of low expectations?
Even now he plays behind what Powell and Wiggins will do and at some points he'll take a backseat to Jovic & Ware too. The Heat should trade Bam for some nice fits next to Herro, Jovic, & Ware.
I hope we go 0-10 the first ten games that EVERYBODY sees this team for what it is, another trash play in year with no lottery pick. We need to pick a direction NOW! trade the max players for picks and a good young player and embrace ts for one year and build around KAS, NIKO and WARE! This is gettin really ridiculous and Bams value will go down if we don't do it now. The Draft will be crazy next year too
The Hawks team was basically the Patrick Star meme "Who are you people" 😭
Bam actually sucks rn
Bam has to go. Get a true point guard. Center the offense around Ware. The efficiency will improve. The turnovers will decrease. Stop shooting threes. 5 for 34…3 for 30 in regularion should be enough to get any coach fired.
Wiggins is terrible, just collecting a check
Side note: Ethan Thompson can score. That shot looks fluid.
Another part not accounted for is the defensive attention & gravity Herro brings which no other Heat player has. Him being on the court gives other guys more open looks which raises the teams attempts and efficiency. Hopefully he gets back sooner rather than later.
The Heat and the Dolphins a tank season for both.
I don't really make anything of pre-season games. Pretty much every year the regular season ends up being the exact opposite of what we see in the pre-season. I'll judge after the first 15-20 games of the regular season.
Like always yall doing too much. The team looked good when Kas was out there. Besides the youngins and Bam everyone else has looked good. Let’s wait and see before bashing in the preseason lol
I’m so tired of every Miami Heat podcaster giving excuses as to why Bam is so incredibly mid. This is our number 1? What a joke
Until spo gets a offensive coordinator the offense is going to struggle
If Ware will start, Jackucionis should start if not Niko. Dru is not a playmaker/table setter
You guys spent 10 minutes talking about JJ's offense which has looked better than last year. But you need to stop watching the game like a fan and watch like a coach. You didn't mention his defense once. If you would watch him you would know he is the weakest point of attack defender on the team. He can't defend anyone! G leaguers ate him alive yesterday and it just hasn't been one game. If Spo does start him or bring him off the bench he is not gonna last long unless he steps it up on defense.
The Heat finished last season in humiliating fashinand they continue the trend. That how it starts
Is bam lowkey chucking a butler?
Im use to bam showing out at the start of every season and after allstar goes missing.
He got hes max contract he wants to go play elsewhere perhaps rockets with durant or gs with butler, perhaps even end up in boston with jt after trades.
Maybe bam wasnt ready to be CAPTAIN!
What do WE expect from an organization , that gives a guaranteed contract to Keshad Johnson ?
Don
Don’t worry nor fret. the pre season games are not the sole gauge of the Heat’s fate for this incoming season. Theregular season is the real deal. & looking forward to it. Stay optimistic, Heat Nation. Have faith in Coach Spo and the players. They need not risk any injury of whatever kind, at this point. We got a talent laden team. Consider the rebuilding, we need to be more understanding and accepting of them, the adjustments & for whatever shortcomings they may have At least, they keep on trying. Coach Spo calling them out is a good thing be mindful and accept it be challenged and prove that you’re better than that, and Jaime and K’lel are doing just that. Sometimes, but most of the time, Bam and Herro are good for the Miami Heat!!!
Bam Adebayo needs to come to New York knicks like Charles Oakley….
Miami will never win a ring with bam earning a max contract, i like him but not at that price
Spoiler alert. They suck.
Wes, they suck.