Norm Powell IGNITES Miami Heat’s New Fast-Paced Attack | Preseason Reaction & Kel’el Ware’s Big 4Q

Norm Powell IGNITES Miami Heat’s New Fast-Paced Attack | Preseason Reaction & Kel’el Ware’s Big 4Q

Norm Pal had a big show in Miami’s second preseason game. Will that be the norm moving forward? Plus, we’ll talk about Khalil Wearic and Miami’s retoled offense at today’s Locked on Heat. [Music] 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 Locked on Heat your first listen every day. I’m Wes Goldberg, host of Locked on NBA Daily and Real GM radio. I’m here with David Rmill. Both of us are credentialed Heat Media members who cover this team every day. Recording this on Monday night after the Heat’s second preseason game against the Bucks. Uh they lose the game, whatever. Nobody cares. They’re 0 and2 in the preseason again. Nobody cares what we’re really talking about. Nikolovic. We’re going to talk about KL Wear uh in a second and some other observations that we had from this game. But we have to start, David, I think, with uh Norm Pal. And uh not sure how I feel about you using puns, but um he is the new guy on the Heat. I hope that doesn’t become a regular thing. You see how I avoided it pretty easily there, but um he has 18 points in 16 minutes. I thought he looked great. Uh, more than that, I think I saw why he’ll help push Miamiy’s new upte uh uptempo offense. The thing that stuck out to me with Pal was just how quickly he gets his feet set, kind of gets his body turned to the basket. Super quick, high release point. So, he a lot of these threes coming early in the shot clock, guys closing out on him, doesn’t matter. He gets that shot up really quickly. Uh, not just the three-point shooting either. This is a guy who gets downhill in transition. He’s got a lot of north south speed, right? He’s got strength, too, that kind of helps him barrel, gonna get downhill and get to the basket. You’re seeing the vision, right? You’re seeing the vision with this roster. And I think we spent a lot of time talking about how this uptempo style really suits the youth and some of the athleticism on this Heat roster, but it also help it also, I think, very much suits the new guy, Norm Powell. Yeah, there were a number of possessions there where they were trying to get that pace going and the ball would be in his hands for maybe a second. Uh it didn’t take him very long at all for him to just lean into that shot and let it fly at the top of his release. And he’s not, you know, he’s not particularly tall or anything like that. But again, to your point, he’s athletic enough where he can get that high vert um on his leap and and he’s releasing at the top of that at the peak of his release. And uh it’s it’s a a nice form and and yet he springs into it so quickly and there were a couple possessions there where you go, “No, no, no, no. Okay, yeah, okay. I didn’t think he could hit that.” Yeah. Uh especially as quick as it as he lets it go. And it just benefits Miami because he’s not shy about taking that shot. And you could tell he starts getting into that comfortable rhythm. Hits a little baseline jumper. Uh a real kick a quick catch and shoot from the perimeter. Another time I think he brought it up just ever so quickly. Couple steps and that’s a fly. No hesitation whatsoever. And so there’s not a lot of ball stopping there. And I think it’s it works for Miami because this is what they need. Now if only their rebounding numbers could back that up. Tonight they did and they were able to get some second chance opportunity. So that was a solid overall showing for them. But uh as far as Norm is concerned, yeah, I like where his the offense can go with him as part of it. And you only hope that once maybe the back court gets a little healthier and once Tyler’s available on the court that he’ll get even better and much more comfortable within the flow of the offense. 18 points on six to 12 shooting, three of six from three-point range. Got to the line three times, made those three free throws, had two rebounds, had an assist in this game. Um, one of the things that we talked about coming off that first preseason game was how despite the fact that the Heat were had next to no uh next to none of their guards, right? We know Talah’s out, T. Roser’s out. Uh, DaVon Mitchell also didn’t play in this game. Kasparakonus didn’t play in this game. Pel Larson did not play in this game. So, all the guards that were out in the first preseason game were also out in this one. And despite that, they’re not putting the Rock in Powell’s hands. They’re not asking him as basically the lone guard as part of that starting lineup that essentially I guess has Hakas Jr. as the shooting guard in it. They’re not asking Pal to run the offense. They didn’t ask him to do it in the first game. They didn’t ask him to do it in this one either. He looks very much like a complimentary piece, a second side guy. I think he’s very good at that. He’s been very good at that throughout his career. It’s not new for him, but you hear Pal start talking on media day about how, you know, what it might look like to be a featured guy with Tyler Herro out and things like that. That doesn’t seem to be what Spo’s plan is with Pal. I think they kind of just want to work him as this this complimentary type of piece, a guy who gets passes thrown toward him as opposed to the guy that’s facilitating the offense. But if it looks like this, I think that’s going to be fine. Absolutely. Um, and it’s not like he’s not going to have playmaking opportunities. He can do enough with the ball and like you said earlier, he can put the ball down. He can attack north south. He’s able to get down towards the rim and be able to spray it out to those wide openen shooters from beyond the perimeter. So, he works his way into the offense pretty cleanly so far. And and I don’t have a problem with him being necessarily uh not the lead ball handler or anything like that. And it feels like it’s going to be that way throughout the whole season even once Tyler does come back, even once DaVon Mitchell is available because there are enough versatile ball handlers, playmakers without having to make the offense kind of heliocentric in the term a primary ball handler, shot creator or something like that. So it’s you have multiple versatile players that can make plays for others and look to create themselves. And I think they’re going to continue to develop that chemistry once the season progresses, especially throughout the preseason. We, you know, I think there are concerns going into the start of the season going that on the road and facing some tough teams on that opening, you know, few weeks or whatever of the season. And yet, it’s a good way of being tested by the fire, making sure that you kind of develop that chemistry on the go. And it’ll continue to get better down the road. I think you’ll see we’ll reap the benefits of that as the season progresses. So I I I think the other thing that we saw from Miami’s offense outside of Norm Pal sort of having his moment there in the second quarter because Miami they start their starting lineup right Spo’s been doing these hockey style substitutions where the whole starters come out and this whole bench unit comes in the bench just completely bleeps the bed and like just gives up whatever sort of momentum Miami had. the the Bucks go up by 10 something points or whatever like something like that and then the starters come back in with about eight and a half minutes to go in the second quarter. Norm Pal just goes off the the Heat go on a run and get back into the game and they end up trailing at halftime by very little. Um and that was very much Pal kind of making shots and making that happen. But the other thing that really stood out stood out to me was the fact that the pace was still there with the Heats offense. I thought um in a big way they weren’t playing as fast as they were against the uh the Orlando Magic in the preseason opener, but as we discussed, nobody played that fast. Like that would have been the number one pace in the league by a mile last year in the regular season. But I thought they still played with tempo with pace in this game. And and that’s what you want to see, right? You want to see that kind of commitment to that style of play. A number of possessions where they’re just looking ahead. Um there was one particular possession I know everybody will remember that who watched the game. Uh was it Haime Hakez collecting a rebound quick pass to Norm Powell who takes one dribble one dribble and then is able to just get himself in position where he tosses a perfect lob to Andrew Wiggins who just slams it through. And uh the defense hadn’t had an opportunity to set up. It was just two passes and one dribble. And that’s the kind of offense that you can hope to see more often throughout the season because it just it really is electric. It’s uh it doesn’t allow the the defense to get settled in and it maximizes what this team is capable of and and it was a I really enjoy that. I think there were a lot of possessions that were kind of similar to that where they’re just like bang bang, get that rebound, initiate the offense, just go into those fast break opportunities, try to create something very quick before uh Milwaukee could kind of collect themselves. And I think this is just the the norm. This will be the norm moving forward. Um uh well I I think you’re right and it is the thing that they’re practicing right in training camp is um you know during these scrimmages they have been leaning more offense in training camp than this heat team has in the past right a heat team that is all about defense and through the mud and and culture and blah blah blah. There’s been more of an emphasis talking to players on offense than maybe there has been in a very long time for a heat training camp. And one of the things that they’re doing in training camp is doing like that old school thing, David, of hey, we’re going to play offense without dribbling. So, it’s move, cut, it’s ultimate frisbee style, right? It’s move and cut, no dribbling. That’s what it’s going to be. Very old school type of drill. I’m talking like people that have played basketball like middle school. Like, that’s what that’s what that is. And I love that they’re doing it. And and and to your point with that with that um you know that tic-tac-toe little thing to the to the lob to to Wiggins, that’s exactly what that is. No dribbles, ball moves through the air, offball movement, cutting, get to the basket, make things happen that way. And it’s nice to see it happen in training camp and then happen in practice in a preseason game. Um Khlo Wear was Miami’s best player in the second half. We’ll talk about what we saw from him and what it means going forward after this. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NFL season’s here and FanDuel has an offer that you don’t want to miss because right now, new customers can bet just $5. You get $300 in bonus bets if you win. That’s right. You pick a bet, you put down five bucks, and if it hits, you’ll unlock $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. You’ll love how FanDuel gives you so many different ways to play. You can build parlays. You can try player props. And you can even follow the live games live lines during games. It makes watching football even more exciting when you’ve got a little something writing on the action. Uh was watching the Dolphins game at a local bar and saw all everybody getting involved in the process and you could just see the excitement. It’s like they’re going from game to game on the big screens. They’re trying to see all the different action because they’re just they know they’ve got something a little something extra writing on the outcome there. It’s not just about watching your team win. It’s about helping you to win, too. Whether you’re a casual fan or you love diving into the stats, FanDuel makes the game day experience so much better. So, what are you waiting for? Visit fanuel.com. Download the FanDuel app today and get started. That’s fuel.com. We’ll be right back. [Music] Thanks again for making Lockdown Heat your first listen every day. Let’s talk about Kell Wear. He finished with 18 points, 13 rebounds, did that all in 23 minutes. Scored 14 of those points in the fourth quarter, made a couple of three-pointers in the game. Um, interesting game for Kell. I thought David didn’t make much of an impact for the first three quarters. Now, that’s not entirely his fault. Wasn’t part of the starting lineup. played a couple of minutes during that tough stretch that um like we talked about in the first segment that he that that second line came in uh ended up digging a hole there. I don’t think that was on Kell. I think that was mostly on just guys that aren’t going to be on the team playing a lot of minutes against uh a Bucks team that was still sort of playing most of their rotation guys at that point. But um doesn’t start the second half. I thought that was an interesting decision by Eric Spolster. I wasn’t really sure what it meant. if it means anything. I don’t know if that it does, but Spo yanks three of the starters. No Wiggins, um, no Pal, and no Bam to start the second half. They didn’t play at all in the second half. But instead of playing Kell in Bam’s spot at center, Spo opted to start Precious Aua in the second half. So, I was wondering, hey, maybe Kell’s night is done, too. It wasn’t. Kell checked in later, ends up playing most of the fourth quarter, maybe all of the fourth quarter, uh, and then scores 14 of those points. So, you want to see it. It’s good. He has a double double in this game and not a lot of minutes. So, the production is there, but at the same time, he was doing most of that work in the fourth quarter against a guy named Pete Nance who I never heard of. So, um, what do you make of it? Uh, is it is it fool’s gold? Is it is it, you know, is it just, hey, production is production and preseason doesn’t really matter. Where are you at? Yeah, I’m kind of leaning towards that last aspect there. I think um still being able to put up the points matters even if it’s inferior against inferior competition and uh I think it’s also an opportunity for him to get more comfortable and and and remember how impactful he can be because I think that’s still part of the problem is that he he just I’m not saying that he lacks the motivation but he doesn’t always seem to be fully engaged and out there to the point where he should be a little bit more dominant in his actions and a little bit more um intentional in in what he does out there in the court because I think he does have all the talent to be able to really be a productive player and yet there just moments there where he’s not quite as engaged as you like him to be and and I think that’s part of the problem and so maybe the fact that he goes and produces this much on on a night like today again albeit against uh you know second string players is still a good opportunity for him to remember you know what I’m capable of this I know what to do and kind of take that experience and just build it into the next game, too. Um, I don’t think it’s necessarily a problem, but I do also I’m looking to him for him to be able to just say, you know what, I’m tired of this. I’m going to be more aggressive. I’m going to do what I have to do. And I don’t know that he’s just there yet. He just it’s I don’t see that level of progression from him. And maybe it’s just the fact that he’s a big uh somebody who just kind of sprouted as a teenager and uh isn’t really just aggressive by nature because you see those moments like and there are flashes there where he can be using all of his physical tools, but again there’s something that’s missing in terms of the the kind of aggressive component that you’d like to see from him because that’s when he’ll really be able to maximize all the physical gifts that he has. I think that’s fair. Uh that said, I did like the process with him in that fourth quarter. It did seem like he was constantly trying to get possession for offensive rebounds, consistently looking to make his presence felt at the basket. Did he settle for a couple of shots that I didn’t love? Did the bad Leamarcus Aldridge impression that I talked about when we were scouting him? Yeah, he did. Um but I can live with that. I can live with that. if you’re giving me 13 rebounds, if you’ve got three offensive rebounds, if you’re doing that kind of thing, and I think I saw that more often than I didn’t down the stretch in his minutes, and that to me is a win. That to me is a win. You also think about the rebounding concerns that this team had in the first preseason game. Not as much of an issue in the They won the rebound battle in this one. Yeah, I think I have this right. 22 rebounds in 40 preseason minutes for Kell. like the rebounding is there and that’s and you no matter what we say about Kell and I think the criticisms are totally fair. I I think the criticisms are absolutely fair. I mean don’t take it from us. Take it from Spo these things in public. Okay. Right. That said, I mean this guy is it’s what we saw down the stretch of last season, David. He kind of just rolls out of bed and gets a double double. And that’s just sort of the thing with him, right? It’s I look up and it’s like he’s got 12 points and 10 rebounds halfway through the fourth quarter. I’m just like it’s it here we go again with Kell man. Like no matter what you want to again criticism is fair but at the end of the day that production is there and that really matters and that’s what’s so exciting about this guy is when he does put it all together. the things that you were just talking about, David, when the game slows down, when he’s able to really focus and and and and add that aggressiveness to his game and kind of make all these things click into place. Yeah. This is why they think so highly of him because it like the sky really is a limit for this guy. It does make it look easy at times. You kind of want to see him be a little bit more like he’s working harder to be this productive because then it’s just you see the production and the effort not might not necessarily be at that same level. commensurate to what we see or what we expect from what he’s able to produce. Uh and yet, you know, that’s just again I think that could be part of the frustration is that if you were just a little bit more aggressive, you’d see him be an incredible player, much more impactful. So, I don’t know. Like I I think it for now it’s enough, but you do hope that he can reach another level. And I think that’s where the coaches are as well. They just want him to be able to reach his full potential. And I think that takes a little bit of work from him in order to get there. Um, still didn’t see any minutes with Kell with Bam. Yeah, still we haven’t seen that for a single possession. I’m still going to chalk that up to the fact that Spo is basically doing these hockey style substitutions. Yeah, that it’s still a little strange. you would like maybe he saw enough of it last year where like I don’t need to see it in the preseason. We know it works, but Eric Spolster did say before the game that he was going to go with the same starting lineup, the same guys that were out in the first preseason game, the same guys that are out in this one. Um was asked about the starting lineup and basically says, “I didn’t change it cuz I didn’t feel like changing it.” Now, you and I know that that’s not true. That’s not how Eric Spolster operates. He doesn’t make decisions based on how he feels, right? He’s very uh very intentional about these things. But, um, he wanted to give it another look and I thought it looked fine, right? I I I don’t feel any much I don’t feel any much different after the first preseason game than I do after this one. I think this I think the starting lineup has some concerns, but I think overall it’s probably the best way to go considering who’s out right now and who’s injured. So, um, but I still think at some point Spo did leave it open. Maybe I could change it, but I still think at some point in this preseason, whether it’s the starting lineup or not, we’ve got to see Bam and Wear together with some of these newer pieces and and the new offense that they’re trying to install. Did Precious share the the floor with Wear? No, he didn’t. That’s a I think that’s a very deliberate choice by Eric Spolster as he wants to put him out there as a lone big, which is could lead to some of those inflated rebounding numbers, too. but he also was, you know, as a legitimate seven-footer, somebody who’s towering over everybody else. So, I I wonder exactly what the It’s might be just a matter of surrounding him with enough versatility where you don’t clunk things up of, you know, make him look too bogged down by putting him out there with another big. So, I wonder if we’ll see, but you, you know, we saw it so often last year and the way they spoke about it last season and there were moments there where the pairing absolutely did work. U you would think that they would be much more likely to roll it out at some point, but I don’t know. It feels kind of odd that they haven’t done it at any point over the first two games of the preseason. Yeah, it just, you know, for a minute, right? You don’t have to do this whole hockey style substitution. I again, that’s what I chock it up mostly to is just the substitution pattern, but I’m sure we’ll see it um at some point. Um KL Weer also had that steel to his score where he kind of was running out of bounds and flipped it over his head and it ended up going in, so he got the circus shot. I thought we should at least mention that. That was just really cool. Yeah, not sure we’re going to get used to that, but um cool little preseason moment there. Uh another strong performance by Nicola Yovic in the Heat quickly addressed a big issue that we called out from the first preseason game. We’ll talk about those in our notebook dump after this. Today’s episode is brought to you by Monarch Money. Most people can’t name all their financial accounts or even what they’re worth, whether it’s 401ks, properties, or investments. And when you don’t have the full picture, you can end up leaving money on the table. And that’s why there’s Monarch Money. It’s an all-in-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean, easy to use interface on your laptop or on your phone. 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But, uh, you love to see that from Drew Smith. Al also thought David that Kashad Johnson is really starting to put things together. We don’t need to do a big deep dive on Kashad right now, but I thought he just looked really comfortable in these first two preseason games. And you listen to Eric Spolster talk about him, how he’s starting to uh suppose maybe new favorite spoism is connect the dots. We hear him use that term a lot when it comes to guys who are really athletic or young kind of taking their talents and making their talents match the production or the impact on winning and whatever it is. you’re starting to see that start uh uh come along for Kashad. So, let’s maybe keep an eye on him for maybe a longer segment going forward. We mentioned the rebounding battle. They got crushed on the boards against Orlando. Spo said that they were going to address it. They did. They won the rebounding battle in this one 70 to 50. They had 10 offensive rebounds in this game compared to just three for Milwaukee. So, you like to see that. Um no, Giannis. I I I can’t believe I got this far into it without mentioning Giannis didn’t play for the Bucks, which is the biggest reason perhaps they the rebounding battle that was this. But again, I don’t expect Giannis in preseason minutes to make up 20 rebounds, you know what I mean? So, um, in a regular season, for sure he could definitely do that, but not not in the preseason. So, you like to see that the rebounding thing was was um um addressed there. But let’s start let’s let’s talk about Nikolovic. thinking uh which of the matchups now that Milwaukee has Giannis and Miles Turner, which matchup is Bam going to take more personally? Like is he going to really between Giannis, a guy who’s done a very good job of defending over the years and a guy like Turner that he just clearly dislikes? I wonder that’s a tough challenge for Bam having to handle both. So, you know, that would be a need. I was thinking about that in the beginning of this game. Had Giannis played if this was a regular season game, does Miami go big with Kell? I just they would have gotten crushed in the front court if Giannis was playing. But maybe you’re just chalk that up to Yiannis. Like you’re going to get crushed no matter what if Giannis is playing. It doesn’t really matter who you are. To answer your question, I still think I Bam probably takes the Giannis assignment a little bit more personally just because of where his standing is in the league. Yeah, but Nico trying to pick up Turner would be a interesting matchup there. I don’t know. Turner Nico could do it. Turner is not exactly a physical center despite his size. He’s a little bit more of a finesse guy. Yeah, I was gonna say he’s not overt physically, but uh still a little I would say tougher perhaps than Nico. Yeah, for sure. Um let’s talk about Nico. I thought it was another fantastic game for him. Nine points, eight rebounds, seven assists, zero turnovers, two steals in 23 minutes. Um I I know I said this after the first game, but I I think it bears repeating after the second one. Miami wants to play faster. Nobody looks more comfortable in it than Nikolo Yoic. I won’t go so far as to say he was Miami’s best player the way that he was Miami’s best player in the first preseason game, but man, I I still think we’re in for a breakout season. If this is what the offense is going to be, it suits Nico so well. And I think just from a systematic standpoint, I think we might not see a bigger leap from anybody from last year to this year than we see from Nico just based on what the system is. Absolutely. Uh I think he’s tailor made for this that just that his approach, his mentality, his skill set, all of it is a perfect fit for this kind of idea of just pushing the pace up. And we saw that from him even as a rookie. Like that was one of the things that he was able to do really effectively was just he grabs that snatches that rebound and he’s off to the races. And it was something that nobody else on the roster was I mean with some moments here from Bam, maybe Tyler, nobody else was really letting it just kind of initiating those actions so quickly. So you you saw that from Nico and you knew that he was going to be able to do that, but he’s just gotten better and better at it. So this is a a great fit for him to be able to finally be able to bring that that side of his game to. So, I’m a little concerned about the defense, though. I’ll be honest with you. Like, I think there were moments there where he was okay, but there’s some moments also where he’s a little bit lost. As much as he brings offensively, the defensive concerns are still warranted. And uh while I think there we saw moments there where the increased physicality and strength and everything else are going to certainly benefit, there’s still moments where he’s lost in space a little bit, not quite able to pick up or um you maybe not make the the right switch, especially with so much new personnel on the roster, too. And I didn’t hear a lot of guys being vocal out there. Maybe uh it just maybe that was just an observation that I made, but I I just think that a lot of they’re not there’s not a lot of communication defensively. Um not to the same level that you’d want to. And I wonder if a guy like DaVon could help kind of unleash that part of their game a little bit. Feels like they’re missing DaVon a lot on that end. But back to Nico there. I agree with you. Um, in the opening sequence for Milwaukee, Kyle Kosma just took it to Nico in transition and Nico folded like an umbrella and and he just can’t do that, man. Like, you got to give you got to provide a little bit more of a fight. Now, he did, I think, had better moments as the game went on, especially against Kyle Kosma who was very bad. Um, that was like I mentioned that one play by Koozma and that was like the best thing he did the entire night for Milwaukee, but other than that, didn’t do very much. I thought Nico held his own in terms of the one-on-one stuff which was really where my my main concern is. Koozma tried to attack him a couple different times, realized it wasn’t going to work after that opening action. Um, and then they kind of got away from it and I think rightly so. But getting to Nico’s physicality, he threw a shoulder into a coffee for a transition finish. I love to see that. And then maybe my favorite play from the night from Nico was kind of hit Bobby Portoris with the footwork with the post moves, right? Right. I mean, he looked like Nicola Joic on that play. Kind of had the ball on the right side of the basket. Hit him with like a little footwork, a little jab, step, one, two, and boom, got it over uh got it over uh Bobby Portoris with the right hook. Yeah. Like I’m I’m here for all that stuff. Absolutely. Absolutely. Anytime you can embarrass Bobby Poris, I’m all for it. Um look, I I did want to bring up something else. You know, we we have talked about the pace and there were a lot of possessions there where they were trying to get, you know, things quickly done, but uh you look at the final box score and maybe it didn’t feel that way over the course of the game and again it’s just preseason. It’s hard to kind of parse anything out, but still not translating into a a higher number of field goal attempts uh and and certainly not even higher field goal attempts from three-point range, which is really where you want to see. We talked about this all summer long. For this team to get to where they need to go, do you need to let it fly? They need to put up Celtic like uh number of three-point shots and it ties kind of into their to the increased pace that we have seen from them, but they only put up 28 three-point attempts, 85 field goal attempts in total. That’s not going to get it done. This team needs to be able to create a little bit more offensively. And in that sense, he kind of liked what Norman was able to do because no hesitation, very quick on on letting it fly, but everybody else still kind of a a little bit more conditioned, I think, to hold on the ball, maybe try to see whether or not they can uh find a seam in the defense or or or just, you know, find the better shot perhaps. But sometimes you kind of just need to let it go. And I don’t know that the team is quite there yet. 28 threes uh 28 three-point attempts tonight, only 29 in the first preseason game, right? So they haven’t even hit 30 and we’re talking about m them trying to push 40 maybe 50, right? Like that’s what that’s what we’re talking about this roster needs to do. Now some of that is the fact that the starters aren’t playing a ton of minutes. There’s no guards very like a bunch of the guys who are going to take threes are out. Like DaVon Mitchell isn’t known as a three-point shooter, but he’s going to take them, right? Hakas Jr. is not a three-point shooter. He took one in this game. I think he might have taken one or two against Orlando. Um Wiggins wasn’t taking a ton of them. He only took three in 16 minutes. It was a little bit of a disappearing Wiggins night after a really strong uh preseason debut threes at the center spot, right? I I think that’s a big thing when you’re talking about playing Bam at the five again. It’s just it it kind of erases his ability to stretch the floor a little bit. Um but yeah, I think it’s it’s a little worrisome. I don’t know how much to make of it considering all the injuries that they’re dealing with. Um and the fact that the starters are playing so few minutes and it’s just a lot of guys who are frankly not going to be on the roster playing a lot of minutes in these second halves. Um it’s a factor. Yeah. We need to see if this team is at least closer to full strength. Yeah. Whether we can see exactly how the pieces start to mesh. But yeah, it’s something to monitor. Y but at this point we’re not uh setting off the alarms just yet. Last thing here and it’s part of the not getting the field goal attempts up. 23 turnovers will reduce your possessions and that’s what Miami had in this one. And that is maybe the biggest flag that I have coming out of this game is the turnover issue too many times. Uh they they turned it over twice I think in the first half just being confused about who’s supposed to bring the ball up. They’re moving too fast. Um they somebody uh was it Trevor Kees just threw it behind Kell Wear for no reason. There was another instance uh there where they just lost the ball bringing the ball up. Bam threw it at Nico like Bam threw it at Nico like it bounced off his shoulder and it’s like Nico thought well I thought you were pushing the ball up. This is kind of I think a byproduct of that that increased pace. You know it’s like oh 100%. Bam uh got the rebound. Go just go right. Instead he he’s looking to to get it to Nico. So short little quick hit ahead passes that don’t make a ton of sense. And maybe it goes back to what they’re learning in training camp of we’re not supposed to be dribbling it. We’re supposed to just throw it ahead and do it this way. It’s like well maybe you could dribble it just to bring the ball up. I don’t know. Whatever it is, I think it’s easy enough to iron it out where I’m not raising red flags. I’m not sounding the alarms at 23 turnovers, but it’s something that it’s part of the growing pains, I think, of of this new uptemp uh uptempo offense. Absolutely. All right, that’ll do it for us today. Thanks for making Locked on Heat your first listen every day. For your second listen, go find Locked On Fantasy Basketball. Josh Lloyd hosts the number one fantasy basketball podcast, giving you daily tips and helping you win your league, all while making you a smarter NBA fan. Find Locked On Fantasy Basketball on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day.

The Miami Heat are showing why this season will look a lot different than what fans are used to, as young players and new arrivals make an impact this preseason.

Wes Goldberg and David Ramil discuss their takeaways from the Miami Heat’s second preseason game, including Norman Powell finding his place in the offense, Kel’el Ware dominating the fourth quarter and Nikola Jovic continuing to impress. They also discuss Miami’s commitment to pace, addressing the rebounding issues and whether turnovers should be a concern moving forward.

00:00 – Intro
02:00 – Norm Powell’s breakout in the Heat’s preseason game
10:30 – Kel’el Ware’s 18-point, 13-rebound night
22:30 – Jovic’s all-around game
27:00 – Miami’s 3-point shooting issues

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