Miami Heat Get Taste Of Norman Powell Scoring | Erik Spoelstra Has More Tough Love For Kel’el Ware

Miami Heat Get Taste Of Norman Powell Scoring | Erik Spoelstra Has More Tough Love For Kel’el Ware

Hey, welcome on in guys. Tobin here with you and thanks for checking out the channel. Hope you’re doing well there. If you guys could subscribe, it’d be great. Appreciate you stopping by. It was good to be back. Boots on the ground at the Heats House, 601 Biscane Boulevard, aka the Casaya Center. The house formerly known as American Airlines Arena. We won’t talk about that weird crypto scandal name that it had for a little bit, but uh no, it was good to be back, man. It was good to see some familiar faces. is it was great to see everybody uh works at the building and um you can feel vi no matter what man it is it is good to see basketball you know back in the fold and it was good to see the Miami Heat off and running in this game against a Milwaukee Bucks team that uh yeah definitely weird seeing Miles Turner in a Bucks jersey. I gotta be honest with you. I was like well that’s that’s kind of it’s a little strange. Uh they they rolled out there today. Miles Turner, Kyle Kosma, Kevin Porter Jr. AJ Green, Intangibles, uh, and Gary Trent Jr. The Miami Heat rolled with their same starting lineup, Eric Sper said, because he feels like it. And that was a starting lineup of Haime Hakees Jr., Norman Pal, Andrew Wiggins, Nicola Yoic, and the captain, Bam Adabio. Um, not exactly a game that like, you know, got off to the smoothest start right off the bat, but they did find their footing off and running. And the thing that was really noticeable uh off the bat with this game was the man who uh really put up a lot of production. I was people thought I was crazy talking about this before the game because they were like, “Hey, what did you think of Norman Powell?” And you know, this is where my uh insane watching of international basketball comes into the fold because I’ve told you guys I didn’t watch a ton of Norman Powell last year, right? Everybody raves about him. I’ve seen some highlights. I watch all this stuff, but it’s like I’m not watching Clippers games at 10 in the I’m already watching enough Heat basketball as it is and all the local stuff here. I’m not tuning in and in tune with all the stuff going on with the Clippers. I just know that he had a very good season. I know he had a lot of respect around the league for what he did. And then I watched him on Team Jamaica and I know that I dug his social media presence because dude seems like he loves uh fighting which, you know, is cool. I like guys who are in that world as well. So anyway, uh people were asking me about the Norman Pal thing and I said uh that I wasn’t too worried about his first performance with the Heat because I was like it reminded me eerily of how he played for team Jamaica where in the first game he played only two games for team Jamaica. The first game he kind of just was like, you know, held on back, kind of let everybody feel their stuff out. And then game two, boom, like about I think he had 34 points while having the flu. And today he just looked like more comfortable in his zone and was ready to get going getting to his game. Had um really I mean some some sick connections from that starting unit off the rip, you know. Uh Norman Pal, the the the one that like brought the house down immediately was Norman Pal finding Andrew Wiggins for a dunk. Andrew Wiggins like a pogo stick, dude, you know, with those healthy spry legs to start this season. Him and Norman Pal connecting for a big one. And then just like, you know, he was getting to his spots. A beautiful turnaround jumper over old intangibles. and he started off in his little run there uh with eight points with the starters. Andrew Wiggins started with seven points before the Heat would go to their their second unit. And you know, I was talking to somebody who was at a lot of the training camps and got to see some of the practices and they had said like, “Hey, the most consistent forces out there for the Heat were Wiggins and Powell.” like that they had just brought a presence to the team and it was noticeable. It was noticeable for for for sure. The uh the second unit in in this regard like not the best showing in the early going, you know, it it was it was one of those where it was a little bit like a little clunkier than it was against Orlando. Um, so and and that was it it really kind of felt that way pretty much until like there was four minutes left in the first half. Like that second unit didn’t really get off the ground too well and then the the starters came back in and they were just just not on the same page, dude. They were like they were they were all over the like Miles Turner was like taking the ball from Bam. I think he took the ball from Haime. Bam. Like threw the ball off Nicola Yoic’s face. And Spo talked about this after the game. Just mindless turnovers, you know, they just couldn’t play clean. And yeah, it was just it was a it was a strange one. Not a lot of uh not a lot of feel today, I would say, from from uh out of bio on some certain things. Like he had a a chase down block. I think he just got to a point where he was getting frustrated just like got a chase down block on Kyle Kosma. But then on the other end, Kevin Porter Jr. comes back and uh and got a block on him. So that was uh you know that was definitely one of those things where I was like all right and it it just felt like a it got the team in a little bit of a lull. Then they got to this point when they were down about seven in the first half where things just started to roll and Jaime had a nice hit ahead pass to Nicola Yovic who had a nice little dish into the corner for Norman Powell for a three ball and that got the uh the heat starting to to roll back in their favor. Got them going a little bit. Powell, you know, was was finding his shot. He was doing a good job. I’m looking at this point. Bam had four turnovers in the game. And then um yeah, man. Nico really got to work. I mean, he really did. He had a couple of great buckets over Bobby Portoris. He had a nice three ball over him. And then the thing I really liked is that like he took him down in the post. Little spin work off him to score off the glass. I was like I I liked seeing the versatility of that from Yoic. That was that was definitely noticeable. And then um Powell was uh was was really using his teammates well. He had a um you know he had a he had a really good run. He hit a three from Bam. He uh was using you know Nico screened him free, got to the basket for a bucket. No one was really uh feeling himself in that first half and he ended up finishing with 18 points. How many minutes did he end up playing today? not uh 18 points in 16 minutes, six of 12 from the floor, three of six from downtown, three of three from the free throw line, and uh yeah, he was a bucket today. He he absolutely got going. Bam. In his first half, yeah, five points, seven rebounds, two assists, uh one block, but I had five turnovers. So, not like the cleanest game in the world for BAM. and and Spo was definitely frustrated by the uh the amount of turnovers from his team today and uh and Bam was probably the biggest culprit of that. A lot of these guys are getting to know each other. I mean, you do have to give some some grace on that. These guys getting on the same page. They are trying to play faster. We did see that element to it as well. Um, the second half was honestly even probably more intriguing than the first half, even though you didn’t have the more familiar names. And I think that was for a couple of reasons. You were watching the rotations. You were looking when guys were going out there. Um, and you were looking to see, you know, who could kind of flourish with the opportunities. Now the second half starts up and it was it was noticeable that the Heat did not start Khal Wear. They decided to go with Haime Hakees Jr. Trevor Kees Jir Young Precious Aua and Nicola Yoic. You’re like a Chua over Kel Wear that’s a little bit odd. Okay. And it’s not like, you know, this is not like you’re trying to keep like rotate. It’s not the regular season where you’re like trying to keep a guy in a roll, right? I I I don’t I don’t know. That was uh certainly noticeable. Um and then Kell had his own roller coaster ride that we’re going to get into here in just a second that was fascinating. But um in the early math uh Nico was uh you know a couple things like Himemehz Jr. he was uh having a little bit of trouble in the first half like people you know that spin move that he loves to go to it seemed a little figured out. um he just hasn’t been able to find that finish, that touch around the rim and then he got a nice little easy one from Jir Young and it it really felt like it settled him down a little bit and then took a very confident three at the top of the arc which uh tied up the game for Miami and then he started finding his his teammates. He got pressured involved in a bucket and then uh Nico got a coast to coast caused the Bucks to call timeout. Um, but then probably the play of the game from them and this would be their their kind of cap off for it was Nico setting up who I think he’s the best lob thrower on the team. Kellwware says it’s Pella, but he throws a beautiful lob and Haime just skies it, brings it down. Fans go crazy. I asked uh Nico about it after the game and uh this is what he had to say. about that in that third quarter that time you and Himea had together specifically with that alley hoop. Oh, I mean you know I was just trying to check if you know he can still jump you know after that dumb contest. I haven’t seen him do much since so I just wanted to make sure he’s looking good. But yeah playing level basketball you know um you know he’s doing a lot of ball handling which you know I feel like he he hasn’t really been used to but he’s looking really good. So, you know, uh I’m I’m happy for him, you know, getting uh back what what he was doing in his first year, you know, and I’m I’m sure he’ll look a lot better this year. That dude’s a rascal. Um funny. It is. Uh I I listen, I love I love bits. I love funny. So, that is and and that’s what it was. But it it did feel good. It it honestly it genuinely felt good to see Jame just play good basketball, you know, just look he looked confident in himself and seeing the ball go in I think uh did him wonders. So we had that and then then we had the Kell thing which was definitely fascinating. You know, there was a lot to uh there was a lot to like take from this because, you know, Kell is coming in here late in the game and late in the third quarter. It’s like him, Keshad, I don’t even remember who they were out there with. They were out there, I think, with those same guys, Keels Gardner, and Jir Young. I think that was pretty much the lineup. If I’m messing it up, I apologize. But I think that was those those are the candidates. Yeah. My Gardner and Jir Young had a they had their own cool little fast uh fast break alley. But um look, there’s definitely a message is trying to send here with Kell and he wants winning habits. He’s not going to change his standard for it. It’s it’s honestly interesting because Spo’s gone into this mode a little bit where he’s letting it rip a little bit more, but the guy who has been numero uno on the the the tough love category from Eric Solstra has been where and you know I am I’m curious to see where this goes for him. I definitely am because I still think he’s a very very talented player and I think a lot of what the impact that they wanted because I was watching the stuff very closely you know did a lot of bench watching tonight did a lot of timeout watching tonight and seeing how guys were interacting with him because he did finish like if you just looked I think if you see the highlight films if you looked at dude Kaware had 18 points had 13 rebounds it was big numbers against a Bucks team that was, you know, playing I think he was playing against like Larry Nance’s brother, Thinesis onto Takmpo. Like this is not, you know, this is not the height of heights as far as competition. But the problem is that the Heat want him to bring it full go all the time, no matter the circumstances. And he’s even admitted like when I talked about media day this year, you know, goes, “Yeah, I was slacking a little bit.” He had some awareness in it. Um, but I don’t think of this guy, you know, I I find him to be a fascinating young man because I don’t think of Kell as a guy who takes a lot of things very personally. Um, super sensitive. At least that’s what I see on on the front. Like I remember with the Hassan stuff and I didn’t cover Hassan day today, you know, it was it was, you know, more so doing the radio stuff at those at that point. But Assan was like really like, you know, Hassan really took some stuff personally. And I do think that Kell is handling all this stuff in stride and trying to to to uh brave a lot of this stuff and and take it on the chin and take constructive criticism like the numbers don’t want to see the minus 20 plus minus want to see it turn around. How much do you notice that? How much do you and him sort of trying to get on the same page with things like that? I mean yeah it’s uh you know it’s all about getting to a point you know where I’m uh you know affecting winning basketball and so um you know, just been able to go out there, you know, impact the game in a positive way. And you could see like it’s interesting watching the benches, right? Because he’s almost got like a little bit of even on the locker room, he’s got a little bit of a good cop, bad cop thing going on. Like Tyler’s his buddy. Tyler Hero, and this was actually a cool thing. Tyler Herro was was on the bench, but it was noticeable. No boot, no scoot. All right, there was some boogie. He That’s a minus one. I I just give it to myself on this own channel. I’m sorry. I don’t have the the numbers with I don’t have that sound effect with me, but I’ll try that joke again tomorrow on Leroy. See how it goes over. But uh no boot, didn’t have the scooter. He was wearing sneakers. He was kind of walking around. Obviously, he’s not running, but definitely uh from media day where he had to hop around like a kangaroo, he looked better. So, that was good news. Um, but you can even see like Kell, there was a one point where Kell wasn’t in the game and you know, you can see that like Tyler’s having a moment with him to try and kind of loosen him up and feel all right. And then, you know, as he gets in the game and the the game is like kind of slipping away a little bit from the heat and they got to find their way back into the game. And you can see at one point like it was all the young guys I think there was about Let me see if I have my notes on when this was. Yeah. Okay. So, here’s what happened. It was It was I think No, it wasn’t when they It was about They were tied up. I think it was like around 74 74 and I don’t remember which game first. I I can’t remember my notes here, but KL Wear throws up this crazy bucket. Like this dude has the ability to like make these incredible circus shots. He’s done this against the Warriors. He did this one tonight where he just like just throws that puppy up and it goes in. Amazing. But uh at one point when they’re in timeout, the uh the rookies or the end of roster guys, the exhibit 10 guys and Kesha Johnson. So, it’s I think it’s Keels, it’s Gardner, it’s Young, it’s Keshad, and then it’s Kell. And they’re in the midst of a timeout. And yeah, it was okay. Here it was. 7774, I think. Um, and yeah, you could see that uh you could see like B. Okay, this was the So 7774. Bucks call timeout. They’re in timeout. Bam’s giving like a little speech to the the three young guys, Keyshot and Kell. But then right before Kell goes on the court, he gives I don’t know what he says to him, but he says like a little something like, you know, animated, right? And Kell comes right out thereoop hits the incredible circus shot and one. You’re just like, how the hell did he make that? And yeah, so like it looked whatever the hell happened there, it felt like, okay, something something feels like it got sparked there. And then all of a sudden, you know, Kell is out there, he’s getting in. Uh it was the thing that Bam really jumped out of his chair where he got an offensive rebound, followed up with a slam and Bam really liked that. And then at one point, uh he starts hitting, you know, he hits a three, he’s feeling smooth with it, gives the Heat the lead. I believe that was the Heat’s last lead of the game. And so you can see Adabio was was pleased with that. But on the other end of it, there wasn’t a lot of defensive deterrent. And he’s kind of the guy you’re like, “Hey, you got to be a force here.” Bam said he thinks he could be a deep boy candidate. He could be a force of nature. He just didn’t feel that. Like and I know like he had a little bit of a weird match up because he was going up against Larry Nance’s brother who was a stretch big and was like throwing up threes left and right, but even at times where like he was there like there wasn’t a lot of resistance at the paint. And I think this is this is the thing we’re trying to see and what the Heat are trying to draw out of him. Whether it be the good cop bad cop with Bam and Tyler or with Eric Spolstra who basically said, you know, he looks at his 18 and 13. He goes he basically says like I don’t care about stats. He’s got he there was he said there was a threeminut stretch there. I think it’s the one that he goes that’s where he needs. He gets the steel 3 minutes of energy. I love to know what his plus minus is. plus minus over the over the game was minus 30 or minus 20, excuse me. And Spo wants to see him bring it on both ends all the time, not this flipping the switch thing. So, look, this is going to be a fascinating thing for sure. I I’m very curious to see how this all turns out. Um, overall this has been a pretty intriguing start to the preseason based on we have seen the fast-paced stuff. We have now gotten to see Norman Pal unlock his powers a little bit. We’ve seen a very engaged Andrew Wiggins. We haven’t gotten the I mean to to to the we haven’t gotten really like um we didn’t get the best BAM out of Bio today. We got a very aggressive Bam in game one who got to the free throw line a ton. And Yovic, I mean, like, look, I mean, people are making jokes in the comments. I mean, like, he’s just to me, he’s the most he’s he’s been so fun getting everybody involved. It’s fun to see this growth. Um, Spo actually was pretty hard on on him today, too. He was uh talking about, you know, he was happy with his rebounding because Nico finished today with a near triple double in 23 minutes. flirted with a triple double, nine points, eight rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and he was making the point today. Spo, he’s like, Yoic has improved in a lot of ways, but the one place he’s got to is rebounding. And and like he we saw that tonight, what he’s capable of. Let me see if I got, you know, some of the comments that he had about it where he’s like, he said, “I don’t want him to settle. Uh, he’s been better everywhere but rebounding. He needs to take it personally. He’s capable.” And then, um, yes, Bo was on one today, man. He was He was fiery. He was fiery. I’m I’m kind of interested to see where this goes with Eric Spolstra this year. He seems like a guy he’s he’s kind of he feels to me like he’s entering a new era of Eric Spolstra like a p person personalitywise in front of the media. This is this is the I’m I’m I’m I’m taking note of it. I I’m I’m I’m like it’s not it’s not just the Kell stuff. It it feels like the Kell stuff may have been like a pivot point for him, but uh he was he was fiery after the game today. But a fascinating night. Good to be back. Boots on the ground. I will not be there on Wednesday. I got some other obligations, but uh I will recap it.

Miami Heat lose preseason home opener to the Bucks. Norman Powell showcased his scoring punch. Nikola Jović giant point guard moves. Jaime Jaquez Jr. finds his groove. Erik Spoelstra has more lessons for Kel’el Ware even after a big scoring night.
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