Q: The Heat are a mediocre 7-6, but based on their early difficult schedule and key injuries they are doing better than most people would have thought. The Heat are now in a play-in position in the standings and even with a healthy Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro that is about where most people probably thought they would end up at the end of the season. – Joel, Fort Lauderdale.
A: Correct, which is why it’s about not getting too high or too low. Most seasons are defined by a takeoff point. At the moment, the schedule remains challenging in the immediate future. But there also will be pockets where wins can be amassed in bunches. It remains essential to seize those opportunities, which can be the difference between play-in and playoffs. The Heat let one get away against the undermanned Cavaliers and can’t let another one get away on their home court Monday against the shorthanded Knicks. If the Heat win the winnable games and then come up with a surprise here or there, they should be fine. But with this roster, bad losses will be hard to overcome and will be particularly costly.
Q: The Heat have an open roster spot, why didn’t they bring in a frontcourt player on a 10-day contract as soon as Bam Adebayo got injured? – Omar, Miami.
A: Because 10-day contracts do not come into play until January (the exception being teams decimated by injuries, such as the Pacers). Now, the Heat could have added a veteran big man on a daily, non-guaranteed basis in the interim in Bam Adebayo’s absence, but that is a tough call when an injury is regarded as day-to-day. The Heat’s window to add another player at the veteran minimum for the balance of the season and remain below the tax line will be in mid-December. That is when it will be time to act. In the interim, it’s about trying to stay afloat.
Q: Even though they lost in New York, I love the way the Heat competed against the Knicks. I love watching their grittiness. Pelle Larsson, Davion Mitchell, Norm Powell, Andrew Wiggins, Simone Fontecchio and of course, and especially, Jaime Jaquez Jr. They play tough. I can’t say the same for Kel’el Ware and Nikola Jovic. Ware defends with his length, but doesn’t have that “quick” jump that you need to block shots and rebound. He is almost always just too late. As for Jovic, another young guy, can you teach him toughness? Because, right now, he does not fit in. No doubt about it, the Heat need another big guy, other than Adebayo, ready to mix it up and do some rebounding. Hopefully in April, before the payoffs, when eliminated teams are allowed to trade, they can pick up a strong rebounder. – Irwin, Boynton Beach.
A: You sum it up well, in terms of the Heat have shown plenty of fight, but it also has to be the right fight. You can score all you want and defend for the bulk of the shot clock, but if you don’t secure rebounds, then those defensive sequences turn into empty basketball calories. And that leads to the question of whether this roster is built to rebound.