Butler, Heat receive high praise after Finals run
Appreciation and respect. That’s where it starts when people in the NBA talk about the Heat and what these players and coaches achieved during three months in the Disney bubble.
“They may have lost a championship, but they gained a lot of fans in the process in regards to the respect level for how they play,” former Heat guard and NBA TV analyst Jim Jackson said. Here’s where the regard for the Heat has risen this year:
Appreciation for Jimmy Butler: Now, “we know at Jimmy’s very best, he can go toe to toe with the greatest players in the world,” ESPN analyst and former NBA forward Richard Jefferson said. “He has definitely moved up the rank of respected NBA players over this run.”
A front-office official who has worked for a team that previously employed Butler put it this way: “Other teams couldn’t maximize that competitiveness like Miami did.
He was first among equals with this team and that wasn’t necessarily the case in two of his previous three teams. He showed he’s a winning cog on a Finals team. That has as much to do with Miami as him.”
NBA Hall of Famer
Isiah Thomas noted Butler, from a fundamental standpoint, “does everything correctly. He does everything classical that the modern NBA says you shouldn’t do — killing in the mid-range, passes the ball with two hands. Jimmy overpowers you with great footwork.”
Appreciation for the Heat’s player development, scouting and drafting: An Eastern Conference scout: “Bam [Adebayo ]and[ Duncan] Robinson are much better than what I thought, and I’m obviously not alone. Robinson, the fact he could maintain his major skill [shooting] deep into the playoffs was more than people thought. Nobody is ever going to leave that guy [open] again. With Bam, he’s a better scorer than people thought. He’s more skilled than people thought.”
A second scout said both players likely would rise from late lottery picks to top-five picks (in Tyler Herro’s case) and topthree picks (in Adebayo’s case) in a hypothetical re-draft.
Respect for the Heat’s style of play and selflessness: Thomas: “In this era, it’s good to see team basketball come back. This has been an era where we’ve glorified the individual more so than the team and the Miami Heat has gone against the grain in terms of building a throwback team to the ’80s where everybody played team basketball, shared the ball, and no one was concerned about being the glamorous superstar; everyone just wanted to win. Their basketball culture is so vastly different from the rest of the NBA. … It’s been beautiful to watch.”
Appreciation for what the Heat has found in Herro, as explained by ESPN analysts and former NBA players Richard Jefferson and Matt Barnes: Barnes: “Please don’t take this wrong when I say this. I compare, at the end of [Game 4] … you would see Tyler miss a few shots, air ball a few shots but it really reminded me of Kobe Bryant, back when he was doing that against Utah [as a rookie]. He is learning on the biggest stage possible, playing well but still making mistakes; he is going to be a lot better for this. This kid is handling pressure like no 20-yearold we’ve seen in the Finals before. I love Tyler Herro. He’s relentless.
They really have a special player.”
And Jefferson made an interesting point: “Tyler Herro is a basketball player’s player. Old [guys] look at Tyler Herro and you’re like, ‘There’s something about this kid that’s fun to watch.’ I know fans love him. But it’s not just when fans love you. It’s when basketball players are texting each other, are respecting you and they’re like, ‘Hell, some of the stuff this kid is doing is unique and special.’ He is going to be a problem for a long time.”
Appreciation for Goran Dragic, from ESPN analyst and Hall of Fame coach Hubie Brown: “He’s one of most underrated players in the league and has been for years. Once he gets down underneath, he’s so dangerous; he plays the glass from behind the board or gets fouled or makes the right pass.
“With less than three seconds on the [shot] clock, he can get to an area where he can shoot at a high percentage. He does that night after night, whether a three or a midrange [shot] or taking you all the way to the hole. I really enjoy watching him play. And he’s so humble.”
Appreciation for the Heat’s level of fitness:
Hall of Famer and NBA TV analyst Grant Hill:
“You talk about [great] conditioning. Every possession they have to exert so much energy on the defensive end but also the offensive end, all the ball movement and player movement. They have a special spirit about them.”
Appreciation for the Heat’s intangibles: Hall of Famer and NBA TV analyst Kevin McHale:
“There’s talent, toughness and togetherness. They’ve got the toughness and togetherness down. They’re not the most talented team I’ve ever seen, but man, they play together.”
Respect for Adebayo: Jackson: “His ceiling is as high as the moon.”… ESPN analyst and former NBA center Kendrick Perkins:
“To me, he’s one of the best three bigs in the league, right behind Anthony Davis and Nikola Jokic.”
Respect for coach Erik Spoelstra: Perkins: “He’s the best coach in today’s game.”… An Eastern Conference scout: “Spo’s stock went even higher. People knew how good a coach he is, but now they really know. To me, this cemented it. He absolutely got the most out of that roster. On paper, that wasn’t the best team in the East or maybe one of even the three best.”
CHATTER
Sunday’s game against the Jets will mark the first time in coach Brian Flores’ 21 games with the Dolphins that Miami is favored in a game by Las Vegas oddsmakers. “The underdog role is not something that gives me a source of motivation,” Flores said. “I’m not big on betting/odds, over/ unders. I don’t understand it very much.”
For those starting to wonder if Miami should have drafted Justin Herbert, consider: In their first four NFL games, Herbert has nine TD passes, three interceptions and a 107.1 passer rating. Dan Marino, in his first four games, had nine TDs, three INTs and a 103.6 rating.
UM coaches believe one reason they’ve lost several games in recent years is because some opponents (Boston College, Wisconsin, Duke, Virginia) had older, more experienced players whose offensive or defensive lines wore down Miami’s. They’re worried about that again this week. Players were told — as cornerback Al Blades Jr. noted — that “Pitt has 30 guys on the team [that have been on their team] for four years; they’re a mature team that has been in college a long time. We have 11 guys on the team for four years.”