Wife resists efforts to improve her lifestyle
Opposing teams are finding ways to more effectively defend Duncan Robinson on three-pont shots. In turn, Miami is working to come up with more ways to keep him open.
Dear Abby: I met my wife when we were very young and into partying. We’re now middle-aged and heading in different directions.
I focus on physical and mental well-being. I work out daily, eat healthy and maintain a positive attitude. She spends her free time lying around, drinking, smoking and constantly exposing herself to negativity through the internet. She’s now on medication for depression and anxiety.
My attempts at discussion are mostly met with anger and defensiveness or are dismissed as “a bad time to talk.” I feel we have reached a crossroads in our health. I want her to be as fit and healthy as possible so we can enjoy our golden years together. How do I get her to join me in a healthier lifestyle before it’s too late? — Willing in Washington
Dear Willing: Your wife may have reached a fork in the road of her life. If your description is accurate, you are living with a woman who is depressed, angry, defensive, anxious and selfdestructive.
A way to get her to join you in a healthier lifestyle would be to convince her that her own path to wellness will begin with consulting a mental health professional before it is too late and the damage she is doing to herself becomes irreversible. When you do, make sure she knows you are saying it because you love her and want to enjoy a long and happy life with her — something that is clearly not happening for her right now. If she still refuses, then continue doing what you’re doing, recognizing you cannot save someone who refuses to help herself.
There were certain things the Miami Heat could rely on to help it win games last season.
Many of those things were on the offensive end, as elite three-point shooting, impressive ball movement and a lot of free throws helped to make the Heat’s offense a top-10 unit last season with the AllStar duo of Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler leading the way. Miami finished its last regular season with the NBA’s seventh-best offensive rating (111.9 points scored per 100 possessions).
This season? So far, the Heat’s offense has been one
of the least efficient units in the league, entering Sunday with the fifth-worst offensive rating (106 points scored per 100 possessions).
Some of Miami’s offensive issues made an appearance in Saturday night’s 112-94 road loss to the team with the
NBA’s top record, the Utah Jazz. The Heat’s four-game winning streak ended as it shot 40.7 percent from the field, went through an offensive drought that included just six points on 3-of-24 shooting during a 13:53 span, and scored at an underwhelming pace of 92.2 points per 100 possessions in the loss.
“We’re not where we want
to be offensively,” coach Erik Spoelstra said after Sunday’s practice in Los Angeles, with the Heat (11-15) moving on to face the Clippers on Monday (10 p.m., Fox Sports Sun and NBA TV) in the third game of its seven-game trip. “We have much more to maximize with this group. We’re working at it.”
But how can a team returning 13 players from a roster that represented the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals last season produce such different offensive results just one season later? Opponents have made adjustments to take away certain triggers that were there for the Heat last season.
Adebayo vocalized one of the adjustments he has noticed during the first eight weeks of the season.
“They’re trying to take Duncan [Robinson] out of the game,” Adebayo said. “The stuff we were doing with Duncan last year, we can’t do this year. So, we just got to adjust and watch film, get together and figure that out.”
Robinson finished Saturday’s loss to the Jazz with eight points on 2-of-4 shooting on threes, as the Jazz kept a defender on him at all times, faceguarded him for most of the game, and never sagged off of him to help in the paint. Utah also took a physical approach and often sent a second defender to slow Miami’s off-ball actions involving Robinson.
“It’s just similar coverages to kind of what you saw in the playoffs last year,” said Robinson, who finished the last regular season tied for the thirdmost
made threes in the NBA at 270 and set a new Heat record for most threes made in a season. “So a lot of stuff that we could get away with in the regular season last year isn’t working anymore. But we just gotta adjust and find solutions.
“In terms of what they’re doing, just more tuned in first and foremost. Trying to limit my catches and limit my ability to come off of stuff freely and sending everything down to the baseline and trying to make it difficult. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before, so I just gotta continue to be persistent.”
Spoelstra said of Robinson: “He has earned this respect from around the league. He’s being game planned for every single night as a priority where probably the first few months of the season last year, he might’ve been further down on a scouting report. As a group, we have to do a better job of executing details in getting him open and being persistent.”
Robinson is averaging 12.5 points while making 3.3 threes on 8.2 threepoint attempts per game for a percentage of 39.9. Other than the percentage, those numbers aren’t far off from Robinson’s record-setting pace last season. when he averaged
13.5 points while making 3.7 threes on 8.3 threepoint attempts per game for a percentage of 44.6.
Opponents have found a way to more effectively defend Robinson in dribble handoff situations this season, though. He’s averaging one point per possession off of handoffs, compared to 1.38 points per possession last season.
Robinson has scored on 33.3 percent of his handoff opportunities this season, which ranks in the 63rd
percentile in the NBA. He scored on 47 percent of his handoffs last season, which ranked in the 98th percentile in the league.
“They’re being physical and just trying to knock it down and not letting me get to it,” Robinson said of how teams are defending his dribble handoffs with Adebayo this season. “It’s nothing that we haven’t seen before. It’s just particularly in the regular season last year, teams weren’t as keyed in on that so I could get to it more freely in different sets that we ran consistently. It’s gonna require some creativity and also just being intentional with trying to get to that because it’s just not something that we can just flow into anymore.”
Robinson noted that “what I can control is just being more persistent with freeing myself and trying to get open.” The Heat is 5-10 this season in games with eight or fewer threepoint attempts from Robinson.
“As far as Duncan, that’s part of being a pro,” Butler said. “You have to watch the film and figure out ways that you can get open. Like I always say, nobody feels sorry for us. We’re all going to be better.”
However, Robinson is only one, albeit important, part of the Heat’s offense. Turnovers and inefficient three-point shooting have also hurt Miami.
Even after some recent low-turnover performances, the Heat is still averaging the most turnovers in the NBA at 16.8 per game and also owns the league’s highest turnover rate (percentage of plays that end with a team turnover) at 16.7 percent. Miami finished last regular season with a turnover rate of 14.9 percent.
And after finishing last
regular season with the NBA’s second-best threepoint percentage at 37.9, the Heat’s three-point percentage of 35.7 ranks 20th this season.
It also doesn’t help that Butler missed 12 of the first 26 games — 10 because of health and safety protocols and two because of a sprained right ankle. Key rotation players like Avery Bradley, Goran Dragic and Tyler Herro have also missed extended stretches because of injury, and COVID-19 in Bradley’s case.
But while the Heat’s offense has taken a step back, its defense has taken a step forward. After finishing as a statistically mediocre unit last season, Miami entered Sunday with the NBA’s seventhbest defensive rating this season and the secondbest defensive rating in the past 10 games.
That’s a symbol of just how different this season has been for the Heat despite bringing back the core of its roster. Miami’s efficient offense was its biggest strength last season, but its defense has been the more reliable unit to begin this season.
“I think there are times where our guys feel really comfortable and confident and helping the offense function at a high level and there are times where it’s not that,” Spoelstra said of the Heat’s offense. “So the level of consistency needs to improve. That much is clear. It starts with our spacing and being able to take care of the basketball. Then it’s the details of our execution from there. We’re not where we want to be, but we’re getting there.”