Team trusts in Bam
Adebayo’s play through the season has earned his teammate’s respect
For all the handiwork that Hassan Whiteside has achieved on the defensive end for the Miami Heat these past few years, the counter this season has been the footwork of rookie recent Bam Adebayo.
With Whiteside out the past week due to hip pain, the contrasts in defensive-minded big men has been evident.
“Hassan is one of the most unique players in the league because of his size, his wingspan, his blocked-shot instincts,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Really, you don’t see players like that nightly. That’s why I like the differences in what we have.
“Hassan protects the rim, the paint. Bam loves to put a little bit more pressure on the defense, trap a little bit more.”
After uneven defensive showings by Adebayo in losses to the Portland Trail Blazers and Sacramento Kings, Adebayo stepped up to help anchor the Heat in Friday night’s trip-ending victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Bam allows you to play big but also match the speed and quickness,” Spoelstra said, as the Heat turn their attention to Monday’s game against the Denver Nuggets at AmericanAirlines Arena. “But he earned it. At the end, in the closing moments, the team trusts him to be out there. And that’s growth.”
Considering the first-round pick out of Kentucky doesn’t turn 20 until July 18, he has turned into a quick study under the tutelage of assistant coach Juwan Howard and team tricaptain Udonis Haslem.
“For a young guy like that, he has a ton of great habits,” forward James Johnson, another of the Heat’s tricaptains said. “Again, not surprising because of a guy like Juwan Howard, U.D. always in his ear, always letting him know, always watching film with him.”
A year ago, Adebayo was participating in the NCAA Tournament. Now the challenges are man sized.
“First of all, I’m a rookie, so everything has to be done with better technique,” he said. “Second of all, you’ve just got to go out there and lay it all on the line, take that one-on-one matchup serious and personal. That’s what we do every time we play oneon-one with each other.
“It’s no different than what I did at Kentucky. We were all about man-toman at Kentucky. You have to take your matchup on your own. Here it’s the same.”
Of course nothing is the same. On the three-game trip there was the brutish play of Portland’s Jusuf Nurkic, the post play of Sacramento’s Zach Randolph, the outside shooting of the Lakers’ Brook Lopez. Next up is the triple-double threat of Denver’s Nikola Jokic.
“There’s places for me to grow, my whole arsenal,” Adebayo, last June’s No. 14 pick, said. “Just going and listening to the vets, UD, who has been at this for 15 years, he’s always in my ear.” Already there is veteran respect. “He’s done an unbelievable job all year,” guard Wayne Ellington said. “He doesn’t play like a rookie. Of course there are times he does still show he’s a rookie. But he’s been so great for us. Bam is so easy to talk to and communicate with. He receives it and he responds.”
Whiteside, Wade out
The Heat are listing Dwyane Wade and Whiteside as out for today’s game.
Whiteside has missed the past four games with what the team is listing as “left hip pain.” He was injured during the March 10 morning shootaround before the Heat’s home victory over the Washington Wizards.
Wade has missed the past three games with what the Heat are listing as a “left hamstring strain.” He was injured during the home victory over the Wizards.
Forward Josh Richardson is off the team’s injury report after missing Wednesday’s loss to the Kings with a sore left foot but then returning to start in Friday’s victory over the Lakers.
The Heat remain without guard Dion Waiters, who underwent season-ending ankle surgery in January, and also are without guards Derrick Walton Jr. and Derrick Jones Jr., who are with the Heat’s developmental-league affiliate, the G League Sioux Falls Skyforce, on their twoway contracts.