Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Heat looking for Bam to step up and step out
The Miami Heat not only are looking for Bam Adebayo to step up this season, they also are looking for their emerging center to step out.
An efficient 67.9 percent from the field within five feet of the rim last season, Adebayo closed at 40.1 percent on shots between five and nine feet, 44.6 percent on shots between 10 and 14 feet, and 20.8 percent on shots between 15 and 19 feet.
That is what made the two mid-range jumpers he converted early in Monday night’s exhibition loss to the New Orleans Pelicans so encouraging.
“I’m trying to space the floor,” he said. “I’m just trying to work on everything and just keep improving. My [midrange shot] has been improving and I’m going to keep shooting it.”
Increased efficiency would make it easier to pair Adebayo with first-round pick Precious Achiuwa, instead of mostly playing him in the power rotation alongside 3-point threats such as Moe Harkless, Meyers Leonard and Kelly Olynyk.
“We want him to put pressure on opponents’ defenses in every way possible,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He’s just continuing to player develop to be able to add more skills and more tools
that help our offense: his ability to pass, his ability to handle, get us into offense, to attack defenses, get to the free-throw line, get to the rim, to be a screener and one of the most dynamic rollers whether he’s catching it in the pocket or for lobs.
“Then, since the ball is in his hands, his ability to make free throws and make some of these short-range shots that are not layups or not three-pointers.”
Spoelstra said it is not a matter of taking the fourth-year center out of his comfort zone, but rather expanding the comfort zone.
“We don’t need him to be a stretch five, but to be able to make enough that it just varies your menu and puts a lot of pressure on the defense,” Spoelstra said as the Heat continued preparations for Friday’s preseason finale, against the Toronto Raptors in Tampa. “You saw some of that [Monday] night, how much he has improved.”
A year ago, Adebayo and Jimmy Butler had a running (and seemingly fictitious) bet, with $500 at stake for each game Adebayo did not attempt a 3-point shot. Ultimately, it would have been an investment more lucrative than even Butler’s Big Face Coffee enterprise, with Adebayo attempting only 14 3-pointers in his 72 appearances.
This time, Butler said the stakes are a matter of pride, with more of a focus of getting Adebayo comfortable between the rim and 3-point line.
“And I’m sure if you would ask all these statistics and numbers people anyways, they’d tell you that that’s a bad shot, because nowadays, you don’t want to shoot midrange jump shots,” Butler said, with the shot a staple of his own offensive game. “We encourage that from Bam. Be aggressive. Shoot a step-back, one-legged midrange shots and throw in a three, and get somebody else the ball and then go dunk the basketball.”
As with last season’s wager, Butler said there should be no lack of confidence.
“He’s a complete player,” Butler said. “We’re never mad at any shot that he takes. We will never be mad at any shot that he takes. But I just want him to be aggressive. Shoot 50 of ‘em.”
Spoelstra said if Adebayo can make free throws at the .783 clip recorded during the playoffs at the Disney World quarantine setting, up from his .691 during the regular season, there is no reason he can’t thrive from that distance while the clock is running.
“I just think also one of the most important things is how much he has improved his 15-foot shot from the free-throw line, because he’s going to get fouled a lot,” Spoelstra said. “In the bubble, he was one of our better free-throw shooters. That was really important.”