Looking for Yurtseven to get more physical
When push comes to shove, Heat want Turkish big man to push and shove
Among the complexities for the Miami Heat this season has been convincing a player who once scored 91 points in a game that he needs to be more forceful with his offense.
In that regard, the Heat are talking turkey by making sure that Omer Yurtseven goes beyond his play in the Turkish League, including his May 2016 performance for Fenerbahce’s under-18 team in a 115-81 victory over 9 Eylul Basketbol Ihtisas.
“It was insane,” Yurtseven said ahead of Tuesday night’s game against the Washington Wizards at FTX Arena, of the game when he scored 91 points. “At that moment, I was just zoned out. My goal was to get 56 in the game. I was trying to get the scoring title of the tournament that we were in, and also finish in the best position possible.”
With five 3-pointers in that game, Yurtseven showed the variety of his offense.
Such also has been on display for the Heat, and will continue to be on display for the foreseeable future, with centers Bam Adebayo and Dewayne Dedmon sidelined.
But the takeaway inside the Heat locker room is that for Yurtseven to become more impactful on the NBA level, he needs to become more forceful with his play.
With the Heat loaded with outside shooters, forward Jimmy Butler said the initial instinct for Yurtseven has to be to roll hard to the basket after setting screens, not pop out to the perimeter for jumpers better left to others.
“I mean,” Butler said, “he’s a hell of a player. Obviously he can pick-and-pop. He’s a monster whenever he decides to roll. But I just told him, the harder that you roll, the more layups you’re going to get. And then you can start to pop.
“But you can’t pop first, because our offense doesn’t allow for that to happen, because we’ve got shooters pulling behind the ball.”
Butler said he appreciates the learning curve, with the rookie 7-footer only now getting consistent playing time, as Adebayo recovers from thumb surgery and Dedmon deals with a knee sprain. Plus now there is the added dynamic of point guard Kyle Lowry being in health and safety protocols, leading to a more halfcourt-oriented Heat attack.
“I mean he’s in and out of that lineup with different guys,” Butler said of Yurtseven. “We play differently whenever I’m playing and when Kyle’s playing, when Bam is playing.
“And I just don’t think he’s played a lot of reps with me in the mid-post. So he’s getting to learn me. I’m getting to learn him a little bit, too. But he’s going to be huge for us in this road stretch.”
That stretch begins Wednesday night against the San Antonio Spurs, at the start of a seven-game trip that also includes stops in Houston. Sacramento, Golden State, Portland, Phoenix and Atlanta.
No sooner had Yurtseven completed Sunday’s career-high 16-point performance, then he took Butler’s words to heart, as well as the words of Heat veteran big men P.J. Tucker and Udonis Haslem.
“It’s not about getting the shots. It’s just about when you get the ball,” Yurtseven said. “I think a couple of midrange shots that I took, if I was a step quicker, I could have gotten a bunch of dunks.
“Jimmy was on me about that a lot, and P.J. on the sideline and [Haslem] too. Everybody was just trying to get that extra step, the extra edge. And getting more, I guess, guarantee shots rather than settling for a jumper.”
The lesson plan came in Yurtseven’s first NBA start.
“That’s the first time I played with Jimmy this long,” he said, “and I kind of know now where he wants his shots and everything. It’s not about getting your shots up, it’s about what the right shot is at that moment and being ready for it.”