Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Paint won’t be brushed aside
Versatile Adebayo open to improving post skills to elevate game further
MIAMI — Bam Adebayo refuses to become a prisoner to his versatility.
So even as he fills the box score and serves as a primary playmaker for the Miami Heat, often advancing the ball across midcourt, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to take his heights to new heights.
At 6-foot-9, while he doesn’t necessarily want to be put in his place, the third-year big man understands the paint can also be his space.
“I feel like that’s what you start at — as a big, you start there,” he said of playing out of the post. “So it’s nothing wrong with getting your low-post game better.”
That had him discussing the tutelage he already has received in that area and one moment of mentorship he still is angling toward.
“There’s nothing wrong with figuring out how to get cheap, easy baskets, and improve your footwork,” Adebayo said in advance of this weekend’s set of games at AmericanAirlines Arena on Friday night against the Dallas Mavericks and Saturday night against the Brooklyn Nets.
“I think there’s no problem with that even if you’re a hybrid or you play mainly in the post.”
An upgraded post game would only figure to make Adebayo even more of a playmaking threat. As it is, of the 298 assists Adebayo took into Friday night’s game, 155 had led to 3-pointers. The winner of the Skills Competition during All-Star weekend, he went into this weekend one assist shy of Jimmy Butler for the Heat’s team lead.
Among the big men he has sought post pointers from have been former assistant coach Juwan Howard, current assistant coach Malik Allen, Heat captain Udonis Haslem and Heat executive Alonzo Mourning.
“It’s more of like an intimidation lesson by Zo,” he said. “So it’s more of a structured talk. But it’s just great advice.”
There also has been offseason work with another former intimidator, Rasheed Wallace.
“Mostly conditioning,” Adebayo said of those sessions in his native North Carolina.
As for a tutorial from a player that Adebayo’s style somewhat resembles, he said of Hakeem Olajuwon, “I haven’t gotten that invite.”
But there is one that still is very much being pursued.
“I want to work out with Kevin Garnett,” he said of the 43-year-old former Boston Celtics championship big man. “That man was a bucket-getter.”
Not so much for a skill session, or even court time.
“But more so just how he approached the game,” Adebayo said. “So more of a mental day, and just want to know how to be a professional, day in and day out.”