Heat's Erik Spoelstra, Jimmy Butler get real on Bam Adebayo's lack of involvement in offense

10/31/2024 11:45 AM

As the Miami Heat lost to the New York Knicks Wednesday night, a disappointing aspect of the night once again was the performance of Bam Adebayo. Seen as a “cornerstone” for the Heat as said by Dwyane Wade, the offensive usage has been stalled the first four games of the season as people such as Erik Spoelstra and Jimmy Butler give their thoughts on how to fix it.

In the Heat’s loss to New York, Adebayo would finish the game with 11 points to go with three rebounds and four assists, but his presence wasn’t really felt until the second half. He would get into foul trouble in the first half having three of them while he also had four points as Spoelstra would say it’s on himself for not getting the center into comfortable spots to get him going on offense.

“But obviously we need to get the ball to Bam too, you know. And that’s on me. I have to find a way,” Spoelstra said. “This is not about a new offense, this is about having all of our guys healthy. We have the most weapons that we have, and we score, you know, 107 points. You know, that’s not what we’re aiming for right now. You know, everybody’s got to be able to feel aggressive. They got to be able to feel like themselves and you know, we’ll get there, and that’s on me to get Bam in the spots where he can feel more comfortable whether that’s pick and roll, whether it’s flashes, you know, the elbow, whether it’s in the post, all the different areas where he can, we’ll get better with that.”

Erik Spoelstra talks about the offense later about holding himself accountable for not getting Bam Adebayo into his spots.

"It's one me to get Bam in his spots where he can feel more comfortable…" #HeatNationpic.twitter.com/BlVRtKmBgC

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) October 31, 2024

Heat’s Jimmy Butler on finding Bam Adebayo the ball

Even with Adebayo’s new weapon in the arsenal of the deep ball, it looks as if he’s passing up on those three-point attempts on offense to get other players going. Still, even in his offensive speciality of going into the post or looking for an opportunity at a mid-range jumper, it has not come as star Jimmy Butler said the team has got to get guys like Adebayo in rhythm.

“We just got to know where the ball gotta go,” Butler said. “We got to go find our guys, put them in a spot to be successful, we got to do better at. Seeing the mismatches, knowing when somebody ain’t have the ball for a minute, and get it to him and let it attack.”

Through four games, Adebayo has not exceeded 12 points so far which is way down from past four or five seasons where he averages closer to 20 per game to go along with 10 rebounds. The guard play especially from Heat stars Tyler Herro and Terry Rozier have been a focal point of the offense along with Butler as the two have been impressive to start the season.

Miami would get Adebayo the ball more in the second half where he scored six straight points, but it was too little too late for the team against New York who turned it on in the third quarter, putting up 36 points.

Heat’s Tyler Herro on not being worried about Bam Adebayo

There is no doubt that it is still a learning curve as piggybacking off what Spoelstra said, this is the most offensive talent they have had in their starting lineup, so it could be originally difficult to get everybody on the same page. Herro would say he is not concerned with Adebayo and wants to “see him continue to be aggressive” as well with the team finding him the ball.

“I mean just finding ways to get him the ball in his areas that can make our offense, you know, continue to rise,” Herro said. “I don’t want to use the wrong words obviously, he’s one of our best players, and we have to give him the ball, continuing to find advantages where he can get the ball and expose mismatches, but I like to see him continue to be aggressive. He’ll get it going, it's early on in the season. I don’t think there’s anything that we’re worried about with Bam. He puts the work in, and he always figures it out.”

Tyler Herro speaks on the offense needing to get Bam Adebayo more involved in the offense. #HeatNationpic.twitter.com/RWszBTpPwr

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) October 31, 2024

Herro has been very good so far this season, especially in the loss to the Knicks where he had 34 points to go along with seven assists and five rebounds. While Herro leads the team in points per game with 22.3, Rozier is second with 18.5 as the tandem backcourt has been a fun one to watch for fans.

Heat’s Tyler Rozier on taking some blame for Bam Adebayo’s usage

However, Rozier would put some of the blame on him for not getting Adebayo involved in the offense since he is the point guard and it depends on the flow of the game. Still, the 30-year old would focus on saying that Miami is still in the midst of connecting with one another.

“Just to give a different look, different rhythm, you know, some of those fronts and downs, pick and rolls again, some of the things that were working the first half were not working,” Rozier said. “You know, those are some of the decisions you have to make as a head coach. In the fourth quarter, I made a lot of wrong decisions. That’s on me.

We just got guys that’s connected and trying to play together, you know, we all know that we got to get Bam more shots, and we got to get him in his rhythm. So that’s something that you know got to talk about, and starting with me, I gotta do a better job of but, you know, sometimes you out there just playing, you got guys that’s trying to connect with others out there sometimes. Best shot may not be for Bam, but like I said, I gotta demand it and make sure he’s feeling himself from now on.”

Terry Rozier on Bam Adebayo getting more usage on offense.

"We all know we got to get Bam more shots…" #HeatNationpic.twitter.com/YawVwJiWiG

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) October 31, 2024

At any rate, the team is now 2-2 on the season as the Heat travel to Mexico to take on the Washington Wizards Saturday night. They look to get Adebayo going early in the game and hopefully continue the heavy usage into Monday night’s game hosting the Sacramento Kings where they will celebrate him, Spoelstra, and Nikola Jovic for obtaining medals at the Paris Olympics.

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