Game Thread GAME# 37: BLAZERS @ HEAT - JANUARY 5, 2020 - SUNDAY, 3:00 PM, NBCSNW

Oh boy another one you have been holding onto just for the right moment to spring it!

 

I miss Meyers a little because we’re so banged up at Center.

Also because I find it amusing how triggering some of you are by his schtick.

If Meyers is starting, Miami is going to try to use him to draw Hassan out of the paint, or have Meyers hurt us from deep. Maybe we should counter this by playing Melo on Meyers, and Hassan on Adebayo?

 

They have Jimmy Butler and nothing! How the heck are they 25-10?

 

Smart players and a great coach.

Jimmy Butler is also criminally underrated.

 

They have more than jimmy butler, they have adebayo who is very good, tyler herro is a roty candidate, nunn also roty cadidate and other solid players. They play as a team, play hard every night with big effort, the opposite of us

 

The bolded part is the reason IMO much more than rookies who are playing well. Now I give credit to the coach to developing them and putting them in positions to succeed to be sure. Bam gets 15 points, 10 rebounds and a block in 34 minutes shooting 57%. If he is 'very good', what does that make someone getting 15.5, 13.6 and 2.8 blocks shooting 60% in 29.6 minutes?

 

They have a much better roster than the Blazers do... Nunn is Good, Butlers a borderline superstar, Bam is great, because of injuries their bench is basically to a man better than our bench. Herro, Olynk, Dragic, all are way better than anyone coming off the bench for the Blazers right now.

 

But Bam is actually a high IQ basketball player, whiteside isnt, how many times does whiteside get a block hit it right to an offensive player and they score anyways... a lot. Whiteside has done what the Blazers wanted from him statistically and he’s trying but he really is slow and out of position a lot.

 

Dragic and Olynk are the Blazer killers.

Heat 135
Blazers 99

 

Dragic seems to kill the Blazers routinely.

 

Thats not saying much though.

 

Yup! They have players that fit specific roles and have great shooters. Duncan Robinson has been awesome this year but people don't know his name so they don't realize it. Derrick Jones Jr. has been really solid as well. When you look at how they've found talent, it's impressive.

Tyler Herro - 13th Pick
Bam Adebeyo - 14th pick
Derrick Jones Jr - Undrafted (PHX dumped him as a nobody, MIA picked him up)
Duncan Robinson - Undrafted
Kendrick Nunn - Undrafted

All those guys are having good seasons, some great.

Then they have Butler as the playmaker/scorer/lead defender to help facilitate for their shooters. You got Dragic too.

They play together, play as a team, and are very well coached. As you said, the opposite of us, and sadly, I expect to lose this game by 20 and would be shocked if we won.

 

We need to play our best game of the season to have a chance. Need this W.

 

Whiteside revenge game

 

Chemistry.
And a group of talented but average players who take turns being above average from night to night.
I'm not much of a Jimmy Butler fan but I've watched Miami play a few times this year and they are a fun watch.
Good team. Stud coach. (nice to see Spoalstra getting recognized) .
Hope they do well come playoff time.
An easy team to root for.

 

None of this data is surprising, but interesting nonetheless. (Per Cleaning The Glass)

Simons + Tolliver (351 Possessions)
Offense: 101.4 Pts/100 Poss. (8th Percentile)
Defense: 126.1 Pts/100 Poss. (Zero Percentile)

Tolliver at Center + Simons (162 Possessions)
Offense: 106.2 Pts/100 Poss. (27th Percentile)
Defense: 142.7 Pts/100 Poss. (Zero Percentile)

Tolliver at Power Forward + Simons (189 Possessions)
Offense: 97.4 Pts/100 Poss. (2nd Percentile)
Defense: 112.2 Pts/100 Poss. (29th Percentile)