Miami Heat Roundtable: What to make of this poor start

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MIAMI, FL – NOVEMBER 12: Head coach Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat reacts against the Philadelphia 76ers during the first half at American Airlines Arena on November 12, 2018 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

In today’s AllUCanHeat Roundtable, the staff discusses the Miami Heat’s poor start to the 2018-19 season.

Okay, what’s the most disappointing stat to you, so far for the Miami Heat this season?

Chase Eyrich (@ceyrich): The fact that the Miami Heat are just under 90 field goal attempts per game. I understand that the Heat are one of the few teams that still want to focus on defense and I love that, but the pace just seems like it could be better. The roster is full of guards that are quick, and there are ways to run a few minutes with a small ball lineup. Even with the bigs that Miami has, I would still like to see more attempts and more of an improvement on their offense.

Rohan Campbell (@theboyro): Defensive efficiency. Miami ended the season eighth in that category last year, which was certainly impressive. Now, they are currently 14th. And while that’s not that much of a fall, I haven’t seen much of an improvement game after game, especially with the Heat routinely giving up so many points per contest (despite the fact that it seems like everyone is doing that). Miami is also ranked 18th in points per game, giving up 111 (yikes). The defense will probably get better since it’s only November, but there should still be some cause for concern and desire for improvement.

Rahmeaun Rahming (@Boneman9000): For me, it’s a combination of two statistical categories. The first thing that’s alarming to me is how the Heat and the 76ers share the exact same offensive rating of 106.7. That puts both teams just slightly under the median. I looked further into this thinking, “oh it has to be the turnovers that are costing the Heat games,” but I was wrong. Both the Heat and 76ers are in the bottom five in turnovers per game. The Heat average 16.9 giveaways per contest. Which begs the question, if the 76ers are only a third of a percentage point better than Miami in the category, why does Miami have so many more losses?

Brandon Johnson (@bjohnsonNBA): Free throw percentage. Even though Miami is top 10 in the league in getting to the charity stripe, the team is still shooting just 71 percent from the line. Considering Miami is third in the league in drives per game and is getting to the line quite frequently, not making uncontested foul shots is a continuation of the problem that plagued the Heat last year in the playoffs.

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