Is Miami Heat big man Bam Adebayo, the perfect closer for the team?
The Miami Heat are 29 games into the regular season, and honestly, they look more like a Western Conference team than an Eastern Conference one.
Sporting an 8-4 record against western opponents, the Heat have shown they have what it takes to get wins against tougher squads.
So today, we’re going to dive deeper into a player that is heavily influencing the team’s win-loss column, as well as fourth quarter production.
Nope, it’s not Hassan Whiteside.
Instead, it’s another big man: Bam Adebayo.
The second-year has come alive this season, and head coach Erik Spoelstra is already hip to it, adjusting his rotations accordingly; to get the most out of Adebayo, he is playing him at center almost exclusively during the final quarters of games.
Right now, the Heat essentially have two options at center.
One of them has played in 28 of the possible fourth quarters, while the other has played 14 out of his possible 24. This means that there have been ten games in which Spoelstra looked down the bench, and decided to not play Whiteside at all in the fourth.
In other words, for those of you waiting to see him leapfrogged by the young fella, you’re watching it unfold before your eyes.
It’s very rare in the NBA that you can look at the standard stat sheet and know the whole story, but there are a couple of things you should know when comparing the two big men in the fourth quarter.
When Whiteside does see the court in the final quarter, he and Adebayo both see about seven minutes per game.
(That may have you scratching your head, since there are only 12 minutes in an NBA quarter, but don’t forget that Whiteside sat out ten fourth quarters as of the writing of this article.)
The Heat have managed to slide into the DM’s of the defensive elite, by clawing their way into the ninth spot on the defensive rating big board. Touting a 106.4 defensive rating, the team is finally beginning to get some of its identity back on that end of the ball, and Adebayo is a massive part of that success.
But to really see the benefits of having Adebayo on the court versus Whiteside, we have to dive a bit deeper.
The Heat’s best defensive lineup features Dwyane Wade, Rodney McGruder, Justise Winslow, Kelly Olynyk and Adebayo, with a defensive rating of 84.3 (fifth best in the league). This squad is straight up smothering teams, while also putting up an offensive rating of 113.8 so far this season.
The only problem for coach Spoelstra is that three of these players come off the bench.
(Sidenote: the Heat also hold the number eight spot when it comes to a five-person lineup defensive rating, while no other team has two lineups in the top ten, and both of them include Adebayo.)
Any fan of the Heat, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, or New Orleans Pelicans can tell you how the Heat held them to under 100 points on the road.
Zone defense is the key here.
The Heat play an ultra bendy/switchy 2-3 zone with Adebayo down low. The communication is high, and every guy seems to be making the proper rotations to cover up the blank spaces.
Adebayo makes this whole thing possible.
With his long arms and ability to shuffle his feet out of the paint before he’s called for ‘three in the key’ is perfect; there always looks like there’s someone in the paint too, which would deter most drivers from even looking down low. And the next thing you know, the ball-handler has picked up his dribble and is looking to pass.
When this happens, the zone resets, making sure to threaten the passing lanes, while inviting opponents to take long 3-point shots. The longer they shoot and miss, the longer the zone defense stays active.
If they make a couple, Spoelstra brings them back to man defense for a few possessions, in an attempt to cool them off.
And unfortunately, this type of defensive flexibility is just not possible with Whiteside on the court.
There are at least two things that Adebayo is not considered to be: a ball-stopper or a zone-breaker.
In fourth quarters, the team carries an offensive rating of 99.2 with Adebayo on the court and 104.6 with him off, which will have you scratching your head once more.
Since we’ve established that the center position is only played by two people in Miami, we assume that Whiteside provides more of an offensive punch. But he actually makes about a three-point difference, with the team clocking a 104.7 offensive rating with him on the floor, versus a 101.6 with him off.
The problem comes at the other end of the court.
While Whiteside can manage to score more points by the stats, the eye-test reveals that’s not necessary, when you can surround your bigs with Wade, Josh Richardson and Goran Dragic (plus eventually Dion Waiters). The problem shows itself on the other end rather quickly.
You can’t run the zone with him out there, and he will get abused in the pick and roll by slashing guards, as well as off-ball cuts, that he can’t seem to see in time to rotate. With Whiteside on the court, opponents are scoring 104.8 points per 100 possessions (also known as the Heat’s defensive rating), but are being held to 99.8 points per 100 possessions, when Whiteside heads to the bench.
The difference? Two points.
The way the roster is constructed right now, means that Spoelstra will have to soon make some tough decisions.
I believe that due to Whiteside’s temperament, Spoesltra has tried to be a bit fairer, by splitting time between both bigs. However, when the fourth quarter comes around, it’s time to win and get Adebayo his reps.
The center out of Kentucky saves two points from being scored on the Heat, which is actually enormous; when the team is constructed to be a defensive juggernaut, the last thing teammates want to see is someone not appearing to give full effort, while also calling for the ball on the other end.
Having Adebayo on the court also opens up playing time for Olynyk, and Derrick Jones Jr., which unlocks so much of the creativity and grit that could be seen on a nightly basis from the Heat.
Adebayo seems to be a member of The Nerdlucks from within at this point.
While Whiteside is averaging 42.3p percent from the field in fourth quarter action, Adebayo is leading the team with an average of 62.2 percent.
He’s also stolen some of Whiteside’s free throw ability, dropping him down to 51.6 percent, while he’s up a considerable amount at 62.2 percent in the fourth quarter.
To the naked eye, it may look like Whiteside is making one and missing one each time he goes to the stripe, but what this actually turns into is an empty trip to the foul line for the team, and effectively turning the ball over.
So unfortunately, this type of late-game performance alone, makes him unplayable as a closer.
Therefore, Bam Adebayo is the Miami Heat’s closer, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.