Miami Heat: Suspension was the offseason-like hiatus these guys needed

The Miami Heat came back off of this hiatus refreshed and ready to go. Not only that, but some of the guys also appear to have “taken a leap” or “bounced back”.

The Miami Heat are one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference and the NBA, as they have been all year. Just over one full week into the NBA restart, they appear to be better than they were before the suspension was put into place.

While some may look at this and ask “how that can be the case” or “how that assumption was made already”, the answer lies here. While looking at them as a whole, as one unit and team, can make such an assessment a confusing and cofounding one, looking at each player as an individual relative to the whole is a better way to do it.

No one could have possibly come back “worse”. They could have come back a bit “out of shape”, but not generally a “worse” basketball player than they were before the hiatus. Players could, indeed, come back better though.

That is just what seemed to have happened. Even if there wasn’t clear “improvement” on some players’ behalf, there is still that phenomenon of a bounce-back happening with those who didn’t “add anything”, but are being a more effective version of themselves since the restart began.

It’s actually a few things in play here. The first is that obvious improvement you see players make from year to year.

It appears that the hiatus here has acted as an offseason for most players, allowing them to elevate, refocus, or recalibrate their games. That is a great thing for the Miami heat.

That is how you come to the conclusion that they came back better. Some of the players look like much better players than they were before the suspension, while others are back to being the players that they have been at or near their best.

For the Miami Heat, that seems to be the case up and down the roster. Let’s look at a few of the individuals here of note.