The Miami Heat need something right now. Is there any stone unturned on the bench?
The Miami Heat’s first few games have been, to put it mildly, inconsistent. The main cause of losses has been poor shooting.
The Heat would get a defensive stop that would set up the open man. He shoots!
Aww! A clunker.
On the Next opportunity, a different Heat player is open, he shoots! ARGH!
Same result. Granted, having been the East Finalist, the Heat currently have a target on their back: most teams are shifting to a higher a gear now whenever they face the Heat.
After all, it’s a badge of honor to beat the defending Eastern Conference champs. Still, the sheer number of open looks that results in misses…something obviously has to be done.
We can’t just say, “It’s the early days, they’ll figure it out.” You know what, because they just might not.
The Miami Heat might be missing out on valuable production from their bench. Why not test it out?
This is why it’s time to learn from the past, such as the study of the great Zen Master, Phil Jackson of the Chicago Bulls and the Kobe-Shaq Lakers. Yes, Phil had super-superstars like Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O’Neal on his teams but he also had role players that, more than any other coach, he seemed to be able to bring the best out of.
You don’t win 72 regular season games, which the Bulls accomplished in 1995-96, on the backs of just your superstars. You need the whole team to be able to contribute.
And that’s what Miami needs to be doing now. Currently, they seem to be relying mainly on the stars of the bubble: Butler, Adebayo, Herro, Duncan Robinson, Dragic, Igoudala.
Meanwhile, Kendrick Nunn, KZ Okpala, Gabe Vincent, Chris Silva, and Max Strus, are hardly used. There has to be a better way to go about it.
Not everyone can be in the zone every game. Not even superstars.
Maybe Phil Jackson knew this because, especially during the regular season, he’d play virtually his whole roster for the first few quarters. He would, at least, give them a few minutes each.
This gave him the chance to find out, for the day, which player happened to have the hot hand. With Miami not playing everyone, they never discover who could possibly contribute and help them win the game that day.
After all, it’s kind of hard to be discovered if you never leave the bench. Those are just the facts.
Unless the Heat find four more Duncan Robinsons, Coach Eric Spoelstra should give this strategy a try. Play his whole roster a few minutes for the first few quarters, to see if any of them are in the flow, then capitalize.
Just like in the depleted roster game vs the 76ers recently, it becomes more difficult for opponents to guard the Heat when you have a couple of possible deadly shooters on the court at the same time. In other words, Miami ought to reduce the number of players with DNP (Did Not Play) and throw in the whole kitchen sink every game.
Find out which player is clicking and then ride that player to a win, if possible. This’ll probably also boost the morale of the player.
What’s not to like with this strategy? After all, if a player’s not contributing, substitution is just a hand gesture away.