The Miami Heat are coming into a season that could see them accomplish some special things. Just two seasons off the heels of an NBA Finals bid and just a few months removed from being swept out of the first round in embarrassing fashion, the Miami Heat should have the perfect mentality heading into this year and if nothing but based on that duality alone.
They know what it feels like to reach the pinnacle or close… and with this group of guys, mainly. They also know how it feels to be helpless, on the complete wrong side, and not wanting to go back there again.
At least, that’s what you hope these past playoffs did for them. Regardless of any of that though and in order for them to fully go where they can, they will need Bam Adebayo to be his best self.
It’s no secret. For two seasons, especially now, the notion from this direction has been a pleading, a begging, and yearning for Adebayo to simply… take his looks.
In a make or miss league, you aren’t going to hit all of the shots you take but you have, as good as missed, all of the good shots that you pass up. That’s the thing with Bam Adebayo.
The fans aren’t the only ones taking notice anymore though. They are also not the only ones speaking out.
Speaking to Anthony Chiang, of the Miami Herald, here is what former Miami Heat champion, legend, and NBA All-Timer, Chris Bosh, had to say on the topic. The interview was of the Q & A variety, so the question, per Chiang, will be listed before Bosh’s answer.
"Q: What’s the next step for Bam Adebayo? Chris: “Shoot it. That’s it. Shoot it. Shoot it. That’s all he needs to do is shoot it, I’m telling you. I did it for 13 years in the league, man, and it didn’t steer me wrong. Shoot it."
"He has the playmaking ability, he is unselfish. It’s wonderful that he’s a team player. But for him to get to where he wants to go, he’s going to have to shoot the ball. I think he’s more than capable. Once he proves that he’s a threat out there, Brook Lopez and DeAndre Jordan and all those bigs, they can’t just be in the middle of the paint playing traffic cop. He needs to come back and he needs to shoot it until they guard him. That would be my recommendation.”"
It’s really that simple. It’s not just about Bam though, as CB alluded to.
For Bam Adebayo, taking the shots is crucial to his next phase. Already an All-Star, Olympian, Gold Medal winner, and top player in the league because of his all-around prowess, Bam can take his game up a few notches with more aggression.
Please don’t confuse the notion. Bam doesn’t need to improve, per se, on offense, he just has to take the looks afforded to him.
Bam Adebayo is skilled. He’s big.
He’s graceful. He’s athletic.
He has nice touch on his jumper. He can finish in the paint and in traffic.
He can handle. He can defend.
There is nothing that he can’t do and there are no real flaws to his game, mechanically or execution oriented. He, simply, has to take the looks.
Again though, it’s bigger than just him. As Bosh stated, what that would do to the opposing bigs would allow the Heat, as a whole, to take things up another level or so.
Right now, as indicative by the first round playoff series and probably being directly alluded to by Bosh, Brook Lopez was able to park himself under the rim during that first round series. With seven-feet of athletic man down there under the rim, it was terribly hard for the Miami Heat to get anything going down there.
If Bam is taking his mid-ranged to long-ranged looks, then Lopez can’t just park under the rim… like a “traffic cop” does as they sit in wait for an offending patron. It’s really simple.
So, yes, CB is spot-on, but everyone knew that. The key has always been that Bam has to realize it.
Hopefully and from this messenger, he hears it. If he does, it not only takes his play up a few notches, but that of the entire team.