Miami Heat: Backup Point Guard ‘Issue’ No Longer An Issue?
The Miami Heat came into this season with a new look and a new attitude. With Kyle Lowry in tow and in South Beach, the Miami Heat finally had a floor general that could not only give them buckets but help everyone else get theirs too.
With that notion though, it was chatter for a while about who would be the backup? With Kendrick Nunn off to LA and with Goran Dragic moved in exchange for Kyle Lowry, the Miami Heat would have to reshuffle the deck and plug another hole in their rotation.
Tyler Herro could be looked at as an option there, but he’s more of just the number two overall scoring option than he is a starter or reserve at any position. So, while he would and will continue to do a bunch of the handling, creation, and manipulation on the ball, he isn’t necessarily the backup.
They did have one guy on their roster though and a guy that actually had a pretty good summer of development, helping his Nigerian National Team in Olympic play. That guy is Gabe Vincent.
The Miami Heat were in a pickle with their backup PG, but Gabe Vincent has answered. He is the guy there and he’s showing it over his last few games.
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Being with Miami for the last two seasons or so, Vincent came in with the reputation of being a shooter. Though that has taken some time to fully materialize, you always saw the potential.
To be frank, a ton of Gabe’s shots and even prior to this season, were in and then out again. He’s just been—unlucky, it seems, prior to this season.
However, that didn’t stop him from getting better. Last season and under the tutelage of NBA defensive specialist, Avery Bradley, he learned and worked to become a much better defender.
Well, you can only assume he’s taken on a similar type of understudy with Kyle Lowry, as he has gotten a ton better as a lead guard and distributor for this Heat team this year. No, he’ll never be confused with Jason Kidd, but he can lead an offense for spurts.
On top of that, the shooting seems to be coming back. He’s shooting 35.6 percent from range this season and on nearly three attempts per game.
That’s about six percentage points higher than last season’s average and about 14 percentage points higher than his first season’s numbers, though only across nine games for the Heat in that first year with the team. The point of it all is this though.
There were questions about the Miami Heat’s backup point situation—but they are no more. Gabe Vincent seems to be that guy, has been that guy for them over the past few games, and should only get better from here.
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That’s especially with the trust of his coaches, the team, the fans, and with the confidence he’s gained from his last few showings. And you just love to see it.