Miami Heat: Shooting Not A ‘Jimmy Problem’ But A ‘Team Problem’

Miami Heat: They’ll Be Ok As Jimmy Butler Still Does It Efficiently Without The 3

The Heat have other offensive weapons but those usually come in as a sacrifice to the defensive. In lineups featuring Adebayo and Jimmy, the offense does look a little stagnant, stat-wise.

Defensively, it trends in the more positive direction. The better offensive lineups when looking at points per possession feature Dewayne Dedmon and Omer Yurtseven at center.

However, the defensive point per possession takes a serious dip. Obviously, this isn’t just a Jimmy problem, it’s a team problem.

On an individual level, it can be easy for some to bring up three-point shooting and immediately think there’s a big problem with Butler’s game. And to be clear, it’s a little bit of a problem but not the most consuming problem that might doom them.

It’s important to remember that Butler still shoots. He actually shoots a lot, just not from three.

42 percent of his shots are coming from the midrange. This provides an entirely different dynamic when it comes to offensive action.

Jimmy is efficient enough as a playmaker and midrange scorer that this is perfectly okay. The final, perhaps, most important aspect of Jimmy’s game comes when you look at him attacking the basket and getting to the line.

Some non-shooters, such as Russell Westbrook and Ben Simmons, don’t shoot free throws well at all. Jimmy, on the other hand, is shooting them at 87 percent.

Adding to that, he’s getting to the line over eight times a game. This, combined with his 66 percent field goal percentage at the rim makes him a legitimate and efficient threat.

Take all of that shooting data and then look at his assist percentage of 27.3 percent (top two percent among forwards per cleaningtheglass.com) and it gets hard to see what the problem is.

Yes, the Miami Heat would love for Jimmy to be a decent shooter from deep and that would be ideal for him as well. But what are we really doing here?

Is his bad three-point shooting a real concern as some have made it out to be? Or is it something he probably should improve on but isn’t a catastrophic problem?

This team will benefit from things slowing down in the playoffs. They are more equipped to handle rock fights than shootouts.

To be fair, this is a bad time of year to have offensive concerns and while you would rather things be humming along nicely going into the postseason, this is what’s going on right now. It’s just what the team needs to overcome to succeed.

It may prove beneficial in the long run, as adversity can generate creativity and cohesiveness.