In the Miami Heat’s latest game against the Warriors, Bam Adebayo finished with an impressive box score of 26 points and eight rebounds, shooting 76.9 percent on his field goals along the way. This is much more reminiscent of the Bam we saw last regular season.
This concern arises because of his poor playoff performance only a few months ago, where his scoring and shooting attempts dropped. Everyone that remotely follows the Miami Heat knows that for this team to stay in the mix, Bam needs to find the flow from last year and maintain it.
Bam has gotten off to a slow start but his previous two games might be positive indications. It’s far too early for any sort of true opinion to be made but it is possible to see what could be developing.
And that comes from a look at the shot charts and looking at the offensive scheme. He still isn’t shooting as much as last season but he is attempting two more shots a game than he was during their last playoff run, which is definitely a good sign.
When he gets the ball in the high post, he knows what he wants to do with it and converts.
The Miami Heat are going to need everyone to be their best selves to accomplish their ultimate goal this year. That, especially, means Bam Adebayo.
A majority of his shots are coming from the restricted area, as they should be but he’s finding a good amount of success in the paint outside of the charge circle as well.
Against the Trail Blazers and Warriors, these came in the form of isolations in limited space or push shots usually set up by a playmaker. Bam has a good habit of filling in the empty space right at the nail, where the ball handler can then make the easy dish.
All of this is reminiscent of old-school 90s power forwards, meaning the old heads should be cheering every time he goes to work. Everyone should really, but this might turn into a problem against the bigger teams, especially in the East.
These finesse shots are great to have in the arsenal but a little more bully ball would be appreciated as well. Transitioning to playmaking, it’s something that usually makes Bam so valuable.
In the last few years, his assist percentage and assist-to-usage ratio were among the highest compared to other centers per Cleaning The Glass, though as of now, he’s middle of the pack. This is something to keep an eye on as the season progresses but should move up toward the average as things continue to progress with their year.
Last year, he had similar slow starts in these areas. Overall though, this is a good place for the season to start for Bam but the Heat are going to need more out of him or someone, at least.
The production is good but looking around the East, they need to be great to stay in contention. The key for Bam, first and foremost though, is to get back into consistency, which it looks like he’s in the midst of doing.