Miami Heat: This Shows That Oladipo’s Athletic ‘Pop’ Is Still There
A guy that has been a multiple-time All-Star in the past, Oladipo still has a lot of that same ability left in the tank. It’s just that with injuries and inconsistency in being able to stay on the floor over the past couple of years, you haven’t seen much of it.
And though he has shown you a lot of the straight-line stuff, such as the dunk above, before this year, he hasn’t shown it to you with that type of ferocity. And it’s not just that he is capable, but it’s that he’s comfortable and willing to do it, as a lot of stuff like this can be mental.
He still has to show you the second-phase explosiveness that also helped to make him so dynamic, the erky jerkiness off the dribble or the ability to change gears and pace, before then still exploding with equal or greater athleticism in that second dash as he would on a straight-line move with momentum—but plays like these show you that all of that stuff is still in there.
That’s why this one play from Utah might be just as important for the Miami Heat as Victor Oladipo’s entire stat line from that game was.