Examining Bam Adebayo’s growing offensive game and why Sunday’s game-winner was significant
The discussion surrounding Bam Adebayo’s aggressiveness and shot selection has grown louder in recent days.
Should Adebayo look for his own shot more often? Is Adebayo settling for too many midrange jumpers? Does Adebayo have the mentality to become a go-to scorer?
Despite the questions currently surrounding Adebayo, there’s one thing that seems clear: Adebayo’s offensive game continues to grow at a rapid rate.
Just two seasons after averaging 8.9 points on 0.5 midrange shot attempts per game in 2018-19, Adebayo hit his first game-winning buzzer beater in the NBA with a 13-foot midrange jumper to lift the Jimmy Butler-less Heat to an important 109-107 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday at AmericanAirlines Arena. Adebayo shot 3 of 5 on midrange shots in the victory.
“I’ve always dreamed of that moment,” said Adebayo, who will miss Monday night’s matchup against the Houston Rockets at AmericanAirlines Arena because of right knee soreness “I knew what I could do when I was younger. So getting to explore my game and [Erik Spoelstra] letting me actually call plays and having that respect and that trust for one another. He was like, ‘I’m not calling this timeout. This is your moment.’”
Adebayo’s first game-winning buzzer beater at the NBA level didn’t just come on a midrange step-back jumper. It also came in an isolation situation, where Adebayo carved out space for himself and took advantage of a 1-on-1 matchup against Nets veteran Jeff Green to dribble himself into the 13-foot shot as the clock expired.
Adebayo, 23, finished Sunday’s win with 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting, 15 rebounds and five assists in 33 minutes.
“I’ve never been one of those dudes that has been a pure natural scorer,” Adebayo said. “So being in those moments is a little different. But it’s good to get that one out of the way.”
The next step for Adebayo, who’s averaging 19 points on 56.6 percent shooting from the field, 9.3 rebounds and 5.2 assists in his fourth NBA season, is balance.
Striking the right balance between being aggressive with own shot and playing as one of the primary playmaking hubs in the Heat’s offense. Adebayo, who’s averaging 12.7 shot attempts per game, has taken six shots, 16 shots, eight shots and 16 shots in his past four games, respectively.
Also, striking the right balance between taking advantage of his improved midrange jumper and attacking the basket to score in the paint or draw fouls.
During Butler’s postgame media session following Friday’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, he urged Adebayo to “attack the rim because nobody can stay in front of him” and “play bully ball” because “you’re going to get fouled or you’re going to dunk on somebody.”
“He wanted bully ball, right?” Adebayo said following Sunday’s win over the Nets. “... I talked to Jimmy. He does want me to be more aggressive. I just got to find that balance when me and him are on the court together because you know me, I like to pass. The role I’m in now, shoot first. So I just try to get him involved so much that I always forget about me and mine. So he has been harping on me about that.”
But Adebayo’s midrange jumper has proven to be a reliable option this season, especially when defenders are sagging off of him to take away the drive and crowding the paint to slow the Heat’s cutters. After shooting 22.3 percent (21 of 94) on midrange attempts last season, he has made 43.2 percent (60 of 139) of those shots this season.
Adebayo has been especially efficient around the basket, though, as his shooting percentage at the rim has jumped from 70.7 percent last season to 74.4 percent this season. Add in the fact that Adebayo’s free-throw percentage has improved from 69.1 percent last season to 80.3 percent this season on fouls he usually draws around the basket, and the paint is clearly his most efficient spot on the court.
“He developed that midrange shot,” Heat veteran Goran Dragic said. “But we tell him that we want him to be more aggressive and to get inside the paint because we need those opportunities to score at the rim and he has that ability. He can do both. He can pick and pop to the midrange, he can catch the lob, he can put the ball on the floor and create for others or himself. We want him to be aggressive.”
Adebayo is working on striking the right balance in his offensive game. That will come with time.
For now, Adebayo wants to clear one thing up: Butler didn’t only call out his teammates after Friday’s loss in Minnesota.
“Can you all switch that narrative of Jimmy called out the team?” Adebayo said after Sunday’s win. “If you listen to the interview, he said, ‘we.’ So could we switch the narrative to Jimmy says, ‘the team,’ as in all of us. Not just him saying it and it’s the team’s fault. Also, switch the narrative because that’s how locker-room arguments start. You never know how people feel about that.”
Butler said “we” five times when he made the postgame comment Friday of: “We don’t deserve to win whenever we take these teams lightly, we don’t do what we are supposed to do on the defensive end. We just looked bad as a whole, as a group, as a unit. It’s not good basketball.”
Adebayo continued to make his point Sunday minutes after hitting his first NBA game-winning buzzer beater.
“That’s all I’m saying,” Adebayo said. “Switch the narrative to where it makes sense and not chop off the little piece and make that the title. Like I get it’s y’all job, but that’s how locker-room arguments start. So Jimmy was basically saying we all weren’t playing well, not just the other people, you know what I mean.”
DEDMON’S UNIQUE DAY
Dewayne Dedmon’s home debut with the Heat wasn’t only impressive, it was historic.
The veteran center recorded 10 points and 10 rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench in Sunday’s win over the Nets. He finished 1 of 1 from the field and 8 of 8 from the foul line.
Dedmon, who signed with the Heat on April 8, joined Willie Burton as the only players in Heat history to score at least 10 points on only one field-goal attempt. Dedmon also became the only player in NBA history (since minutes became a stat in 1951) to record at least 10 points, 10 rebounds and eight made free throws in under 16 minutes of action.
“It was fun out there,” Dedmon said. “I didn’t know I had one field-goal attempt. But I guess the free throws were falling. It felt good to be out there and play with the guys and just have fun hooping and playing basketball. That’s what we’re here for.”
This story was originally published April 19, 2021 at 11:24 AM.
