Has Dragic made case to challenge Hardaway as best Heat point guard? And Oladipo update
A six-pack of Miami Heat notes on a Wednesday, in addition to our piece a short time ago with Erik Spoelstra’s stern warning to Bam Adebayo critics:
▪ While most would say Tim Hardaway is the best point guard in Heat history, Goran Dragic could at least now make a case to be part of the discussion.
Here’s how their numbers compare, only during their tenures with the Heat:
In their six regular seasons with the Heat, Hardaway averaged 17.3 points, Dragic 16.6.
Hardaway averaged 7.8 assists, Dragic 5.3.
Dragic had the edge in rebounds per game (3.7 to 3.2), shooting percentage (46.0 to 41.0) and three-point percentage (36.3 to 35.6).
Hardaway, to this point, had more memorable playoff performances for the Heat, though Dragic has averaged more points for Miami in postseason (17.4 to 15.5) and shot better.
Hardaway had 33 playoff appearances for Miami. Dragic so far has 20, with Tuesday’s showing among his best.
Hardaway was an NBA All-Star twice in his Heat tenure, Dragic once.
So who’s the best point guard in Heat history?
“Interesting question; my first thought is will Goran be considered for the Hall of Fame as Tim was?” former longtime Heat TV analyst Tony Fiorentino said. “Maybe with his European accomplishments. Tim was an All-Star five times and Goran once. It’s close but I’d give the nod to Tim. I loved it when we got Goran and he hasn’t disappointed.
“I love his game. The reason it is so close is Goran has the same qualities Tim had — mental and physical toughness, plays his best at crunch time wanting the ball with the game on the line and delivering. And inspiring leadership.”
▪ A day after Jimmy Butler said one of the Pacers assistant coaches was talking to him during Game 1, Pacers coach Nate McMillan declined to comment when asked if that’s acceptable behavior by one of his staffers.
McMillan said: “I’m not going to respond to anything like that. I didn’t hear anything like that.”
But it was unclear if McMillan meant he didn’t hear his assistant coach saying anything to Butler or didn’t hear anything about Butler making an issue of it after the game.
“One of their silly coaches was yapping at me for some reason,” Butler said after Game 1. “And that’s what that was. It was, ‘Why are you talking to me?’
“That coach decided to say whatever he had to say. Luckily he had on a mask, so I just heard him mumbling through his mask.”
▪ Pacers guard Victor Oladipo, who left Game 1 for good in the first quarter with an eye injury, sounded optimistic about playing in Game 2 but stopped short of saying he definitely would.
“Yesterday I couldn’t open my eye, couldn’t see,” he said Wednesday of being accidentally poked in the eye by Heat forward Jae Crowder. “Few hours ago, eye calmed down, vision started coming back. Not as blurry as before. I’m feeling better. I’m seeing better. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow. Hopefully everything is great and I can continue to help my team.”
▪ McMillan said the Pacers need to do a better job of attacking certain defenders when the Heat switches defensively.
“We need to take advantage of a matchup, whether it’s on the perimeter or in the post,” he said. “This is the new NBA. Everybody, especially in the playoffs, are capable of switching everything and it becomes a one-on-one game and you have to figure out the best matchup for you and you have to win that matchup.
“There are certain combinations where they are willing to switch Bam on a point guard or guard and they’re willing to defend Myles Turner in the post [with a smaller player]. We have to recognize when they are doing that, where do we feel we have the advantage: Bam on the perimeter against one of our guards or Myles in the post against a Jimmy Butler or Andre Iguodala or one of their small guards…. We have to win that matchup if they give that to us.”
McMillan noted the Heat is “face-guarding” Pacers backup sharp-shooting Doug McDermott, “not allowing him to get any air space. If they’re face-guarding, that should open some things up for some of our other guys.”
McMillan said he made some adjustments offensively and defensively on Wednesday, anticipating that the Heat “is going to come in and do the same things they were doing in last night’s game until we do a better job.”
▪ Pacers backup point guard Edmond Sumner said Indiana must make an adjustment to slow Goran Dragic, who scored 24 points in Game 1: “We have to pressure him more. He was killing us on pick and rolls because he had so much space.”
McMillan also thought his team took a few quick shots they probably shouldn’t have: “If you do that, you’re playing right into their hands. This is a team that will defend your first and second option. You got to get to your third and fourth option in order to get a good look.”
▪ Duncan Robinson, who shot 2 for 8 from the field (all three-point attempts) and scored six points in Game 1, said the Pacers’ approach has “been a hyperfocus limiting my good looks and open looks and actions I like to get to. A part of that is on me as well. I have to continue to be more aggressive. Sometimes the ball is just not going to go in. Give them some credit. They’ve thrown some different stuff my way. Still feel I can be very impactful in this series.”
▪ Fox Sports Sun is televising every first-round Heat game, with Eric Reid and John Crotty announcing the games from AmericanAirlines Arena, and those telecasts have come off seamlessly. The ESPN/TNT cablecasts also are available in South Florida, with those announcers broadcasting from inside the bubble.
Here are announcing assignments for the next three Heat-Pacers games on national networks:
Game 2 at 1 p.m. Thursday: Mark Jones, Doris Burke on ESPN
Game 3 at 3:30 p.m. Saturday: Brian Anderson, Chris Webber on TNT
Game 4 at 6:30 p.m. Monday: Spero Dedes, Stan Van Gundy on TNT
INJURY UPDATE
In the NBA’s required 5:30 p.m. injury report, Miami listed forward Jae Crowder (sprained left ankle) as questionable and forward KZ Okpala (personal reasons) and guard Gabe Vincent (shoulder) as out. Oladipo (eye) is questionable for Indiana.
Here’s my other Wednesday Heat piece with lots of nuggets.
This story was originally published August 19, 2020 at 4:10 PM.
