Heat players offer explanation for franchise’s sustained success. And final team metrics
Even with a painful loss in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, players who recently experienced their first full season with the Heat have come to quickly appreciate what this organization is about.
We asked several of the players who arrived in the past 1 1/2 seasons — after the 2020 Disney bubble run — a simple question:
Why do you believe this franchise is so successful, beyond smart personnel decisions (which encompasses Pat Riley’s stewardship)?
Here’s how they answered:
▪ P.J. Tucker: “It’s the consistency. What you guys like to say, ‘Heat culture’ is more of just a consistent coaching staff and front office with one message. They never [seem] to have seasons where they’re down or restructuring. Even in those [occasional adverse] times, they’re still competing and fighting to be one of the better teams in the East.
“The way they run things here is a big part of it. Everybody being on the same page, and you don’t always get that. [With other teams], the coaching staff and front office are on different pages. Everybody is all on the same page here. That consistency goes into being a well-oiled machine. And the structure [helps] for sure too.”
▪ Victor Oladipo: “The Heat culture, they stay true to that, and that’s what makes them so successful and I’m glad to be a part of it. Heat culture is something that is hard to explain. You have to really experience it for yourself. It’s a mind-set, it’s a way of life. It’s more than something than you can actually feel, see or touch. It’s an aura.
“It feels different walking into the locker room, walking into the arena. You see the success; it’s very visual. You see it all over on the walls [the championship alley with photos]. You can feel it. It’s an intensity, a feeling only a few people get an opportunity to feel. They embrace being different and they understand we’re trying to do something bigger than ourselves. Dwyane Wade gave me a heads up on what I was getting myself into.”
▪ Caleb Martin: “Everybody is on the same page, top to bottom, and everything is transparent. Everybody respects each other. You can tell it’s more of a family atmosphere here and everybody has the same common goal, and that’s to win. There are no different agendas. Everyone’s end goal is trying to get a championship.”
▪ The question wasn’t posed to Max Strus, because he played in only two NBA games (for Chicago) before joining the Heat.
But he has a theory for the Heat’s success, beyond prudent personnel decisions.
“They don’t need lottery picks,” Strus said, noting everyone can see “the belief they have in guys like that, to let them grow through mistakes and learn from them. And then how they value hard work.”
Strus said with this particular team, the ability for any player to step in — without much advance warning — and thrive has been a hallmark.
“It’s kind of been our story all year,” he said. “It will hopefully help us win a championship [eventually]. We all believe it can be anybody’s night on any given night.”
CHATTER
Here are the final postseason numbers for Heat players in the clutch, defined by the NBA as the final five minutes of games with a margin of five points or fewer:
Bam Adebayo played the most clutch minutes (18) and shot 3 for 4.
Jimmy Butler took the team’s most clutch shots and went 5 for 11 overall, 2 for 6 on threes and 3 for 3 on free throws.
Strus went 3 for 7 from the field and 3 for 6 on threes.
Tyler Herro went 0 for 6 from the field and 0 for 4 on threes.
No other Heat player took more than two clutch shots.
The Heat shot 40.6 percent from the field in the clutch, ranking 10th of 16 playoffs teams.
▪ According to NBA.com’s tracking, here’s how Heat players defended individually in postseason, keeping in mind that this is far from a fully accurate gauge on a player’s effectiveness defensively:
Adebayo limited the player he’s guarding to 40.1 percent shooting (83 for 207), compared to the 48.7 percent those same players shot overall this postseason.
Among all frontcourt players, that trailed only Draymond Green and Al Horford (minimum 200 shots defended).
Among guards, Gabe Vincent held the player he’s guarding to 40.5 percent shooting (64 for 158), compared with 45.8 overall. That was third-best among all NBA guards in postseason (minimum 150 shots defended), behind only Steph Curry and Jrue Holiday.
Other shooting percentages against this postseason: Duncan Robinson (44.6 percent shooting by the player he was defending, 29 for 65); Strus (45.0 percent, 112 for 249); Tucker (45.4, 84 for 185); Kyle Lowry (45.4, 44 for 97), Martin (46.7, 42 for 90), Oladipo (48.1, 63 for 131), Tyler Herro (48.9, 65 for 133), Butler (49.3, 100 for 203) and Dewayne Dedmon (50 percent, 28 for 56).
Those numbers clearly aren’t an accurate portrayal of Tucker’s and Butler’s excellent defense this postseason.
The numbers also don’t fully take into account blow-bys, which was an issue with several Heat guards at times against skilled offensive players.
This story was originally published June 2, 2022 at 4:16 PM.
