Haslem’s theory on the lack of respect for Heat. And Jovic, Smith earning praise
A six-pack of Miami Heat notes on a Friday:
▪ As usual, the Heat is being given short-shrift, at least by some, when pundits assess the Eastern Conference contenders.
And as usual, that doesn’t sit well with Udonis Haslem.
Haslem, in my view, has pinpointed the reason why the Heat isn’t on the Christmas schedule (unusual for a conference finals team) and doesn’t generate as much respect among commentators as the team probably should.
“Everyone looks for the sexy superstar,” Haslem said. “It’s not about the sexy superstar. It’s about the work. Respect the work. Everyone wants to respect what’s pretty and cool and sexy. No. Respect the work that has got to be put in to even get to that point. Nobody wants to respect us. Nobody works harder than our guys. Nobody works harder than us period.
“I’m not just talking about in-season. I’m talking about out-season as well. These guys handle their business. I just set the standard. These guys want it. To see these guys continually overlooked, I don’t like it. But we are the kind of guys that know how to look at that. We won’t get down, disappointed or discouraged. We’ll show you better than we can tell you.”
Haslem made these comments early in camp, before ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins said “there are a lot of teams better than Miami” and two other national analysts ranked the Heat no better than fourth in the East.
Can the Heat again use that lack of respect as fuel?
“What you think I’m doing with that?” Haslem said good-naturedly. “You don’t think that’s been brewing? You know me very well. If you read between the lines, they tell you how they feel about you. I’ve been taking a lot of time to read between the lines this summer. It’s not for me to understand at all. What I do know is for whatever reason, even one shot away from the NBA Finals, I still don’t believe we get the respect we deserve for the work we put in.”
And one more thought from Haslem:
“Eight undrafted guys and you’re one shot away from the NBA Finals. I don’t think people understand how special that is. That’s not easy.”
▪ Rookie Nikola Jovic continues to gain respect around the team.
“He plays basketball the right way,” forward Jimmy Butler said. “He can shoot it and he can really pass it. I think that the more that he plays, the more comfortable he’s going to be out there, whether it be with the starters, whether it be with some of the role players. I think that the more reps he gets in games against so many different types of competition, the better he’s going to become.”
▪ Gabe Vincent, after his breakout season, said his goal is to become more efficient. His shooting improved considerably after the team permitted him to ditch a knee brace.
He shot 36.8 on threes last season and wants to be a 40 percent shooter on threes this season - something that 25 NBA players accomplished last season.
▪ Second-year former Missouri guard Dru Smith earned a two-way contract with the Heat this week, following Marcus Garrett’s injury, and Haslem knew early on that Smith would be a factor.
“He’s a completely different player than he was last year,” Haslem said on the eve of the start of training camp. “His patience coming off the pick and roll, his basketball IQ, his playmaking and his confidence of shooting the ball” were all impressive during summer workouts.
▪ Max Strus seemed mildly bemused by a new NBA rule that has informally been dubbed The Max Strus Rule.
Essentially, the NBA has changed the timing of review announcements for shots such as Strus’ playoff 3-pointer that was overruled and changed to a two-pointer several minutes of real time (and three minutes of game time) later.
Announcements now will be made as soon as the NBA’s replay center confirms the call, with blue light coming on, and then during the first “neutral” stop in play.
“It’s pretty cool,” he said of his name being associated with a new rule. “I wish there was a money benefit.”
Strus obviously was unhappy at the time of the call and the days that followed that Game 7 loss in the Eastern Conference Finals.
“I don’t know how that was called that after I’ve seen the video,” Strus said after the series. “They say they have that replay rule to take the human error out of the game, and the human error makes an error on the video.”
Asked what part of his game he prioritized this offseason, Strus cracked: “All summer, I learned how to stay in bounds.”
▪ Duncan Robinson has been driving to the basket more in preseason, and teammates have taken notice.
“Duncan could always dribble; he was just scared and he never wanted to do it,” Butler said. “But now he’s added to his game. He’s got some floaters in there, some left, right. He’s using the pick-and-roll a little bit better.
“He’s in a fight for his life right now, as he should be. But I know he can handle it. Duncan’s a hell of a player. Obviously, we all know he’s a hell of a shooter. But I think this year you’re going to be surprised at how much he finishes around the rim. And give Duncan three assists a game. This year he’s going to get a lot of guys involved.”
This story was originally published October 14, 2022 at 1:19 PM.
