The Miami Heat have been snake bitten by numerous injuries to their roster but nevertheless they have persisted. These injuries have caused their team MVP Jimmy Butler, their defensive anchor Bam Adebayo, and numerous key rotational players to miss lots of game time. The Heatles also had a multitude of players that missed many games due to being in the COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Pair the thin roster situation with a tough beginning of the season schedule that also featured the most road games in the NBA and it would have been understandable if the Heat would have gone into a bit of a malaise of losses. That has not been the case and it is a true testament to the mantra of this organization, the makeup of this team, and the leadership of their maestro Erik Spoelstra.
In the words of Erik Spoelstra the Heat always “have enough” no matter who isn’t playing on a given night. The numbers show that confident statement to be true. The Heat are in the top 6 in offensive and defensive efficiency and are 10-3 against the top teams in both conferences. They are the only team that can make that claim and they are doing it with guys on 10-day deals and minimum contracts that most people have never heard of. Yurtseven, Strus, Martin, and Vincent are not household surnames- but are names the rest of the NBA are learning quickly. In the words of Coach Monty, “where do they find these guys?” The answer is: wherever ballers reside.
In Pat, Andy, and Chet we trust. I can’t believe how good these guys have been at scouting undrafted guys, identifying, targeting and recruiting them to our program. Then structuring their contracts so expertly to keep them around for an extended period of time and developing their skillsets to make them proficient NBA players and complimentary to our team. We have found a way to build a team in years when we didn’t have draft picks and somehow we found two super elite shooters to compliment our All NBA players, Jimmy and Bam. Then Tyler Herro is a sort of blue-chip combo guard that everyone slept on, and he is developing into a 6th man of the year and future NBA superstar. Look up his 3rd season numbers and compare them to Kobe Bryant’s third season numbers. You would be surprised how similar they are. The boy wonder baby goat is already a borderline all-star based on his body of work so far this season. That’s why I love this team. They know what they are doing, unlike the Dolphins.
The Heat have climbed into the top 3 in the NBA in 3-point shooting. Which is a great statistical category for the Heat to be elite in. When the Heatles made their run to the Finals in 2020, the Heat were #2 in that category. This prognosticates well for the Heat as sleeper contenders for a championship. Let me be clear, they are sleepers to everyone else. For those of us who watch this team on the daily we know that this team is a legitimate eyes wide open, alert, and awake contender. Put some money on that with the current odds in Vegas. The difference with this Heat team from the bubble Finals Heat team is that they are a force on the glass as well. When they get a stop on a defensive possession, they close it out with a rebound. Omer Yurtseven has tied historical rebounding records this past week doing things that only Shaq and Blake Griffin have done in the past 40 years. Big Yurt even tied Udonis Haslem’s 17 rebound rookie franchise record and has picked up the appropriate nickname as the new “chairman of the boards.”
The Heat are 26-15 and sit as the #3 seed in the East currently. The have won 8 out of their last 10 despite being on the road for long stretches of that run and have been without their two best players. While commentators continue to sleep on the Heat making a title run, the rest of the league is aware of the threat this squad will represent when they get all of their horses back out of the stables. Nevertheless, until they do get all of their guys back, the Miami Heat have already proven that they have enough to get the job done.
