Heat defense is “Swiss Cheese”

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The Heat defense is “Swiss Cheese.” With one game left in January, the Heat are 7-8 and have given up 123 points per game. The psychological trauma of the problems with Jimmy Butler have had an effect. But, the players that are on the court are not playing good defense. They appear to be “too worried about making shots.” Kel’el Ware‘s play has been the only good thing to come out of January.

Low points of January

The Heat got blown out by 36 points at Utah. They had a lead in the fourth against the Clippers and blew the lead. They lost by 20 to Denver. They lost to Portland at home. Milwaukee embarassed them by 29 points. Coach Spoelstra now sounds like Dave Wannestedt in his press conferences. He is trying to explain away the performance of the team.

Not to be forgotten is the ongoing bad breakup of Jimmy Butler and Pat Riley. Apparently, Jimmy’s attitude changed this season after Phoenix visited the team in December. This is from a report by Ethan Skolnick, SI.com NBA Insider. One could imagine Kevin Durant having a similar hallway conversation post-game with Jimmy, ala Durant and Kyrie Irving before they teamed up in Brooklyn.

Jimmy Butler is ready to leave Miami. (Credit: Lifestyle Media group)

High points of January

Tyler Herro has continued his hot play. He is averaging 23 points per game on 47 percent shooting. He averages two turnovers per game. Bam Adebayo is averaging a double-double in January. Against San Antonio, Coach Spoelstra played he and Kel’el Ware for the first time this season. They suffocated the Spurs and began a transition away from “smallball.”

The Heat are morphing into a different team, and the defense stinks. (Photo credit: John jones, Imagn Images)

The Heat offfense and defense hasn’t improved exponentially in the past five games with Ware in the lineup as per NBA.com. Ware and Adebayo have played an average of 18 minutes together, so more of a sample size is needed. Every Heat fan remembers the frontcourt duo of Alonzo Mourning and PJ Brown in the “Road Warrior” era for the Heat. PJ was “the enforcer” of the team and the team was elite defensively.

What’s next for February

The longer Jimmy Butler stays on the team, the worse it will be for him. The Heat “have had enough” of Butler and are subjecting him to team rules. Regardless, the Heat defense is “swiss cheese.” Using “Spo-isms” to explain — “the team is not playing to its identity,” “they are allowing other teams to play to their identity,” “the opposing team doesn’t feel the presence of the defense,” “the team must get back to the habits to reverse the above.”

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