Official MIAMI HEAT THREAD
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I don't follow him lol. Barry Jackson is my source for Heat news
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infamous114 wrote: »I don't follow him lol. Barry Jackson is my source for Heat news
Well barry jackson, Manny navarro, etc but yeah I'm about to unfollow this ? . But sometimes since he spams certain articles that I missed, he has some value lol -
Dion Waiters revealed Wednesday at Miami Heat training camp that he was offered the option of ankle surgery last March that would have sidelined him for eight to 10 months.
Waiters said he continues to push through discomfort.
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about Waiters ankle
According to TV industry sources, the Heat is focusing on a handful of candidates to replace Tony Fiorentino as its television analyst beginning in 2018-19. And former Heat players LaPhonso Ellis and Jim Jackson and Heat radio analyst John Crotty are among those who have done audition practice games with play-by-play man Eric Reid, the sources said.
At least one other unknown candidate is being considered.
Ellis is said to have impressed the Heat in his audition, and Crotty remains very much in the mix. Jackson cannot be ruled out but is not considered a front-runner.
The Heat also has given consideration to former Heat guard Steve Smith, who works for NBA TV.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article176407811.html#storylink=cpy
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For all the questions about his left ankle coming into the season, Waiters didn’t show any signs of pain or discomfort on Saturday. He actually took over the game in the third quarter, leading the White Squad to an impressive 27-5 victory in the quarter with 12 points. Waiters, who finished with 16 points (6-11 FG, 2-3 3FG, 2-3 FT) in the game, displayed his range hitting a pair of threes and a couple of pull-up jumpers.
Waiters, 25, also showed off his ability to get to the basket with a few nasty crossover moves. Late in the third quarter he actually blew past the Heat’s defense in transition and hung on the rim after a dunk. He finished with a team-high five assists and added two rebounds.
“That’s what we’ve seen [in practice],” Spoelstra said. “He’s been moving well. He’s in good condition and he’s been showing that burst of speed. I mentioned it the other day, it’s equal to what he had last year if not better because of the shape that he’s in.”
Waiters said earlier this week he came into camp weighing 219 pounds — more than 15 pounds lighter than he came into training camp last year.
“I told you I’ve been working,” Waiters said. “Even though I was limited to what I normally would do during the summer [because of the badly sprained ankle] I made sure I ate right and I made sure I ran. Once it started feeling better that’s when I started easing myself into doing a lot of things I normally would do.”
That process, Waiters said, began about six weeks before the start of camp. Now that he’s with the team, Waiters said, he’s getting a lot of treatment before and after practices to make sure he doesn’t have any setbacks with the ankle.
“I got the coaches, I got everyone who believes in me, who trusts me, who knows what I can do,” Waiters said. “It’s strictly just about staying focused and having that mindset night in and night out. Like I said, it comes easier once you know where you’re going to be. You know the system, you know the players, you’re just comfortable. Basketball is the easy part.”
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Winslow:
Like Waiters, Winslow, 21, focused on losing weight this summer as he recovered from shoulder surgery. He said his goal this season is to play between 215-220 pounds.
He’s already lost between 10 to 15 pounds and it showed in Saturday’s scrimmage with his ability to get up and down the court faster. Although he airballed the only three-point shot he took, Winslow finished with 13 points (6-10 FGs, 1-1 FT), nine rebounds, an assist and two steals.
“I was telling the coaches on the bench I feel great,” said Winslow, who spent the majority of his time Saturday at power forward. “You have those points where you jump and you’re knee hurts a little bit that sort of thing throughout the year but at this point I feel great. I’m not sure if I jumped that high on a dunk in a while. It just felt good to be out there with the guys, that was a big step for me just being out there more of a competition and tomorrow will be a bigger step. It just was great for me and my journey over this past year.”
▪ Olynyk, who signed a four-year, $50 million deal with the Heat this summer and who one Heat staffer said this week at camp is a 7-foot shooting guard, finished with 13 points (6-11 FG, 1-5 3FG), nine rebounds, three assists and a steal in Saturday’s scrimmage.
He played mostly at center opposite Hassan Whiteside and held his own defensively for the most part. That’s the part of his game most were worried about upon signing with the Heat.
“He’s big. He’s 7-feet. He’s a smart, intelligent player,” Spoelstra said. “So I think he's going to fast-track in our defensive system. I think he’ll find ways to factor. We’ll have to get him comfortable at both, playing fours and fives, which is nothing new to him. He’s done that so far in his career.”
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Waiters:
For all the questions about his left ankle coming into the season, Waiters didn’t show any signs of pain or discomfort on Saturday. He actually took over the game in the third quarter, leading the White Squad to an impressive 27-5 victory in the quarter with 12 points. Waiters, who finished with 16 points (6-11 FG, 2-3 3FG, 2-3 FT) in the game, displayed his range hitting a pair of threes and a couple of pull-up jumpers.
Waiters, 25, also showed off his ability to get to the basket with a few nasty crossover moves. Late in the third quarter he actually blew past the Heat’s defense in transition and hung on the rim after a dunk. He finished with a team-high five assists and added two rebounds.
“That’s what we’ve seen [in practice],” Spoelstra said. “He’s been moving well. He’s in good condition and he’s been showing that burst of speed. I mentioned it the other day, it’s equal to what he had last year if not better because of the shape that he’s in.”
Waiters said earlier this week he came into camp weighing 219 pounds — more than 15 pounds lighter than he came into training camp last year.
“I told you I’ve been working,” Waiters said. “Even though I was limited to what I normally would do during the summer [because of the badly sprained ankle] I made sure I ate right and I made sure I ran. Once it started feeling better that’s when I started easing myself into doing a lot of things I normally would do.”
That process, Waiters said, began about six weeks before the start of camp. Now that he’s with the team, Waiters said, he’s getting a lot of treatment before and after practices to make sure he doesn’t have any setbacks with the ankle.
“I got the coaches, I got everyone who believes in me, who trusts me, who knows what I can do,” Waiters said. “It’s strictly just about staying focused and having that mindset night in and night out. Like I said, it comes easier once you know where you’re going to be. You know the system, you know the players, you’re just comfortable. Basketball is the easy part.” -
Bam and the rest:
Adebayo came off the bench in Saturday’s scrimmage and made an immediate impact with a tip-in basket.
He also had a series of vicious dunks in the second half including one in which he blew by power forward Jordan Mickey on a spin move. He ended the game with a windmill dunk.
“Bam had his ‘mini breakthrough day’ [Friday] where he was really effective, impacting the game with his physicality,” Spoelstra said. “It just seems every time a shot goes up he’s around the ball. And has a great knack for offensive rebounding as well. So if you’re not hitting him early and maintaining that block out he’s putting a lot of pressure on you to keep you from coming out with that ball. He had a couple tip outs today in the possession. But you saw that relentlessness.”
At one point in the fourth Adebayo tried to dunk on Whiteside. He was challenged and just missed the dunk.
“Why not?,” Adebayo answered when asked if he knew he was attempting to dunk on one of the league’s leading shotblockers. “I’m athletic enough to try.”
Adebayo finished with 10 points (5-9 FG, 0-1 3FG), six rebounds and a turnover.
▪ Josh Richardson, who is competing to be a starter at small forward, left Saturday’s scrimmage early in the third quarter with a ? nose after Olynyk hit him with the palm of his hand as Richardson was driving to the basket.
“It was bleeding a lot actually,” Richardson said. “But after that, I got it under control.”
Before he left the game, though, Richardson was impressive in the first half despite going 0-for-3 from three-point range.
He handled the ball well, created for others and defended, finishing with eight points (3-6 FG) three rebounds, a steal and a turnover.
“I feel great,” Richardson said. “Going from last year not being able to do anything in training camp, just watching these guys and not having a preseason and just trying to get myself into the rotation and into the flow of things in the middle of the year, it was tough. Just having a couple more practices under my belt and being able to bring myself along at my pace is helpful.”
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MORE STATS/OBSERVATIONS
▪ Whiteside wasn’t a central focus of the offense, but did score 15 points (7-9 FG, 1-1 FT). He hit a pair of long jumpers to show off some range. He also grabbed two rebound and two steals.
▪ With the Heat looking to get him rest after leading Slovenia to the gold medal in this summer’s EuroBasket tournament, point guard Goran Dragic didn’t play a lot. He scored just two points (1-6 FG) and had two rebounds, three assists, a steal and two turnovers.
▪ Wayne Ellington didn’t play a lot either. He finished with three points (1-4 FG, 1-3 3FG) and a turnover.
▪ Tyler Johnson hit a pair of early three-pointers and had 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field. He added five rebounds, three assists, a steal and seems content in his sixth-man type role.
▪ James Johnson, expected to be the starting power forward after signing a four-year, $60 million deal, did most of his work in the first half Saturday and was effective in getting the basket for easy buckets. He finished with eight points (4-of-5 field goals), two rebounds, an assist and a steal.
▪ Rodney McGruder, who started 65 games last season as an undrafted rookie for an injury-ravaged Heat team, led the team in scoring with 17 points (7-10 FG, 3-5 3FG) on Saturday. He added two rebounds and an assist.
▪ Okaro White, who helped the Heat by providing a lift on the bench during its 30-11 run in the second half of last season, had seven points (1-4 FG, 0-1 3FG, 5-6 FT), three rebounds and an assist Saturday. White said earlier this week he came in second place to McGruder in the Heat’s conditioning test.
▪ Captain Udonis Haslem received the loudest ovations from the sell-out crowd at FAU on Saturday. He drilled a three-pointer, too, finishing with five points (2-6 FG, 1-2 3FG), a rebound and a steal.
▪ Other stats from Saturday: A.J. Hammons six points (2-3 FG, 2-2 FT), rebounds rebounds; Matt Williams Jr. 5 points (2-7 FG, 1-5 3FG), rebound, two assists, two steals; Derrick Walton Jr. 5 points (2-5 FG, 1-3 3FG), two rebounds, five assists, two steals; Larry Drew II 5 points (2-2 FG, 1-1 3FG), three rebounds, two assists, three turnovers; Jordan Mickey 4 points (2-4 FG, 0-1 3 FG) two rebounds, one turnover; Erik McCree 2 points (1-5 FG, 0-3 3FG, 0-1 FT), two assists, one steal.
http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/heat-check/article176354966.html -
Lol this guy the ultimate troll
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Gonna actually see this game tonight and the only things that are up in the air is who starts at SF and PF
I wouldnt be surprised if Olynck starts and its sad that winslow has to fight for his life to start over Mcgruder lol
But macgruder has been great in the preseason and I like him more than winslow, especially for the spacing he offers as a true 3 and D wing -
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Olynyk is gonna start at PF cause of spacing. JJ is better off the bench with Tyler anyways. At SF....hmmm
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Yeah it's now a forgone conclusion for spacing and since JJ works better off the bench. Plus Winslow does too because he dont have the ball in his hands at all as a starter.
Either mcgruder or J rich starting at SF but probably mcgruder..and I'm not mad at it at all -
Lmao I hate this ?
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J Rich with the SF job
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@stew can you close this thread till the Heat are relevant again?
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I'd open it again, ? boy lol
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There was no training camp or preseason for Richardson last year due to a knee injury. And he went on to miss 29 of the Heat’s first 57 games due to various injuries. But Richardson is now healthy and he looked really good this preseason, averaging 13.6 points on 44.6 percent shooting from the field to go with 2.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.6 blocks. Maybe the most impressive stat of all — even though it was only the preseason — is that the Heat outscored opponents by 17 points with Richardson on the court. With Richardson off the court, opponents outscored the Heat by 52 points this preseason. Whether Richardson starts or not, he’s going to play a lot of minutes and probably be in the Heat’s “crunch time” lineup this season.
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While most have been focused on Winslow’s outside shot, there’s clearly more to his game. The 21-year-old struggled with his shot this preseason, averaging 6.0 points on 36.4 percent shooting. But he was effective as a facilitator. Toward the end of the preseason schedule, Spoelstra put Winslow in a point-forward role and surrounded him with shooters. The result? Winslow recorded nine assists in a win over Washington on Wednesday. While shooting is still a weakness, there’s no doubt that Winslow is one of the best passers on the Heat’s roster. If Spoelstra can figure out a rotation that puts Winslow on the floor in a lineup that allows him to play as a point-forward, he can be a very effective weapon for this team. The problem is, how many minutes will Winslow get in that role? If Goran Dragic, Dion Waiters or James Johnson are on the court, they need the ball in their hands, too. So it will be interesting to see how Spoelstra figures this one out.
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Sounds like a good problem to have. I want the kid to succeed so he lives up to being what was considered a steal in the draft at the time
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Yeah I changed my mind about being the #2 seed because I dead believed that. Non biased opinion will have us maxed out as a 4 seed. Which is fine
