Miami Heat: Bam Adebayo, first team defense (and how to help him) | Five on the Floor
welcome to the latest episode of five on the floor in the five reason Sports Network thanks for joining us on your favorite podcast app on Android we recommend Spotify or the Five Reasons YouTube channel on Apple Apple podcast also check out off the floor that’s our Discord server $2.99 per month you tired of the same five people tweeting all the heat stuff all day long well you can communicate with more than 500 all day long and all night long in the various chat rooms on our Discord so check it out link is right here in the description and pinned to the top of the five reasons Twitter page also check out the great sponsors of the five reason Sports Network that includes prize picks use the code 5 FIV get that initial deposit matched up to $100 we keep telling you it’s legal again in the State of Florida yes there was about a six week Hiatus they came back with a new game called The Arena game you can play up to four players together pretty soon that’s going to be more than that but across the different sports you get them all you win big use the code 5 FIV get that initial deposit matched up to $100 and check out our prop five shows on the five Reasons YouTube channel and now today’s episode all right welcome back to five on the floor here’s today’s floor plan I’m Ethan skullnick you can follow me at Ethan J skullnick and a five reason Sports we got Brady Hawk you can follow me at Brady Hawk 305 we take a break from the 38 consecutive Donovan Mitchell episodes to bring you something about someone who is actually on the current team bam out a bio named to First Team all defense the first time that this has happened in his career it feels a little bit more like a result of sort of a ground swell for him that was well ground swell is too strong because that means it was moving kind of quickly uh it’s it’s kind of been a slow moving campaign for him over the past couple of years uh getting people to recognize that it’s not all about blocks and steals I don’t necessarily think that this was Bam’s best defensive season um I think he’s had better ones but they did have a top five defense with guys in and out the entire year he did finish I guess second in the team in games played this year at 71 so he had a lot uh to do with it he and haime haw is the only Heat players to play at least 70 um he was the consistent uh guy there on the defense all year long and of course he’s been forced to play different styles uh to adjust a different Personnel that this team has had so got a chance uh to talk to Bam yesterday on a zoom call obviously excited about this um believes he’s the defensive player of the year every year that’s what he says uh but I think he he values this particular um Commendation essentially because uh it’s been a long time coming Brady I’ll get to this uh before we get into the specifics of what bam can can do better um going forward and and how he may need to adjust to rosters that come in I I was just curious for your thoughts about the fact that the all all defense first team was all front Court players this time all bigs and actually I think it was Alex uh Caruso who who remarked or joke they put all the the guards on the second team of which he was one of them what’s your view on that overall I mean The Bigs are the anchors The Bigs are are the connectors of what makes a defense a good defense like you can have an individual player like uh Caruso or Derek white or or Drew holiday or different you know good guard Defenders uh but it’s more matchup based it’s more kind of locking down the guy in front of you and not covering everything else up like like of the the lengthier bigger Defenders that are the actual anchors of their team so I think that’s just uh this is what was going to happen when they changed it up and pretty much said they’re not going position based in in the defensive stuff and all all those uh recognition stuff because it’s it’s just it’s what it is you just got to put your best guys um in in that direction but the funny thing is Ethan is thank God they did that because with the with the infactuation with wemi and everything going forward and he’s probably going to win a couple defensive player of the years himself uh in the coming years it would have been tough for bam who who’s locked into that Center position to try to get First Team all defense constantly behind him so like the fact that now they’re going positionist in it it really does help him that he’s probably going to get a couple more of those um but yeah I just think it is the position thing it’s why we had such a problem with Marcus Smart winning it that year over him which was probably one of his better chances uh in in terms of just having a really complete defensive year um it’s just the guards are just they’re they’re locked into a certain type of style and I think honestly H ly bam being a semi like almost like a guard Defender because he can guard the perimeter and and he’s not like a like you mentioned he’s not a shot blocking guy he’s just I’m gonna lock you down guy I’m gonna force a Miss guy I’m just gonna you know force you into a tough shot and that doesn’t get accounted for it’s almost like he gets put into that guard bracket at times which is the that’s the tough part like he’s not looked at as an elite rim protector even though he is without even you know blocking shots yeah I mean that’s why the the Heat’s numbers are always it’s about not getting into the paint uh essentially is is the way that they try to operate and they’ve done it without uh a good point of attack Defender at the guard position for a while to the point that they’ve had to use their fours uh whether it was Caleb Martin or Haywood heith or their small fours their small ball fours uh to do that kind of stuff you know the thing about bam when he said what he wants to be known as a Defender is someone who has no weaknesses I I feel like that’s uh you know that that is kind of the core thing for him that he’s not someone okay you can you can scheme him off the floor in any way now people who followed Minnesota in this playoffs uh run now will say that Rudy has overcome some of the allegations there I I’m not going to give uh gobear too hard a time for for joic because somebody had problems with yic although I do believe bam plays joic as well or better than anybody else does um but I think Minnesota what we’re seeing now with their defense even the game that go missed it’s really good without him I mean I mean an Anthony Edwards is is a plus Defender jayen McDaniels is an elite Defender Defender uh Alexander Walker has become a good Defender and towns is actually playing defense now so like their their core defense would be good without goar it’s just better with him whereas bam this heat defense I don’t know what this would be I honestly I mean I mean you you’ve got Tyler you’ve got Duncan you’ve got KB I mean you know guys who I mean let’s just be honest we’re not considering the plus Defenders I know Klo does a good job uh positionally but then you know additionally Caleb didn’t have an elite defensive year uh Haywood is really and and Jimmy yes can be an elite Defender when he’s engaged and playing but really Heywood heith was the only other guy on the team that you would say and hwz is better that advertise but but but heith is the only one to be like okay that guy would be part of a top five defense like there’s nobody else on this roster other than guess again an engage Jimmy uh who would qualify in that way right I guess you could throw D in there but I guess he does he really count because it it was short term and and yeah you did not get a lot of minutes but uh yeah Haywood Haywood was kind of the the definite one there but I you brought up goar it’s funny to me because you can’t knock him because of what he’s doing in that system but the key word is system and and that’s the key word when I look forward to these defensive player of the years is because he plays a style that works for them and he plays in the drop because that’s him and he’s a lead at it he’s absolutely a lead at that blocking shots all altering shots kind of playing in that drop but like the versatility of bam is what’s standing out when you talk about no weaknesses that’s what he means he’s like I can play Drop I can switch I can Blitz I can play in a Zone I could do all of that and nothing takes away from me being Elite I can be an elite in any system because essentially I am the defensive system and I think of it like the way we judge offensive players where a guy has a certain offensive scoring package and you say oh well he doesn’t have the three ball unlocked oh he he doesn’t have a midrange game or something like we don’t talk about that like Defenders where like if this guy can’t switch this guy can’t play Blitz a ton effectively and do that all game well like Bam could do a lot of that stuff so I think that’s where he looks at it in terms of like the weakness part and in individually um and I actually asked him about it in the xview I I asked him kind of where he felt he’s grown the most defensively because there’s no you can’t really judge defensive improvements like it’s just like once you’re like even guys that are named are called good Defenders at some point don’t really lose that like lose that thing even even if they tail off defensively you still hear people calling them good Defenders because they once were good Defenders this is what you heard um and there is a way to grow defensively and I asked him kind of what he’s felt like he’s grown the most with and it kind of kicks into the stuff you talked about with being a captain it’s communication he’s like I have the ability to play in a bunch of different coverages a bunch of different schemes I just need to have the communication down and I felt like i’ I’ve grown in that this season where he felt like he he wants to be able to yell at somebody he wants to like go and say you have to be in this spot no you have to go under the screen you have to do this or that so it’s like I just think now it’s just about using his voice which is kind of like the stuff you talked about being captain and and we were talking before the show about how their best defensive season was actually a season that bam missed some time but they had PJ Tucker doing the communication stuff and and I think that’s what they missed the most and said this before there were only two things that Jimmy Butler’s asked the front office for according to the people around him and one of them uh was go get Kyle Lowry we know how that worked out or didn’t at times the other he asked for was them to resign PJ Tucker I I think a big reason for that was that PJ uh had the credibility and the gravitas just generally um to to tell people where to go uh and and I feel like a lot of that is falling on and now without UD too when UD wasn’t on the floor at that time but at least he was uh on the sideline they they don’t really have that voice and I think that is where we talk about Bam’s growth people are going to talk about okay the three ball right okay we saw a little bit of that all right the po game well I don’t know where that’s going to go at this point okay uh you know getting to the line even more often okay holding up offensively as the year goes on and then we talk about defense I’m not really sure where the improvements can come other than communication um but the big Improvement is going to is going to be overall communication as a captain and and I I think that uh you know he it was funny when he said I asked him about what he learned as Captain this year and he said it sucks um there’s always truth to every joke and so I explor that a little bit afterwards and I’ve been told he did not enjoy it at all um that it was it was it was it was more of and it’s funny because when I when I talked to him about it when I thought he would be named captain and I said do you want in training camp at FAU when we were close to that happening he says well I don’t know who else would be um at that point I’m like well yeah me either and then I said to him in a group interview which I don’t think he loved the question where he was like you know are you too nice uh to be C essentially everybody likes you um I I don’t think he enjoyed that and and I feel like in a way it was a little bit forced by the organization because they want him to grow into it um and we’ll see where that goes but I I think that plays into what we’re talking about here what you’re talking about with communication it is uh feeling you have the right to say listen I’m that guy okay I’m a first team all defense guy please do what I say like now and I I don’t know that that’s necessarily Bam’s uh personality and that’s something uh you know I think he’ll have to grow into so all of these honors I think in that regard help um I think again when when you you can call someone all defense when that can be your nickname hey all defense okay that’s you know and players call them by those names I remember James Jones uh you know what he was he won that one Three-Point Contest and literally for the entire tenure of of of the big three LeBron and Dwayne called him champ because of that one okay you know that I mean they were all Champions at a certain point right uh but they all called him champ and now you know bam is all defense okay and so that’s you know that you know he’s not dpoy which I know is what he wants but he’s all defense and so I think that that may lend a little bit more credibility to his voice which I think is a positive all right on the other side is we will get into uh over some overall stuff with bam and also scheme related like kind of what this may look like next year uh Big Brother ironwork that’s what I want to tell you about right now got a big brother ironwork domcom this is where you can get a free estimate all across the State of Florida including Dade Brower the keys and more for your metal work they specialize in that Aluminum Fences Gates perolas railings and all of that they guarantee steadfast fabrication and installation with competitive pricing they got more than 20 years of experience they are experienced experts in the field Avid Miami Heat fans we always add that as well and licensed and insured so find them at Big Brother that’s big brother ironwork dcom bigbrother ironwork decom or reach out to Abraham at 78646 5780 that’s 78646 5780 Big Brother ironwork decom All right so we don’t know who’s going to be on the roster yet that’s the thing um and we know that they had to play a lot of Zone this past year uh we know that there’s been switching over the period of time you know from drop to blitzing to all kinds of different schemes that SPO has tried just to keep the team in the game defensively since offense has been such a struggle um what do you think is the preferred style of Defense around a bamat bio type player preferred if if everything was the way you want it to be would be switching I mean he’s just that good of a switch Defender and he talks about it a lot that he he hates when when they go switch and they just pull him to the strong side corner uh and just to kind of eliminate him as a as his that’s like the only way you could eliminate bam as a Defender because even if you switch you pull him weak side he could weak side help and recover if you’re strong side you got to stay there and he’s he’s kind of pigeon hold in a way where he has to stay there so I think that that’s the one thing that he’s trying to figure out and and just knows the teams do that but realistically the heat are going to have to use him and drop that’s kind of the even when I look at the way this roster is currently looking the way they did it this past season they have to play more drop because you can’t really if you’re running Terry Tyler lineups you can’t go switch a ton because then then you’re you could kind of miss the other teams can mismatch home now you’re doubling you’re you’re constantly trying to recover uh you kind of are forced to play this style to kind of fight around screens and even if like some of the options that we’re doing podcast on Donovan Mitchell Trey young like all these different guys that that we’re talking about that could potentially like be in the system would probably mean would still play Drop I don’t think there’s there’s unless you’re like building a style where it’s like let’s just say you trade for Donovan Mitchell and Delon Wright is your starting point guard then you’d switch a ton like that would be like the one Outlet to do that but other than that the realistic options of what this roster is going to look like they’re going to use a bunch of drop they’re going to play him in zone that’s what I think is the funny thing about versatility is the fact that he’s effective in zone like one of the hardest things you could do is play in that bottom Zone where you’re you’re limited you’re just kind of helping around and that’s what the communication comes from is because his job in the zone is to communicate tell this guy to help down till this guy to scoot up till this guy to do that where he’s kind of just had to learn to just Bo find a guy to box out and rebound well which he’s done uh at a high level but I’ll say the other thing I thought was interesting that he said yesterday uh in the Press Cates was where he he he often brings up the voters where he talks about that type of stuff but he mentioned he’s like I already have the respect of my peers my peers know that I want the probably the best defender in the league it’s just getting the voters now to to realize that but I just think that’s a funny aspect because you just don’t see many guys that are that like teams that are scheming to pull a guy to the strong side corner before they get to their action like that’s like their priority before they go get into their offense that it’s like teams and players have the resp his respect totally they’re not thinking about his his shot blocking or his numbers here there like they know how good of a Defender he is that that’s why he’s the system that’s why they they don’t really have to that smoke can do the things he does and keep altering um styles because that that’s just you know how good he is but I know what you’re going to get into next and I’m interested to hear your opinion on because I know you brought up the fact and I know you asked about is like how much is the offense going to be impacted by how much they use them defensively uh and that’s why like blitzing blitzing is is a perfect example because they could be really effective with like against really high level scoring guards they could Blitz a ton and throw them off their game but do you want that guy sprinting cing trapping at half court recovering yelling out defensively if you’re relying on him the way you are offensively so that’s why I think they they at certain points you’ve seen them go Zone you’ve seen them go drop and not do certain things because I think they are preserving them in certain ways especially because he’s not a guy that takes games off he’s a guy that plays so if he’s shooting for 82 games played you have to maximize him as much as possible and that’s why I think this availability press conference that Pat Riley did excluded him in all ways uh and and I I think that’s we have to reframe the way that we view a lot of this stuff I I think when it comes to ban and this is where some who are sort of you know are not bam Believers and and there there are some I respect who are think that we overrate him on the podcast okay um who are in the space I’m not talking about fans necess neily I’m talking about those who are sort of peripherally related to the team in some way um but I I I think that we have to view it as it’s always been this thing like get Jimmy some help get Jimmy some help get Jimmy some help get Jimmy well get bam some help like I this is you know because I mean you’re asking him to carry a bigger burden than than Jimmy to just keep this team’s floor like Jimmy is the ceiling razor I I don’t argue with that okay and I’ve seen I saw that I wish I could I could uh attribute that tweet cuz I thought it was a good tweet that I saw out there about a month ago that that bam sets the floor and Jimmy raises the ceiling but they fall through the floor without bam like this has been a consistent Pro like Kevin Love patched a lot of this and then again they play zone with Kevin when Kevin was effective this year but again we saw in the playoffs it was the same thing they could not go to anybody else but bam and and so I I do think that there has to be focus on getting bam to the Finish Line fresher and and you know we talk about his minutes like I want him them to up his minutes in the playoffs but they may need to figure out a way somehow to get the minutes down a little bit during the regular season like you mentioned play certain styles that will preserve him a little bit because we can’t have it all ways like you cannot I mean there is not another guy in the league like if you look at the top 15 players in the league right now okay there’s not another guy in the league was asked to be do to do this defensively like and and then you’re like okay now get me 22 um and and all the rest it’s a lot it’s a lot and and look he’s a young man um he’s obviously in great condition uh he’s not going to be a young man forever and and at a certain point you are you know you are let you are shortening his prime I think if you’re asking him to do this much all the time and he’s the one that’s the one playing you know in the upwards of 70 plus games and as I was told last year there there are basically you know two guys on this team I would have had a third based on what happened at the end of the year but there were two guys on this team that were always trying to play through anything which were bam and Caleb um and the third one I would throw in is Duncan because it’s clear how how much he pushed himself at the end of the year some of these other guys need to do some of that to push through this through okay so that it’s not just bam and and also they just need to get size next to him I I that’s where I’m at like and I it’s got to be functional size it’s got to be skilled size um but even if their rebounding numbers look okay with six5 guys next to him and a lot of times they do it it’s just not it’s not sustainable Brady that’s kind of where I’m at like they they need they need a big body who in who imposes his will on the opponent so that it’s not bam having to absorb all of that all the time is is that fair at this point oh it’s fair I I just think it has to be the right size and it has to be because you could get Siz as we’ve seen in the past but they don’t have end up playing like SPO is not going to end up going in that direction because they do play a certain style so I think it has to be the right side like a PJ Washington fit in Dallas is like the perfect example not that you’re going to get that type of player but that’s the type of fit where where there’s versatility to him where he’s playable at the end of games where there where there’s just that aspect where it’s like they’re going to go best player available in the draft and we’ll get into draft stuff moving forward but like they’re not just going to say okay we need a big we’re going to pick a big they’re going to go best player available but like even if I look I look around like we’ve seen them do the big thing and not that each player that they potentially draft would be precious but will that guy play that they draft unless he’s a four-year guy like if he’s like a like a Haim hawas type guy maybe they can find ways to slot him in but the issue is that I don’t know who that guy is or where that guy’s going to be because if either the only option that maybe you’re thinking about is if they could find one in sou Falls or summer league this offseason because other than that I don’t really see who that guy would be if they have their focus on certain guys are improving this roster in a way I just don’t know if that versatile front Court piece is there because we we could talk about moving bam to the four these certain fives and or like in the draft there was like Zach Ed was talked about like I don’t see SP playing Zack Edy like I I don’t see there being that type of like they just like versatile bigs they that that’s what you need to do I guess feel like in today’s day but also in Miami’s scheme and style so they need to do it like Minnesota what we’re talking about Minnesota is a perfect example but Dallas who’s matched up with them in the Western Conference Finals also has functional size have size they they add they added functional size at the dead right I mean that that that’s the thing in Gafford and PJ Washington and I you know when when I to close this out when I when I look at at this situation we’re all like okay yic is the perfect guy to play next to ban right we talk about that all the time I I think he’s developing into that he he is the perfect idea to play next to band where you get versatility but there’s but he has height obviously now the the way the strength has been the work in progress here and I right the a right and this has been this is clearly they they said you know both said it others had said it to me prior that they you know the first year was kind of a red shirt year then he got hurt hurt the back uh you know lost a little bit of time there they didn’t really expect a lot this past season okay they really didn’t they were just trying to see if there was someplace they could get them a few minutes that’s why they sent him down to work at playing at the five uh but the ultimate goal ultimately was the four but it’s when he grow not now it’s not just putting on the weight okay which he’s done but it’s being comfortable doing the other things he used to do with the weight but now it’s using the weight to impose yourself on the opponent that’s probably going to be the next step that’s not going to happen right this is a guy who was a guard okay so that that’s not going to happen right away just instinctually this is going to take he’s not you know it’s just not going to be his mentality so I again I I wanted them to keep yic I think yic is the long-term fit next to Bam um they need one more piece in that front Court though that they can go to for 25 minutes it’s suppos going to be comfortable going to for 25 minutes I mean they need a Nas Reed okay and that’s easier said than done but you know who’s the third guy in that rotation right so you sort of have you know towns and goar and then you have uh nzed but again this was an undrafted free agent I’m not saying that you’re going to find another one like that but that’s the kind of player and now we can look back and say okay maybe you could have moved Tyler hero to get him a year to who knows okay uh right now I don’t know that they have a piece they can move for a player that good uh so it is it is about trying to to find somebody somewhere who can at least plug that Gap and give bam give just give bam a break that’s it like there give bam a break so that you can get him his shot attempts have decreased last year they decreased every month month over month why he’s tired he’s tired like that’s the thing like he’s the one that’s being asked to carry um you know and again it would help if his uh if his star partner would play 65 plus games I I just think that would make that would make a difference and that’s the topic we’re going to keep coming back to this entire offseason all right thanks to Brady thanks to our sponsors Big Brother ironwork decom make sure you check them out and also our friends over at prize picks use the code 5 FIV they’re more my friends today than two days ago because wow I hit big last night have a good one everybody
Brady Hawk joins Ethan Skolnick to discuss Bam Adebayo finally getting his first first-team All-Defense selection…. and how Miami can maximize him on both ends going forward. Do the Heat need to get him help?
Sponsors: BigBrotherIronWork.com and PrizePicks.com (five)
Join us on our Off The Floor Discord server! Get exclusive insider information, along with updates/stats/insights from the 5OTF crew and hang out with other Heat fans! https://t.co/izwgN0SEt6 (Scroll down after clicking).
Also, come hang out and watch games with us live on Playback.tv/5RSN or on their app, we also do off-day live shows there.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for Miami Sports on Demand! Content about the Miami Heat, Miami Dolphins, Miami Hurricanes, Miami Marlins, Florida Panthers, NBA, NFL, MLB, MLS, college football & more!
Sign up using the code FIVE to double initial deposit at PrizePicks.com
If you want more exclusive Miami Dolphins content, join OnlyFins on Discord: https://discord.gg/onlyfins
If you’re interested in sponsoring Five Reasons, contact us at fivereasonssports@gmail.com
