The Miami Heat Just Activated Playoff Mode

The Miami Heat Just Activated Playoff Mode

From mid to late January the Miami Heat completely collapsed they lost seven straight games to the point where they were just one loss away from dropping to 500 then January 31st hit and it’s like they flipped a switch winning 11 of their next 16 games many against playoff

Teams and this turnaround can be attributed to some truly suffocating defense over that time they’ve held opponents to just 109 points every 100 possessions about six points better than the League’s average and good for third in the league here’s what’s really interesting though you take a look at the top defensive teams

In the NBA and there’s a pretty clear Trend Minnesota has Rudy goar over the last two seasons players have shot more than 9% below their expected field goal percentage with him at the rim and that’s alongside two other traditionally sized bigs in Carl Anthony towns and Nas

Reed then you have Cleveland with their double big unit of Moy and Allen both of which have held opponents over 7% below their expected average at The Rim Boston same thing porzingis Manning the middle as a traditional anchor big with a men shot blocking holding opponents to

Nearly 12% below their average at The Rim even if you look at past years like Milwaukee with Giannis and Lopez or the Lakers with ad and take your pick at a center I think you get the idea as for Miami their starting center is Bam adabo

Who averages one block a game and over the last two seasons players have actually shot almost 1% better than their average with him at the rim and while many of these paint oriented fives also have another capable rim protector by their side the heat don’t really run any sort of secondary paint Defender

Actually as a team they’ve blocked just 3.4 shots a game this season last in the NBA by a wide margin just to put that into some more perspective the heat as an entire team over 48 minutes are blocking less shots than Victor wanyama alone in his his 29 minutes a game when

Teams get to the rim they can score on this heat Squad so The Simple Solution is to of course Implement a scheme that never lets teams get to the rim here’s a look at every team’s Rim defense since January 31st in terms of both opportunities allowed and how opponents

Shoot when they get there all the way on the right you’ll see some teams who have not been able to stop opponents from getting to the rim and up at the very top you have a team like Washington that’s paint is essential room service on the opposite end of the spectrum

You’ll find Boston who’s limiting both the volume and efficiency then all the way on the left is where Miami shows up about average in terms of percentage but first by a decent margin in that nobody can get there priority number one in their scheme is protecting the middle of

The floor at all costs just look at how they wall off Zion here both yovic and Martin are showing their length and angling their bodies to take away the middle leaving only one way to drive right into bam with no real opportunity to finish this time it’s Derek white who

Gets a handoff and turns the corner only for Richardson to pick him up in the middle while bam aggressively helps at the nail to shut off any driving lane white hesitates before trying to attack anyways and the result is a turnover it doesn’t matter who has the ball they’re building that wall-like formation

Against ball screens bam will usually sit back and drop coverage while again that strong side Wing sits on the elbow to not allow any sort of dribble penetration just completely taking away that space on this one you’re going to see Paul George start to isolate but

With hwz loading up early at the nail he decides to pull back and reset with a pick and roll going away from the middle which draws bam out in a high drop and with no driving lane it’s a tougher step back three Bam’s positioning as a drop Defender is awesome and everyone’s on

The same page when it comes to game plan notice how Martin angles his body to force the ball ball into bam then when Harden gets near the corner that Defender is going to take a swipe and the shot he gets is a step back midi that dig from the corner is another one

Of their go-to tactics herder gets a handoff and starts a drive with bam back in that drop and by stepping over and showing that length it makes herder pick up his dribble early this time it’s going to be a pin down action for kawhai to move into an open jumper and Jimmy

Gets stuck on the screen so that corner dig actually buys him some time to recover and what would have been a practice shot ends up contested a tactic like this pairs perfectly with how they like to take away the Middle High Smith angles his body to force a drive wide

Hero makes that aggressive dig and like clockwork it’s a really tough mid-range J now in most cases a lot of what they do could be considered overh helping but it comes down to team execution for one Jimmy is one of the most devastating nail defenders in NBA history because

He’s not only aggressively playing the drive but anticipates passing Lanes as well as anyone and another strategy they’ve committed to is always closing out as hard as possible so on a play like this where High Smith roams way off the corner to load up early he’s still

Able to recover and get a hand up on Tatum’s 3 the risk that comes with closing out so aggressively is it puts you in a more vulnerable position to get beat off the dribble and that’s when a second Defender will move on a string to once again shut off the middle while

That original Defender covers that now open space face to mitigate any advantages there’s no team in basketball that’s better at scrambling to recover from advantages no matter what there’s just always someone to step in front of the ball whenever there’s an open man to love someone close out from one pass

Away to run them off the line and it’s like no matter how many times a team drives and kicks to a potential shooter they’re always in position to take away the opportunity so much of that comes down to Personnel they’ve got all of these lengthy athletic wings and

Forwards who can can cover a ton of ground very quickly whether that’s Jimmy Caleb Martin haime hakz Haywood heith Josh Richardson and having these types of guys unlocks maybe the most defining quality of their defense how much they like to switch with that said I actually

Think it’s bam who makes this work to the level that it does because at the five he’s not only capable of picking up smaller players but is a legitimately great one-on-one Defender out in space due to a really unique combination of length and Mobility so what you’ll see

Them do as a team for the most part is just switch any sort of action that’s moving towards the Middle Jimmy and hero don’t even have to communicate because they know the plan then when the Spurs try a second action on the opposite side same exact thing between hero and Martin

And the paint is essentially off limits as someone is always there that’s also why they’re comfortable playing these weaker defensive links like a hero or a Duncan Robinson and putting them on the ball because because even if they do get beat they’re running into some more of

That aggressive help at the nail the risk that comes with switching especially with bam is that they really lack size so when Bam’s on a guard and a big posts up one of their wings you’ll see another strategy bringing the weak side guy over early and this really

Applies to any sort of attack near the Baseline F drives Robinson drops from the corner and Bam slides in between both potential Shooters to prepare for a close out this sort of Shifting defense is another way for them to mitigate advantages that the offense creates you

Don’t want to leave Kawai on a guard in single coverage so Martin comes over to double and watch the rest of the defense rotate one pass over Harden tries to create off the catch then kicks it to PG and they end up with a contested three here’s another example bam double

Sabonis in the post then the three weak side Defenders all shift one pass over and by the time the ball gets swung there isn’t even an advantage to it attack anymore again a lot of this comes down to Personnel not just the athletic Wings to close out quickly a center who

Can step out to the perimeter when needed and not only run a wing off the line but stick with him on a drive and force him into a tough shot the way they so seamlessly rotate and shift their position to eat up space really stands

Out when they go into a Zone it’s like no matter how the offense tries to attack there’s just no way to break it against teams who rely heavily on slashing to create their offense they’ll often throw out a two3 look and what this does is force everyone on the floor

To make really tough decisions this time you’re going to see the Wizards try to attack it by having someone set up on the elbow and when he catches it looks like an instant Advantage but as soon as he skips it to the wing hakz is closing

Out hard then when he attacks love steps over to the block and they force a turnover I think much of their ability to execute Zone defenses to near Perfection once again comes down to B positioning in the middle I know I said he’s not the same sort of Rim deterrent

As some other bigs when it comes to being in the right spot at the right time though there aren’t many better with that said they’ve still shown to be really effective when it’s Kevin Love in the middle who’s got great activity and positioning himself then when he’s

Tested down low he’ll often elect to draw the charge as for the wings sometimes you’ll see one of them deny that pass to the middle and force the offense to create elsewhere on this one the Sixers try one of those corner handoffs and it’s right back to Miami

Switch ability and emphasis on shutting off the paint to me it’s pretty easy to see exactly why this defense continues year after year to translate so well to the playoffs for one it’s the buyin everyone’s active everyone’s on the same page so even when they have one or two

Weak Defenders on the floor as long as the rotations and switches are on point it’s really difficult to create advantages then you have the schematic versatility and by that I mean they can play any type of pick and roll coverage thanks to Bam they can throw out a bunch

Of different zones switch matchups as they please essentially if the offense dictates a change in strategy the heat can go to it and spoler will do exactly that another thing I want to quickly bring up is how good they are at defending in transition this season they’ve allowed less than 19 points a

Game second in the NBA on just 1.08 points per possession good for fifth I think there are three major factors working together here first is the buyin every extra effort High Motors across the board so when they find themselves out of position they’ll make some great recoveries number two is the fact that

They don’t run a traditional lineup bam is maybe the quickest five in the league so when you have him next to a bunch of athletic Wings they just simply aren’t going to be beat down the floor much and lastly it’s the way they operate on offense as a team they really don’t turn

The ball over much at all which means they’re able to get set without having to deal with a bunch of fast breaks when it all comes together the versatility in the half court how they completely take away the paint the transition defense we’re talking about a unit that really

Serves as a good matchup for anyone who stands in their way just last year they were the only team to hold Denver under a 119 offensive rating to get there it was a Conference Final series versus the title favorites in Boston who were held to just 114 team look I’m not saying you

Should take out all your money and bet on them getting to the finals again but as long as they’re defending like this nobody is safe from the Miami Heat if you enjoyed this breakdown make sure to drop a like subscribe and turn my post notifications on to be first on more

Content if you’re interested in my more in-depth research make sure to check out my website and social media profiles you can find those links in the description feel free to let me know down in the comments what you think of the Heat as always I hope you all have a great day

And I’ll catch you guys in the next one

Over their last 16 games, the Miami Heat have been showcasing the defensive brilliance that turns them into a nightmare come playoff time.

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