Is Jimmy Butler Costing the Miami Heat a Chance at an NBA Finals Run? + Tyler Herro’s Return

Is Jimmy Butler Costing the Miami Heat a Chance at an NBA Finals Run? + Tyler Herro’s Return

All right so we just got done recording our recap of the Heat’s loss to the 76ers as soon as we get done recording it sham Sania from the athletic tweets that uh there is optimism that Tyler hero could return to the heat lineup for Friday’s game against the Houston

Rockets in Houston and that t hero is traveling with the team for their three-game trip to Houston and then of course they go to Indiana and then on uh on to Atlanta so we recorded our whole recap David did not mention obviously that Tyler hero could be back OB there’s

A lot going on there if Terry Rosier has to miss some time Tyler hero returning to the lineup would be a huge boost uh and for a team that had such a hard time scoring in the half court against Philly on Thursday night getting somebody like

Tyler herro would be huge he’s been out for a long time but uh this is this is what we’ve been waiting for yeah that’s great news really um you know the Rosier things obviously it adds another wrinkle into his return I imagine that also might quash the idea of whether or not

He starts or comes off the bench at least for one game uh the idea would probably be that Tyler would start right away yeah and my feeling is that not only you know did they take their time with the ramp up they gave him that special treatment on his foot took their

Time to make sure that he was coming back and that he wouldn’t travel with the team unless there was some confidence that he was as close to full strength as he could possibly get and now just as we’ve seen with embiid it’s time to start ramping him up getting him

Back into game shape I would imagine there’s going to be a minutes restriction even without Rosier so we might see some Patty Mills we might see some dlon Wright minutes there or more Duncan and Caleb something that we talked about uh about possible lineups uh moving forward with the rockets on

Friday and of course with the Pacers on Sunday but now with Tyler you get a little bit of a a bigger Boost from the scoring end so this is just really good encouraging news um I I hope he’s not too rusty and too shaky and that it won’t take long to

Incorporate him back into the offense my feeling is that at his age that ramp up probably is enough to get him as close as we could Poss he’s going to look a little shaky maybe at first but he’s really looked rust coming back I mean he unfortunately he’s come back from

Injuries quite a bit and he never really looks that Rusty when he comes back right he’s such a natural bucket getter like he’s just such a GH good good scorer and a natural scorer I shouldn’t say natural because obviously he’s put in the work to get to this point but it

It is such a strength of his game that when he does come back I wouldn’t be surprised to see him hit a couple buckets early on just kind of set the tone and be like all right I’m back uh everybody can relax now and then he can

Take over some of that scoring load that we’ve seen Terry had to take over over the last few games so we know we kind of talked about this in context of you know if they do miss Terry that forces Jimmy’s hand a little bit we do talk about Jimmy’s paity uh against the

Sixers a concern something that’s been a concern for a long while now and now with Tyler coming back in into the lineup how does that play out I would imagine probably plays pretty similarly I would have liked to see Jimmy be more active and more engag but once Tyler is

Back in the lineup he takes on the scoring load because that’s what he has done up to this point in his career yeah and so it’s been now three weeks since he got the PRP injection in the foot and the timeline was uh three weeks right it

Was a week of recovery from the injection and then two weeks of ramp up and this would literally be on the dot if he were return on Friday cuz he got it on a Friday 3 weeks ago and this would be on the dot a Friday that he

Would return so uh well timed by Ty hero I supp optimism right optimism that he can he’s not been listed as available yet we’ll see what ultimately ends up happening on Friday night but boy can the heat use him right about now whether or not it’s Friday night in Houston or

Sunday’s must-win game in Indiana against the Pacers they are going to need Tyler hero and especially if Terry rosieres to your point has to miss Maybe some real time here we’ll see T rir said he was fine we’ll see if he’s fine best case scenario you get all these guys

Back but um it hopefully it’s not a longterm thing with Rosier and if Tyler hero is coming back then this team is getting healthy yeah no no absolutely I think that’s a great Point um on a personal note I am really looking forward to being at the Taurus in

Coconut Grove on Friday night for our watch party and being a few drinks in and seeing Tyler just light it up like that is going to be a really fun and exciting thing to be there with a lot of Heat fans hopefully in attendance so

It’s going to be a great time it’s going to be the return of Tyler herro if he does come back on Friday that would be awesome that would be a nice boost for everybody I think in the crowd so I’m looking forward to it yeah shots if

Tyler hero scores 30 hell yeah hell yeah hell yeah on the house yeah on the tourist well right okay um let episode is coming up fell uh the Heat lose to the 76ers we got our takeaways from the game what the heat needed more from Jim Butler what this

Means for the the standings the playing tournament and then just kind of broadly what’s going on with Jimmy Butler we get into all of that on today’s episode of Locked on heat you are locked on heat your daily Miami Heat podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every

Day all right welcome to locked on heat your daily podcast on the Miami Heat I’m West Goldberg editor at all you heat.com joining me as always it’s NBA media member David ra however you’re tuning in on YouTube Odyssey are your favorite podcast app thanks for making locked on

Heat your first listen every day Friday night tonight for many of you listening we’re going to be holding the locked on heat watch party for now a must-win game between the Heat and the rockets we’re doing it at the Taurus in Coconut Grove uh we are going to have drink specials

We’re going to have a lot of fun chatting it up with you guys happy hour extended throughout the game and if it’s anything like tonight’s game we’re going to need it we’re going to need it so again that is tonight the Taurus and Coconut Grove heat Rockets game starts

At 8:00 pm we really hope to see you there uh but Meanwhile we’re recording this on Thursday night after the heat lost to the Sixers 109 to 105 they gave themselves a chance late in this game but Tyrese Maxi and Kelly UB scored 11 points in the final four minutes the

Heat themselves made just one field goal David in the last8 minutes of this game uh and that was a a Terry Rosier bailout step back three as he’s been accustomed to having to doing this offense lately Tyrese Maxi himself outscored Jimmy Butler and Bam at a bio combined Jimmy

And Bam 34 points between the two of them Tyrese Maxi finished with 37 so now the heat find themselves a half game back of the Pacers they’re back in seventh place which would put them back into the playing tournament with uh six games left here for them where do you

Want to start with this loss I’m not entirely sure because there’s a lot to kind of take from it you know the heat started down early they were down by 16 in the first quarter and then they mounted what was one of the best comebacks I’ve seen from

The year in order to regain Take the Lead rather at 46 to 43 off a Caleb Martin three-pointer and from that point forward you’re thinking okay Miami is going to figure it out again and then Philadelphia comes back as you might expect that they could and they wind up

Taking another double- digit lead in the second half and then Miami comes back again to take a double digit lead of their own and you’re thinking okay this is late in the game you’re thinking Miami is gonna do just enough you’ve got Jimmy Butler playing incredibly well Kevin Love providing this tremendous

Spark Haywood heith was dominating I think continuing to improve on an almost in-game basis and then as you said too much Maxi too much Kelly UB and not enough Jimmy and Bam in a b now bam was sitting out for most of that fourth quarter he came back a little bit late

But even then it seemed like whatever chemistry Jimmy had had with Kevin Love completely dissipated whatever spark he had just completely failed and it was struggling to find any good offensive possessions challenged well by Philadelphia’s defense but even when they had open looks they just couldn’t

Knock those down and it again as you said eight minutes almost without a field goal that’s that’s inconceivable so I don’t know how much to take from this game because it was so bizarre and it played out so Strangely I did like some of Miami’s runs here and there and

Obviously you see the potential when they’re clicking an all cylinder and and now they’re they’re relatively healthy still without Tyler hero obviously who would have been a factor tonight I’m convinced of that but to for them to squander that lead to fall apart so badly defensively to not be able to

Contain Maxi at any point in time during the game and for Eric spoler not even say Hey you know dlan Wright we brought you in here to be our best on ball Defender and you’ve seen the capacity of him to do so in limited minutes since

He’s joined a team and did not even sniff the court I’m at a loss here to be honest with you I don’t know what the hell happened it was very very strange I thought Miami was gonna be able to do just enough to hold on to the win but

For them to not be able to score in those last minutes of the game was just you incredible to watch Yeah you mentioned Kevin Love going out the heat scored three points after Kevin Love exited the game with three and a half minutes left what he

Had I I was texting you during the game I’m like do they have to close with Kevin Love and I understand he played almost 19 minutes and you want to kind of keep those minutes down but can you get could you got could you have gotten

Him a breather and then play him and Bam together at the end of that game you know I I don’t know I know that there was definitely some rotation questions and and they’re valid right they’re valid and the Delon right thing you bring up is fair also you know Tyrus

Maxi was just getting to the basket early in the game and then they zoned him off and then he was just making mid-range jumper after mid-range jumper and he was making the threes and it was like they did they took the they took the rim away and he was like all right

I’ll just make the shots from over here now he was Unstoppable and so yeah we could we could do this whole thing about and you know where I’m going to go with this David because this is where I always end up but I think tonight it it

Was especially preent you know Nik yovic had a great game tonight 11 points and boy each single every single one of them were important felt like all of them were on the break I thought he was great another awesome hey with High Smith game two of four from three-point range for

Him for 12 points Uh Kevin Love with the 11 points Off the Bench haime hakz with a little bit uh of a spark there late in the game Caleb Martin same thing Terry Rosier another 22-point outing on 20 shots and they they heat just needed him to take all those shots

But they did enough the role players they did enough to win this game the problem was that Jimmy Butler scored 20 points 11 of which came in the second half bam atab bio had 14 points on 15 shots and Joel and be in his second game back had 29 Points in 32

Minutes we already talked about Maxi just killing tyus Maxi was the best player on the court tonight and it wasn’t even close it wasn’t even close and so I look at the two stars on Philadelphia and I look at the two stars in Miami and that’s where I’m starting

And kind of ending with this entire like trying to figure out how the heat lost this game they need more like this is going to happen from bam and I thought Bam’s defense was overall very good I thought his offense was obviously he just didn’t have a shot tonight but at

Least he was taking those shots pretty consistently throughout the game he was involved in the offense constantly setting screens for Terry Rosier and all these things he didn’t feel to me not involved in the offense Jimmy Butler felt to me for 80% of this game minimum yeah not involved in the offense until

He absolutely had to be involved in the offense late in the game and basically Eric spos for forcing him to get involved in the offense because he was like hey Jimmy it’s going to be you Caleb Haywood Kevin Love out there and some highe hawz minutes here you

Somebody’s got to take like somebody on this in this lineup has to handle the ball and it’s going to be you he was he was okay I don’t think I I never thought he got to Great level uh at this point now and I know that

They beat the Knicks the other night but it was another sort of quiet game from Jimmy Butler we talked about it after that game yeah Jimmy Butler if he’s playing like this is going to cost the Miami Heat a chance to get back to the Conference Finals he is costing them

Right now a chance at a guaranteed playoff birth because the rest of his teammates are doing everything that they need to do they have never gotten this kind of production from the point guard spot you have this kind of depth that this team has that has been deep has

Never had this much depth and Jimmy Butler has never been worse at this point in the regular season he usually starts to ramp up into something resembling playoff Jimmy and he had no lift in this game I think that there might be something I think he’s wearing

Down he had one play David where he got like he had a drive on into jool embid and left his feet late and just sort of ran into the Joel and beat wall and and it was I wrote it down cuz it was so jarring it was like that’s not Jimmy

Butler he usually has a little bit more lift and strength getting to the but even against embiid I don’t I Jimmy Butler if he’s playing like this is gonna cost the heat a chance I will say that I think he’s thrown off by the officiating rules and

And whether that’s fair or unfair or just realistic I think that’s where we’re at is that he’s probably accustomed to getting a lot more calls his way and to his credit he hasn’t been complaining or whining and nobody on the heat were really when it comes to

Fishing that’s just not who they are and so I think that’s thrown off a little bit because when he starts to get to the rim at least and and feels that contact he’s usually or has her toor been rewarded by free throws and normally that’s enough to kind of say you know

What if you’re opening up that part of my offense where I can drive and at least I’m going to be able to get some points I’m going to be able to manufacture something by getting to the line at least that opens up my spacing

For a little bit to to try and take some of those jumpers that we saw him attempting some of those cuts that the Rim he had a nice slob you know at The Rim from Kevin Love That timing is still really really well yep and I think

That’s kind of where he’s at right now is that he probably expected him to be able to get more points from the line than he what he was able to that might have been the difference no no no doubt I get it since the allar break when

These changes been made just to you know point that out to the listen it’s been a month and a half since these changes have been implemented and we somebody with a basketball IQ such as Jimmy Butler and I’m not questioning it you would think he would you think he would adjust right

I I don’t know what adjustments he could possibly make because up to this point in his career that’s pretty much been at least in his heat stretch that’s basically I mean he’s he had the three-pointer he was taking those shots he looked good during that run in the third quarter especially with that

Connection with love but there was a play down the game down the stretch that really was upsetting to me and it was funny you know right as you weren’t watching it because you were at the ca Center uh and I was watching from home tonight because I didn’t go to the game

But you know John C was saying well Jimmy needs to come to the ball and I can’t remember who had the ball in their hands at that point might have been bam might have been Terry Rosier and they’re looking for Jimmy curling around he kind of half speeds his way towards the ball

Whoever was handling it at the top of the key and he just the ball the pass is made to him as we’ve seen him kind of turn up to speed and curl around that screen as he drives to the rim instead because he’s going just half speed

That’s when Kool Kelly UB intercepts the ball winds up going with that finger roll at the end put them up four um or maybe it was just two at that yeah I don’t know it was might up four because then it was Terry Rosier who hit the three-pointer later but either way yeah

It was just like that was that really stuck out to me because I’m not used to seeing Jimmy especially in clutch situations falter or or not be that level of engaged and that’s what I saw from him tonight engaged it’s a great word like he’s not that that extra level

Of effort and we know we know it when we see it with Jimmy Butler right when he is sprinting for the ball when he’s breaking out that spin move on the base with intent whatever you wants to post up he he had Tyre Maxi in a post up

Earlier in the game and just passed out of it and he did the same thing against miles McBride the other night against New York and there some of these you mentioned the free throw attempts and while you were talking I looked it up 8.1 free throw attempts per game before

The All-Star break 7.1 cents so he’s averaging one less free throw it’s not enough it that like that’s not the differ s that’s not the difference and I think the I you just expect Jimmy to hit that extra gear and and look they lost this game it doesn’t mean that they

Can’t get out of the sixth seed but it does mean that they’re right now they’re back in that seventh seed Philly the team they just lost to is in that eighth seed and we could be seeing this team again if it comes to a 78 matchup uh and

Something’s got to change if the heat are going to win that game and not be forced to play the winner of the 910 game and potentially miss the playoffs altogether we’re going to talk about that next year on lock on heat today’s episode is brought to you

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Update the heat got a break last night or two nights ago depending on when you’re listening to this whatever Wednesday night when the Pacers lost to the net so oh we were not expecting the Pacers to lose to the Nets that move that that means that the heat wake up Thursday

Morning in sixth place a half game up on the Pacers uh for that sixth place spot Pacers idle tonight Heat play lose to the 76ers so they drop back to seventh so that break that the heat got with the Pacers losing to the Nets basically washed right so now we’re back to square

One where Sunday’s game is still a must-win it was probably always a must-win but the heat are going to now have to win one of these backto backs probably whether it’s in Houston on Friday night or uh against the Dallas Mavericks later on so that’s kind of

Where we’re at right now I still in my heart of hearts think that Miami ends up getting that six seed I still think that we end up there but that doesn’t mean anything it doesn’t matter how I feel just ultimately the work is absolutely cut out for them I mean the challenge

Gets that much tougher after a loss like tonight because you lost to an opponent who’s making their own run to try and get out of the run the the play in tournament too this game was more of a must-win for Philly than it was Miami even yeah I I suppose mathematically

Yeah no doubt um but you still want to be able to create and add to whatever cushion had existed and dissipated tonight and the same situation applies on Sunday night against the Pacers you know you’re traveling to there you now you’ve got to go after a loss you’re not

Even encouraged by that loss you can’t even Muster that kind of energy Terry Rosier we should mention bumping knees with Kyle Lowry late in the game uh saw him limping around the locker room Eric spoler said he look he probably going to be okay I don’t know we haven’t got any

Kind of real Medical Update and I don’t think that we’ll necessarily get one my guess would be that he does not play tomorrow so now you’re talking about a change in the starting lineup when you’re down already Tyler her as your goto score and that just makes everybody’s work that much more

Difficult and so you’re gonna have to find some way and I I recall correctly I think golden state was beating Houston earlier tonight I’m not sure how that score held up or not but okay well there you have it so the Rockets are going to go back and they’re at home they’re

Going to be hosting the Heat and they’re going to look to try and and win that game because they’re playing they’re also almost mathematically out of it if not mathematically out of it so maybe they’re a little bit less motivated so the good thing is that at least the

Rockets are also on the second night of a back toback fortunately for Houston they’re at home but like that rest advantage that otherwise would have been there for Houston not really there after a up and down game with the Warriors tonight um the ter Rosier thing I would

I’m with you I I it doesn’t even matter what we’re guessing all I know is that Eric spuler said he was fine and then Terry Rosier said he’s not being bothered by it which means to me that he can miss two months it’s like based on this entire season I don’t believe a

Word of what Eric sper orar Rosier said because they’ve been saying that stuff about various players all year long so I would be surprised if Rosier played tomorrow and again I’m not I saw him around that that left knee that was the same he had hurt previously and it

Kept him out at games earlier in season so I think he was wearing a leg sleeve on it and then you know unfortunately he just W up best case scenario is the only misses Friday night that would be the best case scenario so what would I do if

I were the heat they have started Patty Mills in the past they have sometimes gone with thean wght I would say how about n how about none of those guys just shorten the rotation go ahead and just start Caleb or somebody else and just go just Duncan Robinson Caleb Jimmy

And and now Jimmy has no excuse because he can’t just defer to Terry Rosier anymore just go because they’re going to need Jimmy Butler to be engaged so that’s what I would do we’ll see what they ultimately end up do doing if Rosier does have to miss some time going

Back to this game though it look Joel mean’s awesome he was probably gonna win he was on Pace to win his second MVP in a row before he got hurt um earlier in the year he had I mean to do this tonight to Miami in your second game

Back in with 29 Points in 32 minutes and he didn’t even look like he was in good shape yet like he’s still working in that conditioning he’s playing five or six minute spurts and he still was just the most dominant player on the floor outside of his teammate Tyrese

Maxley so that does not bode well if you’re the Heat and he’s got another week and a half to ramp up to a potential playin matchup again I what has to change for Miami is it is it as simple as and I think this is the answer

Jimmy Butler just has to get to that level bam and a bio has to get to that level like you can’t get that thoroughly out played by the other two stars and hope that Haywood heith bails you out because it doesn’t work that way yeah I think that’s the

Baseline for what needs to change but I think it also starts with the defensive end because giving up those kind of points to Maxi and U I mean you know that embiid’s gonna get his because you know at 7 feet one and 300 pounds he can get that shot off over everybody and

There’s nobody in Miami’s roster that can even contest it much less get a shot block so you just hope that those shots don’t fall and you know some of them didn’t but most a lot of them did and that was the Difference Maker he he didn’t even do his damage at the free

Throw line which was my concern going into the game is that he was going to get a friendly whistle but no he only took five free throw attempts so that wasn’t the issue was just that jumper after jumper after jumper I I can’t I can’t recall and I didn’t look it up how

Many points he had in the painted area but I don’t think it was much and it was just you know that’s an Unstoppable weapon so given that I think that you have to kind of focus on taking Maxi out like maybe he’s in he’s got a bigger

Role now even last year in the playoffs that was still James Harden and embiid’s team and then Maxi was complimentary in that sense maybe he’s not ready for the challenge although he certainly looked at tonight and I wouldn’t I wouldn’t assume that that’s the case you can only

Hope for it really but you have to find a way to at least make him more less less comfortable because he was just it was just too easy for him and and I texted you this during the game it seemed like you know he would he would

Start off come down on the wing a little bit have the ball in his hands and then he dish it off to somebody at the top of the key and then they’d reset the action and by that point because they were in zone so often it was Duncan or whoever

It was guarding Terry Rosier and some stretches they were on Maxi to start then they would hedge to wherever had the ball at the top of the key and then they would dish it back to Maxi and as soon as he catches it it’s lightning quick that run to the basket and nobody

Was stopping him if somebody else collapsed if they were maybe somebody stepped up to try and deflect the shot or you anticipate his drive then he just pull up for the jumper and it was just that easy for him and so you’ve got to be able to neutralize him to some degree

It’s easier said than done but that’s got to be a focus Jimmy Butler ended up taking him for certain stretches and I thought that was interesting it didn’t really help um right what like a box in one you know where you have somebody come in and face guard him have Heywood

High Smith just chase him around the court and and then play play the rest of your Zone maybe get into that zone a little bit earlier Eric spoler was pleading with his team to get into a full-court press at different parts of the game and sometimes they would do it

And sometimes they wouldn’t so that was also there some degree um so yeah just mixing up the looks a little bit more on Tyrese Maxi hoping that some of those shots that went in tonight don’t go in but also trying to take away some of those shots that you mentioned if you

Kind of get into that zone a little bit earlier you start taking away the rim maybe that’s there too um they scored also in the half court the heat 76 and a half points per one 100 possessions that’s awful I mean that’s basically not scoring their halfcourt offense was

Atrocious and a lot of that was some missed bam jumpers that he usually makes we already talked about the Jimmy Butler part of this um but that their transition game was so important they had 23 points off of turnovers um in this game they had 24 fast break points so they’re going to

Need more of that get out and run right get out and run because even in a week and a half Jolan beid probably still not going to be at 100% get out and run neutralize them be take him out of the game Maxi might like it but I don’t know

That the rest of the Philadelphia 76ers roster likes it a whole lot maybe Kelly rub likes it but that’s about it I think if this team gets out and runs you can create a little bit more of an advantage but you also you going to have to score

Better in the half court and that means the ter Rosier bam at biop pick and roll has to be better when Rosier makes that pocket pass to Bam at the free throw line he’s got to make those jumpers he didn’t make a whole lot of them tonight

And then Jimmy Butler has just got to be better with the post-ups with the drives the things that weren’t there tonight uh and get some of those buckets too and also worth mention shooting yeah dun Robinson has been off for a couple nights yeah that needs to be better uh

Without a doubt like he’s a he’s a non-factor out there he did have one or four field goals but he missed all of his three-point attempts I think he had one shot that sailed completely wide the basket too maybe I’m misremembering but he just he looks he looks Rusty he looks

Like he’s in his own head a little bit and I know he’s coming back from injury too and he’s got to find that Groove that he was in before the injury we kind of forget because he did Miss so much time he had a monster game right before

The injury his best game of the season and yet he has struggled in his return hopefully he’ll continue to find his rhythm over the next few games you don’t have a lot of time but if you’re looking at you know a playing Tournament game against the Sixers the hope is that by

That point he’ll be back in Rhythm and he’ll be a factor I’m not that worried about Duncan I just think Shooters go through a little bit slumps and and I think that’s just what’s happening he works his way back and and he’ll get out of it all

Right it’s Jimmy it’s Jimmy right that’s the big concern exactly we’re gonna talk about that next here on lock on heat Today’s Show is brought to you by Amazon Fire TV your destination for sports from live games to Highlights in-depth analysis Fire tv offers amazing viewing experiences with Smart TVs as

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Subscribed on YouTube on your favorite podcast app thanks to everybody who sent in questions on Twitter using that hashtag ask loh Heat you can reach us lockon heat gmail.com locked on heat on Instagram and as a reminder or or yeah I was say or just talk to us to Taurus and

Coconut Grove ask us your questions in person heat Rockets 8:00 p.m. we’ll be there a little bit earlier with enough drinks I’ll answer anything as honestly as I possibly can so don’t worry about it why do the Heat suck bro I’ll tell you after a few drinks don’t worry about

It I’ll some of the off the Record stuff we could tell we could share people the things that we see that we’re not allowed say on on the podcast on The Insider now we’re going to get hepr is going to show up at the watch party and be like like what do you

[Laughter] know there go the credentials there go the credentials uh let’s get to some of these questions uh let’s talk let’s talk a little bit more about Jimmy we got a ton of questions about him so we got to address it a little bit more Viv writes in what is

Going on with Jimmy five question marks and we got a lot of things a little a little bit like that um I just I I was talking with some people before this game David and you know typical pregame talk what do you think do the Heat win did the Sixers win

What do you how do you see this one playing out and the answer that I gave it to everybody was depends on the kind of Jimmy Butler that the heat get and that’s what it is and that’s what it comes down to every single game right

Now what kind of Jimmy Butler are we getting and if you’re getting an Engaged in an interested Jimmy Butler then I think that he can beat anybody including the Sixers team in front of them tonight but I don’t know is it just that is my question because he’s not getting

The same kind of lift that he used to get yeah physically he just looks a little bit different like what are you seeing from Jimmy no I think it’s a lot of the same um I think it’s an incredible turning point for him and it’s a it’s a scary one to watch from

This side of the equation especially for a lot of Heat fans because you know this guy has been so Dynamic over the last three seasons where you know there was legitimate MVP conversations for several stretches during all those Seasons Four Seasons I should say sorry um including

The covid shortened one and and you know the expectation is that he’s going to be able to rise to the challenge again like even non Miami base media members all expect playoff Jimmy to click at some point but we just haven’t seen it and to your point earlier in the show like we

Usually see it by this stretch of the Season as gearing it for the playoffs but that has not been the case and so it’s such a crucial turning point because at on the one side you’ve got the possibility of him reaching that potential in the playoffs and I still

Think that’s the case but you’re also seeing him you know go to the Miami open you’re also seeing him uh riding horseback through downtown Miami H you’re also seeing all these off the court interests and that’s a really precarious place for a star like Jimmy

To be in because as much as I think Heat fans Embrace that other side of him you kind of want to see him more embrace the the the the playoff Jimmy mode that he needs to get into in order to carry Miami and as I’ve said before I also

Don’t think he expected to be the guy who had to carry the season he said it before the start of the season will go as far as bam and Tyler Tak us and while bam has done his usual yman work as as a Defender the offensive load hasn’t been

There Tyler has obviously missed a long stretch of time and and he was not white to the level that a lot of people expected him to be even before the injury so I think he’s had to do more work than he expected during the regular season with the expectation that he can

Flip that switch in the playoffs but it’s just it’s a little harder to believe that he can just suddenly become that great jordanes type player once the playoffs begin here’s where I’m concerned is if I thought it was just a level of disinterest I could be frustrated by it but not worried about

It right I could be frustrated with hey man these games matter let’s get out of the playing tournament get the guaranteed playoff birth what are you doing I don’t think it’s a disinterest I I what I’m worried about is whether or not he can hit that gear again because

Physically limited yeah physically can he hit that gear again like I don’t think it’s a level of disin when he doesn’t have lift on his layup or when he goes when he runs smack dab into Joel and beid you know like I know my dog is getting older when she can’t jump onto

The couch like she used to and sometimes she just runs right into the couch instead that’s kind of what Jimmy Butler looked like running right into Joel embid you know and so not to just take one play out of it but there’s been a lot of things like that with Jimmy

Lately and then we got that stretch where he hit playoff Jimmy mode he told Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report hey I could just turn it on I’m in playoff Jimmy mode and then what happened he kind of left playoff Jimmy mode and I do so is is it a level of disinterest or

Is it just an incapability to do it anymore because with age like at some point he’s just not going to be playf Jimmy that’s not an if it’s a when right he’s 34 years old I don’t know if it’s going to happen now or 35 36 37 years

Old but at some point it’s just not going to happen anymore and we’re not going to know until it’s too late and I’m wondering if right now we’re starting to see the signs right maybe there is a little bit of positivity because there is there definitely is

Positivity to his game lately but is it because he’s disinterested or is it because he knows he only has a little bit left to give I don’t know I I don’t either and we won’t know until it plays out like again that’s the playoffs are going to be such a huge determining

Factor in how the rest of his career plays out because I I’ve told you before you know I’ve asked a question about how much longer Jimmy can be just playoff Jimmy for the past three seasons because we don’t usually see players at his age Coast in in quotes you know uh for

The regular season and then just take it up to this incredible level and yet he has does he have that another level that he can reach this year I don’t know uh and players as they age they have such a hard time accepting that reality because it has been something that they could

Just do so easily and then all of a sudden you get to a point where you can’t do those things physically as easily as you once did and all of a sudden you have to redefine your career and that’s almost usually impossible like we don’t see players like LeBron

Who continue to play at a high level in late into his 30s and Jimmy’s getting closer he’s closer to that part than he was to the start of his career and so you have to take that into consideration he’s going to hit a wall and it just

Might be this season or it might be the next if he can have one more play off run in him that’s the hope that’s the Hope yeah quickly Jorge writes in are we kidding ourselves actually thinking this team can win at least one playoff game

Or a playin game I’m going to go so far as to say this I still think that he’d end up getting the six seed still think they end up getting it and if they do and if it’s Cleveland that ends up at that three seed and the 36 seed I think

Miami could beat Cleveland without playoff Jimmy yep I think the heat are good enough and I’m not a believer in the Cavs so in terms of getting through the playoffs that’s one thing but to go any further than that they’re going to need playoff Jimmy is that enough time

To if you can get a couple good Jimmy Butler performances in the regular season maybe you need it in the playing tourament I don’t know but we’ll see what happens um all right thanks for making lockon heat your first listen every day hit that subscribe button on

YouTube and follow us on your podcast app

Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo were out-scored by Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey in the Miami Heat’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night. Is it time to be worried about Jimmy?

Wes Goldberg and David Ramil talk about their concerns, how long they expect Terry Rozier to be out with a knee injury and what needs to change if the Heat see the 76ers in the play-in tournament.

Plus, Tyler Herro could come back for Friday’s game in Houston.

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