Heat star Jimmy Butler is appreciative of his teammates’ “disciplined gambles” on defense, Khobi Price details for The Sun Sentinel. Miami most recently defeated Cleveland for its fourth straight victory, winning the contest 115-101 and forcing 15 turnovers.
“I love that we got some guys who’ll gamble,” Butler said, “so I won’t be the only one getting in trouble when I miss an assignment.”
In addition to Butler, the Heat also have defensive-minded players Victor Oladipo, Trevor Ariza and Andre Iguodala on their roster. All three are known for getting in the passing lanes or stripping ball-handlers, which often leads to easy points in transition.
Since Oladipo debuted with Miami, head coach Erik Spoelstra has rolled with a starting lineup of Oladipo, Duncan Robinson, Butler, Ariza, and Bam Adebayo to turn the heat up (no pun intended) defensively.
Here are some other notes from the Eastern Conference:
- Keith Langlois of Pistons.com shared 24 thoughts on the present and future of the Pistons, who currently own the third-worst record in the league at 14-35. Detroit most recently suffered a 125-81 defeat to the Knicks and will visit the Thunder (20-29) on Monday.
- Chris Kirschner of The Athletic recently published a Q&A with Hawks wing Bogdan Bogdanovic, who discussed his role with the team, changes under Nate McMillan, and more. Bogdanovic has poured in 76 points over his last three games, shooting 29-for-52 (56%) from the floor. “I’m just being more aggressive and I feel like we’ve started to build chemistry between us,” Bogdanovic said. “When you really look into it, we’ve only played a couple of games together. It hasn’t been many. Since I got hurt, having the restriction minutes off and now that I’ve been off of it, it’s been fun.”
- Heat guard Victor Oladipo admitted that the major leg injury he suffered in 2019 isn’t fully behind him, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel tweets. “One leg is stronger than the other,” he explained. “So I have some hypertrophy in one leg than the other. So working my way back and finding my balance is something I’m continuing to work at.” Oladipo underwent surgery just over two years ago on a ruptured quad tendon.
Always thought Bogdanovic would start at SG. Why sign him, no. Only avg 25 mins. Last three games 35 mins. Hawks are better than they’ve shown so far. I can see them pulling off a run.
Bogs has always been a SG.
“Why sign him, no.”
What? Again with both obviousness and contradiction.
Reading comprehension . Your brain cells are deteriorating lol. A starting SG, no. You want to ramble. Or try and educated debate. Go play with Marty. I’m sure you two can entertain yourself.
Bogdanovic releases so quickly and stays so even-faced, it can be hard to tell it was him that shot.
Seems like he should have wanted Milwaukee though if he wanted a title, whoever was at fault in that mess-up.
Langlois, Pistons writer:
“Weaver is on record as saying it was Casey who pounded the table loudest for the pursuit of Plumlee – and he’s universally adored by the young players he’s helped shape. He gives the Pistons 28 minutes a game of utterly reliable, fully committed engagement at both ends”.
Denver knew these things— and had traded for Grant and offered what DET offered. Yet they left for Detroit in free agency. It is not noted officially, but I am waiting for it to come out that the FO has done too much Micl Porter coddling and some backups got tired of that and losing minutes to him. Good scavenging or selling by Detroit team.
Gordon better make Denver better and draw in Porter or they will fall behind UTA, POR and/or PHX. A trade of Porter for Bogdan, Bagley and a first would actually have worked out due filling a need at the 2.
I’m a little surprised Oladipo gave that blunt of a quote when he’s hitting free agency this summer and looked like junk in Houston
One leg isn’t as strong as the other two years after surgery wouldn’t make me feel great about a 29 year old guard if I was a GM
I was a little surprised as well, but as I mentioned on the previous thread, it is something that generally happens with certain leg injuries, and I think the Heat could potentially help him in that regard
BB was a guy I wanted the Knicks to pursue. Mature, very good shooter at all levels, some facilitation ability, defends and is low maintenance. Maybe they wanted to see how the team and RJ’s development come along before committing long term to another wing, especially since he’s not a kid. They did go after Hayward, but not with half the vigor that would be necessary to successfully pursue a RFA.
I wouldn’t go near Oladipo. He’s digging his own hole
Frankly I don’t get why Sac kept Buddy and dealt Bogdanovic, or let him go. As a shooter scorer, he was a better fit with Fox. And would of got more in trade for Buddy. Considering the flak that was going on with Buddy and team. It seemed that was the move to make. Bottom half of East seeding all are having their issues this yr. With only 20 gms to go. We should start seeing a few teams separate from the pack.
Because most experts thought they should be happy to sign Hield. Then when Bogdan’s turn came they were out of space. This was all predictable. Hield pushed hard in the media, talking max, and created a sudden answer by the previous FO (Divac). Sept.2019
I said “These excerpts make [Hield] sound unusually impatient” and “Divac is in a tough spot” and suggested 4/$88 or let him go. Hield signed for 4/$94. Credit to his agent for making the max ploy work. But the Kings went with other plans at SG and I recall nobody was much surprised when Hield went to backup, or when Divac was fired.
I looked at 10 articles and nobody specifically said Bogdan was the best and a starter, a surprise since HR said execs were admiring Bogdan for allaround usefulness. Probably elsewhere but 10 looks is enuf.