This doesn't feel real...

This doesn't even feel real. It doesn't even feel like this could have been a possibility before the NBA regular season actually began as the Miami Heat through three games are now 0-3 and it's not on the shoulders of their superstar player. They moved mountains in order to acquire this past offseason in Giannis Antetokounmpo. I'm here to break down two players specifically for this Miami Heat team that absolutely need to step up and start producing especially and specifically on the offensive end if this Miami Heat team wants to start performing and winning games at the rate and efficiency we all expected going into this regular season. We'll break down Bam Adebayo and what has been going on with him as well as Andrew Wiggins and how both of these players need to absolutely figure it out on the offensive end of the floor if this heat team wants to even even become respectable not even competitive but respectable in the eastern conference let alone the entirety of the nba we'll break down all of that on this episode of heat digest so let's not waste any time and get right to it breaking down the news and no we are not discussing the actual upcoming game against the dallas mavericks yet but first how the miami heat offense has stalled and now they are 0-3 up to this point if you get some of the quotes and you look through some of the numbers Giannis is not the problem and that is abundantly clear as Giannis has been absolutely dominant to start this regular season averaging 28 points eight rebounds in three assists and he's he's shooting a pretty high percentage because he's dunking and laying the basketball up basically every time he gets an opportunity to if he shoots outside of the painted area no it doesn't look great but he doesn't have to do it all that often unless he flat out settles which we'll get to in a minute he can get to the basket at will against anyone and everyone in the league and when he does that it's it's he's impossible to stop he goes on to say after the loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves which was game one of the NBA regular season our offense has got to get better and he's not wrong but then the following two games one against the Detroit Pistons a respectable team without a shadow of a doubt but still a team the Heat should at least be able to be competitive with it wasn't they got blown out and run out of their own gym for the second straight night moving to 0-2 and then finally against the Charlotte Hornets outside of the final what two and a half three minutes of that game again this Heat team did not produce Giannis would then go on to say our spacing has to be better our offense was very very stagnant if you look at the offensive rating a 103.8 offensive rating compared to last year where they had 115.8 offensive rating this year they ranked 22 out of 30 if you look at the true shooting percentages they rank 24 out of 30 now if you're interested in getting in on some of the action Kalshi is the number one place to do it and if you use the link down in the description or in the pinned comment and use code digest nba when signing up and you want to jump in on the action for the Heat's next basketball game tomorrow night monday october 26th you absolutely can as they have a 73% chance to win that game on Kalshi a $25 trade pays $33 if it loads here $33 and i think 73 cents because of the odds being deeply or 33 and 17 cents excuse me but again if you want to trade on Kalshi you can trade on absolutely anything weather sports politics movie gas prices anything and everything in between Again, use the link down in the description when signing up to get $55 added to your account instantly when making your first $25 trade. But now let's get back to it, and continue to break this down. 52.5% true shooting percentages. That ranks 24th out of 30 in the entirety of the league. And again, it's down 6.5% compared to last year. So what should the offensive priorities be for this Miami Heat team? We have done watch-alongs for the first two games of the NBA season. I missed last night because I was at work. We are doing another one tomorrow night for the Monday night game against the Dallas Mavericks. There's a few things that have been abundantly clear. One, the perimeter shooting has not been great, but there is a lot of possessions where there is one pass the entire possession and then a forced shot, whether it's Klay Thompson, Tim Hardaway Jr., Giannis, or anyone on this Heat team. The ball moves one singular time in a 24-second clock inside the half court, and that is the only time we see the ball move. and then it ends in a tough forced shot that is not what the Heat should be looking for and it creates a problem. So moving the ball side to side, making more than just one pass absolutely needs to be at the forefront of this Miami Heat agenda offensively. Create a second scoring threat when help goes to Giannis. And this is where we're going to get into the Andrew Wiggins and Bam Adebayo conversation. But finally, turn open looks into consistent production. Klay Thompson, Donovan Mitchell, Tim Hardaway Jr., everyone and everyone anyone on this Heat team needs to be able to knock down their open three point shots but it starts with Andrew Wiggins as his cold starts have absolutely destroyed this Miami Heat team as he has been an absolute shell of himself through this point in the year in game one in the 106 to 131 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Wiggins ends with 11-2-1 with a plus minus of minus 25. He shot 5-11 from the field and 1-4 from behind the three-point line. And you may be thinking, well, the shot just wasn't falling that night. Well, we continue against the Detroit Pistons, 8-8-2. Love to see him have eight rebounds, but 3-12 shooting, including 1-6 from behind the three-point line, is not going to get the job done. When you are legitimately looked at as the number two or three option on the offensive side of the ball for this Heat team and it just gets worse against Charlotte four one and one plus minus of minus 18 shot the ball only five times added two points oh of one from behind the three-point line just not shooting enough and when he does it's he's not knocking the ball down and knocking down these shots at an efficient rate and i'm not sitting here and preaching the idea that he should be shooting eight to ten threes a game i don't believe that's the way andrew Wiggins should play now granted if he gets eight to ten open three-point shots because everyone has their eyes on Giannis and they collapse on him in the painted area shoot him I trust you the heat trust you as an organization Spoh and the coaching staff your teammates definitely trust you you are a veteran in the game of basketball and you are an accomplished player at that but don't be scared to put the ball on the ground cut and drive to the basket take some contact go to the free throw line get to see one go through the hoop to then get some confidence back because through the first three games of the NBA season you have been just a ghost to this heat offense and if the heat want to win you have to absolutely produce and again we're not looking for 25 points a game from Wiggins 15 to 18 would do just astronomical things for this heat team and the main reason is because Bam Adebayo has been nothing for this heat team offensively defensively he's been good not offensively again it's worse than what we witnessed last year and there has been years of regression from Bam Adebayo on the offensive end in game one 15-7 and four 50% shooting he shot five three-point shots had three steals you have to point out the good defense game two four six and three he fouled out of this game with he had more fouls than points in this game he only attempted six shots I know only played 23 minutes because of the foul trouble and he never could actually find a rhythm but attempt more than six shots what are we doing and again out of those six shots you attempted two three-point shots you are 6'10", 6'11" you are super athletic attack the painted area i understand it can get a little congested with Giannis in there as well but there is where there is a world where their other screens are set yeah they love miami has loved to run a five on four ball screen again that is Bam screening for Giannis but why not run it the other way in certain scenarios just to get Bam going who we know who can facilitate the basketball also if Giannis does roll on the pick and roll that is going to be a legitimate option if they do even kind of hedge in the sense of the help defender who is supposed to be having his eyes and control and defense defense on Giannis gives him Bam any attention as the primary ball handler he has the ability to drop that pass off or find the skip pass to the opposite corner it is something he can absolutely do and then finally Bam against the Charlotte Hornets after that abysmal effort against the Pistons he comes out here and yes he is aggressive he adds 20 points eight boards four assists a positive plus minus which feels like it's the first time all year probably is seven of 17 from the field two of six from behind the three-point line made it to the free throw line four times or for four shots two times this is what we need to see more of I don't care if you shoot seven of 17, shoot 17 times a game, take some pressure off of Giannis offensively take some pressure off of Tim Hardaway Clay Thompson, and Andrew Wiggins, who, yes, absolutely need to do something, especially offensively. But if you're out there shooting 15 to 17, 18 times per game, even if you are shooting sub-50% it takes some pressure off of these guys that have to force shots because you are unwilling to shoot the basketball. Kevin Garnett has made it abundantly clear how he feels about Bam Adebayo and how he has played up to this point. 13, 15 points, ain't no superstar, excessive I need Bam to be 25 and 12. This is something that Kevin Garnett has said for years. He expects Bam Adebayo to be in that 25 to 28 point per game, 11 to 13 rebound per game while being a top tier defender. And that has been the expectation after Bam had that year, what in 2022, 2021, where he averaged 19 a game with nearly 11 rebounds. Everyone expected him to take another step up and get to that 23, 24, 25 point per game mark and being a focal point and possibly a potential, potential MVP MVP level candidate type of player that has not happened and Garnett's 100% right, it needs to happen. Now you may be questioning, well, Bam and Giannis can't fit together, it's three games, give it some time, and Bam does say we'll figure it out, he does have some faith and some confidence in that overall ability up to this point but still these two players, and Andrew Wiggins and Bam Adebayo absolutely need to pick it up and they need, even if the shot is not falling, remain aggressive, go out there and attempt more shots, go out there and don't shy away because you don't knock down your first one or your second one, continue to remain confident in yourself and go out there and continue to be aggressive because when they are not and they are extremely passive, everyone in the world knows they are not an offensive threat and all they have to do is take away Giannis and once that happens, it's one on five for Miami on the offensive side of the ball and it will never work, let me know down below who do you think should step up or who do you think needs to step up more, Bam Adebayo or Andrew Wiggins, and I will see you guys on the next episode of Heat Digest and do remember we are live tonight Monday September August August October 26th for the Dallas Mavericks hosting the Miami Heat for game four of the Miami Heat's NBA season. Make sure to tune in at game time. I'll see you guys there.