{"id":758,"date":"2026-11-01T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nbamaniacs.com\/en\/?p=758"},"modified":"2026-11-03T06:36:57","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T06:36:57","slug":"the-unlikely-pairing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nbamaniacs.com\/en\/the-unlikely-pairing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Unlikely Pairing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In sport, and the NBA is no exception, people are always judging books by their cover. The preview format, which this writer habitually disowns hypocritically before passing judgement on this or that signing, this or that team, thrives because it gives the viewer, listener or reader a starting point. A preconceived idea of what a team is in a vacuum, and a way of comparing those expectations with reality once it arrives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And of all the prejudices that fill the vast space the offseason leaves in the news cycle, none is more categorical than the impossible fit of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo as a frontcourt pairing in Miami.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As has been the case for a decade now, since Stephen Curry and the Warriors changed the geometry of the game, the analyses pointed to the lack of offensive spacing the Heat were condemning themselves to because of the duo’s lack of outside shooting. And yes, adding up both of their averages, they combine for 3.4 three-pointers attempted per game over their entire careers, which is not going to make any defender stick to them when they are beyond the perimeter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowing this in advance, Miami rushed to get hold of a handful of supposedly good shooters. Klay Thompson may have no legs left, but he still scores with some accuracy when set. Tim  Hardaway Jr. arrives from two seasons in Detroit and Denver where his accuracy has paid off relative to the chaos he causes. Bobby Portis came as part of a package with Antetokounmpo and posted the best percentage in the league the previous season (45.6%). More shooters means more room for the two bigs to operate inside, right? Well, not exactly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shooting without the trimmings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Or at least not if you understand those shooters as drawing pins waiting at a fixed point for the ball to arrive. Creating space does indeed require a threat from range. But to create enough for two players who virtually cannot shoot to operate on equal terms or with an advantage inside, that threat has to be mobile. Miami have good shooters on the roster. Andrew Wiggins, Klay, Portis, Hardaway Jr. and even Davion Mitchell have enjoyed percentages ranging from decent to notable in recent times. Only Hardaway and Thompson attempted more than one off-the-dribble three per game (with decent percentages), and not exactly as ball handlers, but coming off screens or after the typical repositioning dribble. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is where losing Tyler Herro and Norman Powell hurts Miami. They were their most capable players at shooting off the dribble. In the much-talked-about style Erik Spoelstra designed last season, where systems did not prevail and every player had carte blanche to attack off the dribble as soon as they spotted a path to the rim, Adebayo already felt like a foreign body, having to wait too many possessions in the corner and seeing his abilities as a distributor from the top diminished by the system’s allergy to the pick-and-roll. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a brief attempt at replicating a hybrid system, Spoelstra has already realised the impossibility of adapting that style to the current Heat. Above all because of the danger of completely alienating an Adebayo who was averaging 11.8 points and a poor 40% shooting in the first four games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"
Miami Heat pick-and-roll data during the first 5 games of the season.
Source: WTCN<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

It is early to draw conclusions, because Miami’s two wins came against an Atlanta Hawks side that are the fifth-worst team<\/a> of this start at defending the area around the rim, and an Indiana Pacers team without Ivica Zubac. Even so, the approach to attacking is clearly different. In that fifth game of the season against Atlanta, the Heat ran 57 direct actions out of the pick-and-roll, more than in any game of the last two seasons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spoelstra in the laboratory<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What is interesting, and what makes Spoelstra so special, is that the approach is not simply about repeating pick-and-rolls with Antetokounmpo or with Adebayo to involve one of the two. Rather, in most actions, simultaneously, the member of the frontcourt pairing who stays on the weak side is busy setting a screen or threatening along the baseline so that a 2-on-2 can be played on the strong side with enough space. The Heat are repeating many 45-degree curl actions with Thompson or Wiggins so that their outside threat makes them the best half-court playmaker:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n