November 30th - New Orleans Pelicans @ Miami Heat - 11-11
On the road again! This time, in Miami, where there are beaches, palm trees, and for the last year of his career, Dwyane Wade! With a 7-13 record, the Heat aren't looking too hot, and have lost 5 of their last six, and haven't won a home game since November 7th.
So, what's the team evaluation?
Offensive Rating: 25th
Defensive Rating: 13th
Rebounds per game: 17th
Assists per game: 24th
Steals per game: 23rd
Blocks per game: 5th
2pt percentage: 29th
3pt percentage: 10th
The numbers are fairly clear then: this is a pretty good defensive team, that's top tier at defending at the rim, but doesn't force a ton of turnovers and doesn't feature a particularly dynamic offense. They rebound pretty well, but aren't elite at it, and they can't score particularly well inside, being more reliable from behind the arc.
Miami's key players this season are pretty clear: Josh Richardson is their leading scorer, averaging a little over 20 points a game, but his net rating is +0 overall and he only shoots 43% from the floor. Being only 2 inches taller than Jrue, this should be a matchup where Jrue can really put the lockdown on a leading scorer, as long as he's not forced to do too much playmaking.
After that, Hassan Whiteside has apparently returned from wherever he went during last year's playoffs and is averaging 13pts and 14rbs a game, and is one of only two players in the league averaging more blocks per game than AD, with 2.9 per contest. Shooting only 51% from the FT line is a problem for them though, and it shows as Whiteside is barely getting 27 minutes per game: he shouldn't be too much a threat at the end of the game as long as we can play hack-a-Whiteside, and should open up the paint for our own offensive rebounds.
Finally, it's old man Wade. Still averaging 15/4/3 at the age of 36 and shooting a career high 39% from 3, Wade is still dangerous. Unfortunately for him though, his ability to defend has largely gone with his knees, and his net rating of -8 reflects that: he can still be dangerous, but he can also be exploited on defense by bigger and faster guards. That's where someone like Jrue could really cause some damage, and E'twaun can too.
Goran Dragic is also noteworthy, but he didn't play last game and I'm not certain if he will this game.
Reflecting on that, their major players and their team tendencies, it's pretty clear what we need to do: get Whiteside in foul trouble, hack him if necessary to get him off the court in crunch time (if it comes down to crunch time), defend the perimeter well but rely on our rim protector and help defense on the inside, out-rebound the team especially when Whiteside is off the floor, and exploit old man Wade on defense. This could be a big game for Jrue.
We need this road win; we're still great at home, but you can't make the playoffs in the west without being at least acceptable on the road. Let's fix that tonight! #DoItBig
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no call.
Originally Posted by msusousaphone
