Q: Ira, I don’t care about minutes restriction. Erik Spoelstra needs to start Tyler Herro with Terry Rozier so they can play together. We have to see the two of them alongside. – Stephen.
A: Or do we? That’s a discussion we had in the media room prior to the game. Friday was just the 10th time that Tyler Herro and Terry Rozier played together since Terry was acquired from Charlotte in January. I can appreciate not wanting to push it with Tyler in his first game back from his foot issue, after missing 20. But I do wonder if this is how it will continue to play out, that perhaps there is no need to prioritize playing Tyler and Terry together, because they actually won’t be playing together. And that also could make sense. At some point, you have to have a playoff rotation that inspires confidence, and the only way that happens is through examining that chemistry. As the clock ticks toward the playoffs or play-in, we continue to remain very uncertain of what the Heat are. They may be just as uncertain, as well. But based on Friday’s sample size, it looks like this will play out as either/or with Tyler and Terry.
Q: Something that I think has gone overlooked during his absence –Tyler Herro is the Heat’s best point guard. – Ray, Deerfield Beach.
A: Or, at worse, the Heat’s best backup point guard. And that is another case for making it either/or with Tyler Herro and Terry Rozier. But what such an arrangement does not address is the lack of a defensive point guard. That’s where the Heat struggled with Kyle Lowry. So it could be that when a defensive stop is needed, neither Tyler nor Terry will be on the court.
Q: Ira, do the Heat need Duncan Robinson’s shooting as much if Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler and Nikola Jovic are making threes? – Cels.
A: I believe so, because of the spacing/gravity element. For as many (or as few) 3-pointers as Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler or Nikola Jovic might convert, I’m not sure they are creating much in the way of the type of gravity that holds/captures the attention of opposing defenses (same with Haywood Highsmith). But when Duncan Robinson is on the court, opposing defenses track his every movement, which has the corresponding impact of less attention on others. Take Duncan out of the mix and the paint becomes packed. It just does.