Improving from the Perimeter on the Mind of Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo focused on midrange game after breakout season

Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra doesn’t want center Bam Adebayo to become the next Dirk Nowitzki.

He is, however, expecting a new and improved Adebayo this season. That includes becoming a better shooter to make his scoring game even more dynamic.

“We don’t need him to be a stretch five, but to be able to make enough that it just varies your menu and puts a lot of pressure on the defense,” Spoelstra said. “You saw some of that [Monday] night, how much he has improved.”

Adebayo shot 55 percent last year, with most of his production coming inside the paint. The Heat want him to focus more on improving at a midrange shooter. The hope is he develops like Udonis Haslem, who became a solid shooter from the elbow once he arrived in the NBA.

“I’m sure if you ask all of these statistics and numbers people and they’ll tell you that’s a bad shot,” forward Jimmy Butler said. “Nowadays, you don’t want to shoot midrange jumpshots. We encourage that from Bam, be aggressive, shoot step-back, one-legged midrange shots and throw in a three, get somebody else involved and then go dunk the basketball. He’s a complete player. We’re never mad at any shots that he takes. We will never be mad at any shots that he takes. I just want him to be aggressive, shoot 50 of them.” 

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