Round 2: Heat vs Sixers
Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2022 2:29 am
Reposting what I posted before
Heat Defense.
Heat likes to blitz screens, that allows their bigs to step up while giving then some time to rotate on defense that when the pass is made their defense will be in position.
I expect Heat to put Tucker on Harden, Bam on Embiid. This allows them to simple switch it on defense.
Also expect Heat to zone us on defense if Embiid gets hot on offense.
It would be interesting how the refs would call it against Embiid, Embiid is not facing Birch or Achiuwa that Refs maybe less willing to have Heat play Bam on limited minutes due to foul trouble.
They switch heavy like the Raps. They’re not as long and athletic but they’re more aggressive and smarter. They switch and rotate like clockwork
Heat negates mismatches by letting their defender front or gamble then let another guy come to help as a means to switch on defense. Another way is to scram switch, which is to switch before the offensive player attack the mismatch (we saw this frequently when Embiid tries to attack GTJ).
Bam and Jimmy likes to help their teammate who’s being hunted on mismatch, by helping it’s their way of switching on defense.
For instance let’s say Harden attacks Herro, expect Jimmy to send help and trap Harden then Herro rotates to Jimmy’s guy.
Heat could also trap then run zone defense as a way to get back in position on defense
Heat Offense
Heat plays Butler with the same role we saw Siakam did. He will attack the middle, and if we send help he will kick it out. The key here is Tobi, who i expect to be Jimmy’s primary defender, to be able to defend him on single coverage.
*jimmy averaged 18ppg on 36% FG% in 3 games against the Sixers in reg season
Next best scorer for the heat in the playoffs are 2-3 guys who averaged only 14ppg
Heat will have Bam involve into a lot of dribble handoff with Duncan Robinson and force Embiid to step out and leave our interior defense naked
Down the stretch, I expect Heat will hunt Maxey and have him defend Jimmy.
Heat Rotation
Heat’s starting unit will be just as strong as how Raps started game 3. They’ll play scrappy defense to make up for the talent difference. If we dont turn the ball over, we’d be fine. If we turn the ball over, we’d be down by +10pts.
The killer in the Heat’s rotation is the bench units. With Robinson and Herro giving them a big mismatch on offense compared to ours. But currently their 5 man unit is not giving too much separation against the Hawks, so that is some good news.
Down the stretch expect Bam-Robinson two man game, forcing Embiid to step out then have a lot of Jimmy iso against Tobi or Maxey and Harden iso against Herro battle.
Herro pull up over a Bam screening him with an Embiid not stepping out is also a good offensive action for the heat.
for the sixers
The only edge Heat has over the Raps in their match-up against us is having Bam, instead of Achiuwa on Embiid.
Jimmy’s edge over Siakam’s scoring is Jimmy can drop 40pts if you dont respect him on defense like what the Hawks did in game 2. But overall, I expect Jimmy to have the same level of offensive power over Siakam and get his 20-24ppg average in this series.
Heat is not as lengthy as the Raps. Their length is comparable with ours, making them an easier match-up against other contenders who has a double big or double 7’ at the 4&5 positions like the Celts, Nets and Bucks. That’s probably one of the reason why we preferred (imo) to be at either 1 or 4 spot and be in this bracket than be royal rumbling mode on the other bracket.
Since Heat is not as lengthy as the Raps, its just gonna be a matter of effort in not getting outrebounded. Heat attacking the middle and dropping it to a cutter around the rim, won’t be as tough to defend whereas guys like James and Tobi can challenge the shots of guys like Tucker and Jimmy around the rim.
People expect Harden to struggle this game. I dont think that would be the case because like the Raps series I expect our team to hunt Struss or Herro and force them to switch unto Harden. Whereas the Heat can’t afford not to have Struss or Herro because of their shooting issue.
Heat Defense.
Heat likes to blitz screens, that allows their bigs to step up while giving then some time to rotate on defense that when the pass is made their defense will be in position.
I expect Heat to put Tucker on Harden, Bam on Embiid. This allows them to simple switch it on defense.
Also expect Heat to zone us on defense if Embiid gets hot on offense.
It would be interesting how the refs would call it against Embiid, Embiid is not facing Birch or Achiuwa that Refs maybe less willing to have Heat play Bam on limited minutes due to foul trouble.
They switch heavy like the Raps. They’re not as long and athletic but they’re more aggressive and smarter. They switch and rotate like clockwork
Heat negates mismatches by letting their defender front or gamble then let another guy come to help as a means to switch on defense. Another way is to scram switch, which is to switch before the offensive player attack the mismatch (we saw this frequently when Embiid tries to attack GTJ).
Bam and Jimmy likes to help their teammate who’s being hunted on mismatch, by helping it’s their way of switching on defense.
For instance let’s say Harden attacks Herro, expect Jimmy to send help and trap Harden then Herro rotates to Jimmy’s guy.
Heat could also trap then run zone defense as a way to get back in position on defense
Heat Offense
Heat plays Butler with the same role we saw Siakam did. He will attack the middle, and if we send help he will kick it out. The key here is Tobi, who i expect to be Jimmy’s primary defender, to be able to defend him on single coverage.
*jimmy averaged 18ppg on 36% FG% in 3 games against the Sixers in reg season
Next best scorer for the heat in the playoffs are 2-3 guys who averaged only 14ppg
Heat will have Bam involve into a lot of dribble handoff with Duncan Robinson and force Embiid to step out and leave our interior defense naked
Down the stretch, I expect Heat will hunt Maxey and have him defend Jimmy.
Heat Rotation
Heat’s starting unit will be just as strong as how Raps started game 3. They’ll play scrappy defense to make up for the talent difference. If we dont turn the ball over, we’d be fine. If we turn the ball over, we’d be down by +10pts.
The killer in the Heat’s rotation is the bench units. With Robinson and Herro giving them a big mismatch on offense compared to ours. But currently their 5 man unit is not giving too much separation against the Hawks, so that is some good news.
Down the stretch expect Bam-Robinson two man game, forcing Embiid to step out then have a lot of Jimmy iso against Tobi or Maxey and Harden iso against Herro battle.
Herro pull up over a Bam screening him with an Embiid not stepping out is also a good offensive action for the heat.
for the sixers
The only edge Heat has over the Raps in their match-up against us is having Bam, instead of Achiuwa on Embiid.
Jimmy’s edge over Siakam’s scoring is Jimmy can drop 40pts if you dont respect him on defense like what the Hawks did in game 2. But overall, I expect Jimmy to have the same level of offensive power over Siakam and get his 20-24ppg average in this series.
Heat is not as lengthy as the Raps. Their length is comparable with ours, making them an easier match-up against other contenders who has a double big or double 7’ at the 4&5 positions like the Celts, Nets and Bucks. That’s probably one of the reason why we preferred (imo) to be at either 1 or 4 spot and be in this bracket than be royal rumbling mode on the other bracket.
Since Heat is not as lengthy as the Raps, its just gonna be a matter of effort in not getting outrebounded. Heat attacking the middle and dropping it to a cutter around the rim, won’t be as tough to defend whereas guys like James and Tobi can challenge the shots of guys like Tucker and Jimmy around the rim.
People expect Harden to struggle this game. I dont think that would be the case because like the Raps series I expect our team to hunt Struss or Herro and force them to switch unto Harden. Whereas the Heat can’t afford not to have Struss or Herro because of their shooting issue.