Very few teams in the NBA have as fine a nose as the Heat. For several years, the franchise of Pat Riley shines by its ability to constantly find unexpected players, undrafted after their university careers, and to make them elements of the rotation of Erik Spoelstra.
In recent months, the new batch of unknowns who have become important “role-players” in Florida have been embodied by Max Strus, Gabe Vincent and Omer Yurtseven. All three undrafted, respectively in 2019, 2018 and 2020, the three players have now joined the Heat rotation, and this trio is starting to make a name for themselves in the league today, each for their respective qualities.
At the house of Max Strus, it is the quality of his outside shooting that is attracting more and more attention from his opponents. ” The opposing coach shouted to his players ‘Strus! It’s a shooter. They’re starting to know who I am, that’s nice to hear.” remembers the Illinois native about a game on December 17 in Orlando, during which he scored 32 points.
For Gabe Vincent, it was during his second career game, against the Clippers during the 2019/20 season, that his opponents questioned themselves. ” I had scored my first three 3-point shots, and their bench was green. They wondered, ‘Why didn’t anyone tell us he knew how to shoot?’“
Almost two years later, the American-Nigerian rear feels a difference in the treatment of the opposing defenses towards him: They defend me differently. Their speeches don’t necessarily change, but if I score a shot, they’re like, ‘Why did you leave it open?’ […] I showed that I was aggressive and that I could be productive. Teams know that now.“
Guided by Kyle Lowry and Bam Adebayo
On his side, Omer Yurtseven notes that the rest of the league are starting to realize that he’s a force to be reckoned with under the boards, and that he’s especially hard to maneuver when he’s on the rise to pick up rebounds. ” They realize I’m getting a lot of offensive rebounds. They send an extra player under the circle when I look for a rebound.“
Omer Yurtseven has also developed his face circle shooting since arriving in Miami. Helped and advised by Bam Adebayo, one of the league’s most efficient insides against the circle, the Turk is learning to surprise his opponents in other ways. ” Bam does this very often. […] I think that’s the next step in my development, to easily take a shot when I’m facing the circle. If I don’t have a shot option, then I turn around and play with my back to the basket.“
Training back turned leader in Miami, Gabe Vincent continues to learn the tricks of the trade from Kyle Lowry, with a career of 16 seasons in the league. ” He makes the game easier. I constantly learn something with him, whether it’s during the video session, or on the bench next to him, or even on the pitch. We can both play ball in hand, and away from the ball.“
For Max Strus, it goes without saying that the presence of Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro, two excellent shooters behind the arc, helps him in his excellent season in this exercise (40.1% on 6.5 attempts per game).
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Jimmy Butler | 40 | 34.3 | 47.8 | 19.2 | 89.6 | 1.9 | 4.5 | 6.4 | 6.0 | 2.2 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 21.8 |
| Tyler Herro | 46 | 32.7 | 42.7 | 37.4 | 87.9 | 0.6 | 4.2 | 4.8 | 3.9 | 2.8 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 20.0 |
| Bam Adebayo | 34 | 33.4 | 52.4 | 0.0 | 75.1 | 2.9 | 7.4 | 10.2 | 3.5 | 2.9 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 3.1 | 18.6 |
| Kyle Lowry | 46 | 34.3 | 42.5 | 35.2 | 84.0 | 0.6 | 4.0 | 4.6 | 7.9 | 3.0 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 2.8 | 13.3 |
| Duncan Robinson | 56 | 27.5 | 39.8 | 36.4 | 83.3 | 0.4 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 2.6 | 11.8 |
| Max Strus | 47 | 23.8 | 43.6 | 40.1 | 76.7 | 0.4 | 2.8 | 3.2 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 10.7 |
| Caleb Martin | 44 | 22.9 | 50.6 | 37.9 | 73.9 | 1.3 | 2.7 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 9.5 |
| Gabe Vincent | 50 | 24.0 | 42.3 | 37.4 | 82.2 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 3.4 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 2.5 | 9.2 |
| pj tucker | 52 | 28.6 | 49.5 | 45.0 | 72.2 | 1.5 | 4.1 | 5.5 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 2.4 | 8.5 |
| Markieff Morris | 10 | 18.7 | 45.7 | 36.4 | 100.0 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 2.8 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 2.2 | 7.7 |
| Dewayne Dedmon | 50 | 16.4 | 58.0 | 51.6 | 77.8 | 1.8 | 4.3 | 6.1 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 6.6 |
| Omer Yurtseven | 42 | 14.1 | 53.8 | 14.3 | 63.0 | 1.7 | 4.2 | 6.0 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 6.2 |
| Nik Stauskas | 2 | 11.8 | 37.5 | 50.0 | 75.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 5.5 |
| Kyle Guy | 15 | 11.7 | 43.3 | 40.0 | 70.0 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 4.9 |
| Kz Okpala | 21 | 11.6 | 43.5 | 34.6 | 72.7 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 3.7 |
| Haywood Highsmith | 6 | 11.9 | 38.1 | 40.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 3.7 |
| Chris Silva | 9 | 9.7 | 53.3 | 0.0 | 83.3 | 1.4 | 2.4 | 3.9 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 2.2 | 2.9 |
| Udonis Haslem | 9 | 6.3 | 50.0 | 50.0 | 100.0 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 2.9 |
| Marcus Garrett | 12 | 10.7 | 23.8 | 25.0 | 40.0 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 1.1 |
