15 mins of Heat! Miami Heat Radio and TV Analyst Amy Audibert joins the show! Amy tries to keep Tobin positive with her optimistic outlook on the team although she hopes to see more than a short 15 min of competitive basketball from Miami. She breaks down what she liked and disliked from yesterday's loss including Niko's handbrake... Will this injury affect the team? Is Kel'el Ware still on track to be the Rookie of the Year? How can Ware improve on his team defense? Amy points to communication as the place where the Heat can improve and the growth of Andrew Wiggins within the system.
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00:00Let's get to a little 15 minutes of heat brought to you by Hollywood Kia at Hollywood Kia,
00:03the number one Kia dealer in all of Florida. Get the star treatment. We want to see you
00:07in a Hollywood Kia. Visit them online at hollywoodkia.com. And very glad to be joined
00:13here by Miami Heat analyst, Amy Alderberg, who you of course can hear on the home game calls
00:18with the great Jason Jackson. And then on the road, watch her on FanDuel Sports Network.
00:24Hello, Amy. How are you? Good. I'm hoping in about nine hours, it's going to be more than
00:2815 minutes of heat. It's, it's been tough. I don't understand, Amy. Like, I feel like this
00:35team teases me every game because it's like, I see the most beautiful basketball for the first
00:41quarter and I don't want to feel like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, but that just seems to
00:46be what's going on right now. Uh, what did you make of last night? Like it felt like the Miami
00:52Heat were playing a pretty good game and then Kevin Porter jr. Just flipped it on its head.
00:56Yeah. And for me, actually, it was the third quarter. I think it was one Milwaukee cut it to
01:00six and, uh, spoke all that time out. And I thought that if Miami could push it back to
01:041215, maybe they would shut Giannis down for the night. Right. And so for me, it's like the moments,
01:09it's like these key kind of moments in games and the first quarters have been nice, but it's not
01:14just been the first quarters, it's the NBA and they're playing good teams, right? Okay. See,
01:19so you do expect some sort of push, right? So I don't, that stuff doesn't like surprise me and I
01:25don't get to, you know, Oh no, this, you know, uh, but for me it was, uh, that segment of the
01:31game, it was the back half of the third quarter. And then I would say the back half of the fourth
01:34quarter, because there was just, it almost felt like me at times, like the guys, some of them
01:38were going, Oh no, not again. Right. Like just some huge defensive laps is taking some really
01:43tough shots in the final minutes of that game where it was still a five point game with about
01:46a minute left, you know? And so, uh, it's super unfortunate. Uh, I think sometimes we kind of
01:53over-complicate the game and try to get into that because we can now we measure when a guy
01:56breathes pretty much right with analytics and everything. Um, but at the end of the day,
02:00you just watch the, I just got it. You have to come up with key stops and you have to come up
02:05with ways to make some easy buckets in those moments. Uh, really unfortunate about last night
02:11though, because if you remember the beginning of the second half, Miami was responding every time
02:15Milwaukee made a run. And that I thought was a great step forward because at times that's where
02:21I think that it has been a struggle is not being able to respond. And so we did see response for
02:26the most part last night, not just from Tyler, not just from Bam Davion Mitchell hit, hit a big three
02:32different guys had their hands in that response. And that to me is a sign of a good team. Uh, but
02:38at the end of the day, and we say it all the time, it is really hard to win games in this league.
02:42It doesn't matter who you're playing and you have to play like when you lapse for entire quarters,
02:47it it's tough to win those games and they're unfortunate lessons are hard lessons. And I
02:52think you look at it two ways, like, like you are. And, and I think most people at times Tobin,
02:56where you definitely feel like you're being teased, but then the other side of it is
03:00remind yourself that I believe it's 14 games now where Miami has lost, um, after having double
03:06digit leads. And I think that's the second most in the league. I think Anthony Chang was, um,
03:11put that stat out last night. The flip side of that is that they are in games and if they can
03:17find ways to hold leads, um, so their record would be so much different, right? Um, if it was
03:22those phone calls in the moments of truth, figuring it out. So, uh, I still think, you know, we have a
03:27huge push here. The standings are tight and the best part about the standings being tight as you
03:31kind of control your own destiny is to a certain extent with Miami seeing Atlanta three more times
03:35this season, twice this week, Chicago, a couple more times. Those are the teams that they're
03:39really kind of battling it out with. So, um, I I'm saying super positive in that they can really
03:45go on a little bit of a run here. Much better than I am right now, which is down in the dumps
03:50and drinking a lot. Oh no, Toby. Amy, is this, is this a rotation thing? Because it seems like,
03:59you know, you have that starting five, they all seem to play well together and, and maybe even
04:05the first, as long as you have three of those starting guys in there. But when you start
04:10getting deeper into the rotations, that's kind of when things start breaking down. And I've always
04:16known that Spo is a better coach when there's eight guys than 15 guys. Like when there's only
04:23eight available, the team seems to respond better than if there's a whole, uh, a whole team available.
04:32Yeah. I mean, definitely. I think routine and consistency is, I think that's the key to anyone
04:37working in an NBA season, having that type of routine and consistency. Unfortunately for the
04:42Heat, it's been a, uh, what would the word be? Tumultuous season, maybe? Like, you know, and so
04:48part of that is right, is availability of, of guys. Um, certainly Nico on Tough News last night,
04:54right? With him, that affects your rotation big time as well. Uh, I would say you certainly
05:01started to feel some sort of consistency in the rotation. Now that's going to get blown up again
05:06with Nico. I believe not available tonight. I don't think the report's out, but I think it's
05:11safe to say. Yeah. There's this, uh, this photo. Ira put out this photo of Nico yesterday on the
05:15side with his, uh, yeah. How crazy the same building too, as when Tyler, yeah. Yeah. That's
05:22what I was like. Well, I turned into a finals run. So let's like, Hey, come on toe in. I'm keeping
05:27you. Uh, he's such a unique player. I mean, like he's, he staggers their, their tall line of which
05:33they've kind of leaned into and you know, there's, they're really kind of, they're scrounging for
05:39playmakers that aren't Tyler hero. And he brings a little bit of like everything. I don't know,
05:45like it doesn't see, cause you'd be like, Oh, he's a guy averages 10 points. You just feel like,
05:49I don't know how they get over this right now. It feels like a huge blow to their bench unit.
05:54Well, I mean, it's opportunity for somebody else, right? I mean, if Jaime can get some
05:58opportunity and catch some fire, right. He play makes in a different way. Definitely
06:02unique is our Nico is so unique because of his size and his skill set at that size.
06:08And I would say him, I I'd say settling into that six man role because his minutes were still
06:13elevated. He was finishing games. And when he goes in there at six 10, he's not usually going
06:18against anyone, his size, their starting lineup, you know? So for Nico, uh, for him not being
06:23available, I hope it's shorter than longer, but at the end of the day, like we're sitting here
06:28talking about, uh, us and, and heat basketball and wanting to win games. I mean, Nico,
06:34poor guy has been having a great season, right? And so it's tough for him too. I mean,
06:38I know he's a tough, I think he said he, it happened in the first quarter. He played about
06:42seven minutes in the second quarter, all this stuff I'm hearing in his post game comments and
06:46man. So he's really tough, you know? I mean, ouch. So how do you overcome it? I mean, you,
06:52someone else has to step up in scoring and playmaking, but it might not be just one person,
06:56maybe by committee. I was to say, when you, when you take big losses, I don't think it's
07:00fair to put it on one person. It does have to be by committee. I look at guys like Pella,
07:05um, who in their opportunities, I think have been pretty solid. And so I could see him getting those.
07:11You wonder if Heywood cracks back in a little bit. Um, I would say if we're going to, again,
07:17keeping our glass half full, Toby, I'm really trying here with you. Uh, the depth was supposed
07:22to be this big plus for Miami this season. And I do believe it is still, uh, maybe they're going
07:28to be able to push forward here a little bit, uh, with some other guys getting some opportunities,
07:32but you can't just put it on your first five. You just can't of those first five though. Uh,
07:37we, we love watching Colelle. It's been one of our favorite parts of the season
07:40and in the third quarter, like you talk about that response in the third quarter,
07:44I thought that he had a really good third quarter, especially when bam got into foul trouble.
07:48Um, but obviously there was a lot like the, the green light kind of went on for,
07:52you know, Giannis and Brooke Lowe was as it probably will because he's a rookie in there.
07:56So how do you think he's handling the ebbs and flows right now? Because he obviously,
08:00he's exciting to watch, but, but this is going to be part of the growth of having a 20 year old out
08:05there. Exactly. I think for me, and it's easy to get mesmerized when he walks into a room just
08:11because of what he looks like, you know, and his length and, and how he can match up in this league.
08:16But I think even more impressive for me has been his mindset has been his maturity.
08:22You get, you're a first round draft pick and probably got his butt kicked in training camp.
08:27I imagine bam and I imagine UD and all those guys really got into him, right? Like that could not
08:31have been an easy time. And from what I understand, he's actually gained, gained weight in the middle
08:35of the season, which is like impossible to do in the NBA. So that tells me that he's dedicated and
08:41committed to the work. Uh, but then also just this late push, right? You go from spotty minutes,
08:47sometimes those DNP CDs, like, and then all of a sudden now you're in the conversation for rookie
08:52of the year. That's a lot. That is a lot for anybody to take on, let alone not a four or five
08:59year college athlete, right? He came out early. And so he is very young. The best way to learn.
09:04I do believe I'm a tactile learner. So maybe I'm biased, but as to get out there and do it,
09:09and so you know what I mean? Like that is it's reps. It is learning how to go up against a Brook
09:16Lopez in one possession, and then you have Giannis flying at you the next possession within
09:20a quick, fast paced game. That's tough, right? Those are two totally different types of basketball
09:26players, right? And so I think there's more positives than anything right now with where,
09:30and again, like you just have to keep going back to it. He is not even one full season into the NBA.
09:36And I mean, I get excited when I think about what the potential with him is, and not just him,
09:42but like his teammates with him in particular. Bam, it's been really good. So it's, I will keep
09:47going back to that. It's like unfortunate in these like moments of truth that they just haven't been
09:50able to put together full games because the win loss is the most important thing. But everything
09:56other than that has been pretty awesome, I think up until this point. So you just, you gotta stay
10:00with it, Tobin. You gotta stay with it. Amy, I watched Kalel and at times, and I want to know
10:06how difficult this is. He gets lost in between helping and staying on his guy because he doesn't
10:14want to give up an alley-oop. Is that a team defense thing that he's got to know somebody's
10:19going to come and get his back because he gets caught like in the middle of not really knowing
10:25and every time he commits alley-oop. And so I don't know if people are getting frustrated,
10:31if Spoh gets frustrated with that decision or like, it just seems like he's in a tough spot
10:38to be so young. And I don't know what he needs to do to kind of like to get out of that. Is it
10:45the team defense or is it him having to just choose and go? I think it's a combination of
10:51everything, right? Watching film, learning, communication. To me, if you aren't communicating
10:56and I'm not putting that on Kalel, I'm not putting like, that's everybody. Maybe sometimes
11:00it's communication, right? But learning, I mean, for me, I can't compare myself to him,
11:06but I'm six two, I'm pretty big. But when I jumped into any next level, the things you got away with
11:12at the previous level, they're not going to cut it anymore. When you're talking about size and
11:17length and ability, right? He was probably able to get closer to basketball is a lot quicker in
11:23college, right? Because maybe the guys weren't as quick or definitely weren't as big. Certainly
11:27we're not as strong. This is a whole different level. And when you're playing that close to the
11:31rim, your margin of error, I don't care how big you are, is less, right? And so I think there is
11:37a learning curve, but it's everything. It's watching, it's scouting, it's listening to
11:42the coaches. But then again, like at some point you do have to trust yourself to make those
11:46decisions and your teammates and coaches should want to trust you too, right? I think that stuff,
11:52again, that's like, he's already proven that he's committed. He's committed to the process.
11:56He's committed to learning and to being better. So I do think those things will develop as he does.
12:02The one thing you can't teach is his size and he's got that. So yeah, another upside. I guess I'm
12:10trying to sell you too, huh? No, no, not really. Because I just listen, we're trying to, no matter
12:17what, it's just one of these things. Like it is true. Like what you're saying. And I think Spoh
12:22is trying to give voice to this yesterday is like, I see a lot of positive things. And I think that's
12:26the thing that's, that probably is frustrating for the fans is like, you do see a lot of great
12:30things. Like, man, this season, Tyler heroes happens. Incredible for him to have a game.
12:34I don't think I ever, I would have thought two years ago, I could see a game where Tyler hero
12:38gets 14 free throws and like, that's a huge growth in his game. And he's putting together
12:43these 40 point incredible rewards and you just want one of them to be rewarded with the win
12:48because he's just been outstanding. And so it's, it, it, what you're saying is valid.
12:53Like there is a lot of great things to watch. It's just like the result. It almost feels like
12:57you're, you're being, you're being strung along and, and it just takes one moment. And I don't
13:02know what that breakthrough game is going to be for them. I'm sure it's, it's, it could be the
13:05next one. It could be the Hawks game for all I know. But, um, you know, there is a lot of, there
13:10is a lot of good to watch, including Tyler. Cause I think that this has been an incredible year for
13:13him. Yes. And let's not forget, uh, sometimes I think we're all a little bit spoiled in that
13:19we're watching or fans or working with an organization that does expect to win every
13:24year. Right? Like that's something else too. Right? Like nobody, I don't remember the last time,
13:30uh, the Miami, and I know there have been seasons, but not as of late where Miami heat fans are going
13:35in and expecting it just to be a learning season or growing season. I'm not saying that that's what
13:39this is either. I do believe these guys want to push here and try to do something special again,
13:44but, um, we have to remember that he is so young, right? He's super young and there's going to be
13:50learning curves to that. But when you do want every single, I do go into every game believing
13:55that if this team plays hard and they execute and they do the things right, they can play on any
14:00given night with any team in the league. Right. It's not going to happen. Um, but yes, I mean,
14:06when you have guys like Tyler 40 points and he shot three for 12 from, from three last night,
14:10you know, like think of like a couple more of those fall, you're looking at a 50 point game.
14:14So I mean, like he's been incredible. Um, but what an awesome example, because he's someone
14:21who has just put the work in, right? Like he's obviously talented, but he just put the work in.
14:26Um, so that to me as a leadership, by example, these guys are all kind of in these different
14:30roles now this year and different roles, different rotations, different teammates. And by the way,
14:35like Wiggins and Davey on Mitchell. And I would say even in possible post-season here, like I think
14:41Kyle Anderson might play an elevated role. Like these are guys in the middle of the season that
14:45are once again, like just, this is going to take time and we have to be a little bit patient.
14:50Before we get you out of here, Amy, just on Wiggins, your first thoughts of, of watching
14:54him in a heat Jersey, you know, he has that incredible poster on Lopez yesterday as his
14:59first one in Toronto. What, uh, what have you been your impressions of him?
15:02Yeah, I, I didn't know at first, right. I mean, we've only seen Wiggins on the West coast and
15:07like, haven't really bought, had a microscope on him. Um, other than, yeah, you can impact
15:11and play with stars, but I think he is a star, uh, huge finishes through contact last night.
15:17I believe he leads the league in four point plays, um, doing that, but then defensively
15:22this whole other element, uh, especially in pick and roll situations, because he can switch,
15:27he can guard multiple positions. Um, he's got length. Uh, I mean, in Toronto, because we talked
15:32about it on our pregame last night, I mean, when you looked at the way the Raptors defended,
15:36which by the way, they have been a top 10 defense as of late, it's not like Toronto
15:40is not playing great defense because they, because they were so intent on staying stickered
15:46up on Tyler or Bam Wiggins had guards on him. He's not, he's not a guard, right? So I think
15:53his fit, uh, is great. I think he's going to continue to elevate and figure like a couple
15:59games in with these guys, you're going to figure out more things. Um, and Wiggins has played with
16:04staff. He has played with dream on, so he knows how to kind of fit in with different types of
16:07things. So really looking forward to the potential with him here. And also the thing about Wiggins,
16:14that I think is the craziest is he's in his 11th season and he turned 30 yesterday,
16:19you know, like think about that. And you know why in the previous, in the previous 10 seasons,
16:24he's played, he's played 70 plus games in eight out of 10 of those regular seasons.
16:29So like the guys like what, like he wants to, he wants to be there at a really high level because
16:35he was a first rent, like first pick, right? Like probably could have taken a couple more games off
16:39back in the day. And he just, he did it. So to me, I think that that's somebody that is now in
16:45another organization where there's no build here. It's you want to win. You can develop and grow,
16:51but still win and be competitive. And while I understand your misery, right? There's winning
16:56and there's misery Tobin, like there's winning and there's, we're not at misery just yet. I don't,
17:01I just, I'm not ready to say that yet because a lot of these games have been close. And if
17:05you can figure it out on the right, the right time in particular, uh, those 12 of 18 home games in
17:11March, anything can happen. The current of this league is so quick, right? You can, things can go
17:17really well quick or not so well quick. That's for you or 29 other teams. So hang in there.
17:22You've got me built back up. Uh, Amy, I appreciate this. I needed this today. I needed, uh, thanks
17:28to Amy for joining us here. And you guys can catch her tonight, of course, on fan dual sports son.
17:33Yeah. You got a seven 30 tip from Atlanta and our coverage gets going at six 15 here on WQAM,
17:40but at seven o'clock on fan dual sports son, Amy, appreciate the time. Thank you so much.
17:45Thanks guys. Thank you. There you go. And of course you can hear Amy on the radio calls
17:49with Jason Jackson for the home games.