The Miami Heat have started the season just 4-6. It’s a roster that has a lot of new players on it, headlined by Giannis Antetokounmpo. Miami decided to trade for him in the offseason. In the process, they gutted a lot of the depth they had built.
Klay Thompson was added after he was bought out by the Mavericks. Thompson has started to shoot the ball better after a dreadful start. However, he thinks the team’s overall problem is looking too far into the future instead of worrying about right now.
Heat Guard Klay Thompson Calls Out the Team for Not Focusing on Right Now
Thompson believes the team needs to focus more on getting day by day instead of the postseason goal at the end of the year.
“It’s important for all of us to stay present and not look too far ahead in the season. “When you have big expectations, you think about the postseason, you think about seeding. I think we just need to really stay week-to-week. That’s the true joy when you build a great team. It’s just the beginning stages, and then you see it jell.”
As someone who has been a part of four championships, Thompson knows what it takes to win it all. He knows that the team has to be better at incrementally improving instead of focusing on the long-term goals. Thompson isn’t the only one who is frustrated, either.
Antetokounmpo doesn’t think that the team is trusting each other right now.
“Right now, we don’t trust one another,” Antetokounmpo said after playing the Lakers a week ago. “We don’t give that extra effort. We did it for two games, but we keep on having bad habits creep up in games.”
Getting the chemistry necessary to play at a high level won’t happen overnight. Through the first 10 games of the season, they are going through a bit of a rough patch. However, the Heat have some time to get it sorted out.
Defense is Miami’s Biggest Problem
Part of the calculus of bringing Antetokounmpo in was to have a dominant defense. Pairing him with Bam Adebayo in the frontcourt was supposed to yield some great results. Instead, teams have been able to get whatever they want on the Heat.
Right now, Miami has the fifth-worst defensive rating in the NBA. That is the biggest reason why the Heat haven’t been able to win more games. If anything, they were expected to struggle more on offense to begin the year as the chemistry issues get worked out.
The roster they have now is likely the roster they will have at the end of the year. They don’t have the assets to make a move at the trade deadline, as they used them all up to get Antetokounmpo. Figuring out the defense would be a good start to a better record.
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