The truth has been revealed....

This is exactly what Heat fans have wanted to hear from their captain Bam Adebayo as after a film session in Sacramento last week, Adebayo was asked the very simple question, what does this Heat team actually look like when everything starts to click and goes right? Man, he said, I want us to be top three in defense and top five in offense. Then he kept going, quote, I don't know if we can get to that point. It's going to take some time. Three weeks before that, before opening night, the same man said the goal was to be number one on defense in top three, at least. In between, Miami opened 0-4 for the first time since the 2007-2008 season, and the defense they built the whole season around fell into the bottom 10 of the entirety of the NBA. The other half of Bam's answer to that very simple question was, About the man, they moved mountains in order to go out and get in Giannis Antetokounmpo and how hard the entire building, not just the roster, but the organization as a whole is working to make him comfortable and feel at home this season, hoping he signs an extension for years to come in Miami. The reason being is because Giannis holds a player option after this season and could opt out and test free agency. Now, if he isn't comfortable, that seems like a much likelier option. But if things start to click in Miami, he finds a form of Comfortability in this organization and with this team, how it's constructed and how it could be constructed in years down the line, the option of getting that extension gets louder and louder by the week. So what has to change to get Giannis to that point of comfortability? And also can this Miami Heat team, based off how they're constructed, sitting at five and six, still become what Bam Adebayo has hoped for and described? 11 games into the season, basketball reference has Miami's rated 22nd in defensive rating and the ringer had them as low as 25th. The offense isn't covering them either. Miami is 19th in offensive rating. Last season before the trade, Miami was 13th on both ends. So the trade that was supposed to raise both numbers has lowered both of them and the defense even has bigger problems. Even though the defense was supposed to be the easy part of this equation, bringing in Giannis to an already very established defense. This franchise finished top 10 in defensive rating in nine of the last 11 regular seasons. They also had the names. The projected starters came in with 12 all defensive selections, six for Adebayo, five for Giannis, and one for Klay Thompson. The one thing missing was the top spot, which Miami hasn't held since 1996-97. The warning came early. In five preseason games, Miami finished with the 26th defensive rating, but it got waived off as the preseason. Eric Spoelstra said it on the road trip, about as plainly as a coach can, quote, we're losing games because of our defense. That has to be our first, second, and third priorities. That's the backdrop for what Bam Adebayo said in Sacramento. And remember, he didn't repeat getting after the number one defensive spot. He said top three, and then he admitted he didn't know if they could actually get there. So there is a form of hesitancy and really just doubt in Bam and the rest of this team's mind. And when the captain out of all people starts to lower the bar in public settings, it isn't panicking, but he's telling you the fix is bigger than the actual effort being displayed. And when he did talk about what that fix could actually be, he didn't talk about the coverages or the rotations. He talked about the new star in Miami, Giannis Antetokounmpo. Now, before we get to the rest of the news, this video is brought to you by Kalshi. On Kalshi, you can trade yes or no contracts on basically any real world event, politics, the weather, sporting events, release dates on TV shows, video games, and even movies. Right now, if you use the link down in the description or in the pinned comment and use code DIGEST NBA when signing up, you can trade yes or no on any of those events, including the Miami Heat win total for this season. Right now, with that first trade of $25, new users get $55 added to their account instantly. Again, use the link down in the description or in the pinned comment and use code digest NBA for when signing up to get this awesome promotion. This summer, the Heat went on a trip to Greece and Bam told the Ringers Logan Murdoch what the point of it was Quote, you want to welcome people that ain't been there with open arms. Quote, we try to get Giannis as comfortable as possible when he understands our schemes, when he understands our playing style, the standards, and obviously understanding where he fits in all of this as well. And the last part of that quote is the biggest. Giannis is still trying to figure out the Heat way. He's trying to figure out how to fit in with this team while Miami is trying to figure out how to fit around this star player. One of the best players in the world that has a very dynamic way of playing the game of basketball. Remember, Giannis spent 13 seasons in the Milwaukee Bucks organization that was fully built around him once they all understood how great he really was. Then he walked into one of the most famous and prestigious organizations in the entirety of the league, and they are trying to make things work once again with a star player. In October, before a game that counted, Giannis said he felt, quote, a little bit more comfortable, but I'm not there yet. The scoring was there right away. Giannis put up 138 points in his first five games, the most by any Heat player in the first five games with the franchise. The wins weren't, though. After the fourth straight loss, the noise found Bam first, and he said, quote, funny how the outside noise wants to make me the scapegoat. And then his new running mate, Giannis Antetokounmpo, stood up for him, saying, it's not just Bam, it's everybody. With 78 still to go, he said you cannot press the panic button in panic. Last week, after the 20-point loss to Golden State, Giannis didn't talk to the media at all. Now, Giannis' mood matters this much in November because of his contract. Giannis has that player option worth $62.7 million for the 2027-2028 season. Next summer, the decision is his, and Miami already paid for him. Hero, Jaquez, Ware, Yaku Chonis, and three first-round picks, and a pick swap, and a second in order to get him. So if he ends up leaving because he never got comfortable, and because the Miami Heat failed to exceed or even meet expectations, Miami could have paid a massive price. And that's why making Giannis as comfortable as possible at this stage in the season and going forward is the whole plan for this Miami Heat team. Let me know down in the comments, who has to change more to make this work? Is it Giannis or is it Bam or is it someone else? Bam's next sentence was about how Giannis plays. Quote, he's a downhill player. So with downhill players, you've got to give them some space. And he's absolutely right. That is something Giannis has made a lifetime off of, a Hall of Fame career off of. And space is exactly what Miami has not found yet. Despite having a surplus of three-point shooters, they haven't found a groove. They have not found a rhythm, and they just have not found their footing playing off of Giannis Antetokounmpo up to this point in the year. Giannis is taking two and a half three point attempts per game in Miami, almost three times the amount that he took in the 24-25 season in Milwaukee. His free throw attempts went the other way from 10 and a half a game to this season, now at nine a game. His scoring dip from 27.7 points per game down to 30.4 that 24-25 season. When a downhill player is spending more time behind the line, it usually means the lane wasn't there when he looked, which could be a massive Passive problem, if you want Giannis shooting the basket. basketball 25 times a game, 20 times a game. You want them to be layups. You want them to be mid-range, if not just inside or outside the painted area, but not three-point shots. Part of the reason is the man who said it. Bam shoots 73.8% in the restricted area this season, better than Giannis' 65.5%. So he wants the same paint. Last season, Bam took five and a half, three point attempts a game. This season, it's down to 3.2 a game and he's making 17% of them. We've mentioned it before on this channel. We don't want to see Bam shooting three to five, three point shots a game. We want him in that mid range, inside the paint, dominating the way we've seen him do in the past, regardless of Giannis being on the court. Defenses have highlighted this, leaving Bam out there behind the three-point line and waiting for Giannis at the rim, and Miami's shot chart has highlighted that through this point of the season. Since October 25th, the share of Miami's shots at the rim went from 23% to 27%. Shots from the corners, the shortest three on the floor, fell from 15% of their attempts to 12%. The open floor hasn't bailed them out either. Miami scores .98 points per possession in transition, which ranks They're 27th in the league, which was something that was an absolute focal point for them last year. That was a huge difference. And then they brought in the best transition player in the last eight years, maybe nine years in the league in Giannis Antetokounmpo. And despite that, the numbers have still fallen drastically. Klay Thompson at 36 is shooting 41% from three on nearly nine and a half attempts per game and neither Giannis or Bam is a great three-point shooter. Put five of them on the floor together with Mitchell, Wiggins, Thompson, Giannis, and Bam and that group is a minus 11 and a half points per 100 possessions in 67 minutes. That's the problem, the spacing problem that Bam was describing and it doesn't get fixed by Giannis going harder or trying harder. That gets fixed when the two of these two juggernauts in Bam and Giannis figure out how to share the same floor at the same time, and in the last seven games, something has started to change, and honestly, it should have Heat fans starting to get a bit more optimistic and returning to those expectations that were placed on this Heat team before the season began. In the first four games, Miami gave up 132.9 points per 100 possessions, with Giannis and Bam on the floor together. In the seven game sense, that number is 107 and Miami went five Their net rating together went from minus 31 and a half to plus eight and a half, a swing of 40 points. Spoelstra told Murdoch they're getting to know each other in a more meaningful way, saying quote, because we're going through something uncomfortable. That's when you really get to know somebody, not when it's all great and everything's going according to plan. Giannis looks freer too. He had 29 points and 14 rebounds on 14 of 23 shooting in Sacramento. Two nights Three nights later in Utah, he had 30 points and 11 rebounds. in 31 minutes and Miami led by 20 points going into the fourth quarter. Bam did go one of eight from the field that night and still finished with three steals and two blocks. That's what Bam meant when he told Murdoch, quote, you got two guys who are willing. I'd rather go through it now than go through it in April towards the end of the season. But with that being said, we have to take into Take into account who those three wins came against for this Heat team. The Clippers, Kings, and Jazz, who all combined for 4-29 this season. On the same trip, the Lakers and Warriors beat them by 21-20. Beating teams like this should be the floor for this Heat team and it tells you nothing about a hopeful top three defense in the league. The first real answer starts Friday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Miami opens a five-game homestand Friday against Cleveland then Detroit on Saturday and Houston on Monday. Those three teams are combined 22-12 and Detroit already beat Miami by 17 in the first week of the season 128-111. Over the next two weeks Murdoch counts six teams that made last season's playoff on the Miami Heat schedule. Schedule. If this Miami Heat defense can hold up through that stretch, BAM's top three optimism surrounding this defense as a team stops sounding so much like a wish. But if it doesn't, the question surrounding Giannis in this summer gets a whole lot louder. In 2010-2011, the first season with LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwayne Wade all playing together, Miami started 9-8. Then they won 21 of their next 22 games and finished with 58 wins on the season. This roster appears to be a long way away from that, But a slow start with the new suit. superstar in Miami has turned around before and should leave Heat Nation a bit optimistic. Three numbers will tell you that if it's working. The defensive rank, Giannis' three-point attempts, and Bam's three-point percentage. So what does this mean? A top three defense or even a top five defense for this Heat team is still very much on the table. A top five offense, on the other hand, is a bit in question, but things can still change as the days and games go on. We really need to see Andrew Wiggins start to knock down some of these open shots that he gets because right now he's back on the bench due to the fact that Pelle Larson has been a worldly better player than he has, especially in the starting unit. I understand the three wins that Miami has really picked up in the last week and some change against Cleveland, or excuse me, against Clippers, Utah, and against the Sacramento Kings are against bottom feeders, but they are wins. And if they were losses, it would be even more problematic in Miami. Bam said it himself, quote, it's going to take time and they have to get out of their comfort zones to get there. So let me know down below. Do you think it is going to take some time, but it evidently will end up working out in Miami? Do you think they finish with a top three defense this season? Yes or no. And I will see you guys after Cleveland.