Bam Adebayo, Norman Powell on the ‘bad narrative’ about Tyler Hero

ByNBAUSA


MIAMI – After The Miami Heat lost in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup against the Orlando Magic last Tuesday, 117-108, the team is now on a four-game losing streak, having lost five of its previous six contests. With The Heat want to improve their offensea popular story is circulating on social media blaming those who return Tyler Herro for the fall.

Since his return, Miami is 3-5, but in the games Herro has played in, they are 3-3 and the running back has been in just two games as part of a four-game skid. With the Heat known for its new fast-paced, free-flowing offense, as the team leads the league with 105.3 possessions per 48 minutes, it has slowed since his return.

The theory surrounding Hero has holes, because he was pure positive when he was on the floor. Miami has outscored teams by 3.6 points per 100 possessions in 191 minutes of play. The whole conversation about Hero caused a reaction from the team captain Bam Adebayowho told ClutchPoints after Friday’s practice that it’s a “bad story” and it’s not the first time he’s been targeted.

“It’s a bad narrative to begin with. It’s just a terrible narrative,” Adebayo said. “We’re going to need Tyler (Herro) at the end of the day. The guy brings an aspect to our game where he can get a bucket at any time. You’re going to need that in these long stretches when the game gets close and you have to make something out of nothing. So that point, it’s just a bad story.”

“I feel like they’re trying to make Tyler the reason for X years. They’ve always been like, ‘Oh, you know, this happens when Tyler…’ like come on man, chill with the narratives,” Adebayo continued.

Norman Powell on the narrative of Tyler Hero and the heat

Los Angeles Clippers center Ivica Zubac (40) drives past Miami Heat guards Tyler Hero (14) and Norman Powell (24) in the first half at Kaseia Center.
Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

Although it was a middle heat start with Herr’s return, the problem is more of the team figuring out how to counter opponents adapting to their fast-paced style, as there have been setbacks with players in and out of the lineup with injuries. Those injuries are even beyond Hero, as some, such as Norman Powell, Davion Mitchell and others, have missed time during the fall.

Back to the story surrounding Herr, the stats show that the problem goes beyond him, as with him on the floor, the team outscored the Magic by 8.1 points per 100 possessions on Tuesday. But the Heat were outscored by 50 points per 100 possessions in the 14 minutes he was on the bench, as he scored 20 points overall.

One aspect of the team that is still developing is the chemistry between Hero and Powell, a backcourt duo that could be explosive. Speaking of online chatter, Powell downplays it at ClutchPoints, saying how quickly social media can turn heads.

“Just online drama,” Powell said. “If we do something good, everyone’s going to be up in arms, saying we’re going to be a championship team, and you’re going to go through a few losses, miss a few shots, people will be in your DMs and posting memes and information about how there’s a problem.”

“We know what’s going on inside the court, we know the chemistry, we know the connection we have on and off the court,” Powell continued. “And we know basketball, we know that it will take a second for everyone to calm down when guys come in and out of the lineup, roles change… Minutes go up and down, we’re just trying to figure out how we want to play, who will be on the floor.”

The Heat’s Tyler Hero responds if the story bothers him

Looking at recent losses on the decline, incl The Heat lost the NBA Cup to the Magicthe pace has slowed to 101.1 possessions per 48 minutes over the last four games. As many as five of the six slowest games this season played in the last eight games.

The return of a player like Hero, who really adds a lot of offensive firepower to Miami, was inevitable in pulling the team back to the middle, especially with a fast start on offense. This adjustment by the other team had to happen at some point, with the Heat now in the process of getting back to their strengths on both sides of the ball.

Back to the narrative, Hero doesn’t mind, saying that he is “real basketball heads” I know what’s going on.

“Not really, I feel like real basketball players know what’s going on, Twitter stuff is Twitter,” Herro said.

For Miami’s head coach Erik Spoelstrahe calls it a narrative “a complete overreaction that is wrong.”

“We need Tyler, and it’s going to be a little bit of a process getting him back into the mix. But to get where we need to go, we need Tyler’s skill and talent. We need healthy guys, and that’s what we’re working on right now. We can be very dangerous when we have guys on the same page, committed to our identity, and Tyler is a big part of that.”

Miami looks to break out of its slump with Monday’s game against the Toronto Raptors, a great opportunity to do so with a 14-11 team.





2025-12-12 18:51:00

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