ASK IRA: Can Heat afford to ditch the zone defense?
Q: Ira, what about abandoning the zone? – Ivan.
A: As Erik Spoelstra has stressed, the zone is not the defense of choice, often standing as the defense of last resort because of a talent deficit on that side of the ball. With Jimmy Butler, Caleb Martin, Haywood Highsmith and Josh Richardson out on Monday night against the Clippers, there wasn’t much choice. Or would you have preferred Tyler Herro, Kyle Lowry and Duncan Robinson being set up at the point of attack by the likes of James Harden, Paul Geroge, Kawhi Leonard and Russell Westbrook? The zone has served its function well for the Heat in recent seasons. But as a defensive twist, not as a base defense. Of course, to succeed in man-to-man defense you need defenders, of which there has been an injury-ravaged shortage. Monday was a classic case of when you play so much zone, a quality opponent with quality opposing scorers eventually can figure it out.
Q: Not much to read into these West Coast games. Hope for one more win and call the trip a success. – Jon.
A: Which is why letting the one in Utah get away particularly stings. That was a game the Heat had Jimmy Butler into the third quarter and had Haywood Highsmith for all but the closing ticks. Win that one, and, at worst, you return home one game behind where you departed. Now it means either getting right against LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Lakers, or getting right against Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and the Suns.
Q: I thought he was bad, but RJ Hampton is making Dru Smith look like a future first-ballot Hall of Famer. – Ivan.
A: Without denigrating, the crux of the current issue is that with so many bodies out, the Heat are being forced to cast players in roles that are not commensurate with a team in the playoff race. Dru Smith was a 15th man. RJ Hampton is arguably the Heat’s 16th man. In a sport where only five play at a time, it says something about the health status of your roster when you are playing 15th and 16th men. In a perfect world, the Heat would be seasoning RJ Hampton in the G League and might have moved off of Dru Smith’s partially guaranteed contract before the season-ending knee injury changed that salary-cap math.