ASK IRA: Has uneven Heat ride with Kyle Lowry been about injury or ‘culture’?
Q: Is Kyle Lowry also missing games due to hurt feelings, knowing the Heat tried to trade him? A: The knee issue is real and already required treatment when Lowry previously was sidelined by the soreness. Now, that doesn’ t mean he also is not sore about how it has soured in his second season with the team.
Q: Is Kyle Lowry also missing games due to hurt feelings, knowing the Heat tried to trade him? – Brian, Fort Lauderdale.
A: The knee issue is real and already required treatment when Lowry previously was sidelined by the soreness. Now, that doesn’t mean he also is not sore about how it has soured in his second season with the team. The reality is Kyle never was and likely will never be a “culture” guy. He has a different approach to the game that certainly has served him well over the years, including at a championship level. Still, because he arrived in free agency, it wasn’t a case of him not knowing what he was getting into, with the Heat’s cult-like approach. No, it’s not for everybody. And it’s one thing when you get traded into it. But the eyes-wide-open reality is that there is a program in place that is unique to this team.
Q: I have to say that in certain ways this season has been extremely exciting. I loved it when the Heat had the Big Three. I loved it when they won in 2006. I have always rooted for them and they have had good seasons. But this team has no quit. They are terrible on offense, they fall behind, but they always fight back. As a fan I have learned do not shut the TV off. – Roland, Borrego Springs, Calif.
A: And yet the Heat practically are playing to a cliche that you only need to watch the final five minutes to see what you need to see in an NBA game. No, you cannot shut Heat games off early. But it’s almost, to be candid, preferable to turn them on late, the way those frantic finishes have been setting up. Perhaps those late-arriving crowds in Miami actually do know the score, after all.
Q: I would like to see the Miami Heat run more. Bam Adebayo has such a soft touch. He seems even more unstoppable in the open court. – Stuart.
A: And Erik Spoelstra has been imploring his team to do just that. But that is not the innate game for Jimmy Butler, and this still remains Jimmy Butler’s team. Plus, with Kyle Lowry out of the mix, those all-or-nothing hit-ahead passes haven’t been a thing lately. I’m not sure a team with a defense-first approach could also be a running team. The focus has been more about getting back on defense than getting ahead on offense.
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