The Good, Bad and Ugly from Miami's West Coast Trip

Well, this is not the kind of start any Miami Heat fan was hoping for. There is no denying that this team did not do anything to inspire confidence in it's fan base after what we saw in the first four games of the season as the Heat finish the trip 1-2 and are now 2-5 in the first seven games of the season.

This is the worst start to a season since the 2016-17 season and we all know how disappointing that one ended. The difference from that season to this one are the expectations surrounding this iteration of the Miami Heat as they are coming off a successful campaign that saw them just one three point shot away from the NBA Finals.

Right now, as things are, it's looking very scary for our Miami Heat, so I'll be taking you through all the good, bad and ugly takeaways from this short and excruciating west coast trip.

The Good

It's hard to look back on a bad road trip and think about what went right, but there were a few things we can build upon as the season continues.

One of those being the improved play of Bam Adebayo. In the first four games of the season, all at home, Bam averaged 13.8 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 2.8 APG, 0.8 SPG and 0.8 BPG on 45.7 FG%. In the three game of this road trip Bam has imposed his will on both sides of the ball with averages of 22.3 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 2.7 APG, 1.7 SPG and 1.7 BPG on 62.5 FG%. He took more shots and was efficient with those looks. Not to mention his jumper has looked much smoother with every game.

Despite having inconsistent guard play to start the season the Heat have done a very good job winning the turnover battle. They rank 11th in the league with 13.7 turnovers a game while forcing teams into 16.3 turnovers a game, which is good for 4th in the entire association. Having wings with great instincts in the passing lanes like Jimmy Butler and Caleb Martin is a huge reason for this and I expect that to continue as the season progresses.

Lastly, the Heat have somehow been the best free throw shooting team in the early parts of this season. They are getting to the line for 24.1 attempts a game (12th in NBA), but they make 84.6% of them which ranks first in the entire league. I expect this to be a huge benefit for the Heat moving forward.

The Bad

This Miami Heat team has struggled to score this season, but on the road trip they put up 114 points per game. So how could they have possibly finished 1-2? Well to put it simply, the Miami Heat live and die by the three.

I can't blame them for the loss to the Golden State Warriors. The game was close from start to finish, but Steph Curry showed why he's one of the best players in the world and single handedly pushed the game out of reach. As for the loss to the Kings, there was nothing positive to note on the defensive end in the first half. I can arguably put this into the ugly section, but there is another glaring issue that trumps this one by a mile.

So, while the free throw shooting has consistently been a weapon for Miami, everything else has not. There is no presence at the rim for the Miami Heat and that is forcing them to play from the outside-in and on this road trip they took 36.3 three-point attempts per game, but only knocked down 36.7% of them. That is below league average and for a team that has two star players that don't space the floor, that's a problem.

Dewayne Dedmon (50.0%), Jimmy Butler (43.8%) and Caleb Martin (42.9%) are Miami's leader in 3P% so far this season, while the likes of Tyler Herro (37.5%), Duncan Robinson (36.4%), Max Strus (35.3%), Kyle Lowry (34.1%) and Gabe Vincent (30.0%) have all struggled from deep. This needs to change as soon as possible with the Eastern Conference as competitive as it has been in years.

The Ugly

Now time for most frustrating part of watching this Miami Heat team play so far this season. If you have been watching the games you know exactly what I'm about to say.

THE MIAMI HEAT LACK SIZE!

There seems to be no answer on this roster and it is so tough to watch. You know things are going well when Erik Spoelstra is forced to bring in Udonis Haslem in the first quarter. The injuries to Omer Yurtseven and Victory Oladipo have not helped, but that can't be the only answer to this incredibly difficult problem.

The stats show it all as the Heat rank near the bottom of the league in nearly every stat related to size. Just get a few off my chest, they average 40.4 RPG (27th in NBA), 2.9 BPG (30th in NBA), 44.3 points in the paint (26th in NBA), plus they only score13.1 second chance points (22nd in NBA) while giving up 16.1 second chance points (22nd in NBA). This is the biggest weakness for the Miami Heat this season and every team in the league knows it. The Kings kept Domantis Sabonis in the game even though he was in foul trouble because they knew his size would destroy the Heat.

Just to make matter worse, this team also plays extremely slow. They have a 98.5 pace so far this season, which is near the bottom of the league. The urgency to get the ball down the court and score quickly just isn't there from night to night, which is why they average just 13.4 fastbreak points a game (18th in NBA).

There are teams every year that are either too slow or too small, but the Miami Heat have the luxury of being both this season. Not a recipe for success and the hope is that this west coast trip just woke up the front office.