The Miami Heat got their first preseason win over the New Orleans Pelicans Sunday evening where this time of the year displays players that are under the radar. As the Heat prepare for a tough Eastern Conference this season, they will look for any break out player which head coach Erik Spoelstra speaks highly of one possibility after the victory Sunday.
In terms of the player in question, it would be Dru Smith who is serving as the team’s backup point guard as evident in the first two preseason contests. He showed his play-making skills Sunday where he scored four points, collected three rebounds, had two steals, one block, and five assists (a team high) as one of the first five coming off the bench.
Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on the strengths of Dru Smith
There is no doubt that this is a great sign as Smith had been in the process of recovering from a torn ACL last season and the surgery that came after it. Heat had him return on a two-way contract and is now playing a big role as Spoelstra sung his praises to the media after the win against New Orleans.
“The first thing is that it’s a real credit to him and the training staff, the fact that he’s out here doing what he’s doing,” Spoelstra said. “You know, after his injury, he really worked at it behind the scenes, and you have some really tough days, you know, in May, June, July, but he has that mental forms to that toughness that’s that’s unique. That’s a superpower of his.”
“I did not look at his box score,” Spoelstra continued. “So much of what he does, it won’t show up [in the boxscore]. He just makes winning play after winning play. The guys love playing with him, he connects the group. Defensively, he’s tough. Really can make a lot of things happen. If there’s a ball going around, he’s going to find a way to be around it or deflect it or steal it. And then he allows that group to function because he can get them organized and get the ball where it needs to go.”
Heat’s Dru Smith on being back out on the floor with his team
With the excitement of the Heat’s starting lineup, the second unit is an interesting one as Smith seems to have a big role incoming for this season. He’s not taking the opportunity for granted, especially after being away from basketball for an extended period of time as he spoke about in the locker room.
“It’s been fun,” Smith said. “It’s been good to get back out there just to even have the opportunity to be playing again. I think one thing about the injury is it just kind of gave me a fresh perspective just to appreciate the game and appreciate my opportunities when I get out there. Just playing hard, that’s all I’m trying to do. Just play hard, play the right way and try to get everybody involved.”
He also showed off some defensive intensity in the second quarter of the game where at a few points, he was matched up with the tough Zion Williamson, but held his own and found ways to be active and get the ball in his hands. As for his health, he experienced major strides as while before he had hope to be at least limited in training camp, he’s been active in the preseason even having to recover for a grueling 10 months after ACL reconstruction surgery.
“I feel pretty good,” Smith said. “I mean, as good as I could have hoped for at this point. Yeah, I was hoping to be ready for training camp. We kind of jumped into it fairly quickly. I had played live like two or three times before camp started and then jumped right in. So it’s been going good. The knee has been responding really well. So just got to stay on top of it.”
Heat’s Dru Smith on being the facilitator of the second unit
As said before, it seems likely until the Heat’s Josh Richardson can come back from season-ending shoulder surgery which he’s in the process of recovering, he will head the second unit as the main facilitator. He’s one of the team’s few “true” point guards and said after the win that he gets “more joy” of feeding other players than scoring.
“I mean, that brings me more joy than, you know, scoring baskets,” Smith said. “Like seeing other guys with even records playing defense hard and, you know, just getting out in transition, seeing everybody, everybody eats whenever you’re locking up, and then whenever you’re getting back on the other end quickly. So definitely fun. I think that that second unit tonight, I had a great time playing together. Just got to keep rolling.”
Heat’s Dru Smith on building chemistry with the second unit
While the Heat’s starting lineup looks to build chemistry and will be a talking point throughout the season, the second unit will be as well as Smith will work along side others such as Duncan Robinson, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kevin Love, and more. He would talk amount the importance of not only “gelling” together, but also playing to their strengths in causing turnovers and being a more faster paced team.
“I think just overall, you know, I think that second unit we’ve had a good few days together,” Smith said. “Just kind of gelling together, you know, through practice and everything like that. So I think it doesn’t always mean anything, but I think today it translates to the floor for us and, you know, we’re just out there trying to have fun together.”
“I think anytime you can, you know get a turnover and get out on the other end, just get easy baskets in transition,” Smith said. “That’s definitely been an emphasis just running more so, being disruptive is something we always try to do, I think getting out on the other end and taking advantage is something that we’ve really been focusing on.”
At any rate, Smith and the rest of the Heat will look to gain chemistry starting Tuesday and Wednesday as they have a back to back in preseason games against the San Antonio Spurs and Atlanta Hawks at the Kaseya Center.
