Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler On Where He Thinks The Team Stands
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The Miami Heat have had a slew of injuries with what feels like a different starting lineup almost every night, but Jimmy Butler's expectations haven't changed.
Butler was asked where he thinks this team stands 20 games in, and he had some strong comments:
"We stand right where we don't want to be, which is very mediocre. Not good, not bad, just mediocre," Butler said.
"You talk about our offense; it's been mediocre. You talk about our defense; it's been mediocre."
The Heat have been inconsistent and mediocre at the start of the season. That shouldn't surprise anyone, but Butler will never use injuries as an excuse.
That still doesn't change the fact that the Heat have battled an enormous amount of injuries in the first 20 games. Haywood Highsmith left last night's game versus the Indiana Pacers just two minutes in with a back injury.
Bam Adebayo was already ruled out for Wednesday's matchup versus the Toronto Raptors and will not make the road trip. Tyler Herro should be close to returning from his ankle injury, but it's a lot to overcome.
Butler scored 33 points, five rebounds, and five assists in Saturday night's loss to the Pacers. He and head coach Erik Spoelstra were both visibly frustrated postgame.
Spoelstra called it "one of our worst ball-containing games of the season."
"We could not contain the ball off the dribble. Closeouts, pick and rolls." Spoelstra said.
The Heat have some things they must improve on as the season goes along, but they have to get healthy for that process to start.
Devin Brown is a contributing writer to Inside The Heat. He can be reached at dbrwnjr@gmail.com or Twitter @dbrwnjr.
