Amid the melancholy that is the season-ending media session at least there was no forced moment of, "we have enough."
Because when it's over, it doesn't matter what you have. By next season, the Miami Heat's mix will be decidedly different. Such is the reality of as many as 11 impending free agents.
But the 2015-16 Heat didn't have enough when it came to 3-point shooting.
Oh, Josh Richardson emerged over the second half of the season and Dwyane Wade stepped up in the playoffs, but in the Eastern Conference semifinals, alone, there was a 4 of 18, a 1 of 15, a 6 of 21, and then, at the moment of truth in Game 7 against the Toronto Raptors, 7 of 25 from beyond the arc.
Say all you want about teams winning with a variety of styles. And they do. But most of those teams are done for the season. And the two most likely to be standing at the end, the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers, have made the 3-point line a point of attack.
A year ago, at the NBA draft, the Heat made their priority clear when Justise Winslow was the choice ahead of Devin Booker.
Then, given the opportunity during free agency to add 3-point shooters, the Heat only would go as far as Gerald Green.
During the playoffs, even with Joe Johnson brought aboard at the buyout deadline, the Heat ranked seventh of the 16 teams in 3-point percentage, but just 11th in 3-pointer conversions per game, with the Cavaliers and Warriors ranking at the top.
During the regular season, the Heat ranked 27th in both 3-point percentage and 3-point conversions.
The playoff showing still was good enough to get within one victory of the Eastern Conference finals. Even with those regular-season numbers, the Heat managed to finish in a tie for third place in the Eastern Conference.
So is change coming? From the Heat, it's as if it's still "we have enough" when it comes to the long ball.
"I think people get caught up," coach Erik Spoelstra said, "and we can even see it clearly in the playoffs, there are no absolutes. People try to make absolutes out of the game, that you have to play a certain style, you have to have this.
"Teams are built differently; teams can win in different ways. That seems to be a trendy thing right now and we used to have a team that was very successful doing that. The most important thing is finding the best fits around the players you currently have, and can players bring out the best in each other? That's the more important thing than specific styles of play. We'll see."
A day after Spoelstra offered that comment, Heat President Pat Riley followed up that a system can create 3-point success.
"If you can get a lot of players who are rhythm shooters and can develop the range to consistently make threes, it isn't as much as go out and get three-point shooters," Riley said. "You have to run a very coherent, intelligent offense to be able to make them productive. It just doesn't happen.
"There are some guys that simply _ the Kyle Korvers and J.R. Smiths _ are off the charts when they can get on a roll. Other guys you have to create open, comfort areas for them to make shots. So it has a lot to do with your offense and not whether or not a guy can shoot."
That from the organization that surrounded LeBron James with Mike Miller, Shane Battier, Ray Allen and James Jones.
Riley said what the Heat's improved 3-point success over the second half of the regular season and during certain stretches of the postseason showed was that a quality system can produce quality 3-point results.
"If you take a look at Luol Deng's numbers, you think, 'Well, that guy can't make a three-point shot.' Well, he can," Riley said. "I think this year he proved that in an offense that had some space and some room for Goran (Dragic) and Dwyane (Wade) to find room for him, then it was very comfortable for him to shoot the ball.
"So you can become a great three-point shooting team by creating opportunities that are comfortable for players that our good shooters. Our staff is one of the very best at developing players that might not be that comfortable out there and then all of a sudden they become good and then they become efficient and then maybe become prolific."
That is what happened with Richardson, what the hope is will happen with Winslow. But that also will be predicated on Hassan Whiteside being able to pass out of the post, if he remains with the team.
To some, the 3-pointer is viewed as the easy way out. To the Heat, it is viewed as merely one component of an offensive package. But what the best of times for the Heat _ and the NBA, and the Warriors and the Cavaliers _ have shown is that is has become essential, and you never can have enough.
About the Author
