- 2 days ago
SiriusXM NBA radio host NBA analyst Frank Isola weighs in on the Heat’s defensive issues over the last month, argues against tanking being a certain fix for NBA teams and explains why Giannis and the Heat would be a good fit this summer.
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00:00And you can also listen to Frank on the starting lineup right on Sirius XM NBA Radio.
00:05Mr. Isola, how are you, my friend?
00:08Gentlemen, what's going on? How are you guys doing?
00:10I'd be doing better if the Heat actually had a pulse up against the Boston Celtics last night,
00:15but that wasn't the case.
00:16Ever since Bam had that 83-point performance and the Heat were talking, all that stuff,
00:22even going after Dwayne Wade, I thought it maybe would galvanize this group.
00:25That's not the case. They've been 3-8 since then.
00:28Is that at all surprising to you?
00:30It is a little bit, especially since when you look at some of the results,
00:35just in terms of the score, because, you know, it's a team that's been built,
00:39organization that's been built around defense and toughness.
00:42And last night, just getting blitzed like that by the Boston Celtics,
00:45what was it, 53 points in the first quarter for Boston?
00:48That's the most in franchise history for them.
00:50It's the second most in NBA history for an opening quarter.
00:54So that surprises me a little bit.
00:57You know, I think a lot of that stuff from that game,
00:59everything got a little sidetracked because, all right, so it's 83 points,
01:03but it is against the Wizards.
01:04Beating the Wizards isn't that big of a deal.
01:06It's pretty clear that the Wizards are more than happy to lose as many games as they can
01:10to increase the odds that they can get a, you know, a top three pick.
01:15If their pick were to fall at eight, which is highly unlikely that's going to happen now,
01:18that would go to the Knicks.
01:19So they've had all the incentive in the world to maybe not put their best effort forward.
01:25That's why tomorrow night will be pretty interesting that they got Washington back in there.
01:28Because if I'm the Wizards, I'm probably going to, I'm definitely going to finish in the bottom three.
01:32If I'm going to win one more game this season, I would try to win tomorrow night.
01:35Is it surprising to you because you mentioned the Heat are, you know, really in the Pat Riley era,
01:43it's like defense wins championships.
01:46And they have the 29th ranked defensive rating over the last 10 games where they're two and eight.
01:51This was a top four defense, top five defense up until about, I want to say, two, three weeks ago.
01:57Frank, are you surprised?
01:59Because it is still an Eric Spolscher-led team.
02:00They still have Bam, who, you know, is going to, at the very least, be in the running for an
02:06all-NBA,
02:06all-defensive first or second team spot.
02:10Why do you think they've had this massive drop-off on defense?
02:14Is it maybe that this team has checked out a little bit at the end of the season since, you
02:18know,
02:18playing tournaments seems inevitable?
02:21I don't think it's that.
02:22Maybe that's just something that, you know, are they working on that every single day?
02:28Do they have the players that are committed to playing defense?
02:31I think if you go back to last year, what they did against the Cleveland Cavaliers,
02:34they got blitzed in those four games.
02:36And it wasn't like the Cleveland Cavaliers then went on and, you know,
02:40smoked through the competition.
02:41The very next round, they went out of five games against Indiana.
02:44In fact, you know, most of those games, they were outplayed.
02:47So that surprised me a little bit.
02:49I think, I also think it's pretty interesting that at a time when their defense is slipping,
02:53there's been all this conversation around Bam, the 83 points.
02:56And I know he just recently said, he was interviewed, I think it was on NBC somewhere,
03:01where he said that teams are now, like, viewing him differently as more as an offensive threat.
03:05I don't know how he could say that.
03:07I mean, he's 17 of 68 on three-pointers since the 83-point game.
03:12There's been a couple of games where he scored in the teens.
03:15And, like, you guys just brought up the record with these bands.
03:18I'm not so sure that teams are that worried about Bam Adebayo as an offensive player.
03:23But when you have your best defensive player kind of focus so much on offense,
03:27maybe that trickles down to the entire team.
03:29There's something going on there.
03:30You can't tell me that Pat Riley is happy with it, that Miami's kind of becoming more of an offensive
03:36team
03:37than they are a defensive team.
03:38And I would think the same thing has got to be true with Eric Spolster.
03:41Oh, it's perfect that you bring up Pat Riley, Frank Isola.
03:43We all know he's a legend.
03:45That's the obvious statement of the day.
03:46He just turned to 81.
03:48Where is your confidence moving forward that Pat could build a winner here once again in Miami?
03:54Oh, no.
03:54I still have a lot of faith in Pat Riley.
03:56It's hard.
03:57You know, when you don't have high picks and you don't have that many assets, it's hard to do.
04:04I still think they would be in the running for Giannis Antetokounmpo this summer.
04:09It won't be easy to pull off, but I certainly think they would have the ability to do that.
04:13You know, injuries have been a factor.
04:14You know, Hero hasn't been there for a lot of the season.
04:17I know recently Norman Powell's been in and out of the lineup.
04:21I still think they have talent.
04:22I still think that Pat Riley knows how to put together a winning team.
04:26I still think Pat Riley is sharp.
04:28I still think that he's shrewd.
04:30And, you know, Miami doesn't do it just one way.
04:33I mean, you know, with that first title team, they drafted Dwayne Wade.
04:38They made the trade for Shaquille O'Neal.
04:40And then, obviously, when they won the two titles, you know, when was that, over a decade ago, that was
04:46more of, you know, the free agency with LeBron and Chris Bosh.
04:50And then the two times they made it to a final, those were smart trades.
04:53Through the draft, getting Bam, and then obviously trading for a guy like Jimmy Butler.
04:57So, I still have faith in Pat Riley that he knows how to get it done.
05:02And I still think I would always view Miami as a threat because the market that it's in, number one,
05:08and I still think they have really smart people running the show down there.
05:12How do you feel?
05:12Because, you know, it seems to be split 50-50 in terms of the Heat's path out of their current
05:18situation, which, Frank, let's be honest, you know, it's just mediocrity here.
05:21You're a playing tournament team four years in a row.
05:25The organization, because of all those things you just mentioned, by the way, it's to their credit, but they refuse
05:30to tank.
05:31They refuse to embrace what a lot of teams are embracing right now.
05:35They want to improve via trades because free agency just isn't what it used to be.
05:40But a large part of the fan base believes, like, hey, this is inevitable.
05:44We've seen this story already.
05:46It's time to completely blow this up.
05:48And I just wonder, like, how do you view that?
05:51Are you a proponent of teams trying to approach a rebuild like the Thunder, even though there's just, you know,
05:58an incredible amount of luck that goes into tanking?
06:00Because there's a lot of evidence of it not working as well.
06:04No, you just nailed it.
06:06It's not some surefire plan.
06:09You know, like Danny Ainge runs the Utah Jazz.
06:12When Danny Ainge was in Boston and they tried to tank, they didn't get the top pick.
06:16Like, then they lucked out when they made the trades for it.
06:19When they got rid of Garnett and Pierce, they ended up getting Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum out of it.
06:24And now Danny Ainge is in Utah and they tanked last year and they didn't end up with Concan nipple,
06:29Cooper Flagg, or B.J. Edgfield.
06:31They ended up with Ace Bailey.
06:32Who knows?
06:32Maybe Ace Bailey will turn out to be a good player.
06:35And the same thing with Washington.
06:36And, of course, the team that turned it into a rallying cry of, you know, trust the process was the
06:42Philadelphia 76ers.
06:43So, for all, you know, with the maneuvering that they've done over the years, they haven't got out in the
06:48second round.
06:49And, you know, Miami one year, what were they, eighth?
06:51And they made it to an NBA Finals with the Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo team.
06:55So, to me, there's no – like, all these teams that are doing it now, let's face it, guys.
06:59A lot of the teams that do it, it's their GMs.
07:01It's a way of kind of saving or prolonging their jobs, I should say.
07:05Oh, the draft is great.
07:06Oh, it's going to be the best draft.
07:08You have to get the draft picked.
07:09But, you know, if you go back, I think it was the 2019 draft where you had Zion Williamson, John
07:14Moran, and R.J. Barrett, one, two, three.
07:17How's that worked out for those three teams?
07:19You know, R.J. Barrett's not even on the Knicks anymore.
07:21In fact, they made it to a Conference Finals without him.
07:24You know, John Moran has had so many off-the-court issues.
07:26Started out great, but now has been a nightmare off-the-court and can't stay healthy.
07:30And Zion has yet to play in a single playoff game.
07:33So, we all thought that that draft was going to, like, change things.
07:36There's no guarantee, you know, that any of those picks.
07:39I mean, Kawhi was a 15th pick.
07:40Giannis was a 15th pick.
07:43Nikola Jokic was a second-round pick.
07:45You don't know.
07:45This year's draft, I think Cooper Flagg is legit.
07:48And they got lucky.
07:49Dallas, I think Conk and Ipple's outstanding.
07:51Tremendous, yeah.
07:52And Charlotte got a little lucky there.
07:54And Philadelphia got lucky because they moved up in the draft.
07:56So, to your point, just to say, let's just shut it all down and, like, we'll get a high pick.
08:01And we'll get the high pick.
08:02And he'll be a good player.
08:04How long has Washington been doing this for?
08:06What about Orlando?
08:07Orlando's gotten high picks.
08:08When does Orlando ever win a playoff series and do anything?
08:11Frank Isola here with us.
08:13So, when you talk about Giannis, and it's easier said than done, but as it – I think it's heading
08:19to a divorce this offseason,
08:20but this has been a talking point for the last four years.
08:23If you had to name, like, a 1 and a 1A on where you think he could be playing next
08:28year, what would it be in Frank Isola's mind?
08:31That's a good one.
08:32I definitely think Miami would be in play.
08:35I don't know how the Golden State Warriors could do it, but I would think even the Lakers somehow.
08:40I think it's going to be one of those types of markets.
08:43I wouldn't rule out Brooklyn because of all the draft picks they have.
08:46And I wouldn't rule out Toronto.
08:49I think there's a way that they can get it done.
08:51If you're asking me to bet – another team would be Houston.
08:55If Houston were to flame out early, maybe they're thinking we'll go for it with Kevin Durant at the age
08:59that he's at,
09:00and we'll try to make a run at Giannis Antetokounmpo.
09:03I think Miami makes a lot of sense.
09:06I think they've had a lot of success with those type of swinging for the fences, and it tends to
09:12work out for the Miami Heat.
09:14I definitely could see him playing there.
09:16It's been rough for Giannis.
09:18I think in his last 10 playoff games that he's played in, the team is 1-9.
09:22So Giannis has to answer a lot.
09:24He's, A, got to stay healthy, which he really hasn't been the last three years.
09:29And if he goes to Miami, he's going to have to swallow his pride a little bit.
09:33It can't be all about him.
09:34They're not going to put every family member on the team somehow.
09:37I don't think it's going to work like that.
09:39He's going to have to kind of do it the Heat way, and I think in the long run it'll
09:43be good for him.
09:43I've known the guy for a long time.
09:46He's a wonderful guy.
09:48I hated the way that he handled this season.
09:49I don't think it was, you know, to me it was like a little too distasteful, especially for a great
09:55player like that with the way that it was handled.
09:57But it sounds like a break is going to come.
10:00First of all, they could offer him crazy money, so I think he, you know, he'd always have the option
10:05to stay, but something tells me it's going to be a trade, and I'd probably put Miami at the top
10:09of the list.
10:10Who has the most pressure to win the NBA title this year, Frank?
10:13I know the obvious pick would be the Thunder.
10:15They're defending their title.
10:17SGA, you know, kind of starting to build his legacy.
10:21But they have like 2,000 first-round picks coming up in the next five years.
10:25So even if they don't win this year, like they'll be fine.
10:28They're good.
10:29They're set for the future.
10:30I don't know.
10:31Denver, the Knicks, the Lakers, the Cavs.
10:35Like who has the most pressure to really pull through this season?
10:39I think a lot of pressure on the Cavaliers, at least to get out of the second round, which they
10:44were unable to do last year.
10:46You know, what kind of changes could you see if they don't get out of the second round?
10:50I think, you know, the two teams that you mentioned, I think Denver is a big one because they made
10:55the trade for Michael Porter Jr.
10:56He went to the Brooklyn Nets.
10:57I do the Nets games on the Yes Network.
10:59And Michael Porter Jr. has been really good.
11:00He's a lot better than I thought he was.
11:03He's a very good offensive player.
11:04He rebounds.
11:05He actually became a little bit of a leader this year as well.
11:10And unfortunately, Cam Johnson, who's a terrific guy, has really struggled in Denver.
11:14So I think there'll be a lot of pressure on Denver.
11:16And of course, I think the Knicks, you have to put at the top because, you know, only one team
11:19in the Eastern Conference made a coaching change last season.
11:21And that was the New York Knicks.
11:23Getting rid of the guy that built the whole thing up, got them as far as they had been since
11:292000.
11:30And that was the guy that they got rid of.
11:31The guy that knows the market, the guy that, you know, has the connection to Jeff Van Gundy, who has
11:38the connection to Pat Riley.
11:40You know, Tom Dibbitt, I know he never coached under Pat Riley, but he's in a way kind of part
11:44of that tree as well.
11:46And that never made any sense for the New York Knicks.
11:49And if you look now, you know, Towns isn't having the year that he had last year.
11:53Mikael Bridges isn't having the year that he had last year.
11:55You know, nobody talks about Jalen Brunson as a whole, as a, as an MVP candidate.
12:01And ultimately, listen, the Knicks are going to be judged on how they do in the postseason.
12:07And they could get fortunate.
12:08They could draw Toronto in the first round because I don't think Toronto is very good.
12:12And the Knicks smoked them all the times that they've played them this year.
12:14But if the Knicks end up playing Atlanta, which has won 17 of its last 19, has a lot of
12:20athletic wing players, that could be tough.
12:22And then Philadelphia, you know, it's, you don't know what to make of Philadelphia, but with Embiid, healthy, if he's
12:29healthy and plays.
12:30With Paul George, if he's healthy and plays, it's always, you always have to make sure you mention that.
12:34But with Maxie, DJ Edgecombe, Kelly Oubre is a very good player.
12:39I mean, look at Paul George.
12:40You know, he got suspended for those 25 games.
12:42It looks like his legs are pretty fresh.
12:43What do you have last night?
12:4439 points.
12:45And I believe in his last four games, he's averaging 28 points per game, which is pretty good.
12:50So Philadelphia could be a really, really dangerous team.
12:53The one team, and I know the people in Miami don't want to hear it, the one team that kind
12:57of has no pressure on them is the team that has all the banners hanging there, is the Boston Celtics.
13:01Because they kind of looked at this as a gap year.
13:03And they're kind of like, believe it or not, a little bit of like the underdog story of the NBA
13:08season.
13:09And right now, they look as good as any team in the league.
13:11The little engine that could, the Boston Celtics maybe chugging along to another NBA championship.
13:16One last quickie for you, Frank Isola.
13:18It just feels like LeBron's not going to be back with the Lakers next year.
13:21If he's not, where do you think he could go to?
13:24Well, you know, I do think the one thing about the Lakers, like he wanted to be out in L
13:28.A.
13:29And, you know, no matter how you slice it, it worked out.
13:31He went there and they won a championship.
13:33And I think he's accepted kind of where he is in his career and letting kind of Luka be the
13:39guy, which is good for LeBron.
13:40Because now, yeah, Luka will get a lot of credit if they win.
13:43But Luka's also going to get a lot of blame if they lose.
13:46That, for me, still seems like the perfect spot.
13:50I mean, he's going to have to take a little bit of a discount.
13:52Would he be willing to do that?
13:54I'm not so sure.
13:55But they have a good thing going in L.A. right now.
13:58They've played really well.
13:59And Luka's played at a different level.
14:01But you guys, the Lakers are kind of like the Cowboys in football.
14:04The minute things go wrong, everyone goes a little overboard.
14:07Wasn't it Kendrick Perkins six weeks ago that said LeBron's got one foot in the grave and one foot on
14:12a banana peel?
14:13You sure you want to say that?
14:14The guy just had a triple-double the other night.
14:16His team, all they do is win.
14:18On most nights, he's the second-best player on the team.
14:21Some nights, it's the third-best player because Austin Reeves is there.
14:24But he still contributes a lot.
14:26The key for them will be defense in the playoffs.
14:28But if I were a betting man, and chances are I'll be wrong about this, I would say he'll be
14:32late for purple and gold.
14:33If not, I'm going to go – I don't know what I'm going to say.
14:37He'll be with the Golden State Warriors next year.
14:39Wow, how about that?
14:40Frank Isola joins us on the Toyota of Hollywood Hotline Shop.
14:43Over 2,000 Toyotas on sale at one location, Toyota of Hollywood on 441.
14:47Between Hollywood and Sheridan, ToyotaofHollywood.com.
14:50Frank Isola, we appreciate it.
14:53All right, guys.
14:54Enjoy the good weather.
14:55It's like in the 40s here, so you guys stay warm out there.
14:57Oh, it's freezing out here, Frank.
14:58It's like 78 degrees in Miami.
15:01Or you guys.
15:02I feel bad for you.
15:03Thanks a lot.
15:04I'll see you guys.
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