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Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo is already known for his explosive ability at the rim and his tenaciousness on the glass. What he is not yet known for is his passing, but that may be only just a matter of time.
Adebayo recorded a career-high eight assists during Saturday's crucial win over the Washington Wizards, also recording a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Now entrenched in the starting lineup, Adebayo has used playing alongside the starters as a way to increase his passing, something he and head coach Erik Spoelstra both discussed via … of the SunSentinel:
“It's just me being me, just seeing guys that are open, getting guys open shots and doing that.”
“I've always had that in my game, seeing somebody open,” Adebayo said. “I got doubled a lot in college. You learn the ropes. You learn to find open people. You know how to see through second defenders. And this organization, player-development-wise, they do a great job.”
“I love watching the pre-practice workouts,” Spoelstra said, “and he's working on different passes, left hand, right hand.”
In his 20 games as a starter this season, Adebayo is averaging 3.4 assists per game. That number in 53 contests off the bench? Just 1.8.
Now that it appears that he has leapfrogged Hassan Whiteside on the depth chart at least for the remainder of the regular season, Adebayo is going to deploy the newest bit of his arsenal. He'll still bring the points and rebounds to the table, but now, he's even adding assists.
