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Giannis Antetokounmpo gets brutally honest on Heat's 0-4 NBA season start
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- Giannis Antetokounmpo gets brutally honest on Heat's 0-4 NBA season start
Giannis Antetokounmpo gets brutally honest on Heat's 0-4 NBA season start originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
Expectations were at an all-time high when the Miami Heat landed Giannis Antetokounmpo. A vast majority of fans touted them as immediate title contenders or at least one of the favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference. After four games, it seems those expectations have been tamed. Coach Erik Spoelstra and Bam Adebayo have still not led this squad to a single win. How does Antetokounmpo feel about it all? Well, he had some brutal takes, but ended with an optimistic resolution.
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Heat's Antetokounmpo gets brutally honest about 0-3 NBA season start
The Heat have sunk to 14th in the Eastern Conference standings after just four regular-season games. So far, Coach Erik Spoelstra's squad has faced the Minnesota Timberwolves , Detroit Pistons , Charlotte Hornets , and Dallas Mavericks . Not a single win has come out of their squad.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was one of the first Heat players who was asked about how they felt with the dry spell. The Greek Freak gave a simple answer, loaded with frustration but patched up with some optimism, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic.
"Once you figure it out, you cannot let it go. Feel what you feel now. I feel what I feel now. I don't like this feeling. And the moment we turn this around, I'm always gonna remember this feeling, and I'm gonna try not to get back to this feeling," the Heat superstar declared.
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Bam Adebayo and Coach Spoelstra have seen the Heat struggle on all fronts during these first four games of the NBA season. They currently have a -12.4 net rating, the fourth-worst in all of the NBA. That's paired with a 27th-ranked offensive rating of 105.7 and a 22nd-ranked defensive rating of 118.0.
"We all have to take a deep breath, and eventually, we're gonna figure it out. You cannot press the panic button and panic because it's only gonna get worse if you start panicking, man. I've been in this position before. I've lost five in a row. I've lost seven in a row. I've won 10 in a row. I've won 18 in a row. You just gotta keep on playing basketball — you're gonna figure it out," Antetokounmpo added.
To go further, the Heat have struggled in two key areas on both ends of the floor. They have a 21.1 ORB% that's 28th in the league while only getting a 70.1% DRB% that's 19th in the NBA. Rebounding has clearly been a woe despite having both Adebayo and Antetokounmpo on the Heat.
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Moreover, their shooting and shot defense have not been the best. They have only a .500 eFG%, which ranks 24th in the NBA. Meanwhile, they also allow opponents to shoot at a .565 eFG%, the fifth-worst in the league. They cannot generate quality shots but allow their opponents to get easy baskets.
On all fronts, the Heat are struggling. Hopefully, Coach Spoelstra's schematics, along with the brute force and optimism of Antetokounmpo, can turn things around.
