Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra gives props to Dru Smith and Myron Gardner
The Miami Heat have plenty of star power with Norman Powell, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro.
They also have a solid collection of role players, including Dru Smith and Myron Gardner. Both have impact during the Heat's last victory against the Phoenix Suns.
Gardner only had two points in three minutes but Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said it was impactful.
"Myron is continuing to build trust with everybody," Spoelstra said. "You feel his energy right away. There's going to be something. There's going to be some kind of action. And he's finding ways to make it more positive for the team. It's just unbridled effort and energy. It's amazing what you can get accomplished if you just commit to that."
The same could be said about Smith, who is just another in the Heat's continued line of developmental players turned into stars. The group includes the likes of Hassan Whiteside, Tyler Johnson, Duncan Robinson and Max Strus and others.
Smith has made one of the biggest impacts despite recovering from multiple injuries. Smith had 11 points in 23 minutes against the Suns.
"Dru was great both games," Spoelstra said. "He had almost like a misprint. I think he had five steals last night, but I think it was like 13 or 14 deflections. It was crazy last night and then tonight he was all over the place. Just that steadying presence when we put the ball in Jaime's hands, Drew found a way to get in the right spot. A lot of times to help us run our offense and then defensively, he's just really good, particularly against the stuff that they do. A lot of these perimeter pick and rolls, they slip out of there, they try to confuse you and that opens up a three-point window. He was just super disciplined, super aware, communicating the actions. That's why he's one of the more valuable defensive players in this league."
The Heat return to action today against the Orlando Magic at Kaseya Center. As of now, they are the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference standings as the NBA All-Star break approaches.
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Shandel Richardson is the publisher of HeatRoundtable. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com