Tyler Herro doesn’t want to hear he can’t have it all.
It is part of the swagger of the fourth-year Miami Heat guard.
There also is some history there.
So after completing his first NBA triple-double in Sunday’s victory over the Atlanta Hawks to open the Heat’s four-game trip, Herro took time to lament the entirety of his performance.
The 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists were the talking points.
“It shows you he can contribute in more ways than one,” teammate Caleb Martin said.
But there also was 3-of-13 shooting from the field, including 0 for 8 on 3-pointers.
“When I look at that box score, I still shake my head, for sure,” Herro said. “I’m a perfectionist. I want a complete game. It’s just who I am. So it’s back to the gym and to work on my misses.”
Because he knows he can have it all.
Because he’s had it all.
That was back at Whitnall High School in the Milwaukee area, when he had a 45-point triple-double in the state tournament.
Still, that was kid stuff. To this stage, it often has been make or miss for Herro when it comes to his Heat success.
Sunday he missed, but still made his point. And that, coach Erik Spoelstra said, goes a long way toward showing the maturation of the 2019 first-round pick.
“It’s a really important lesson — not lesson, he’s such a good, skilled player — that you can find different ways to impact the win, even if the shot’s not going down. And I’m not sure maybe two years ago that he would have been able to do that.”
Spoelstra’s reaction did not come as a surprise to Herro, who was playing his third game back after missing eight with an ankle sprain.
“Honestly, scoring probably doesn’t make Spo as happy as it does seeing me impact the game,” Herro said, with the Heat now turning their attention to Wednesday and Friday night games against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. “So I’m just trying to do as much as I can and get wins.”
Point guard Kyle Lowry said Sunday should stand as an eye-opening game.
“We won the game with him scoring 11 points,” Lowry said. “And that just shows you like, ‘Man, I could do this.’ He still affected the game with 11 points. And I think that just shows him that he can affect the game without scoring the ball.
“And that’s just the maturation, that’s the process of growing, and it’s only going to make him better.”
The scoring is what earned him last season’s NBA Sixth Man Award. The completeness of his game is what the Heat most need to unlock, now that he has moved into the starting lineup this season.
“Not everybody’s got that willingness to learn and explore their game,” Martin said. “Because the next part of people’s game, with guys like that who can put the ball in the hole, is sharing. And so whenever you’re so caught up in wanting to score the ball, a lot of guys don’t necessarily want to do that next step.
“And the fact that he’s willing to do that just shows you that, one, he’s in for the team, and two, the proof is on the court, he got a triple-double.”
In many ways, it is the opposite track of fellow Kentucky product Bam Adebayo, the center who arrived to the Heat in 2017 as a first-round pick capable of doing all the little things, but still in need of developing his offensive game.
“He’s doing the little things,” Adebayo.
Which, in turn, has had Adebayo doing bigger things, with 38 and 32 points the past two games, many off Herro assists, as part of the three-game winning streak the Heat takes into the games against the Celtics.
“These last couple of games, he’s been making amazing reads, and just being at his own pace, not letting other people speed him up,” Adebayo said.
“Talking to him on the bus, being next to him on the plane, I feel like that’s what’s really building the connection. It’s not just going in there and getting better on the court. But off the court, developing a brotherhood.”
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Source: Berkshire mont
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