Spoelstra on notion of Heat depth creating tough rotation decisions: ‘That’s for amateurs’
Victor Oladipo spent about eight minutes answering questions about himself after playing in his first game in 11 months on Monday night. But he dedicated the final 15 seconds of his postgame media session to two of his Miami Heat teammates.
“Big shout out to Max and Gabe, who have been playing really well,” Oladipo said, unprompted, before walking away from the microphone. “For them to sacrifice their minutes tonight, I know that’s not easy. So I really appreciate them for that.”
With Kyle Lowry returning from a four-game absence and Oladipo making his season debut after undergoing surgery to repair the quadriceps tendon in his right knee last May, regulars Max Strus and Gabe Vincent were pushed out of the Heat’s crowded rotation in Monday’s home win over the Houston Rockets to make room for them.
Strus and Vincent spent the entire night on the bench before finally entering the game for the first time when there was 3:28 left in the fourth quarter. The Heat, already ahead by 18 points, emptied their bench at that point.
“We’re trying to do one of the toughest things there is in this sport,” coach Erik Spoelstra said, dismissing questions about the tough rotation decisions he now faces with the roster close to full health. “You need everybody.”
Monday was a rarity for Strus and Vincent. It marked just the third game in 53 appearances that Strus has been limited to single-digit minutes and the eighth game in 57 appearances that Vincent has played single-digit minutes.
Ahead of Strus and Vincent, the Heat used Tyler Herro, Dewayne Dedmon, Caleb Martin and Oladipo off the bench to complete its nine-man rotation on Monday along with the usual starting lineup of Lowry, Duncan Robinson, Jimmy Butler, P.J. Tucker and Bam Adebayo.
“That’s for amateurs. People talking about you have too much talent or you got too many decisions to make,” Spoelstra said, as the East-leading Heat continues its season-long seven-game homestand on Wednesday against the West-leading Phoenix Suns (7:30 p.m., ESPN and Bally Sports Sun). “Yeah, good. I’ve been on the other side of it where you don’t have a realistic chance to try to do something special. That’s a whole lot more frustrating.
“Guys understand the opportunity with this group. It’s not all going to be perfect. Everybody is not always going to be happy, but we have a really mature group in this locker room. They understand the big picture. We’re going to need everybody.”
Monday was just one game, as the Heat looked to create minutes for Oladipo in his first game back. Vincent and Strus will very likely be needed again soon.
Vincent is averaging career-highs in points (9.6), rebounds (2), assists (3.3) and minutes (24.3) while shooting a career-best 38 percent from three-point range this season
Strus is career-highs in points (10.5), rebounds (3.1), assists (1.3) and minutes (23.4) while shooting a career-best 40.4 percent from three-point range this season.
But with the Heat’s roster close to whole and Markieff Morris also potentially returning soon, there’s no doubt that the tough rotation decisions Spoelstra wants to be forced to make are here.
“Just coming into the year, we talked about being the best bench in the league,” Herro said. “We continue to try to emphasize that day by day, game by game. We have a bunch of guys who can fit in and impact the game. Max and Gabe didn’t play much, but they can come in and do the same thing. Impacting winning and just make winning plays at the end of the day. So with our bench, it’s just continue to evolve and keep striding forward.”
MORE OLADIPO
In Oladipo’s first comments to reporters since the Heat’s annual media day in September, he gave an honest and nuanced answer when asked if he still faces any limitations with his surgically repaired knee.
“I think it’s a process,” Oladipo said Monday after finishing his season debut with 11 points and four assists in 15 minutes. “At the end of the day, with dealing with this injury and dealing with what I’ve been through, there is no clear-cut answer. I think at the end of the day, it’s just about my body and how it responds over time. I think Spo and the staff understand that it’s not something that’s going to happen overnight. It’s something that’s going to take some time and you got to be patient, including myself. But at the end of the day, eventually they’ll let the reins off. I just got to keep getting better until then.”
Spoelstra said before Monday’s game that Oladipo is “in a much better place physically than he was last year when he first arrived.” Oladipo was on a strict minutes restriction — a maximum of 15 minutes — in his season debut, and he’s expected to be on a minutes restriction for the “foreseeable future.”
“By all the metrics and measurements and everything that the training staff has tested him on, it really is remarkable what he was able to do last year basically on one leg,” Spoelstra said. “So this is probably the best he has felt since before three years ago, before the injury. This has been a very taxing and tough three years for him.”
▪ The Heat formally signed developmental forward Haywood Highsmith to a three-year contract on Tuesday to fill the final spot on its 15-man roster. The Heat used part of the mid-level exception to sign Highsmith at the minimum salary for the remainder of the season, and the second and third seasons of the contract are non-guaranteed.
▪ With Oladipo and Lowry back, the Heat sent two-way contract guard Kyle Guy on Tuesday to play with its G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Along with the Guy, Morris (return to competition reconditioning) and Javonte Smart (G League) have been ruled out for Wednesday’s game against the Suns.
Martin (left Achilles soreness) is listed as questionable. Oladipo is off the Heat injury report for the first time this season.
The Suns’ injury report for Wednesday’s game in Miami has not yet been released, as they first took on the Magic in Orlando on Tuesday night to kick off a back-to-back set.
This story was originally published March 8, 2022 at 12:00 PM.
