Max Strus, Gabe Vincent on evolving roles in Heat rotation: ‘I kind of knew it was coming’
Max Strus and Gabe Vincent might not currently have consistent roles in the Miami Heat’s rotation. But they do have each other.
“It makes everything easier,” Strus said of his friendship with Vincent. “When you’re struggling or not playing or had a bad game and he has a great game, it just makes it easier because we’ve been through everything together and we got a great relationship. We’re really good friends. It’s easy to get lost in his success and want to be happy for him.”
“Our role and time and all that has been fluctuating up and down like no other,” Vincent added. “But we work out a lot together, we get shots up together, obviously we’ve gone through the same struggles this season in terms of that. So we just try to encourage one another. And when we get our time, Max gets hot and it gives me life. If I get hot, I know it gives him life. We want nothing but for each other to succeed.”
Strus and Vincent, both 25, built their friendship last season as the Heat’s two two-way contract players. That relationship has grown stronger after they were both promoted to Miami’s 15-man roster last summer.
Their path continued this season as both earned consistent roles in the Heat’s bench rotation during injury and COVID-19 issues. But with Miami’s roster finally near full strength for the first time this season just a month before the start of the playoffs, Strus and Vincent’s roles suddenly aren’t as clear.
“Much of the year, we haven’t been healthy, flat out,” Vincent said ahead of the Eastern Conference-leading Heat’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night at FTX Arena. “Then you add COVID, you add injuries, there’s been times where we’ve had only nine guys available. So it’s different when we have 15 ready to play. Naturally coach has to make decisions, minutes are going to look different, situations are going to look different, lineups are going to look different.
“They got to play with things. They got to see what works, see what doesn’t work and try to get this chemistry going in a short span. I kind of knew it was coming. But you don’t really know how it’s going to go. You could only prepare for something like that so much.”
With guard Victor Oladipo and forward Markieff Morris returning last week from extended absences, they have since stepped into the bench rotation spots previously occupied by Vincent and Strus. But it wasn’t a factor on Friday, with Oladipo ruled out against the Thunder because of lower back spasms.
Strus played in 47 of the 49 games he was available for prior to the All-Star break, averaging 23.8 minutes of playing time during that stretch. Vincent played in 50 of the 54 games he was available before the break, averaging 24 minutes of playing time during that span.
Since the break, Strus is averaging 19.7 minutes and Vincent is averaging 22.9 minutes of playing time. But the minutes and role have fluctuated, as Strus received his first DNP-CD (did not play, coach’s decision) since November in a Feb. 26 win over the San Antonio Spurs, and Vincent played just three minutes in a March 7 win over the Houston Rockets and one minute in a March 11 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“I was kind of preparing myself for it,” Strus said of his evolving role since Oladipo and Morris returned. “Vic is a two-time All-Star. He’s been in the league for a while, so he has every right to play and he’s a very talented player. So obviously we’re going to try things. Being in Spo’s shoes right now, it’s tough. We got a lot of guys that can play and help out each night. So whatever he says, goes. That’s just what I’m going to keep playing by.”
In Tuesday’s win over the Detroit Pistons, Strus and Vincent did not play in the first half. But after Jimmy Butler sprained his right ankle and was ruled out for the second half, Vincent opened the third quarter in the Heat’s starting lineup. Strus entered the game for the first time with 3:52 left in the third quarter and went on to score 16 points in the fourth quarter.
“It just keeps you on your toes,” Vincent said of their roles changing from game to game. “We have a lot of different guys, a lot of talent. Like we’ve seen throughout this season, we can plug and play a lot of people in different situations. That makes us pretty unique. You never know what your role might be. You might be put in there for spot minutes and go off, and end up playing 20. So you never really know what it might be night in and night out, but we try to take advantage of whatever we get.”
Vincent said Heat coaches, including head coach Erik Spoelstra, have “been trying to communicate more” recently with roles changing as players return from injury.
Vincent entered Friday averaging career-highs in points (9), rebounds (1.9), assists (3.2) and minutes (23.8) while shooting a career-best 36.8 percent from three-point range this season.
Strus entered Friday averaging career-highs in points (10.7), rebounds (3.1), assists (1.3) and minutes (23.1) while shooting a career-best 41 percent from three-point range this season.
“As long as we’re winning, it doesn’t really matter,” Strus said. “We got a lot of talented guys on this team that can play and help us win. So whatever coach Spo wants to do that night is what we’re going to go with and it’s going to work for us in the best way.”
INJURY REPORT
Along with missing Oladipo, the Heat will also be without Butler on Friday because of a sprained right ankle. It marked the 23rd game that Butler has missed this season and Oladipo’s first absence because of an injury since he made his season debut last week following surgery to repair the quadriceps tendon in his right knee last May.
The Thunder ruled out Luguentz Dort (shoulder), Derrick Favors (back), Josh Giddey (hip), Ty Jerome (hernia), Mike Muscala (ankle), Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (foot) and Kenrich Williams (knee).
This story was originally published March 18, 2022 at 11:31 AM.
