What’s Heat getting in first-round pick Jaime Jaquez Jr.? UCLA coach on why he ‘fits the Heat’
.JPG "The Miami Heat’s first-round draft pick Jaime Jaquez, Jr., left, and Miami Heat President Pat Riley talk to reporters during a press conference at Kaseya Center.")
Forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. left a strong impression on the Miami Heat during the pre-draft process. It was enough to convince the Heat to select him with the 18th overall pick in last week’s NBA Draft.
Jaquez also left a strong impression on his UCLA coaches during his four-year college career.
“We’re all broken-hearted that he’s gone,” UCLA men’s basketball coach Mick Cronin said to the Miami Herald when asked what the Heat can expect from Jaquez. “So that should tell you. Myself and every UCLA fan, because he’s the most reliable guy I’ve ever coached. Every day in practice and every game, there’s never a no show with him. That’s because he’s not reliant upon one thing as a player. So he can help you win a game scoring, he can win you a game rebounding and he can help you win a game with his defense.”
Those winning qualities helped catch the attention of Heat scouts, executives and coaches.
Jaquez, 22, earned a starting role a month into his freshman season at UCLA and turned into one of the most accomplished players in program history, leading the Bruins to one Final Four and two more appearances in the Sweet 16. He finished his college career with 1,802 points (eighth on UCLA’s career scoring list), 178 steals (eighth on UCLA’s career steals list) and 842 rebounds (11th on UCLA’s career rebounding list).
Jaquez (listed at 6-foot-6 and 226 pounds) averaged 17.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.5 steals per game in 37 games (all starts) as a senior last season. He was named a consensus second-team All-American and the 2023 Pac-12 Player of the Year.
“It’s because of his effort,” Cronin said when asked why he labeled Jaquez as the most reliable player he’s ever coached. “There are two things in coaching that we all talk about that we don’t want to coach. Coaches always say this, we don’t want to coach effort and we don’t want to coach attitude. We should not have to. That’s why people say, he fits the Heat and what they’re all about because that’s what he’s all about. You don’t ever have to worry about his effort and you don’t ever have to worry about his attitude.”
Cronin took over as UCLA’s head coach prior to the 2019-20 season, when Jaquez was an incoming freshman. Cronin was Jaquez’s coach for his entire four-year college career.
Here’s what else Cronin had to say about the Heat’s first-round selection:
Q: When did you know Jaime was different than other players you’ve coached?
Cronin: “I took the program over four years ago, so he was a freshman. I had to figure out who can I build the program with on this roster. And we were playing a game in Maui during his freshman year in early November. There were a lot of returning players on the team, so he didn’t say much early on in practice. But we weren’t playing very well in Maui at halftime of one of the games, he just goes off: ‘We got to play better. This is BS. We got to play harder. We got to step it up.’ It just came out of him, as a freshman. I just turned to my assistant coaches and I said, ‘Well, we got one guy we can build a program with.’ He started the second half of that game and every other game he ever played for me.”
Q: How do you see Jaime’s game translating to a smaller role in the NBA after playing as a high-usage player at UCLA?
Cronin: “I think the advantage is that he has never been the super high-rated kid that was always the best player on his team and things circled around him. He’s been through being a role player before and he’s never had his butt kissed, whether it was his dad or me. He told me, his dad was tougher on him than I was. His advantage is it won’t be a shock, it won’t be the first time he has to fit in to whatever role the Heat wants him to play. He’s been through that for me. As a freshman, his job was to be the hustle guy. As he got more comfortable and as he logged more minutes, he became the go-to guy. He got in the lineup as the hustle guy. By the end, he was the go-to guy. He understands the game and he’s mature.”
Q: Jaime does a lot well. But what would you point to as his one basketball skill that stands out above the rest?
Cronin: “It could be different in college than it will be in the NBA. His last couple years in college, you could just give him the ball and he had tremendous patience and footwork. Very few college guys can score over somebody and make guarded shots. He can make guarded shots and he can post up, he can play mid-range and he can make the three.”
Q: Do you believe Jaime can be an above average three-point shooter in the NBA?
Cronin: “He spent all spring working on shooting the ball and trying to slim down, getting in unbelievable shape because he’s going to have to guard quicker guys. If he shoots the ball well, he’s going to have a tremendous NBA career. Because everything else, understanding the offense, the defense, those are very underrated things, understanding what the coach wants, how to play with guys, how to play with Jimmy Butler. He will pick all that up immediately. If he shoots the ball at a high clip when he’s open, he’s going to be a huge asset because everything else he will excel in.”
Q: Jaime said he doesn’t feel like his underwhelming three-point shooting efficiency at UCLA is reflective of his outside shooting. Do you agree?
Cronin: “Yeah, because I didn’t really spot him up. He had to do so much for us that he never was a spot-up guy for us. That was never his role here. But he can definitely do it. And I’ll tell you, everybody talks that they work hard. But every day before practice, first guy in there doing his form shooting. Every day at the end of practice, 20-30 minutes with an assistant coach doing full-speed shooting drills. That’s on his own, above what we’re doing with him.”
Q: How do you think Jaime will fare defensively in he NBA?
Cronin: “That’s one thing I’ll take credit for. Everything else, I give him all the credit. We play defense here and I’m pretty well known for it. Nobody wins if you don’t defend. ... So he improved immensely over time with understanding angles, so he’s well-trained in that. Obviously, though, you got to guard better players in the NBA than in college. But he’ll make that adjustment, he’ll figure it out.”
Q: Who would you say is an NBA comparison for what Jaime can be?
Cronin: “They’re not totally similar because Jaime is a better one-on-one player. But he’s got a lot of P.J. Tucker in him. He’s just going to do what he needs to do to help you win. He’s just that kind of a guy. To me, Jaime is always going to be wanted on teams that are trying to win. He may never be your leading scorer, but he’s the guy that you have to have because he can get things done in the playoffs.”
Q: A lot has been said about Jaime’s toughness. What would you say about that part of his persona?
Cronin: “His junior year for us, he played with bone spurs in an ankle and both ankles were sprained multiple times. 99 out of 100 guys in his position as a future pro would have stopped playing and I thought he was going to stop playing. When they told him the bone spurs weren’t going to get any worse and he could take them out after the season, he said, ‘Well, I’m playing.’ I was shocked. He wasn’t himself. It probably cost us another Final Four because he was far from himself the last two months of the season. He just would never sit out, no matter what happened.”
Q: So, you’re saying Jaime fits right in with the Heat?
Cronin: “There’s no question about that. And it’s normal for him. He helped me build my culture. The scariest thing for me is what am I going to do when he’s gone? Especially getting him as a junior and senior and he’s your best player. Your best player is showing up every day ready to go and he’s hurt, and all he cares about is we win. We know how valuable that is as a coach.”
This story was originally published June 28, 2023 at 9:26 AM.
