As the Miami Heat prepare for a crucial game tomorrow as they face the Milwaukee Bucks in the final group play game of the NBA In-Season tournament, a huge contribution will have to be made from rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. The UCLA-alum has been turning heads in the early parts of the season as he sat down with ClutchPoints to talk about the help he's getting, what he's learned about himself, and more.

There's been countless comparisons made between the way Jaquez plays and how Heat star Jimmy Butler performs, even Jaquez and head coach Erik Spoelstra have mentioned the similarities. Jaquez said to ClutchPoints that Butler has been continuously giving him sound advice in how to improve his game throughout the season, especially in Monday's practice.

“I talked to Jimmy especially when he's not playing. We talk all the time when I'm on the bench, and he's telling me what he sees and telling me what I can do better,” Jaquez said. “Even in practice today, he's talking to me about the little details on how I can improve my game. So it's been a great help having such great veterans around, being able to voice their knowledge. So I'm just trying to take and run with it.”

What Jaquez has learned about himself

Miami Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. in front of the Kaseya Center.

Even though Jaquez has played in 17 games, there are aspects that he's still learning about himself whether it be mentally or physically. He said that when the going gets tough, there's always that question if he loves playing basketball and the answer is always in a positive manner.

“When things get hard, you always got to ask yourself, do you really love it? And my answer is always yes. I think I'm in a good headspace right now,” Jaquez said. “I'm just trying to enjoy, this new experience, you know, traveling to different cities, being in new places, going to new arenas, like I think it's all fun, especially you know, but it's a perspective of growing up and looking at all these arenas, great places on his team and finally getting to live a dream. So I've been enjoying it, it's been a lot of fun.”

Jaquez has been constantly praised as not being a typical rookie due to his composure translating to the NBA. He's played at the college basketball level for all four of his years at UCLA and participated in a lot of post-season runs, which could've added to him playing well under the pressure. He said to ClutchPoints though that there are still obvious differences between the NBA and college.

“I would say travel is a big one, this amount of games that you're playing. There's a lot more spacing in the NBA than there is in college,” Jaquez said. “College is very congested, especially in the paint, it's very hard to get in there and make things happen and I think that's why you see such low-scoring games in college versus the NBA along with it that it's s a longer game.”

The Heat show confidence in Jaquez

Speaking of travel, the Heat have started the season playing 12 games on the road out of 17 total games played. Especially in this recent five-game road trip, Jaquez has came up huge as he's averaged 16 points per game and has been inserted in the starting lineup at one point because of injuries.

Spoelstra has also put Jaquez in late-game situations as well which shows the confidence the team has in him. He said that his mindset has always been finding a way to get himself on the floor.

“I mean, honestly, like every point in my career, starting young, I found a way to get on the floor. From being a freshman in high school to being a freshman in college, now being a rookie in the NBA being asked to do more than probably what's expected of a nornal rookie,” Jaquez said to ClutchPoints. “I think I've just kind of got adjusted to that after my entire long basketball life, being asked to do the things from the very start. This is what I look forward to, it's what I want to do and I'm just glad that coach has that trust in me.”

The Heat play the Bucks tomorrow and with the status of names like Jimmy Butler up in the air, Jaquez could once again see a significant amount of playing time after Miami lost to the Nets Saturday night. The Heat are 2-1 in group play in the In-season tourney and if they want a shot at advancing to the next round, they need a win.