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As the Miami Heat host the Phoenix Suns on Saturday in the start of a back-to-back at home, fans have been wondering about the absence of young star Nikola Jovic. With the Heat coming off a monstrous win over the Los Angeles Lakers, there has been a question of whether the Serbian-born forward will appear in the foreseeable future.
The 21-year-old has not logged a single minute in the past six games, which could be surprising since he began the season as the starting power forward. He would say via Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald that he is no doubt “frustrated” at the lack of playing time, but he's using it to improve himself.
“Of course, I’m frustrated just because I’m not playing,” Jovic said after practice on Friday. “But it just shows you that I can keep working on myself. That’s what I’m doing now. You got to gain that trust back from the coaches and everyone.”
“I know I’m good enough, I know I’m a good player,” Jovic continued. “I don’t think it’s that. It’s the style of basketball play, the things that coach wants from certain lineups, it’s just something that, I guess, I’m not fitting right now. That’s why I got to work on those things and get back. I’m really not questioning how good I am now.”
Heat's Nikola Jovic on if there's one area of improvement
Jovic would be relegated to the Heat's bench after the first eight games of the season with the team going 3-5, but after some impressive outings in the second unit, he has fallen out of the rotation completely. In those six games, as mentioned earlier, he missed two of them due to an ankle sprain where he was made available in the win over Los Angeles but didn't play.
When asked if there was a specific area of improvement he needs to work on to get back in the rotation, Jovic believes he has to “work on everything.”
“I don’t think there’s one thing,” Jovic said. “I got to work on everything. Maybe three-point shooting, this year it hasn’t been great. I don’t think it was awful, but it should be better, I feel like you always got to improve. I don’t really have one thing I can tell you right now that I got to improve, but just my overall game.”
This season so far, up until Jovic's last game played against the Dallas Mavericks on Nov. 24, he is averaging 7.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game while shooting 44.8 percent from the field and 31.8 percent from beyond the arc.
Heat's Nikola Jovic wants to start
Jovic would also say he doesn't believe it's his defense that has led to him falling out of the rotation, saying that he's seen growth in that department where the point of other teams isn't to focus on his disadvantages. A big talking point in the offseason and training camp was the chemistry of the Heat's starting unit and how Jovic would fit in spacing the floor, as he even admitted “it's hard” playing there, though he saw it as an “honor.”
“First of all, I want to start. That’s the main thing,” Jovic said. “But it’s hard to really show yourself with the first unit. I don’t mind it. But if you’re not winning, someone who’s probably going to fall out of the first unit, it’s probably going to be me or whoever is that fifth guy. It’s really hard to be good. You got to be in the right spot and everything. But it’s an honor to be in the first unit.”
Heat's Nikola Jovic move from the starting lineup to the bench
There is some validity in Jovic's point about the starting lineup since the first unit relies on the offensive output from Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, and especially from Heat star Tyler Herro, who is having an impressive season. In the first game where Jovic came off the bench on Nov. 10 against the Minnesota Timberwolves, fans saw what made him impressive in the first place: using his size and shooting ability to command the floor as he scored 15 points to go along with seven rebounds.
He would shoot six of 11 from the field, two of four from deep, while even making the game-winning shot of the game.
“When I was coming off the bench, it was just way easier to show what I can do because you just get the ball more,” Jovic said. “But both roles are something that I really enjoy. They’re just different roles. In that first unit, maybe I just have to be great at spot-ups and a few transitions. But in the second unit, I get the ball more, which makes me attack more and play in the low post. So I don’t mind both roles. But at this point, the coaching staff is trying to figure out what the units are going to look like.”
Heat's Erik Spoelstra has message for Nikola Jovic amid lack of minutes
However, it's up to Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra to bring Jovic back into the fold, as he explained Friday what the former first-round pick in 2022 can do.
“He just has to stay with it,” Spoelstra said. “You know that saying where you win the day? He has to win the day every day. Is he guaranteed of playing in a game? No, he can’t control that right now. But he can control making me think about it — that, for sure. The way to do that is in practice sessions, prepractice, the approach at shootarounds, everything to be at a high level just to make you watch, and then eventually you get your opportunity, you make me play you.
“Then if you’re playing,” Spoelstra continued. “You make me not even think about playing somebody else. When you’re impacting winning and doing winning things and doing the detailed things with great effort and focus, that usually leads to those.”
Heat's Nikola Jovic putting the situation into perspective
What people need to realize is that Jovic has been through a stretch like this before, as even going to last season, it was rare to see an appearance from him to start, but he would earn the starting job towards the second half. This would be a process that Jovic admitted having gone through and even said it “probably” won't be the final time.
“It’s not the first time this has happened and probably not the last,” Jovic said. “I just got to keep working and that’s it. That’s the only thing I can do now, work on myself so I can crack that rotation again and improve myself. I just have to be better and that’s it.”
“It’s pretty obvious,” Jovic said on needing to be better. “He [Spoelstra] doesn’t need to tell me I need to be better for me to actually try to get better. We really haven’t talked a lot. It’s just basically staying ready, preparing. Chances always come. It’s nothing new and I know I’ll be back.”
At any rate, Miami is 10-10 as they have three contests left in the current homestand, continuing tonight with a back-to-back Saturday against the Phoenix Suns, which continues Sunday facing the Cleveland Cavaliers.
