With all the ups and downs of the Miami Heat so far, one aspect that has been exciting is the trade made for star Terry Rozier which boosts the offense in a multitude of ways. While it was known that it would take time for him to get acclimated with the team, he is the first one to say that he is not doing well with a plain admission after the Heat's loss to the Los Angeles Clippers last Sunday.
“I can’t hit a jump shot,” Rozier said according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
It could be the case of the former Charlotte Hornets guard being too hard on himself as he scored 17 points in the defeat, albeit off of making seven of his 17 shot attempts while also collecting seven rebounds and five assists. Still, Rozier would say to the media after the game that he is his “toughest critic.”
“I don’t try to get too much into myself. I’m a team player,” Rozier said. “You look at the end, you worry about wins and losses. I’m not happy that we got the L today. But like I said, I’m my toughest critic. I just got to keep on putting the work in and it’s going to fall for me.”
Rozier says he needs to shoot out of the slump
The shooting slump continues as in the game before against the Washington Wizards, he only made two of his 13 shot attempts, though he racked in 15 points with 11 free throws made.
Overall for Rozier, he has made just above 25 percent on jump shots in his first seven games with the Heat after shooting close to 42 percent in 30 games with the Hornets prior to the trade. It is simple for Rozier, you have to “shoot yourself out of the slump.”
“Part of it is you just got to keep shooting it,” Rozier said. “Shoot yourself out the slump.”
Josh Richardson, Erik Spoelstra weigh in on Rozier
It has been said time and time again since Miami made the trade for Rozier that it is going to take some time for him to get acclimated with the team, especially with the hectic schedule he had to deal with once the deal was made. One player that understands the pressure is Josh Richardson who has been dealt a multiple amount of times throughout his career and said the transition is “never easy.”
“Being traded mid-season, coming to a contending team is never easy,” Richardson said. “There’s a lot of pressure on a lot of things that you do. But I think T-Ro has been good so far. I think that he’s been aggressive, but he’s been trying to play in the offense and been trying to get guys involved and play with pace and he’s been defending.”
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra touched on the topic of Rozier after the game and said that there is no doubt that they are better with his aggressiveness. He would mention that he is “very respectful” of his peers in the locker room.
“We want him to be aggressive, we want him to be him,” Spoelstra said. “Everybody is saying the same thing. He’s very respectful of everybody in the locker room. But we’re better with his aggressiveness, for sure.”
Miami is currently 26-24 on the season which puts them eighth in the Eastern Conference as they are now past the 50-game mark. They continue the four-game home stand with a back-to-back starting Tuesday against the Orlando Magic and then Wednesday facing the San Antonio Spurs.
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