Being ready when wait gets lifted
Olynyk in that position now as Johnson sees more action
MIAMI — These waiting your turn.
For James Johnson, it has finally come. For Kelly Olynyk, still nothing but idle time.
Such are the contrasts Heat forwards.
After going 18 games without playing, Johnson has appeared in three of the past four. Olynyk, by contrast, has been held out of the past four after appearing in the previous 35.
That had Johnson on Tuesday addressing getting back to something closer to his former self.
“Just taking it one game at time, one minute at a time, and trying to play my minutes as hard as I can,” he said ahead of Wednesday night’s game against the San Antonio Spurs at AmericanAirlines Arena. “You can’t simulate five-on-five or physicality are the for flip the sides two of The Heat’s James Johnson, left, and Kelly Olynyk are experiencing opposite sides of the NBA waiting game.
Miami like we have in the league. So [I’m] just trying to better my shape and keep conditioned so I can play longer stints if called.”
For Olynyk, it has been about maintaining focus in the absence of such opportunity.
“I feel like I’ve been through it every year in Miami,” said Olynyk, now in his third season with the Heat. “You’ve just got to stay ready. Stuff happens in a long season. Obviously, there can be injuries, trades or maybe rotations change.
“You just got to keep working, stay
ready, and when your make the most of it.”
With centers Bam Adebayo and Meyers Leonard having appeared in all 39 games this season, the opportunities have been limited for Olynyk. For Johnson, by contrast, a door opened with the ongoing back issue that has had forward Justise Winslow out for 17 games and will have him out again Wednesday.
That has Johnson racing to regain prime fitness, acknowledging such conditioning opportunity comes
can only be achieved game minutes.
“You can’t simulate guarding a [Bobby] Portis or a Melo (Carmelo Anthony) or a Dame Lillard,” he said. “When you get those opportunities, you cherish and you go as hard as you can for as long as you can. You man up and you ask Coach to pull you out when you can’t go no more or no harder.”
As for a percentage on where he stands, Johnson said, “Conditioning-wise and all that? Probably in around 80. But as far as rhythm and finding my niche out there with this new group of guys or the group of guys that I’m out there with, probably 60 [or] 65.”
Even before this latest opportunity, Johnson had made a point of supporting those who supported him while he was banished from the team in the preseason over conditioning issues.
“Stay with it,” he said of his outlook, “stay grinding, not fake cheering for my guys but really appreciating how well they were doing and the things that they were accomplishing out there before my minutes.
“[I have been] really wanting them guys to win and do well. I think there’s a karma to that, and I’m playing all right so far.”
Similarly, Olynyk said it would be foolish to mess with what mostly has been working for the Heat, whose record stands at 27-12.
“I mean, it’s not hard if you’re winning,” he said of spectating. “If you’re winning, it’s easy. If you’re losing, it sucks to sit on the bench because you want to be out there and help and make a difference. But if you’re winning, it’s easy to do, honestly.
“Go out there and cheer for your teammates — [it] gives them some positive energy. If you’re winning, it’s a great thing. But losing and not playing would be way tougher because being a competitor, you’d think you could help the team, one way or another.”
That’s something Olynyk still believes.
“I’ve had good games this year,” he said, “and I’ve had some bad games this year. Just like everybody on our team.
“Whether it happens now or later or after the All-Star break, you never know. So you’ve just got to stay ready.”