Feeling out of practice
Rozier has yet to experience a full one since arrival
MIAMI — And on the seventh day Terry Rozier rested.
After making his Miami Heat debut last Wednesday amid a stretch of four games in six days and a trip to New York in the middle, the guard acquired from the Charlotte Hornets was afforded the luxury Tuesday of time for his first full practice with his new team.
It didn’t happen, with Heat coach Erik Spoelstra instead opting for a video session.
That means Rozier’s first full practice with the Heat remains an abstract, with the team scheduled to be off Thursday and Saturday, traveling to and from Friday night’s game against the
Washington Wizards. With the Heat then hosting the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday, it now means the next opportunity for Rozier’s first true Heat practice might not come until Feb. 5, after being acquired Jan. 23.
With the Heat holding gameday shootarounds before this week’s two home games, including ahead of Wednesday night’s game against the Sacramento Kings at Kaseya Center, Spoelstra downplayed the lack of a true initial practice session for the veteran point guard.
“I think that’s a little bit semantics,” Spoelstra said, noting that each day has been part of a learning curve since Rozier was acquired for Kyle Lowy and a future first-round pick.
“He’s getting there,” Spoelstra said. “Is it going to be perfect just a week in? No, that’s not realistic. But yes, he’s making progress.”
The lack of a true practice has not been lost on Rozier.
“Like I’ve been saying, it’s been a crazy week, to say the least,” he said. “These guys, these coaches, everybody around me is doing a great job of making me fit in.
“It’s going to take a little time.
Things are going to be perfect one day. Practice or not, like I said, these guys are great, so things will work out.”
For now, the tutorials are coming at game speed — in games.
That has made it somewhat of a delicate dance. It is one thing to step on a teammate’s toes during practice by bypassing a pass or improvising beyond a play call. It’s another to do it with the clock ticking and score being kept.
“I’m a competitor,” Rozier said, “but I got respect for those guys in the locker room, so I’ve never been told in a full week, this many times, to play my game or how to play my game.
“I know how to play my game, but I’ve got so much respect for those guys in there. I don’t want to come in and take the pull-up 3s.
“It’s got to happen. If you give it time, it’s got to happen. But these coaches and the players in there do a great job of getting me up to speed, so everything will fall into place.”
For as much as the Heat are known for their grueling practices, the sessions that Spoelstra terms as Hunger Games, there also is a respect for rest and recovery.
That ultimately could make the upcoming three-day break, from Feb. 8-10, before the nationally televised Super Bowl Sunday home game against the Boston Celtics, the time for an in-season training camp, with that three-day break starting at the NBA trading deadline.
To a degree, it has been a case of getting up to speed with Rozier’s speed.
“We’re trying to fast-track that,” Spoelstra said. “What he brings us, we need. And we just want him to get comfortable.
“He’s an aggressive player. He brings us the speed and quickness that we think can really help us.”
It is a different game, Spoelstra said, with Rozier.
Prior to Rozier’s arrival, the Heat had scored fewer than 100 points in four of their previous six games.
The Heat went into Wednesday having scored 105 or more in three in a row.
“We have to get everybody used to running, at that pace, because he can get up the court very quickly,” Spoelstra said. “He also can advance pass, which we need.
“We want him to be aggressive and want him to be him. That’s normal. It’s coming from a great place. He doesn’t want to overstep anybody. He wants to complement.
“But we’ll be better when he’s aggressive.”