Playing Waiters game
Jaquez hopes to impact Rising Stars contest as ex-Heat guard once did
MIAMI — Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. as the next Dion Waiters?
When it comes to his invitation to compete in the Rising Stars competition during All-Star Weekend, Jaquez noted Wednesday that a prime memory of the competition between first- and secondyear players is one that involved Waiters, the former Heat guard.
That was back in 2014, when Jaquez was 13 and Waiters was on one of the teams in the event, and Tim Hardaway Jr., son of the former Heat icon, was on the other.
“From my memory,” Jaquez said, “it was Dion Waiters and Tim Hardaway Jr. going back and forth in the Rising Stars. It was basically like a one-on-one game.”
Hardaway closed that exhibition with 38 points in 24 minutes for the team coached by Chris Webber. Waiters scored 31 points in 22 minutes for the team coached by Grant Hill.
“I think that was one of my good memories of the Rising Stars game,” Jaquez said.
The rookie out of UCLA was named Tuesday to the player pool for the event to be played Feb. 16 in Indianapolis.
“I know a lot of great players have been through that game,” he said. “So just to be a part of that and be able to participate is an honor.”
To Jaquez, whose father’s family is from Mexico, it is another avenue to heighten Hispanic interest in the game.
“Just as far as fandom and people coming up to me and just saying how much they appreciate what I’ve been doing for Latin people all over the country and all over the world,” he said. “So to be able to have that impact and see it live on people coming to talk to me and at games, it’s really special.
“Being here in a very Latin community, the impact is even greater, just because I’m here and there’s obviously a very high Latin population. And to be able to see that physically I think is really important.”
For Jaquez, drafted No. 18 in June, being picked for the Rising Stars is another part of his rookie initiation, as was the Heat’s frank video session Tuesday amid a seven-game losing streak.
“I think it was very impactful,” he said ahead of Wednesday night’s game against the Sacramento Kings at Kaseya Center.
“Sometimes when you get through a season, it’s important to just sit down and have conversions as a team, get things off our chest and move forward.
“It’s not very uncommon for things to happen like that, especially in team sports. So to be able to have a day like that I think was very beneficial.”
Swider back: Cole Swider’s cross-country whirlwind continued when the 3-point-shooting forward was able to make it back from a 5:30 a.m. flight out of Sioux Falls, S.D., in time for Wednesday night’s game against the Kings.
Swider, who is on a two-way contract, was recalled from the G League Sioux Falls Skyforce after Heat guard Duncan Robinson was placed in the NBA’s concussion protocol.
Swider played 39 minutes, 5 seconds in the Skyforce’s 118-111 loss to the Houston Rockets’ affiliate Tuesday night in Sioux Falls, closing with 25 points, shooting 4 of 9 on 3-pointers.
Heat center Orlando Robinson, who remains on G League assignment, closed that game with 34 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, five steals and two blocked shots, extending his Sioux Falls franchise record with his eighth consecutive double-double.
Also on G League assignment, Heat guard RJ Hampton, who also is on a two-way contract, had two points in 20 minutes in Tuesday’s Skyforce loss.
Pushing through: Forward Caleb Martin said a factor compounding the Heat’s struggles has been the series of injuries that has had the team utilizing 25 lineups in its first 47 games.
“I can’t imagine how tough that is as a head coach to figure out what’s the best for the group, whether it’s defensively, schematics, whatever it is,” Martin said. “But like we said, if the effort’s there and the energy’s there and the intention is there, all that stuff will take (care) of itself.”
The Heat’s skid came in the wake of Erik Spoelstra’s eightyear, $120 million extension being announced.
“Let the coach do what he does. It’s what he just got paid to do,” Martin said of Spoelstra’s challenge. “He got paid that amount of money because he’s good at what he does.
“So we need to take care of what we can control and let him do his job and figure out the rest.”