Here’s the thing, Scary Terry has hops. At 30-years-old and with a decade of play under his belt, Terry Rozier can cut like a knife, shake loose defenders, deflect, drive, and kick the ball out to the wing on a layup with the court vision still 20/20. He shoots, too. Tidy jumpers, deep and swooning corner threes, tricky little one-handed layups, fastbreak two-handed deliveries, Rozier runs through them like a personal rolodex.
Perhaps it’s a good reminder, for you as much as me, that age really doesn’t have anything to do with it. For one, despite what we’re led to believe by watching NBA basketball and listening to people talk about it, 30 isn’t old. Besides age, there’s a more important personal factor: whether an athlete keeps up. NBA basketball gets pushed in new directions every season as competitive teams break the mold and not yet competitive teams try to keep up.
Optimization is an unfortunate word in our modern and decidedly capitalist lexicon, but it’s what good athletes do. If there’s a skill to develop, they figure out what it is. Giannis Antetokounmpo in the mid-range this season is a perfect and very successful example. The bigger thing these smaller improvements add up to are teams with a depth of different weapons to pull out against the seemingly unbeatable juggernauts at the top. Occasionally, front offices identify what their unique skillset or style of play can be — think the decidedly big Cleveland Cavaliers, or the micro, play-every-position, Thunder — and build toward it.
For an athlete like Rozier, who many were quick to call a Kyle Lowry 2.0 when he arrived in Miami, the improvisation he’s shown with the Heat was born out of necessity but also an aptitude for reading the room. The Heat are a workaholic organization with a next-man-up mentality they don’t just talk about as an inspirational soundbite, but is twined through the fibre of all that they do.
After starting for the first month of the season, Rozier sat out for two games with a foot injury and in last night’s close match against the Bucks, he came off the bench. This could be a momentum — not to mention ego — disruption for some, but Rozier took it in stride. He played the most impactful basketball the Heat had seen all game, leading a 2nd half comeback that was almost enough to swamp Milwaukee.
Asked in the locker room postgame how he felt about not starting the game and Rozier smiled, “It’s who finishes the game, it ain’t who starts.”
Despite the disappointed mood in the locker room, Rozier’s teammates had plenty of praise for him.
“Pro’s pro. A winner. He’s still doing what we need him, what we want him, and what he does do — get buckets, run the squad, get some sops,” Jimmy Butler said. “He’s going to help us win games.”
If Rozier stays in the bench rotation it’s not for lack of effort. Erik Spoelstra called him a “disruptive defender in our system” and a “dynamic offensive talent”. Spoelstra also said Rozier not starting wasn’t an indictment on him. Indeed, if what the Heat have been lacking in many of their close games is consistent effort, then someone as dynamic and competitive as Rozier coming off the bench as a spark isn’t a bad option. He lit his team up last night.
