Staying Ready Is The Key For Miami Heat's Max Strus

Despite a limited role, Strus continues to be effective when called upon

When the Miami Heat regained some of their injured players, guard Max Strus knew his minutes would get reduced. 

Strus has handled the situation with ease, just making sure to take advantage of each opportunity. He did that in Tuesday's victory against the Detroit Pistons. 

He scored 16 points in the win. 

“Something I’m kinda used to now," Strus said about his role.
It’s kind of been like that since I’ve been here. I know I say it all the time, but it’s the whole ‘stay ready so you don’t have to get ready’ [mentality]. I knew when Jimmy went down at the half that somebody was going to have to step up. I was just waiting for my name to get called and just be ready for that moment.”

Strus only played because Jimmy Butler left the game in the second half with an ankle injury. Strus scored all of his points in the fourth quarter. 

“It’s not really a physical thing," Strus said. "To be honest with you, it’s more of a mental challenge more than anything. You have to sit and wait and make sure you are locked into the game and know what’s going on. I credit Gabe for a lot of that. He’s helped me out tremendously and we’ve helped each other out a lot over the past two years. Just be ready for whatever is going to happen because we have been put in situations that we didn’t expect to be in. We’ve kind of helped each other out and we live by that because we really want it and we want to be here at the highest level. When you get your name called, you gotta be ready.”

Strus saw a reduction in playing time once Victor Oladipo returned from a quadriceps injury. 

“It’s challenging. I wouldn’t say it’s hard," Strus said. "I was kind of preparing myself for it. Vic is a two-time All-Star, been in the League for a while. He has every right to play and he’s a very talented player. So obviously we knew we were going to try things. Being in Spo’s shoes right now, it’d be tough. We have a lot of guys that can play and help out each night. Whatever he says goes and that’s just what I’m going to keep playing by. He’s going to put us in the best opportunities to succeed.”

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