Miami Heat Assistant Malik Allen On Nikola Jovic's First Game: `I'm Not Discouraged'

Despite low numbers in summer league debut, there's still room for improvement for Heat rookie

It wasn't quite the debut Miami Heat rookie Nikola Jovic expected. 

He finished with just three points on 1 of 6 shooting in his first NBA summer league Saturday against the Los Angeles Lakers. Still, Heat assistant coach Malik Allen knows things will improve. 

"I know he wanted to play better," Allen said. "I think he it was kind of a typical rookie first game. I think the game was moving along a little fast at times He made a couple good plays, putting the ball on the ground and some passes. He's got a good feel for it. I just it was moving really fast. I told him just to keep his head up. He was frustrated. I thought his effort was good, especially defensively. The learning curve is just going to keep continuing for him. I thought the intent was there and obviously the numbers aren't what he would want but I'm not discouraged from what I saw."

Jovic's only basket came on a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer. Scoring has never been a concern but the Heat will focus the summer mostly on improving his defense.  

"He was trying to do the right thing," Allen said. "I thought he tried to play really hard. He got sped. Those are things that happen, even with veteran guys. That'll get better. The more he plays here, watches and we go through those things in practice. It will get better over time." 

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