Zack Berman

Max Strus says making the NBA required him to accept he doesn’t have a bag anymore and that shooting got him on the floor but defense would keep him out there “I don’t have a bag. I used to have a bag back in college, but I don’t anymore because you find what your niche is and you just go at it.” “I knew shooting the basketball was going to get me on the floor, and then I knew playing defense was going to keep me on the floor. I’ll guard the best player. I don’t care. They’re going to score on me because everybody’s that good. You can’t really stop anybody anyway.” “So it’s like, how can I make it as tough as possible on them? I don’t need to shoot the ball. I’m all right. I can do other things that I know are helping the team win. How can I make Donovan Mitchell better? How can I make James Harden better? How can I make Jarrett Allen better?” “If I feel like I haven’t gotten a shot, it’s like, all right, go crash the offensive rebound and get it. I’m not going to sit here and cry to myself about not shooting the ball or not being involved. Make yourself useful.” “My first couple years [in Miami], I don’t think I dribbled the ball once. Come off a handoff and shoot, come off a screen and shoot, and then defend and rebound. That’s all I did.” “As you continue to build more confidence within the team, within the coach, they put you in positions where, all right, now I can do a little bit more.” “You’ve got to have the humbleness to humble yourself to, ‘I’m not that guy anymore. I can’t be that guy anymore.’ But then be ready for the opportunity when it does come, ‘No, I could still be that guy. That’s just not what we need right now. But when we do, I got you.’”