MIAMI _ Victories might be in short supply for the Miami Heat, but certainly not empathy.
Because for every player who has emerged with newfound opportunity, there is another left to wonder why opportunity has been lost.
"It is what it is," Kelly Olynyk said, having gone from starter to spectator. "Can't get too high, can't get too low."
And yet that is how the minutes have run for so many on this roster of relatively equal talent.
For Olynyk, it meant no playing time in the second half of Saturday's victory over the Chicago Bulls and then none at all in Monday's loss to the Boston Celtics, his second "Did Not Play-Coach's Decision" of the season and second of his two years with the Heat.
"You look at the game saying, 'I definitely think I can help out there. I can make an impact, make a difference,' he said, as the Heat turned their attention to Wednesday night's game against the Los Angeles Clippers at AmericanAirlines Arena.
"But Coach (Erik Spoelstra) has to do his job and I don't envy him, because it's not an easy job. But he has to do his job and he decided obviously to go a different way, go with different lineups and he's paid to do his job, so that's what he does. And we're paid to do ours, and that's what we got to do and just be ready whenever your number is called or whatever the job is that people want you to do."
Two weeks ago, it was Derrick Jones Jr. who was the odd man out of the rotation, held out of the home loss to the Denver Nuggets. Earlier this season, there were meager minutes during a stretch for Bam Adebayo. And fourth-quarter benchings practically have been a staple for starting center Hassan Whiteside.
With most NBA rosters, there is a core that always plays, a group who rarely play and then situational substitutes. With the current Heat roster, there practically are 13 interchangeable pieces.
"It's different," Olynyk said. "It's tough. It's tough mentally on some people. It's tough physically. You never know what's going on. And you kind of just got to find something that works and just grind it out. I guess the beauty of it is you have a lot of options, you have a plethora of options. You can go one of a thousand ways."
Spoelstra often has alluded to players becoming "lost at sea" during rough patches. Olynyk said he can appreciate similar analogies with the Heat roster.
"Here you kind of have the mix-and-match options," Olynyk said. "It's tough because some guys are going to miss the boat sometimes. Other guys are going to be sailing away. But you're in it as a team. You're in it as a group, with your bothers. And you've got to help them whatever way you can, on or off the floor."
