Now that it's over (again), how do we feel about Coach Spo?

[Wonderllama]

I made this topic last year. I am extremely curious to see if people's opinion have improved or stayed the same.

I thought Erik Spoelstra was brilliant for the most part. He benched Wade when he needed to, and the lineup with Lebron + 4 shooters was like the best lineup ever.

Give this man a contract extension.

[Heat3]

he aight

[krikor]

growing in his job, and got 2 titles already.

[SweetTouch]

He adjusted a lot

Re inserted Battier when needed

Stopped doubling TImmy

a lot of adjustments

[LoveMyHeat]

I feel like he can only improve from here. And I would've said the same thing had we lost tbh

[FlashTheKilla]

He's an average coach with GOAT-level personnel. Hopefully, he continues to grow.

[Heat_Fan_87]

ONe of the best coaches in the league. Out coached pop in a few games

[WinisKing]

Battier sub was a bit too slow, took out players when they are hot

But we still won the game so what am I going to complain about

[TheChosen618]

Above average coach, I never thought differently even when they were down. He is similar to Mike Brown, but I would say he makes more and better adjustments. Spo can overreact though, but sometimes they are for the better.

[Alex Trevelyan]

He's an average coach with GOAT-level personnel. Hopefully, he continues to grow.

I wonder how good Phil Jackson, Popovich, Riley, Auerbach, etc would be if they too didn't have GOAT personnel falling out of their ears. People still say no one can hold Auerbach's coat, of course, when you have 7 Hall of Famers in a league with 8-teams, easy to be a Beethoeven or Bach. It's telling that Popovich's genius coincides perfectly with Tim Duncan's career, perhaps that's the reason Popovich says he's gone when Timmy's gone. Spoelstra can coach. He made adjustments that worked. Give the guy some props.

I often have to laugh when I see the lists of dudes Spoelstra's detractors think would do a better job: Adelman, Sloan, Rivers (ridiculously overrated coach). What Spoelstra doesn't do is panic, he sees the long-game when everyone else is desperate. He realizes that decisions he makes have short, medium and long-term consequences. Fans forget that. Spoelstra's greatest asset is his learning curve. He's already very good, but he's improving, his ceiling is very high, unlike most coaches. LeBron isn't the player he was 6-years ago; Spoelstra won't be the same coach in six-years either. Who knows how great he can be.

[Yaphet Kotto]

Mmmmm, i still think he shoots us in the foot with his rotations/subs. Theres moments when a player we have is CLEARLY ON FIRE and spo will yank them for no reason and sometimes they wont ever play again that game, mind boggling

[marcus_misc]

There's a reason Riley hired and stuck with Erik "Phil-ipino Jackson" Spoelstra

[Heej]

I've said this for years this dude is an X's and O's genius man. He consistently has some of the best after timeout play calls in the league, and his game to game adjustments are elite no other way to spin it man. He's more than capable of breaking down a team and coming up with creative solutions. He completely revamped the offense to suit his teams needs when he realized what he was doing wasn't working, and it takes a whole lot of humility and flexibility to make a commitment like that.

Spo's gotta be one of the best coaches in the game at getting players to buy into his system man. LBJ had coaches for years trying to get him into the post and while 2011 had a lot to do with it, he only fully bought in once he came to the Heat. Him and Bosh opposed banging around playing the 4 and the 5 their entire careers but Spo got them to do it. Bosh identifies himself as a center now, and people don't realize what a massive mindset shift that is.

And when it came down to it, after the 2011 mishap where he shuffled his lineups and panicked Spo just stuck to his guns and his gameplan, rode the hot hand when he needed to (MM in favor of his favorite player Shane Battier will always stand out to me), and did a hell of a job developing Norris Cole as a solid backup PG. His in game adjustments are overblown, and fans overrate that type of **** constantly. We don't see half the **** that Spo does in regards to the energy levels of the players on court and on the bench, the mindset and rhythm his lineup is in, and all the little things a coaching staff is looking at to gauge the productiveness of a unit out on the floor, and we damn sure as hell don't appreciate the importance of consistent rotations and how much it matters that players get comfortable and mentally ready expecting when it's their turn to come in and impact a game.

And most importantly he understands the trends in this league (hell his switching in Shane Battier during last year's Pacers series basically fanned the flames for this smallball epidemic we've seen league wide). He knows we have to push the ball and attack defenses before they're set. He doesn't overcoach his guys and call timeouts on important last second shots and try and diagram a homerun play to show off his chops (which is what lead to that Bosh gamewinner over Atlanta this season might I remind you guys).

He's elite man, and he's only getting better. The dude is a top 8 coach in this league, and his ability to get players from top to bottom to buy into his gameplan is near tops in the league. He's getting better every year, and we just don't see it. Plus he's a humble guy, never panics, and doesn't overreach. People get on him because he's not a good enough motivator in their eyes, but never give him credit for being rock steady and consistently unfazed during adversity (which is every bit as important because players can and will pick up on your nervous energy and get spooked). Spo is a plus as a coach, and head and shoulders above your average coach.

We just saw one of the best coaches to ever sit on a bench throw a Finals series away because he stuck to what was comfortable and went all in with one of his best players and seasoned contributors. Hopefully we can all step back and give this dude the credit he deserves. He's growing every year. Phil Jackson didn't come into this league knowing everything, just like Pop. They just got better and better with age. He's gonna be a hell of a coach for years to come and we're only seeing the beginning steps now.

[Heat_Fan_87]

you guys think spurs fans are happy with pop?

[cb1]

he aight

[dreamchaser]

he aight

[DefenseWins]

you guys think spurs fans are happy with pop?

It's funny, the grass isn't greener on the other side. I lurked the official Spurs forum (Spurs talk) and they hate Pop after a loss. They want him fired and all that, say he is a product of Duncan, etc. They hate Ginobili's guts right now as well, but that's different. I think they blame Manu more than Pop right now though, not sure.

I am not sure they are happy with him, especially with the whole Duncan thing in game 6.

How do I feel? He is improving, I'll keep it positive for now. But we still rely on our players more than anything, more than any other team. There is a lot of self-coaching by the best players on this team

[Woodsanity]

Pretty good and getting better.

[Buju]

he aight

[zogster]

He waited too long to get Miller out and Battier in, but maybe he wanted to play Battier for the rest of the game once he was in (which he did, IIRC), so that's why he waited until 3 minutes left in the 3rd.

The play out of the timeout where Battier threaded the needle to Wade for the layup to go up 5 with 2:56 to go was HUGE. Well drawn-up play.