OK I'll say it - Spo is OVERRATED

[RexBoyWonder]

It's not just about last night - although last nights FARCE would have gotten every other coach clowned for forever. Its' not just the non existing timeout, how do you not have Ware on the court with his size at that stage?!

Anyway regardless of last night - I'll admit Spo seems like a decent guy that takes accountability and has good relationships with his players BUT :

1) He's been unable to maximize his 3 best players FOE YEARS (when have you ever seen both Jimmy Bam and Herro excel at their roles at the same game?)

2) He's been WAY TOO STUBBORN WITH SMALLBALL - for years now we've seen the downside of playing too small, yet he's still not budging.

3) He's EXTERNALLY ROBOTIC WITH HIS IN-GAME ADJUSTMENTS - often take the hot player out, gets him out of Rhythm. Often overplays undersigning players extended minutes for no good reason.

4) VERY UNCREATIVE with his offensive sets - you never see us run anything surprising.

5) VERY questionable input on personnel - it's common knowledge he's largely responbile for the awful Duncan Contract that's been killing us for years, He approved the Lowery contract AND the Rozier trade which is starting to also look chitty.

Iv'e been seeing these trends FOR YEARS, last night was just the straw that broke the camel's back.

I still think he's probably above average overall, but not top 3 and definitely NOT "BEsT CoAcH In tHe NbA!!!"

Come at me

[contract]

I voted top 3. I don't know if he's top 3, but that's closer to the truth than not. Spo is a very good head coach. I'm not going to address the brain fart, because that is what it is. But Heat fans simply expect miracles from Spo and get upset when they don't materialize.

As far as your questions and some of your complaints ...

Why not have Ware on the court ... ? I assume because he doesn't trust him yet. Good coaches will always favor a predictable known quantity, even if it's a lesser talent, than an unpredictable unknown quantity. You can weigh a player's deficiency into your strategy. You can't do the same when you can't predict how a player will react. There are things like lack of focus or effort, or fading focus or effort, that you simply can't coach around. Why was Ware not on the court? I don't know. Maybe his team defense simply isn't good enough yet. Maybe he hasn't proven that he understands his assignments. Maybe his BB IQ isn't the best. Size doesn't make up for all ills. Bam is our best big defender, and it's not because he's Shawn Bradley sized.

1. I'm not sure what you expect Spo to do with a to eager #3 and too reluctant #1 & #2. How do you maximize that? And our #1 just seems to get more reluctant every year. Like I said before, fans simply expect miracles. This team has pretty consistently outperformed it's talent. Not all the time, but it would be unreasonable to expect good results all the time with, to be polite, less than great talent.

2. We have not seen the downside with playing small ball. Fans that favor big man ball have. The rest of us see the benefits and necessities of playing small. Particularly with our roster. Our best center is 6'9. That is a fact. Our best PF is ... situational at best. Often the best choice for the job is a 6'7 Highsmith. Spo can't change that reality even if he wanted to. And we need to play small because our supposed #1 & #2 guys need space in the paint to be efficient, and the only way to create that space is to surround them with shooters. If you take out one shooter to add size, defenses can collapse and make scoring more difficult for Butler and Bam.

5. I don't have that common knowledge. I think everyone is quick to credit the godfather when moves go right, and look for others to blame when things go bad. I have no reason to believe that Spo was involved with dollar amounts, length of contract, or amount of guaranteed money in Duncan's contract. At most I'd imagine that he would have told Pat that he was important to the team and he wanted to keep him around. I have no reason to believe that he has veto power over any contract. We have people in charge of that stuff.

Not that a ton of weight should be placed on such things, but ESPN put out their list of top 100 players in the NBA and our two best players were ranked #18 and #28. This is a team devoid of superstars. That's no one's fault. Superstars don't grow on trees, and they aren't a dime a dozen.

[SerialChiller]

It's not just about last night - although last nights FARCE would have gotten every other coach clowned for forever. Its' not just the non existing timeout, how do you not have Ware on the court with his size at that stage?!

Anyway regardless of last night - I'll admit Spo seems like a decent guy that takes accountability and has good relationships with his players BUT :

1) He's been unable to maximize his 3 best players FOE YEARS (when have you ever seen both Jimmy Bam and Herro excel at their roles at the same game?)

2) He's been WAY TOO STUBBORN WITH SMALLBALL - for years now we've seen the downside of playing too small, yet he's still not budging.

3) He's EXTERNALLY ROBOTIC WITH HIS IN-GAME ADJUSTMENTS - often take the hot player out, gets him out of Rhythm. Often overplays undersigning players extended minutes for no good reason.

4) VERY UNCREATIVE with his offensive sets - you never see us run anything surprising.

5) VERY questionable input on personnel - it's common knowledge he's largely responbile for the awful Duncan Contract that's been killing us for years, He approved the Lowery contract AND the Rozier trade which is starting to also look chitty.

Iv'e been seeing these trends FOR YEARS, last night was just the straw that broke the camel's back.

I still think he's probably above average overall, but not top 3 and definitely NOT "BEsT CoAcH In tHe NbA!!!"

Come at me

100% agreed! Dude's highly overrated...the amount of mistakes that just go against common sense are mindblowing. I've seen him take Whiteside out for Haslem before a potential game tying set of opposition FTs to end a game. They miss the 2nd get the rebound over Haslem and score for the win! Heck he started a heavily struggling and washed Bibby over Chalmers like a moron the entire playoffs until game 6 of the finals! He'll go to zone at horrible times, he'll take out someone in the middle of a hot streak to cool them off, he'll stick to an overrotating defense as it gets killed, he'll play a Rozier Herro backcourt together for a 1 possession defensive stand to end a game, he doesn't play through his stars or keep them engaged, he'll defend the paint with Kyle Lowry...like it's all just so ridiculous!

His positionless we don't need a PG approach where anyone just brings the ball up drives me crazy too. And his inbounding plays are horrible, to end a game it's always an adventure since we can't get the ball in bounds without a turnover or near one and lose the lead quick. I could go on and on about this, the small ball, the whack lineups, the horrible timeout logic, etc etc. But the main thing is we need to acknowledge the fact that the team always having a turd quarter is on the coach. He doesn't adjust and obviously fails to properly prepare and motivate them. At the very least there is a massive failure to hold them accountable.

I've had a good laugh anytime I hear him referred to as the top coach in the league for years. People are so quick to give him credit, like when we managed to win Game 2 vs Boston in the playoffs last year...oh Spo's so good he might even make this a series! Ummm no, we just collectively caught fire from 3 for a game and hit a franchise record 23 from deep. In today's game that can sometimes just happen, had nothing to do with him lmao!

[SA37]

In general, coaches are overrated, but Spo is definitely one of the better coaches and he seems to have a very good relationship with his players. I'd also go a bit deeper and say his coaching staff have churned out rotation player after rotation player from the scrap heap. You're just not getting a better deal than that.

The Heat are not going to fire Spo, who just signed a $120M deal, but assuming for a moment the Heat did, they'd likely hire internally and the change would be mild to say the least. I'd also tell people to look around at other franchises that have decided to go sift through the coaching carousel: it has not gone well AT ALL.

Stability is boring, but it is the main reason Miami has been able to attract elite talent and become one of the most successful franchises in the league over the last 15 years.

[Kobewade11]

Nobody is perfect, but if we're looking to critique I would say points 2-4 are "fair".

#1 - can't really blame Spo here. The two best players (or former two best players) have specific limitations in their game that stresses everyone else on the floor. It's not an orthodox fit and with that in mind I'd say Spo has maximized it.

#5 - again, can't blame Spo, with the exception of the Tyler Johnson deal that Micky made the call on, there is never a single personnel decision (trade, signing, or draft pick) that is made by one person in this organization only. It's never just Spo, never just Riley, never just Andy, it's all done collectively.

[dshearn]

I don't watch alot of non-Heat Basket ball....but the truth is....I don't see other teams making deep playoff runs/Finals runs...with half the starters coming in off the street....

Jimmy is good....but the dude is not carry a team with undrafted starters good....

Spo must be doing somthing right.

[Tony15]

You're going to be hard pressed to find a better coach in the league than Spo. We made two Finals (one of which we could've very well won had our 20ppg scorer & Bam not gotten hurt) with less than talented rosters. No matter the year, you just know you're going to get the most out of what we have.

[jbsays]

Here's the thing all great coaches have in common...... great players. You can go back to Red Auerbach to see it.

Look at the coaches who won the most rings.

Riley coaches Magic, Kareem, Worthy, Scott, McAdoo, and many other greats with the Lakers. He couldn't get it done with the Knicks with Ewing or the Heat with Zo/Hardaway. He won another ring with Shaq and Wade.

Phil Jackson won multiple rings with Jordan and Pippen. I think you can throw Rodman in there for the second run. Then he won multiple rings with Shaq and Kobe.

Spo won with Lebron, Wade, and Bosh. Let's not forget how how good Bosh was in Toronto.

Pop also won all his championships with Duncan. And the teams also had David Robinson and then Ginobili and Tony Parker. All those guys are HOF'ers.

Like Mike Miller says.... "it's about Jimmy and Joes, not Xs and Os". It's no coincidence the coaches with most championships have coached a ton of HOF players. Spo is a good coach. Maybe he should have one more ring in those 2011 Finals, but Mario Chalmers shot more FTs than Lebron. By that time Riley and Jackson were too old. Spo's pretty much met or exceeded expectations... not sure what more you'd want from a coach.

[contract]

Like Mike Miller says.... "it's about Jimmy and Joes, not Xs and Os".

How did that work out for the Nets who thought the players could coach themselves?

[jbsays]

Like Mike Miller says.... "it's about Jimmy and Joes, not Xs and Os".

How did that work out for the Nets who thought the players could coach themselves?

It worked out bad.... both times.

[DayofMourning]

Here's the thing all great coaches have in common...... great players. You can go back to Red Auerbach to see it.

Look at the coaches who won the most rings.

Riley coaches Magic, Kareem, Worthy, Scott, McAdoo, and many other greats with the Lakers. He couldn't get it done with the Knicks with Ewing or the Heat with Zo/Hardaway. He won another ring with Shaq and Wade.

Phil Jackson won multiple rings with Jordan and Pippen. I think you can throw Rodman in there for the second run. Then he won multiple rings with Shaq and Kobe.

Spo won with Lebron, Wade, and Bosh. Let's not forget how how good Bosh was in Toronto.

Pop also won all his championships with Duncan. And the teams also had David Robinson and then Ginobili and Tony Parker. All those guys are HOF'ers.

Like Mike Miller says.... "it's about Jimmy and Joes, not Xs and Os". It's no coincidence the coaches with most championships have coached a ton of HOF players. Spo is a good coach. Maybe he should have one more ring in those 2011 Finals, but Mario Chalmers shot more FTs than Lebron. By that time Riley and Jackson were too old. Spo's pretty much met or exceeded expectations... not sure what more you'd want from a coach.

We dont have a single A lister on the roster. We have a well built roster though if we can ever get that megastar.

[dshearn]

Here's the thing all great coaches have in common...... great players. You can go back to Red Auerbach to see it.

Look at the coaches who won the most rings.

Riley coaches Magic, Kareem, Worthy, Scott, McAdoo, and many other greats with the Lakers. He couldn't get it done with the Knicks with Ewing or the Heat with Zo/Hardaway. He won another ring with Shaq and Wade.

Phil Jackson won multiple rings with Jordan and Pippen. I think you can throw Rodman in there for the second run. Then he won multiple rings with Shaq and Kobe.

Spo won with Lebron, Wade, and Bosh. Let's not forget how how good Bosh was in Toronto.

Pop also won all his championships with Duncan. And the teams also had David Robinson and then Ginobili and Tony Parker. All those guys are HOF'ers.

Like Mike Miller says.... "it's about Jimmy and Joes, not Xs and Os". It's no coincidence the coaches with most championships have coached a ton of HOF players. Spo is a good coach. Maybe he should have one more ring in those 2011 Finals, but Mario Chalmers shot more FTs than Lebron. By that time Riley and Jackson were too old. Spo's pretty much met or exceeded expectations... not sure what more you'd want from a coach.

We dont have a single A lister on the roster. We have a well built roster though if we can ever get that megastar.

I think you are both right....

You need players to win...no doubt....

It Is also fair to say the Heat have been over achieving often under Spo. That Dion half season was lighting in a bottle, the deep playoff pushes with Prime Butler were over achieving years.

Whatever a coach, or system is worth....they got 100% if not more of,...that... in recent playoff runs. When you are getting playoff winning performances from the likes of Gabe Vincent, Max Strus, Caleb Martin, and Duncan Robinson type guys....I mean come on... It is one thing to uncover an unknown dude....it is something else to consistent push deep into the playoffs with a string of nobodies Season after Season.


This team and org has problems....but I would most certainly not point my finger at Spo first.

What kinda kills me is, we really needed this scouting and development during the Big Three era. When the team has no choice but to add on bargain basement parts to maxed out roster.

With any luck, someone will do some soul searching and realize we are at a cross roads and sell off some talent, stock up on draft picks and go all in on a proper rebuild.

[ZoStrong]

Lol, the grade shouldn't be either A or F! We need more options to pick.

But when u win a few rings, you get that reputation as a great coach like Pop and Phil Jackson no matter how great rosters they had.

I think Spo makes his players work hard n give their best efforts most of the times. But I don't think he's a offensive genius. And on defense he's been gifted some amazing defenders in LeBon and Bam. But he relies on their sheer physical gifts for defense more than anything.

I think his real success is due to the long leash that Riley afforded him. He uses the regular season to experiment like no other coaches can due to their job security. In other words, if he was given an opportunity in some other places, he would've been fired more than couple times already n possibly just being a good assistant somewhere

[lastb1ckman]

All I gotta say about this, is compared to all the nonsense like 27/30 teams be putting out every year, I'd take Spo any day of the week. Just look at how other teams fans talk about their coaches. Most of the time it ranges from exasperation to mild dissatisfaction. However, across the board they have nothing but praise for Spo. In fact most of them are jealous as hell everytime they get beat by us.

[batterybro42]

It's not just about last night - although last nights FARCE would have gotten every other coach clowned for forever. Its' not just the non existing timeout, how do you not have Ware on the court with his size at that stage?!

Anyway regardless of last night - I'll admit Spo seems like a decent guy that takes accountability and has good relationships with his players BUT :

1) He's been unable to maximize his 3 best players FOE YEARS (when have you ever seen both Jimmy Bam and Herro excel at their roles at the same game?)

2) He's been WAY TOO STUBBORN WITH SMALLBALL - for years now we've seen the downside of playing too small, yet he's still not budging.

3) He's EXTERNALLY ROBOTIC WITH HIS IN-GAME ADJUSTMENTS - often take the hot player out, gets him out of Rhythm. Often overplays undersigning players extended minutes for no good reason.

4) VERY UNCREATIVE with his offensive sets - you never see us run anything surprising.

5) VERY questionable input on personnel - it's common knowledge he's largely responbile for the awful Duncan Contract that's been killing us for years, He approved the Lowery contract AND the Rozier trade which is starting to also look chitty.

Iv'e been seeing these trends FOR YEARS, last night was just the straw that broke the camel's back.

I still think he's probably above average overall, but not top 3 and definitely NOT "BEsT CoAcH In tHe NbA!!!"

Come at me

This is a bad take right here. Spo is elite and is the person who has kept Miami relevant and dragged pedestrian rosters far beyond their limits for years. Miami will drift into the shadow realm the day that Spo is no longer here. I love that we have our coach, and we have our ways of doing things. Good bad or otherwise Spo has been at helm for 15 years in those 15 years we have been to the NBA finals 6 times. He has been with the team for nearly 30 YEARS, and when you zoom out what Miami has done in that time has been tremendous and Spo is a HUGE piece of that.

It is wild to think about but Spo is 54 years old now. We may only get another 10 or so years with this man leading the team, and it will be a sad day when it all comes to an end. He will end up being in the top 5 all time in wins, we are spoiled.

[Bmaster]

You're going to be hard pressed to find a better coach in the league than Spo. We made two Finals (one of which we could've very well won had our 20ppg scorer & Bam not gotten hurt) with less than talented rosters. No matter the year, you just know you're going to get the most out of what we have.

I would add spo might not be top three in NBA but you don't need top three coach to win championships. Would you rather have it like it is in Sacramento where kings get a new coach every 2-3 yrs? I am good with spo

[HMFFL]

I voted Spo a top 3 coach.
He's simply amazing and has been since dealing with Lebrons first season with the Heat. Spo has been a joy to watch.

Sent from my SM-S928U1 using RealGM mobile app

[BadMofoPimp]

RealGM. "The land of "what have you done for me lately!" Spo is fine.

[contract]

RealGM. "The land of "what have you done for me lately!" Spo is fine.

This isn't new. Some fans have disliked him for years because they hate small ball.

[RexBoyWonder]

RealGM. "The land of "what have you done for me lately!" Spo is fine.

This isn't new. Some fans have disliked him for years because they hate small ball.

I think the players hate smallball too.

Bam hinted to it a few times