Coach Spo = COY?

[TheMiamiHeat3]

We're playing at an extremely fast pace, because of the offensive adjustment that Coach Spo made. We've become a fastbreak oriented team, leading the league in PPG and 2nd in pace. The transition buckets has upped the team efficiency. All of that, while being one of the league's best defense.

Your thoughts?

[DefenseWins]

And he actually calls plays. Though except for the Wade iso, he would have gotten crucified once again if Wade didn't make that shot against the Bobcats.

However, I have to see Spo adjust to the zone and have better adjustments throughout close games.

What I liked though, during the Atlanta game in the 4th, instead of hitting a 3 he goes for a quick 2. It resulted in the Heat getting a miracle 3 shot by Bosh, so it paid off. Though I don't think that was planned, Bosh was calling for it.

But I think he should be a candidate.

I'd definitely say yes if Pittman gets more minutes than Joel

He also isn't spewing useless phrases like DON'T LET GO OF THE ROPE or IT'S A GRIND....

[Heats_Finest]

What's impressed me most is that we're now running plays, decent plays in half court sets. Not only has he given free reigns for our players to run and gun and get good looks before teams set their defense, when we can't do that we have good plays being run to get players open. The most impressive thing about that is that even our 2nd team (bench players) are running nice plays.

I especially like that he's told Wade and Lebron to not shoot 3's because that isn't their game, but Bosh is slashing and looking to get his at the rim more. Our players all know their roles and are clicking on all cylinders.

Whilst I am pumping up his tires, he still makes adjustments late, like today Joel Anthony was playing terrible for 5 minutes, dropping passes and not boxing out, giving up offensive board after offensive board, and he took to long to get him out of the game and the lead dwindled. But he actually is a good coach and I can't believe how many HEAT fans hate him.

[FlashTheKilla]

As much as an improvement as there has been with Spo, I don't think a coach of a team that has LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh can (or should) ever win COY.

[Grumpy Heat Fan]

As much as an improvement as there has been with Spo, I don't think a coach of a team that has LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh can (or should) ever win COY.

I don't agree, respectfully.

If the Heat were playing up to expectations, then he would win some.

[DefenseWins]

As much as an improvement as there has been with Spo, I don't think a coach of a team that has LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh can (or should) ever win COY.

If he runs more set plays, figures out the zone, good rotations, makes adjustments in games, has the defensive sequence no give up so many damn wide open 3's, I think he should be considered strongly.

They are fantastic players, but they still need guidance as crazy as it sounds.

I mean look at LBJ when the zone comes up. Absolutely does not know what to do and pounds the ball for 20 seconds before doing anything and makes the offense stagnant. If Spo can make them get past that and run plays to combat the zone, he should get some consideration.

Though right now I haven't seen the Heat play a real zone since Atlanta...

[FlashTheKilla]

As much as an improvement as there has been with Spo, I don't think a coach of a team that has LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh can (or should) ever win COY.

I don't agree, respectfully.

If the Heat were playing up to expectations, then he would win some.

I just think that the criteria that the coach of the year award are judged on are very arbitrary (and rightfully so: how do you give an award to a guy who's impact is mostly immeasurable?) Some years it's the guy who coaches the team with the best record, other years it's the guy who coaches the team with the biggest turnaround, and in other years yet it's the guy who takes young talent and makes it cohesive. The award is more "Which coach stood out?" or "Which coach led the team with the best story?" as opposed to "Who is the best coach this year?"

However, you can measure how good your players are. And our players are very, very, very good, on past teams and present. It's much easier to attribute our success to our extraordinary players than to our coach. I guess I was wrong in my previous post by saying the he can't win the award, he definitely can, especially if we reach something crazy like 60 wins. But I stand by the idea that he should not. Spoelstra very well may win the record by virtue of having the best record, but to me, in no way does that make him the best coach of the year.

[Flash4thewin]

No....

[WD]

This is a trick question right?

[Pimpwerx]

He'll be up for it if we win the conference. Spo is respected a lot outside of Miami. Most other teams would kill to have him at the helm. I like what he brings for us and I like his youth. Imagine we can have this guy for a long time, and he's pretty cheap right now too. PEACE.

[WD]

While watching Tebow layout out his receiver, I found this

EthanJSkolnick Ethan J. Skolnick
Spoelstra: "I was probably a little more stubborn my first year. I was stubborn as an assistant coach." bit.ly/AADxE3

[DefenseWins]

He definitely was stubborn as hell.... giving moronic minutes to guys who did nothing, and too much minutes to people like LBJ. Then again, no viable back up for LBJ. Also not adjusting fast enough and thinking his game plan would work while the other team already had it figured out (Dallas).

His minutes management has improved. Thanks to a better roster as well.

[EscapoTHB]

If we finish with the best record, I could see it, since our success this season is in large part because of adjustments he made to the formula. If we win a title this year, he's going to be regarded on a Doc Rivers level, and if we win a lot of titles, he'll be the new phil jackson with his mysterious triangle on steroids offense.

[DefenseWins]

If we finish with the best record, I could see it, since our success this season is in large part because of adjustments he made to the formula. If we win a title this year, he's going to be regarded on a Doc Rivers level, and if we win a lot of titles, he'll be the new phil jackson with his mysterious triangle on steroids offense.

PHIL-IPINO JACKSON!

(I know it's Filipino but I think LeBatard meant Phil-ipino ).

[GreenHat]

He'll be up for it if we win the conference. Spo is respected a lot outside of Miami. Most other teams would kill to have him at the helm. I like what he brings for us and I like his youth. Imagine we can have this guy for a long time, and he's pretty cheap right now too. PEACE.

Who are these teams that would kill to have him?

We have him cheap because he isn't anything special. Maybe he is above average.

If he was as respected outside of the league as you think his agent would have gotten him more money.

We're playing at an extremely fast pace, because of the offensive adjustment that Coach Spo made. We've become a fastbreak oriented team, leading the league in PPG and 2nd in pace. The transition buckets has upped the team efficiency. All of that, while being one of the league's best defense.

Your thoughts?

Actually we are less efficient this year. Ortg 111.7 vs Ortg 108.1 this year.

We are less efficient, we just get more possessions because we are playing faster (which we should have been doing last year anyway)

With the increase in fast break points (high efficiency shots) but our overall drop in Ortg that means that our halfcourt offense has been WORSE this year with all of Spo's "adjustments".

People just look at raw points and think the offense has gotten better because of Spo. We just play faster. We score less per possession even with the added fast break points, which are high effiency possessions, because our halfcourt offense has slipped from last year.

No way does Spo deserve COY. Its like some random teenager beating a Nascar driver in a race because the teenager is driving a Ferrari and the Nascar driver is driving an old station wagon. That doesn't make the teenager the better driver, he just has the better car. Spo has better players than everyone that doesn't make him the best coach.

The year is young but so far I would give the COY to Doug Collins. The best player on the 76ers this year is probably Spencer freaking Hawes. He would be our 4th best player. They are playing great defense and blowing bad teams out. Even both of their losses were pretty close.

[mopper8]

Any talk of Coach of the Year now or before March really is premature. That being said, I do want to respond to a couple of points

Actually we are less efficient this year. Ortg 111.7 vs Ortg 108.1 this year.

We are less efficient, we just get more possessions because we are playing faster (which we should have been doing last year anyway)

With the increase in fast break points (high efficiency shots) but our overall drop in Ortg that means that our halfcourt offense has been WORSE this year with all of Spo's "adjustments".

This isn't really fair analysis at all. The Heat are +5.4 points over league average in Ortg this year; last season they were only +4.4. Ortg overall throughout the league is down. Punishing Spo in particular for this phenomena, when his team actually improved against league average (which means they dropped less in efficiency than the average team) seems totally irrational.

Offensive efficiency being down across the board makes complete sense considering the lockout - long layoff + short training camp means sloppier offense and worse shooting, generally.

What's more, we are looking at a small sample size skewed by the absence of the #2 option on offense for what right now amounts to a significant portion of the season. To simply say that because the raw numbers have dropped, Miami has gotten worse on offense is just a plain bad reading of the numbers. The Spurs have the #1 Ortg in the league this year, which is down a good point from the year prior. Are we going to punish Pop for his team's offensive regression? Would that make any sense? Especially considering Manu's injury?

If he was as respected outside of the league as you think his agent would have gotten him more money.

We've had this discussion before, but you just aren't thinking about this properly. People don't go through life assigning dollar values to every decision and then seeking to maximize their payoffs. Not everybody monetizes their entire life, and there are numerous examples (Including on our own team!) of NBA players taking less money to be in their preferred work environment. According to your way of thinking, Udonis Haslem would not be on the Heat, because other teams offered him more money than MIami did. Ditto Mike Miller and (supposedly) Shane Battier. Also, Brent Barry would've never re-signed with the Spurs, Randy Moss would never have played for New England because Tom Brady would not have restructured his contract, and on and on. People regularly take less money in exchange for other quality-of-life considerations.

Across the board, national sports writer and the local Heat beat writers report the same things: other teams love Spo. Your deduction is totally valid: its conclusions follow from the premises. The problem is, the argument is not sound because one of your premises is wrong. You have no idea what type of value, monetary or otherwise, Eric places on coaching for Miami, working for Pat Riley, coaching Wade/Lebron/Bosh, having a shot at a title every season, etc etc. All that stuff likely is worth a lot to him, certainly its plausible that its worth enough for him to take below-market value on a contract to remain with the Heat.

[Tony Fiorentino]

Coach Spoelstra is a decoy. Pat's pulling the strings.
We're so stacked now.

Pat Riley 4 Prezident.

[This IsMy House]

9 games into the season you can make this assumption? Lets see how the team performs for a couple more weeks before we jump to that conclusion.

[Tony Fiorentino]

Lockouts are horrible for teams, there's no guarantee that everybody will be conditioned. Our players are on point and Norris Cole is giving team's headaches. Well, more headaches then they normally already are having. Shane Battier is such a great addition. A blue collar guy well versed in defense.
If and when Mike Miller resurfaces as a good NBA player, everybody's FCUKED.

Spo has a great defensive system, but it requires incredibly athletic players (which we aren't lacking). It's also ridiculously taxing on players. This dynamic is almost unstoppable though. Spoelstra lacks creativity on offense.
Long story short, Spo wouldn't be in contention on another team because nobody's that equipped with athleticism and talent which allows them to run such a risky defensive scheme.
Pat Riley made it happen though acquiring these role players. The beautiful thing is, there's always gonna be talented players desperate to win championships.

If Pat Riley ran for President, I would have a bumper sticker on my car.

[Heat fan06]

If we get 56-58 wins I say he has a good shot.