Sources: Spoelstra frustrating Heat players

[Real Deal]

The Miami Heat's players are frustrated with Erik Spoelstra and some are questioning whether he is the right coach for their team, according to people close to the situation.

 

With the ballyhooed Heat losing four of their last five games and sporting a mediocre 9-8 record, the players are privately grumbling about Spoelstra on several fronts.

 

Sources say the players believe he is not letting them be themselves, that they are questioning his offensive strategies, and that they think he is panicking because he fears losing his job.

 

n contrast to the popular view that Spoelstra has been hesitant to jump on superstars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, sources say the Heat coach has shown no fear in criticizing them.

 

Exhibit A was a recent shootaround in which Spoelstra told James that he had to get more serious. The source said Spoelstra called James out in front of the entire team, telling him, "I can't tell when you're serious."

 

"He's jumping on them," one source said. "If anything, he's been too tough on them. Everybody knows LeBron is playful and likes to joke around, but Spoelstra told him in front of the whole team that he has to get more serious. The players couldn't believe it. They feel like Spoelstra's not letting them be themselves."

 

It is not known whether the players voiced their concerns about Spoelstra during their players-only meeting following Saturday's loss at Dallas. Nor is it apparent whether the bump between James and Spoelstra during a timeout in that game was accidental or a result of tension between the two.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/news/story?id=5862172

 

I read some fans thought that he wasn't telling them what to do, that he wasn't one of those "in-your-face" coaches like Pat Riley, that he needed to be more of a leader and get them all on the same page.

 

Then it's made clear that the Spoelstra Heat fans were wanting to see...well, he's the one that they've had all along.

[Flash]

http://sports.espn.g...tory?id=5862172

 

I read some fans thought that he wasn't telling them what to do, that he wasn't one of those "in-your-face" coaches like Pat Riley, that he needed to be more of a leader and get them all on the same page.

 

Then it's made clear that the Spoelstra Heat fans were wanting to see...well, he's the one that they've had all along.

 

He's becoming one of those because of desperation. There's a good type of in your face and a bad one as well. Me thinks this is the bad type because its just not in Spo's nature to be in your face. Regardless, he's lost this team and the move should've been made already.

[Clutch]

OLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[Flash]

It also says A LOT that Wade is semi-bashing Spo as well. They were perceived to be very close since early in Dwyane's career.

[Dash]

He's becoming one of those because of desperation. There's a good type of in your face and a bad one as well. Me thinks this is the bad type because its just not in Spo's nature to be in your face. Regardless, he's lost this team and the move should've been made already.

 

How is that possible when the article and what we've been hearing all season point to Spoelstra simply being himself?

 

The players have made it clear, they want to have fun and Spoelstra is not letting them go out to recess.

[Flash]

How is that possible when the article and what we've been hearing all season point to Spoelstra simply being himself?

 

The players have made it clear, they want to have fun and Spoelstra is not letting them go out to recess.

 

The rumors about his job are getting to him, its clear as day at this point and that's why you're seeing a change in him. Later on in that same article IIRC there's a quote talking about how he's just not a motivator. He's nitpicking now and that's not what the fans have wanted from him. We want a more open offense and for him to show that he can light a fire under these players. Both of which he hasn't been able to do.

[Nitro]

If he isn't commanding the players' respect and isn't making the necessary adjustments from an X's and O's standpoint, he needs to go. I have a feeling he hasn't done either.

[CaliCurbStomppa]

Not good.. Riley probably gonna coach them soon

Edited November 29, 2010 by CaliCurbStomppa

[Flash]

If he isn't commanding the players' respect and isn't making the necessary adjustments from an X's and O's standpoint, he needs to go. I have a feeling he hasn't done either.

 

Absolutely.

[kingfish]

Oh noez, he told Lebron to get serious. Whats Lebron gonna do now that he cant dance around and act like a fool. :o

[Real Deal]

I think some of you are looking at it the wrong way (not sure how Alex is actually approaching it, though...sort of confused because he's not really coming out and saying who's to blame).

 

Look, Spoelstra was Wade's buddy for years. They ran a system, and Wade bought it. The Heat started off slow last season, finished with 47 wins (started the season 9-7, ironically). This was with a team many Heat fans said should've have been good enough to win that many games, aside from Wade and Haslem's play. Beasley wasn't good enough, Wright just didn't fit, Jermaine was a shell of his former self, and Spoelstra wasn't experienced enough to get out of the first round.

 

Well, now we're talking about Spo not being able to command respect. Why not just say the players (probably starting with LeBron) aren't giving him respect? From how others are putting it, it makes it sound like this is all on Spoelstra, even though a lot of us predicted the team would struggle early.

 

Adjusting the offense? While coaches do the work on the whiteboard, it's the players who do it on the court. Nothing Spo says will make Wade and LeBron better off-ball players. Nothing he says will make them spot-up shooters. No offense he sets up will force these two guys (meaning James and Wade) to play both of their 2009-10 styles without any restrictions.

 

Maybe Spo isn't right for the job, but that definitely, 100% doesn't mean he's the one to blame. Him being the wrong person to coach this team has almost everything to do with LeBron and Wade. Would any other coach have been able to take Kobe and Shaq and turn them into a dynasty duo? I don't know, but it would be much easier because basketball makes life simple when you have a dominant post and a dominant slashing and playmaking guard.

 

This duo isn't Phil's Lakers. It's not even Riley's Showtime Lakers. It's not Jordan and Pippen. It's a superstar duo that contains two guys who play nearly the same exact game on the floor, nearly the same spots on the floor, trying to involve a third all-star that, unfortunately, plays more like them than he does a traditional power forward.

 

Eventually, it'll work and they will be able to run off 60-win seasons (unless they blow a fuse and start feuding with each other), but that won't be up to any coach they will ever have, either...Spo, Riley, or anyone...because it all starts with the two willing to adjust AND redefine their games while improving in areas they never needed to consider before. It doesn't take a coach to tell them this, unless both of these guys are really that ignorant to the game of basketball. In fact, I believe both noted before the season started that it's a work in progress, that they will need to adjust and not play like they were last season...am I correct? But just recently, LeBron stated he was not going to defer or adjust his game, because it would make him a role player.

 

It's very clear where the problems lie.

[Real Deal]

Funny enough, as I hit Post, a McGrady topic is posted where he is saying that LeBron would've been better off in Chicago because he's a rhythm player...that he and Wade are two of the same, and Tracy even puts himself into the picture and says he would feel the same and would struggle.

 

Good stuff.

[Cleveland's Finest]

Wade hates Riley, LeBron hates Spoelstra...so now it's gonna lead to LeBron v. Wade!

[Clutch]

wade doesnt hate riley

[SRV]

Wade hates Riley? Thats news to me.

[AboveLegit]

When the big three first formed in Boston, Doc was in the same situation Erik is in now. Rivers was on the hotseat and was known as the guy who led the Celts to a terrible record 3 years in a row, and was left only to rot while better coaches became available. What changed in Beantown was the heart of Pierce, and the attitude and leadership of KG. Their ability to listen to Rivers and as players, commanded great basketball behavior from every member of the team. Remember Rondo being looked at as a clear weakness and Perkins as a problem child out of high school? That was the players decision, not the decision of the coach. The same things should happen in Miami, but has not. Players are not taking control of the team, guys like LBJ and Wade need to start pointing out flaws in games and in practices, and set the example moving forward.

[Cleveland's Finest]

Wade has always backed Spoelstra and he's not too fond of Riley as a coach:

 

"Let me say it like this, I've won a championship with Coach Riley and I've won 15 games with Coach Riley," Wade told The Post. "So it all depends on what year it is. We've had success. We've had turmoil. So it all depends."

 

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knicks/dwyane_so_so_on_riley_coaching_again_EEiny7OF71g8QcXfDbfbNO#ixzz16iKRAQ1S

Edited November 29, 2010 by Cleveland's Finest

[fish7718]

Wow, the team sucks so they turn on the coach and blame him, PATHETIC. This team should own up and take responsibility for their 9-8 record as oposed to turning and saying it the coaches fault because he's too hard on them. Just like childish LeBron, what do these guys want to be babied? THEN WIN SOME [expletive]ING GAMES. Until then this team don't deserve [expletive], they haven't proven anything other than the fact they can perform like a mediocre .500 team.

[Nestle Snipes]

He's pretty much done!

[Nitro]

I think some of you are looking at it the wrong way (not sure how Alex is actually approaching it, though...sort of confused because he's not really coming out and saying who's to blame).

 

Unless I was a part of the Heat organization, it'd be foolish of me to say for 100% sure where the bulk of the blame lies. No one really knows the mindset of these players, exactly what gameplan Spo is trying to have the players buy into (although he himself said he put in little to no set-plays and structure early in the season), and how much of his gameplan the players are actually executing. If they aren't running his gameplan, then the gameplan has to be adjusted to fit their strengths. If the players are starting to revolt against Spo, as [expletive]ed up as it is, Spo needs to go. Once you start to lose a team, it's over.

 

Look, Spoelstra was Wade's buddy for years. They ran a system, and Wade bought it.

 

Totally different situations. Unfortunately, the gameplan right now isn't that much different than last year's Heat team, which is a problem. Simply running iso's or high PnR's for LeBron or Wade won't get it done with this team like it did last year when it was just Wade running those plays. It diminishes their chance to gain rythym, and the roles are all warped because of the addition of some versatile, multi-dimensional talents (namely LeBron and Bosh).

 

Well, now we're talking about Spo not being able to command respect. Why not just say the players (probably starting with LeBron) aren't giving him respect?

 

The result is the same...either way, Spo needs to go. There is far too much potential and money invested in the Big 3 that moving one of them this early is out of the question. If they have this problem with 2-3 coaches, then it's time to blow the team up and start with either Wade/Bosh or Wade/James.

 

Eventually, it'll work and they will be able to run off 60-win seasons (unless they blow a fuse and start feuding with each other), but that won't be up to any coach they will ever have, either...Spo, Riley, or anyone...because it all starts with the two willing to adjust AND redefine their games while improving in areas they never needed to consider before. It doesn't take a coach to tell them this, unless both of these guys are really that ignorant to the game of basketball. In fact, I believe both noted before the season started that it's a work in progress, that they will need to adjust and not play like they were last season...am I correct?

 

It is also the coach's job to design a system where each player has a role...if there is one thing you can tell about this team, it's that there are no roles. Everything is freestyle, and that is the way Spo envisioned the offense to be throughout training camp, preseason, and the early part of this season. If Wade and James aren't moving off-ball, design plays that will have them running off-ball. We know Wade can do this, and when James isn't on the floor he is VERY active away from the ball (normally the ball will still end up in his hands on the perimeter, but him catching the ball on the move after coming around a screen or two forces the defenses to adjust and helps set-up driving lanes or open teammates). With James it will be a work-in-progress, but either Spo hasn't designed any plays to get him to get used to moving off-ball in the structure of a system, or Bron doesn't trust him enough to follow his advice. Either way, that means Spo should be the first one to go.

[Real Deal]

Totally different situations. Unfortunately, the gameplan right now isn't that much different than last year's Heat team, which is a problem. Simply running iso's or high PnR's for LeBron or Wade won't get it done with this team like it did last year when it was just Wade running those plays. It diminishes their chance to gain rythym, and the roles are all warped because of the addition of some versatile, multi-dimensional talents (namely LeBron and Bosh).

This is where I completely disagree.

 

When they are running iso's for LeBron or Wade, it works...just not when they are both trying to get involved. The Heat are in games when their superstars decide to take over, but they only do it when the other is sitting the bench. THAT is where the iso's work.

 

But I don't believe Spo is asking them to run those iso's when they are in the game at the same time. I have watched every single Heat game this year (maybe most everyone here has), and to me, it's very evident that these two (Wade and James) are attempting to change their game and become jumpshooters working off each other (which is why their percentages are WAY DOWN, 43% and 44% if I recall correctly).

 

It's a big possibility that Spo is asking them to defer to each other, or asking one to defer to the other, which HAS to happen. Do they want to do that? Nope, because LeBron already stated it (clear as day) just the other night, and Wade stated it earlier in the season (or before).

 

They won't be able to gain any rhythm because they are both players who feed off of ball domination. This isn't Ray stepping into rhythm jumpers off of Rondo's playmaking, or Kobe having multiple ways to score when he's not getting to the rim. Neither player has a post game, and neither has a consistent jumper. Slash, slash, and more slashing...and it's not Spo's fault that the Heat don't have the goods to accommodate LeBron James (or Dwyane Wade) and don't have some magical powder that turns one of them into a true Robin.

[Real Deal]

Check this out, Alex...

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/miamiheat/post/_/id/1843/is-d-wade-calling-for-an-iso-offense

 

Chris Broussard's report about the situation in Miami cites an anonymous source that maintains Heat players are frustrated by the team's sixth-ranked offense being implemented by head coach Erik Spoelstra:

[The players] feel like he is running nothing but pick-and-rolls and telling the Heat's secondary players to find open spots on the floor for catch-and-shoot jumpers.

But Wade did offer a critique of the offense that paralleled what we read in the report:

I think, at times, we get into a space where we let the whole team guard us because we run a lot of pick-and-roll. And we are letting guys off the hook. I want to see someone guard LeBron [James] one-on-one three or four times in a row down the court, because I know what they are thinking: "Somebody please help."

 

I want to see them do that to Chris. I want to see them do that to me. So it’s about how we do it in spots in games, if all of us can be involved together. And it’s about how you do it where we are getting other guys involved as well.

If we take Wade at face value, he's prescribing more isolation for the Heat's offense. Currently, the Heat rank 18th in percentage of possessions used for isolation plays, and rank 9th in points per isolation possessions, according to Synergy Sports.

 

Working more isolation into the Miami offense could be advantageous, but potentially dangerous as well. James, Wade and Bosh almost always have a matchup advantage over their respective defenders, and anytime you have the opportunity to turn James loose on an ill-equipped small forward, you'd be foolish not to force the issue.

[Guest STL10]

Check this out, Alex...

 

http://espn.go.com/b...-an-iso-offense

 

 

Interesting.

 

The Heat run this "isolation type" offense in NBA 2k11 and they are unstoppable.

 

I know it is a video game, but it is the closest to simulation on the market and the CPU is unstoppable with them.

 

They need to isolate Bosh in the post more, and make LeBron matchup with smaller SF's.

 

Also, D-Wade could play PG if they go Big and REALLY attack defenses...

 

For example...

 

PG: Wade

SG: James

SF: Jones

PF: Bosh

C: Big Z

[*Swish*]

Wade hates Riley, LeBron hates Spoelstra...so now it's gonna lead to LeBron v. Wade!

are you insane?

[The Artesticle]

While the players may be having their doubts about Spoelstra, it is not clear whether they want team president Pat Riley to coach them. Several people close to the situation said Wade definitely does not want Riley to come down to the sidelines. Sources also said that while recruiting players this past summer, Riley insisted that he would not coach the team.

 

^ from the same article

Edited November 30, 2010 by The Artesticle