[MJ FOR LIFE 23Participant]

I see some forums on the internet who are now starting to praise him and the way he managed the team, and some forums still saying it doesn’t do jack squat to his legacy and that he’s just riding the the coat tails of his future hall of fame players? What do you guys think of him now and his legacy in the future?

[Tongue-Out-Like-23Participant]

I think he made necessary adjustments to make sure his team had the tools to win, which is more than I can say about Popovich.

In the last two games, Spoelstra’s adjustments, as well as line-up changes (playing LeBron at PF and surrounding him with shooters) proved to be the Spurs undoing. Of course, the players still had to go out there and play as well as hit shots but as far as Spoelstra goes, he made the necessary changes in order to give the Miami Heat the upmost chance at winning.

Spoelstra will never get the credit he deserves but he outcoached Scott Brooks last season in the Finals, outcoached Frank Vogul in the ECF, and ultimately outcoached… dare I say?… Gregg Popovich in the NBA Finals. The latter was more-so a result of horrible coaching by Popovich but you get the idea.

Spoelstra has the most difficult easy job there is. (If that makes any sense). He has some of the best players in the NBA on his roster but it is so incomplete that he needs to make proper adjustments in order to make everything fit. He doesn’t have a true center, doesn’t have a true point guard or even a back-up point guard. His starting 2-guard is an injured combo-guard, Miller, Battier and Allen can shoot blanks at times, LeBron can get too iso-heavy, and Bosh hasn’t been comfortable with his jumper for weeks. Yet, Spoelstra has to make it all work and put it together.

Of course, it helps when you have LeBron James on your team but Spoelstra’s game-by-game adjustments are incredible. His in-game adjustments need a little work but when he gets a chance to review film and see what he and the team did wrong, he is able to spot it and make the correct changes. Which is one of the reasons as to why Miami hardly lost back-to-back games all season. Let alone the playoffs.

[Tongue-Out-Like-23Participant]

I think he made necessary adjustments to make sure his team had the tools to win, which is more than I can say about Popovich.

In the last two games, Spoelstra’s adjustments, as well as line-up changes (playing LeBron at PF and surrounding him with shooters) proved to be the Spurs undoing. Of course, the players still had to go out there and play as well as hit shots but as far as Spoelstra goes, he made the necessary changes in order to give the Miami Heat the upmost chance at winning.

Spoelstra will never get the credit he deserves but he outcoached Scott Brooks last season in the Finals, outcoached Frank Vogul in the ECF, and ultimately outcoached… dare I say?… Gregg Popovich in the NBA Finals. The latter was more-so a result of horrible coaching by Popovich but you get the idea.

Spoelstra has the most difficult easy job there is. (If that makes any sense). He has some of the best players in the NBA on his roster but it is so incomplete that he needs to make proper adjustments in order to make everything fit. He doesn’t have a true center, doesn’t have a true point guard or even a back-up point guard. His starting 2-guard is an injured combo-guard, Miller, Battier and Allen can shoot blanks at times, LeBron can get too iso-heavy, and Bosh hasn’t been comfortable with his jumper for weeks. Yet, Spoelstra has to make it all work and put it together.

Of course, it helps when you have LeBron James on your team but Spoelstra’s game-by-game adjustments are incredible. His in-game adjustments need a little work but when he gets a chance to review film and see what he and the team did wrong, he is able to spot it and make the correct changes. Which is one of the reasons as to why Miami hardly lost back-to-back games all season. Let alone the playoffs.

[Mr. HookShotParticipant]

Spoelstra has not the most difficult job in the NBA, he has the one player who is head and shoulders above the rest of the NBA, who is also someone who could get even the worst players in the NBA involved.

[Mr. HookShotParticipant]

Spoelstra has not the most difficult job in the NBA, he has the one player who is head and shoulders above the rest of the NBA, who is also someone who could get even the worst players in the NBA involved.

[Ahkasi ClayParticipant]

Phil Jackson rode on the coat tails of great players also. and his legacy is just fine.

[Ahkasi ClayParticipant]

Phil Jackson rode on the coat tails of great players also. and his legacy is just fine.

[Tongue-Out-Like-23Participant]

I was just about to bring this up. Phil Jackson has to chance to coach Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, Shaq, and Kobe. That’s probably as talented a list any guy will ever get to coach. And nobody thinks of him as less of a coach.

[Tongue-Out-Like-23Participant]

I was just about to bring this up. Phil Jackson has to chance to coach Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, Shaq, and Kobe. That’s probably as talented a list any guy will ever get to coach. And nobody thinks of him as less of a coach.

[220Participant]

Phil Jackson certainly got to coach superstars, but among Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kobe Bryant only Shaq won a ring without him. Only Shaq even made it to the NBA finals without Phil Jackson.

People like to imply that it’s easy for any coach to win championships as long as he has superstars, but if that’s the case then why didn’t Michael Jordan, the greatest player of all time in most peoples minds, win one ring without Phil. Jordan had 7 years before Phil Jackson and hadn’t even made it to the NBA finals.

[220Participant]

Phil Jackson certainly got to coach superstars, but among Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kobe Bryant only Shaq won a ring without him. Only Shaq even made it to the NBA finals without Phil Jackson.

People like to imply that it’s easy for any coach to win championships as long as he has superstars, but if that’s the case then why didn’t Michael Jordan, the greatest player of all time in most peoples minds, win one ring without Phil. Jordan had 7 years before Phil Jackson and hadn’t even made it to the NBA finals.

[Tongue-Out-Like-23Participant]

You also have to take a look at what he did with Miami even before the Big3 era.

He took a 15-67 team that traded away Shaq for Marion (which only played half the season) that was traded for J.O’Neal (27 games), and started a rookie point guard and took them to the playoffs twice.

He’s a bright young mind and with Pat Riley behind him, I think Spoelstra will have a long 25 year coaching career. He might just end up with 5 titles when it’s said and done.

[Tongue-Out-Like-23Participant]

You also have to take a look at what he did with Miami even before the Big3 era.

He took a 15-67 team that traded away Shaq for Marion (which only played half the season) that was traded for J.O’Neal (27 games), and started a rookie point guard and took them to the playoffs twice.

He’s a bright young mind and with Pat Riley behind him, I think Spoelstra will have a long 25 year coaching career. He might just end up with 5 titles when it’s said and done.

[CynthiaParticipant]

Spoelstra is not an above average coach. I don’t get why people defend him. Granted the finals was the most I watched of the Heat all season but every time they huddled for a timeout or pre-game huddle it was LeBron talking to the team, LeBron hyping the team, LeBron telling players what to do. Maybe 1/8 of huddles I actually seen Spoelsta with a marker & board drawing something and even then you look at all the players and most of them are looking away and not even giving him any attention, especially LeBron & Wade.

Every time they panned to his face during games he was always just wide-eyed(scared puppy dog look) and shaking his head, I never really seen him screaming and calling out stuff to players, or any sort of passion at all.

It was even more obvious when they showed Spurs huddles, it was Popp talking and every single player even bottom of the bench was in the huddle looking at the play he drew up and listening to what he said. Not to mention how many times during free throws someone like Tim Duncan or Tony Parker ran to the sidelines to pick Popp’s brain before the play resumed, that never happened once with Spoelstra.

I’m not going to sit here and say I think Spoelstra is bad, because I don’t. But he is not as great as some attempt to hype him has. He often looks overwhelmed and panicked.

[B-ball fanParticipant]

I’m not sure analyzing Spoelstra’s body language is the best way to judge him as a coach. He is always wide-eyed; that is just how he looks. Having Kawhi Leonard’s range of facial expressions wouldn’t make him a better coach.

Yes, the Heat may not quite have the offensive execution of the Spurs, but they will run some nice plays and they do make adjustments. The Heat didn’t really pay their best game in game 7, settling for a little too much one-on-one play at times and having a lot of plays messed up by Chalmers, but they still won. I think Spoelstra deserves at least a little bit of credit for the Heat’s ability to become a dominant team following losses and to become an excellent team on both ends of the floor.

I don’t know if Spoelstra is a great coach or not, but he is better than average. Getting any team to play as well as the Heat do on both ends of the floor probably takes more than average coaching.

[B-ball fanParticipant]

I’m not sure analyzing Spoelstra’s body language is the best way to judge him as a coach. He is always wide-eyed; that is just how he looks. Having Kawhi Leonard’s range of facial expressions wouldn’t make him a better coach.

Yes, the Heat may not quite have the offensive execution of the Spurs, but they will run some nice plays and they do make adjustments. The Heat didn’t really pay their best game in game 7, settling for a little too much one-on-one play at times and having a lot of plays messed up by Chalmers, but they still won. I think Spoelstra deserves at least a little bit of credit for the Heat’s ability to become a dominant team following losses and to become an excellent team on both ends of the floor.

I don’t know if Spoelstra is a great coach or not, but he is better than average. Getting any team to play as well as the Heat do on both ends of the floor probably takes more than average coaching.

[220Participant]

Wow, I don’t know what’s more surprising….you saying that Spoelstra isn’t an above average coach or the fact that so many people gave you a thumbs up for that comment.

I’m not to going to come say I think Spoelstra is an amazing coach, but I’d at least say he’s a good solid coach and certainly above average. The fact Spoelstra isn’t always drawing up plays doesn’t make him a below average coach. I’ve seen Spolestra screaming out stuff to players quite a bit, I’m not sure how you’ve missed that.

Pop is the best coach in the NBA currently and he has a definite aggressive style and keeps control of how his players are competing often, but his style isn’t the only winning style the NBA has known.

[220Participant]

Wow, I don’t know what’s more surprising….you saying that Spoelstra isn’t an above average coach or the fact that so many people gave you a thumbs up for that comment.

I’m not to going to come say I think Spoelstra is an amazing coach, but I’d at least say he’s a good solid coach and certainly above average. The fact Spoelstra isn’t always drawing up plays doesn’t make him a below average coach. I’ve seen Spolestra screaming out stuff to players quite a bit, I’m not sure how you’ve missed that.

Pop is the best coach in the NBA currently and he has a definite aggressive style and keeps control of how his players are competing often, but his style isn’t the only winning style the NBA has known.

[CynthiaParticipant]

Spoelstra is not an above average coach. I don’t get why people defend him. Granted the finals was the most I watched of the Heat all season but every time they huddled for a timeout or pre-game huddle it was LeBron talking to the team, LeBron hyping the team, LeBron telling players what to do. Maybe 1/8 of huddles I actually seen Spoelsta with a marker & board drawing something and even then you look at all the players and most of them are looking away and not even giving him any attention, especially LeBron & Wade.

Every time they panned to his face during games he was always just wide-eyed(scared puppy dog look) and shaking his head, I never really seen him screaming and calling out stuff to players, or any sort of passion at all.

It was even more obvious when they showed Spurs huddles, it was Popp talking and every single player even bottom of the bench was in the huddle looking at the play he drew up and listening to what he said. Not to mention how many times during free throws someone like Tim Duncan or Tony Parker ran to the sidelines to pick Popp’s brain before the play resumed, that never happened once with Spoelstra.

I’m not going to sit here and say I think Spoelstra is bad, because I don’t. But he is not as great as some attempt to hype him has. He often looks overwhelmed and panicked.

[lockdownD]

1- He is a workaholic.
2- He is a great motivator.
3- He loves the game.

1a- He doesn’t know how to set up plays, no creativity.
2a- Doesn’t develop talent.
3a- Questionable lineups at times.

…
The team, our style, and culture was all setup by Pat Riley. With Riley in command, Spo is a great fit because he listens to everything.

[lockdownD]

1- He is a workaholic.
2- He is a great motivator.
3- He loves the game.

1a- He doesn’t know how to set up plays, no creativity.
2a- Doesn’t develop talent.
3a- Questionable lineups at times.

…
The team, our style, and culture was all setup by Pat Riley. With Riley in command, Spo is a great fit because he listens to everything.

[kazamParticipant]

I really do not think Spolestra is a good coach. He has the best player in the past 15 years in Lebron in his prime on his team. They should be winning. Plus two hall of famers either in the end of their prime or just past it. Plus the best shooter of all time. The fact of the matter is that Lebron took over the series. He did what they needed and dominated.

Coach Popovich took a team led by a way past his prime Tim Duncan and Manu with a nearing the end of his prime Tony Parker to the NBA Finals and game 7. Popovich has great systems and thats why the Spurs can so seamlessly plug in pieces year after year even with significant turnover. Popovich did as much as Spolestra minus winning game seven with much less on his roster.

[kazamParticipant]

I really do not think Spolestra is a good coach. He has the best player in the past 15 years in Lebron in his prime on his team. They should be winning. Plus two hall of famers either in the end of their prime or just past it. Plus the best shooter of all time. The fact of the matter is that Lebron took over the series. He did what they needed and dominated.

Coach Popovich took a team led by a way past his prime Tim Duncan and Manu with a nearing the end of his prime Tony Parker to the NBA Finals and game 7. Popovich has great systems and thats why the Spurs can so seamlessly plug in pieces year after year even with significant turnover. Popovich did as much as Spolestra minus winning game seven with much less on his roster.

[A Lil EnglishParticipant]

I think he’s an ok coach who knows what it takes to get through these games by now but I feel he doesn’t say much that REALLY needs to be said at times.

He won’t chew out Wade or James for complaining about calls and getting back on D. You heard Pop preach about transition defense throughout the series but Miami never seemed to get it. That’s his responsibility IMO, but I guess he needs them on his side more than they need him really. I think he’d be pretty easy to replace.

I think he chooses to have a laid back style though and rarely panics at all.

[A Lil EnglishParticipant]

I think he’s an ok coach who knows what it takes to get through these games by now but I feel he doesn’t say much that REALLY needs to be said at times.

He won’t chew out Wade or James for complaining about calls and getting back on D. You heard Pop preach about transition defense throughout the series but Miami never seemed to get it. That’s his responsibility IMO, but I guess he needs them on his side more than they need him really. I think he’d be pretty easy to replace.

I think he chooses to have a laid back style though and rarely panics at all.

[Sewok15Participant]

If Doc Rivers leaves Boston that would make Spoelstra the 2nd longest tenured coach in the NBA. That is crazy to think about how young he is and the legacy he has already cemented with two titles. It doesn’t hurt having LeBron James who is a coach on and off the floor but you do have to give him some credit. He made the right moves and while we are asking questions about coach Pop taking out Duncan and Parker in game 6 and Parker in game 7 we don’t have any of those head scracthers from coach Spo. I’m not saying he out coached Pop but he did a great job and at least deserves some credit.

[Sewok15Participant]

If Doc Rivers leaves Boston that would make Spoelstra the 2nd longest tenured coach in the NBA. That is crazy to think about how young he is and the legacy he has already cemented with two titles. It doesn’t hurt having LeBron James who is a coach on and off the floor but you do have to give him some credit. He made the right moves and while we are asking questions about coach Pop taking out Duncan and Parker in game 6 and Parker in game 7 we don’t have any of those head scracthers from coach Spo. I’m not saying he out coached Pop but he did a great job and at least deserves some credit.

[Ghost01Participant]

I think he’s an above average coach who’s legacy will be greatly helped by the talent he has. I give him credit for moving to the whole small ball thing and dominating the regular season. But they weren’t as dominant in the playoffs and struggled from time to time.

[Ghost01Participant]

I think he’s an above average coach who’s legacy will be greatly helped by the talent he has. I give him credit for moving to the whole small ball thing and dominating the regular season. But they weren’t as dominant in the playoffs and struggled from time to time.

[Author]

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