Spoelstra - Does this back to back put him as an elite-level coach?

[Venti Quattro]

I think yes, but ultimately he won't have pull without the support of Godfather Riles.

[MeloHype]

No

[TE]

No, tbh. He has Lebron and a group of players that can ball.

[irishock]

Fuck no. Possibly the worst coach to repeat, ever. He should be fired ala that Montreal Canadiens coach who won the cup in the 70's.

[HarlemHeat37]

He coached a terrible series, tbh:lol..

It took him until game 6 to realize Danny Green can't dribble and Gary Neal doesn't play defense..

He only began playing Mike Miller when the Heat were desperate against Indiana..

He's KC Jones of the 2010s, tbh..

[baseline bum]

He coached a terrible series, tbh:lol..

It took him until game 6 to realize Danny Green can't dribble and Gary Neal doesn't play defense..

He only began playing Mike Miller when the Heat were desperate against Indiana..

He's KC Jones of the 2010s, tbh..

LOL I remember when Heinsohn used to compare Jones to Riley on those CBS broadcasts. Ignorant fat fucking Boston blowhard.

[TDMVPDPOY]

by doing shit nothing, i have him ahead of pop who did everything in his bag of tricks outcoaching himself instead going with his best lineup for the night that showed up....

[HI-FI]

He coached a terrible series, tbh:lol..

It took him until game 6 to realize Danny Green can't dribble and Gary Neal doesn't play defense..

He only began playing Mike Miller when the Heat were desperate against Indiana..

He's KC Jones of the 2010s, tbh..

:lol true. how do you grade Pop vs Spoelstra this series though?

btw Spoelstra looked like a cokehead in some of those press conferences.

[HarlemHeat37]

Pop outcoaches himself, tbh..

Against a nigga like Spoelstra, it makes more sense to play checkers rather than chess, tbh..

[Darius McCrary]

Pop outcoaches himself, tbh..

Against a nigga like Spoelstra, it makes more sense to play checkers rather than chess, tbh..

Truth.

[Johnny RIngo]

Outcoaching Popovich isn't really an accomplishment anymore after the Avery Johnson embarrassment in 2006.

[AchillesHeel]

will be the most overrated coach, ever. Lebron has one of the highest IQs of all time when it comes to basketball, he leads the team by himself and he makes/calls the plays by himself. Philibeaner just keeps the F away and makes the correct subs. Outside of that, he's done nothing. I could put the whole 2011 collapse on him because he couldn't adjust vs Mavs, he should have put Wade as the main ballhandler and let Lebron play off the ball, Wade was obviously more effective and needed more touches and they would have won if they had Wade make the plays, as he was harder to stop.

Also, almost cost him the series by not figuring Green out until Game 6, you could have done that a lot earlier and finished it in 5/6.

Spurs IMO got so far because of Pop, not just his in-game coaching but the development of Green and Neal. However, he made some bad decisions at the end of Games 6 and 7, where he let the Heat win without a single answer. He benched Parker and had Manu/Timmy beat em, that was a baaaad idea, imo even a fatigued/injured Parker would have at least gotten to the line instead of turning it over or bricking it 2 ft from the rim.

[Clipper Nation]

I don't think he's as bad as people claim, but he did really fuck up the Finals with his stupid rotations....

[Skyapples]

Spoelstra is really schizophrenic when it comes to his sets on offense and his rotations which really takes his players out of rhythm examples being in Game 3 of the ECF Lebron dominates Indiana with sets that put him in the post and high post then in Game 4 they ran sets that put Lebron in either position 12-14 times the whole game. Instead opting for isos with Lebron/Wade and Bosh/others just spotting up with poor spacing. This along with seemingly random rotations that see players like Birdman and Battier barely play/DNP for no apparent reason. This situation is similar to OKC's with Brooks relying on Westbrook/Durant isos and players like Collison disappearing on the bench.

Spoelstra will be overrated because of the success brought in by his players talent, which a similar scenario will/has played out in OKC with Durant and Westbrook's talent overcoming Brooks' head being stuck up his own ass.

[Rogue]

Heat would've won the series in 5 if he had any brain under his skull. dude's coaching was shitty enough and he was only bailed out by Allen's fluke 3 and Bron going god mode.

[lefty]

TBH

Surround Lebron with shooters and you are good to go


Even D'Antoni can do it

[dunkman]

He's elite. With an unbalanced roster made the finals, then two 'ships.

[Michael Jordan.]

He's elite. With an unbalanced roster made the finals, then two 'ships.

LeBron took Mike Brown to the finals.

[dunkman]

LeBron took Mike Brown to the finals.

The problem was to pass trough the C's big 4, from the 07-08 season.

[Horse]

Hell no Pop did more for the heat than spo did.

[Legacy]

No. Pop was coasting, tbh.

[JamStone]

Average coach coaching superior talent. The best thing I am guessing Spoelstra does is get out of way of LeBron and Wade when it comes to offense. But to me, that's not superior coaching. That's just knowing when you have the better talent. I think Doc Rivers did that well when he got KG and Ray Allen. But I don't think that makes either a good or great coach.

In basketball, probably more so than in any other American team sport, talent almost always trumps coaching.

[Legacy]

:lol true. how do you grade Pop vs Spoelstra this series though?

btw Spoelstra looked like a cokehead in some of those press conferences.

OMFG, my sentiments exactly! He most likely is, duh... :rollin

[Venti Quattro]

Let's revisit this... Four straight finals trips for Miami, is he at least an elite coach now?

[spurraider21]

i think most will say yes, miami/lebron fans will say no

[Clipper Nation]

i think most will say yes, miami/lebron fans will say no
I'm a LeBron fan and I think Spo is a very good coach, tbh..... it's actually the Heat haters who don't give him any credit....

[TIMMYtoZO]

:lol I can't give Spoelstra that kind of praise. Pop, Carlisle, and Thibs are elite. Those guys get the most out of their players. Spoelstra is only in the top 4-5 by default. That doesn't make him elite, tbh. A team with this kind of talent faced game 7's in the fucking East 2 years in a row on both title runs. Spoelstra is the reason why Miami has underachieved. They won 2 in a row but they didn't dominate like they should have with a roster like that. Miami still lacks a killer instinct in close out games. They needed a serious rally to close out the fucking Nets and couldn't finish Indiana off in game 5 despite being given so many chances. They don't go for the kill when they smell blood, and I blame that on Spoelstra.

[313]

No

[AchillesHeel]

:lol

[lefty]

Not elite ....






..... Yet


But he is a very good coach, and he is growing


Being a young Philibeaner, he had all the odds stacked against him.

[jimbo]

:lol I can't give Spoelstra that kind of praise. Pop, Carlisle, and Thibs are elite. Those guys get the most out of their players. Spoelstra is only in the top 4-5 by default. That doesn't make him elite, tbh. A team with this kind of talent faced game 7's in the fucking East 2 years in a row on both title runs. Spoelstra is the reason why Miami has underachieved. They won 2 in a row but they didn't dominate like they should have with a roster like that. Miami still lacks a killer instinct in close out games. They needed a serious rally to close out the fucking Nets and couldn't finish Indiana off in game 5 despite being given so many chances. They don't go for the kill when they smell blood, and I blame that on Spoelstra.


Lets be real for a second here, Spo actually came up with a defensive AND offensive scheme. That already kicks the crap out of the Thibs/Vogels of the world. He's not the greatest adjuster (lol Danny Green), but he does everything else pretty well.

I mean his 2012+ systems wouldn't work without Lebron, but at least he could come up with something unlike Mike Brown.

[ambchang]

What does elite mean?

Spo did cover some of the roster holes of the Heat using the small ball lineup. Sure having Lebron helped, and having Wade, Bosh, Allen, and a bunch of high IQ role players helped, but the lineup of the Heat is anything but conventional, and Spo installed a system that worked.

That said, I am not ready to put him in the level of Pop, Jackson, Daly and Riley.

[phyzik]

He has LBJ, Wade, Bosh and Allen and plays in the EC. Anyone Could coach that group to 4 Finals appearances in that conference.

[Clipper Nation]

Lets be real for a second here, Spo actually came up with a defensive AND offensive scheme. That already kicks the crap out of the Thibs/Vogels of the world.

This, tbh.... if anything, Thibs is the overrated one, not Spo.... Thibs has continued to ignore half the game (and yes, his defenders will cry about his personnel, but if he was really as good as advertised, he'd be maximizing his personnel on offense instead of fielding an absolute shitpile), is stubborn, and runs his players into the ground.... put Thibs on the Heat and they never go away from the deuling isoball that cost them the Finals in 2011 and Wade is fully done by now because Thibs would never allow the maintenance program....

[UNCLE-DREW]

He has one of the easiest job as an NBA coach compared to the rest of the coaches but is he good ?

in my opponion he is good, his player rotations ( ye they are stacked ) are good manages both sides of the game pretty well.
makes it him the best coach.. hell no but for this team hes almost a perfect fit imo..

that guy in chicago is so overrated and let's not start about vogel :rollin