Rewind to just a few years ago and Erik Spoelstra, the head coach of the Miami Heat, was leading his team to their fourth consecutive run in the NBA Finals. He was considered a brilliant young coach and, by some, a lock to be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame at some point in the future.
Now, just on the cusp of the 2015-16 NBA season, some consider if Spoelstra’s tenure with the Heat might be over.
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“Coach Spo” hasn’t done anything that deserves getting fired, at least not yet. But his case in Miami is an interesting one, an argument for how much of a role coaching actually has in determining a team’s success or its failures.
By most measures, his career has been a great one: 414 career wins (including 63 in the playoffs), two championships, six playoff berths and a winning percentage of nearly 63 percent. And yet the NBA is very much a case of what-have-you-done-for-me-lately, and fans think just of last season, failing to make the playoffs after injuries ravaged the team.
There’s the hope that won’t be the case in the future but Spoelstra will still be challenged to find a way to incorporate new players and guide them to a deep playoff run.
When it comes to how Spoelstra will be judged this season, Sun-Sentinel reporter Ira Winderman recently assessed that the kid gloves are most definitely off:
"I believe (Spoelstra) has shown an ability to adapt to the moment strategically, as he did during several of those Big Three seasons. But I agree that he was given a pass early when he inherited a team coming off a 15-67 season and then when he was afforded the opportunity of having LeBron (James) there to clean up any issues. So what this season is about is this: Erik Spoelstra has never won a playoff series without LeBron on his roster. Now he has the type of talent that should lead to success, even without LeBron. So, now, yes, he very much should be on the clock."
So what are Spoelstra’s toughest challenges? Injury is the most obvious one and, unfortunately for him, one that he has little control over. He can and likely will, have to manage minutes closely for his key players, particularly Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, the focal points of the team’s offense. ‘
The Heat have depth — unproven yet talented — that will give Wade and Bosh an opportunity for much-needed rest.
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Yet even that depth provides a challenge for Spoelstra — where do you fit in rookie Justise Winslow? Who will share the floor with Josh McRoberts, maximizing his passing and playmaking abilities? Will Spoelstra find minutes for both Chris Andersen and Amar’e Stoudemire as backup centers?
Spoelstra will also have to scrap the team’s sputtering offense from last year to a much more uptempo game featuring Goran Dragic. There were moments after Dragic’ mid-season acquisition that you could see him desperate to run, run, run, only to have the slower, older players lay down like speed bumps in his way.
But Spoelstra’s biggest challenge, both figuratively and literally, might be in Hassan Whiteside. Heat fans are enamored of Whiteside, another in Miami’s historic line of quality centers that includes Rony Seikaly, Alonzo Mourning and Shaquille O’Neal.
Sill, there’s cause for concern with Whiteside still largely unproven and with his impending free agency looming large in the distance. He’ll be looking to produce, proving that last year’s breakout wasn’t a fluke: Spo will be tasked with ensuring that he won’t do so and cost his team success.
The ceiling for Miami this year is as high as their floor is low – there’s potential for greatness or utter disappointment. And despite his success leading the Heat through past challenges, Erik Spoelstra’s most difficult trials lie ahead. His chances of coaching this team beyond next year depend on his ability to navigate this talented group during the upcoming season.
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