NBA: Who Should Be Coach Of The Year?
3. Erik Spoelstra
On Jan. 14, the Miami Heat were 11-30. Today they are 35-37. Let that sink in for a moment. Ready to move on? Great.
Since Jan. 14, the Heat have the best record in the entire league at 24-7. This is due to their elite play on both ends of the floor, as they are sixth in offense and third in defense during this time period. That’s no joke.
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The Heat are especially using effort and determination on the defensive end of the floor to win games. For the season, Miami has the fifth best defense in the league, and that’s with some of their best defenders like Josh Richardson (missed 29 games) and Justice Winslow (only played 18 games) missing significant time.
The turnaround in Miami is incredible, and sees them controlling their own destiny in the playoff race. The Heat currently sit in the eighth seed, 1.5 games ahead of both the Pistons and Bulls, yet just two games out of the fifth seed.
Yes I understand many people don’t want to talk about a coach whose team is under .500. But when you consider that as recently as nearly two months ago people were proclaiming that the Heat were tanking (and probably should have to be honest), the fact that they have the best record since mid-January and are in the playoffs automatically puts Spoelstra in the conversation for Coach of the Year.
The only problem is that there is a coach who carries a similar narrative for a team that is certainly a playoff contender.