Filed under: Bulls, Clippers, Heat, Kings, NBA Coaches, The Works
In The Works today: the Kings play the waiting game with a stand-off on top; and some big news about this column. But first, the myth of coach fitness.Fit to Be Coach
Over the past couple seasons, "fit" has become a trendy word to use in assessing any trade, draft pick and free agent signing. Fit has always been important to decision-makers, but now it's getting its day in the sun with fans and armchair pundits. How else was a fawning audience to explain why OKC's darling GM Sam Presti passed up Tyreke Evans for James Harden? It was fit! And, as Presti well knows, it does matter. It's not empty buzz.Some who heralded the new Heat forgot about fit; others, myself included, assumed basketball geniuses like LeBron James and Dwyane Wade could create their own chemistry, with a nod to the 2008 Olympic team. But here we are, with bad fit apparently sinking the Heat.
But that's not all. Erik Spoelstra is also (supposedly) killing the Heat with, depending on your perspective, a lack of creativity or willful mismanagement of his constellation. But we know, emphatically and empirically, that Spoelstra is not a bad coach. He took last year's version of the Heat to a 47-35 record. For stretches of the season, Quentin Richardson was the second-best player on last year's Heat team. That's not a joke.
Spoelstra is part Pat Riley -- a grinder at heart, a guy who works 23 hours a day and demands the same from his players -- and part Lawrence Frank -- a X&O whiz kid. But because of the very nature of Miami's three "chill" bros, Spoelstra has had to be a bit heavier on the Riley, all while maintaining a delicate balance. That hasn't allowed his L-Frank side to come out. Or, these superstars are so heavy-handed that the Xs and Os have to come with a heavier dose of Drill Sergeant than Spoelstra can muster in his tenuous position.
So, while Spoelstra has both the chops to command this team and the brains to make it sing, he just isn't in the right spot to execute it all. It's just a bad fit.
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Source: http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/11/30/the-works-erik-spoelstras-feathers-not-so-tough-choices-in-sa/
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