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The Miami Heat's players are frustrated with Erik Spoelstra and some are questioning whether he is the right coach for their team, according to people close to the situation.

With the ballyhooed Heat losing four of their last five games and sporting a mediocre 9-8 record, the players are privately grumbling about Spoelstra on several fronts.

Sources say the players believe he is not letting them be themselves, that they are questioning his offensive strategies, and that they think he is panicking because he fears losing his job.

In contrast to the popular view that Spoelstra has been hesitant to jump on superstars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, sources say the Heat coach has shown no fear in criticizing them.

Exhibit A was a recent shootaround in which Spoelstra told James that he had to get more serious. The source said Spoelstra called James out in front of the entire team, telling him, "I can't tell when you're serious."

"He's jumping on them," one source said. "If anything, he's been too tough on them. Everybody knows LeBron is playful and likes to joke around, but Spoelstra told him in front of the whole team that he has to get more serious. The players couldn't believe it. They feel like Spoelstra's not letting them be themselves."

It is not known whether the players voiced their concerns about Spoelstra during their players-only meeting following Saturday's loss at Dallas. Nor is it apparent whether the bump between James and Spoelstra during a timeout in that game was accidental or a result of tension between the two.

Regardless, the players also believe Spoelstra's offensive strategies have been too simplistic, according to the sources. They feel like he is running nothing but pick-and-rolls and telling the Heat's secondary players to find open spots on the floor for catch-and-shoot jumpers.

The sources said the players also think the constant speculation about Spoelstra's job security is getting to the third-year coach and that he has resorted to nitpicking over minor details because of it.

"He's not a motivator," one of the sources said. "Instead of coaching he's at the point where the players are starting to sense that he's fearing for his job."

While the players are having their doubts about Spoelstra, it is not clear whether they want team president Pat Riley to coach them. Several people close to the situation said Wade definitely does not want Riley to come down to the sidelines. Sources also said that while recruiting players this past summer, Riley insisted that he would not coach the team.

"Riley kept saying 'Spoelstra's a good coach and he'll grow into a great coach'," a source said. "He said he got his coaching break [with the Los Angeles Lakers] around the same age as Spoelstra got his."

It is widely believed that Riley does not want to coach this season. However, one source said that privately Riley has at times been critical of the Heat's game-planning.

While expectations around the league have started to lessen for the Heat because of their struggles, the sources said the players still have a championship-or-bust mentality for this season and that they are open to whatever changes are necessary to get there.

While the players think that may mean a coaching change, one member of the Heat organization said the team is suffering from a lack of leadership from the players, not the coach.

"They don't want to step on each other's toes," the person said. "There's no leader on the team. Somebody has to speak up and be the leader on the team. They can't be afraid to step on people's toes. They need a vocal leader who's going to make everybody accountable. I don't think it's on the coach. It's on the players."

Chris Broussard covers the NBA for ESPN The Magazine.
Click to expand...

:hi5:


i can't tell you how much i'm enjoying watching these schmucks fall apart before our eyes.
 
Spoelstra getting the axe is the easiest prediction of the NBA season. But the recent play of the Pacers is definitely a surprise to me.
 
Oh, I'll be there! Trying to figure out how many of us from Columbus are making the 2 hour trip so we can get our tix.
 
iron yuppie said:
Spoelstra getting the axe is the easiest prediction of the NBA season. But the recent play of the Pacers is definitely a surprise to me.
Click to expand...

i'm surprised new orleans has done as well as they have, and while i'm not surprised that san antonio is good, i am surprised that they're 14-2. not much else is overly surprising... except for perhaps how good monta ellis has been considering golden state was doing everything in their power to ship him out of town n the offseason and found no takers.

oh... and darko's averaging 17 per and 4 blocks per game over his last 5 games. that's a tad surprising.

as for spoelstra... i just have to laugh. lebron is an absolute joke. firstly, i absolutely think he bumped him on purpose, he did the exact same thing to mike brown.

second... he's upset with spoelstra that he can't act like a fucking clown as much, and the alternative is pat riley? really? does this guy even have a clue as to what pat riley is all about, or is he just that cool old guy with the nice suits? NOBODY gets on players nerves more than pat riley. maybe larry brown is a close second, but as far as NBA coaches that's about it, provided hubie brown's not coming back out of retirement.

lebron's upset because he can't make jokes and have fun? what is this guy, an oversized nate robinson? what an absolute joke.
 
What are the Bulls right now on that road trip? 6-2? 6-3?

I'm excited to see them play the Magic on Wednesday night. They're looking great right now sans Vince.
 
Went 4-3 on the ol' circus road trip. 9-6 overall, 1st place in the central, but just one game up on the surging PACERS!

The...Pacers? With Darren Collison playing like crap? Like iron yuppie said, that is definitely a surprise.

Yeah, Wednesday should be fun.
 
I have a feeling that LeBron is going to steamroll the Cavs on Thursday. Cleveland allows a lot of lane penetration, which should provide ample opportunity for LeBron to vent his frustrations. I really hope that he does not, but I sense this being a forty-point triple-double sort of scenario.

And Darko even being in the league anymore comes as a surprise to me. This was the first time that I had even heard his name in at least a year.
 
Because of the current state of the Sixers, I'm spending this season living vicariously through the opponent of the Miami Heat.

Also, Jameer Nelson. Still maybe my favorite college player ever.
 
Jameer's really stepping up as a playmaker this year and the heart of the team. His shot selection has improved tremendously and he's as clutch as ever. As much as I would love to see a more traditional and skilled point like Steve Nash, Chris Paul or Deron Williams end up on the Magic, it would be tough to replace Nelson's toughness and intangibles.
 
"They don't want to step on each other's toes," the person said. "There's no leader on the team. Somebody has to speak up and be the leader on the team. They can't be afraid to step on people's toes. They need a vocal leader who's going to make everybody accountable. I don't think it's on the coach. It's on the players."
Click to expand...

And there it is kids...
 
i still think it's deeper than that, which is why they can't figure it out.

they have two "stars" who are incapable of playing off the ball. neither is a star player when they can not dominate the ball. so then they become a team of one star, two good players and a bunch of dog shit. then it becomes even worse because the two douchebags at the top can't figure out who should be the alpha douche.

sooo yea... the heat are probably exactly where they should be.


for the celtics, there was no doubt that when the money was on the table, paul pierce would be the one with the ball in his hands 90% of the time. doesn't mean that allen or KG couldn't get the ball from time to time if the matchup presented it, but yea... it's paul pierce's team.
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
for the celtics, there was no doubt that when the money was on the table, paul pierce would be the one with the ball in his hands 90% of the time. doesn't mean that allen or KG couldn't get the ball from time to time if the matchup presented it, but yea... it's paul pierce's team.
Click to expand...

The biggest difference when comparing Boston's big three to Miami's "big three" is that Allen and KG bought into that plan knowing that it was their best chance at winning a championship. I'm not any of Miami's new stars are mature enough for that yet...

Oh...and Rondo helps a little bit too. Oh...also having a center helps as well. Joel Anthony is worthless.
 
Yes. Miami desperately needs a legitimate big man. I still am astonished by how thoroughly Randolph dominated Bosh in the paint in that Memphis game. Bosh seemingly has no desire to get his hands dirty. While I can understand him not wanting to play center, a top-tier power forward should still average well over seven rebounds a game. Hell, Blake Griffin is Bosh's height and averaging 11.5 boards per game.
 
:love:


King James wants Spoelstra to bow to him

By Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports

Erik Spoelstra reached out to Mike Brown over the summer and searched for insight into both basketball’s blessing and curse: Coaching the two-time MVP LeBron James.

Over and over, Brown uprooted his offensive system to appease James only to have it never work. Brown praised James’ character publicly when he would’ve preferred to have been truthful about James’ narcissism. James defied Brown in public and private, disregarded his play calls to freelance his offense, and belittled him without consequence within the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Meticulous in his preparation, Spoelstra spoke with several past coaches, and league sources said a clear and unequivocal picture appeared on how to proceed: End the cycle of enabling with James and hold him accountable.

And surprise, surprise: LeBron James has responded with a test of his own organizational strength, pushing to see how far the Heat will bend to his will. This season, James is hearing a word seldom uttered to him in Cleveland: “No.” And it keeps coming out of the coach’s mouth, keeps getting between the King and what he wants.

Can I stay overnight to party in New Orleans after a preseason game?

Can I play the clown in practice?

Can I get out of playing point guard?

No. No. No.

Wait, what?

No, LeBron.

No.

Even within a month of the season’s sideways 9-8 start, the NBA witnessed a predictable play out of the James-Maverick Carter playbook on Monday morning. They planted a story and exposed themselves again as jokers of the highest order. They care so little about anyone but themselves. Still, no one’s surprised that they’d stoop so low, so fast into this supposed historic 73-victory season and NBA Finals sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers. They want Spoelstra – and Pat Riley – to bend to them, to bow to the King the way everyone has before them.

Nevertheless, here’s what was surprising – even troubling – when the Heat talked on Monday before a victory over the Washington Wizards: In the blink of an eye, Dwyane Wade signed up with Team LeBron to scapegoat and sell out Spoelstra.

“I’m not going to say he’s ‘my guy,’ but he’s my coach,” Wade said.

Wade’s always been loyal, and that’s why it was so surprising to witness him bail this fast on Spoelstra, whom Wade knows too well. Spoelstra is a good NBA coach. Everyone knows that Wade isn’t a star who plays hard all the time, knows that he takes plays off on defense. They know that Spoelstra did a terrific job coaching 90 victories out of that flawed Miami roster the previous two seasons.

As much as ever, the Heat need Wade to influence James. Only now, it’s clear James is influencing Wade. With Udonis Haslem out for the regular season, the locker room misses one of its vital voices. Now, Wade is struggling on the floor and James is the devil on his shoulder, whispering that he doesn’t need to be accountable, that there’s an easy fall guy for everyone: Spoelstra.

Those who know Wade well, who care about him, were disappointed Monday. When Spoelstra needed Wade to stand up for him, Wade never shrunk so small. Spoelstra was Wade’s guy, but Wade’s finding it much easier to align himself with James’ coward act than do the right thing. This was something that you’d expect out of Chris Bosh, who’s never been a leader, never a winner, but Wade?

“He knows better than this,” one of Wade’s former assistant coaches said. “I’m not saying he hasn’t changed some, but he knows right from wrong. And this is wrong.”

The fundamental problem for Spoelstra isn’t that James doesn’t respect coaches – he doesn’t respect people. Give LeBron this, though: He’s learned to live one way with the television light on, and another with it off. He treats everyone like a servant, because that’s what the system taught him as a teenage prodigy. To James, the coach isn’t there to mold him into the team dynamic. He’s there to serve him.

Wade was one of the Team USA players who’d watch incredulously as James would throw a bowl of fries back at a renowned chef and bark, “They’re cold!” Or throw his sweaty practice jersey across the court and command a team administrator to go pick it up. Everyone wants James to grow out of it, but he’s never showed much of an inclination for self-examination and improvement. And he’s never surrounded himself with people who’d push him to do so.

What’s more, the timing of this leak was no accident, because James and his business manager had to like the idea of someone else going on trial this week. When the public wanted to talk about James’ return to Cleveland, about the callous way with which he left, about the disjointed start in Miami, they thrust everything onto Spoelstra.

Part of them believed they could deflect Hell Week at home in Ohio, and part of them probably believed they could indeed align the public with them against Spoelstra.

After all, the coach had it coming to him. Of this, LeBron James was sure. Spoelstra had the audacity to do something that Mike Brown never had ownership’s backing to do in Cleveland: To push James, call him out, coach him.

The funniest part had to be how they leaked the idea that Erik Spoelstra was panicking now, behaving like he feared for his job. Truth be told, he’s been behaving in the opposite way. Spoelstra isn’t running from LeBron, but running at him.

Someone’s scared here, but it isn’t the coach.
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
for the celtics, there was no doubt that when the money was on the table, paul pierce would be the one with the ball in his hands 90% of the time. doesn't mean that allen or KG couldn't get the ball from time to time if the matchup presented it, but yea... it's paul pierce's team.
Click to expand...

Very true...it also helped a ton that KG and Ray's game are complementary to Pierce's. Ideally you'd want KG to be more of a post player, but at least he can post up, and if not he's looking to catch the ball and shoot his little jumper. And Ray just runs until he gets open, catches, and shoots.

They'd be fine if Wade's game was more like Ray Allen's. Lebron could play the Pierce role and be the guy with the ball...but Wade's not a catch and shoot guy, he's a dribble drive guy exactly like Quitness. These issues were predictable, and I don't really see them correcting them unless they trade somebody. If they could trade Wade and somehow get back a real shooting 2 guard and a legit NBA center they'd be OK.
 
interesting... but as far as obscure stats go that don't really mean a whole lot buuuuuuuuut can still be fairly interesting and useful when putting together rotations, this one is my favorite...

NBA.com: AutoTrader +/- Stat


interestingly enough... bosh leads the heat in +/-, james jones is actually up there as well, then lebron, and big Z is around 50.

all that is quite interesting in it's own... but what is more interesting is of course the fact that diane wade is missing from that list. wade missed a game, so i figured i'd look at the breakdowns to get a better idea.

plus/minus charts can be very deceiving... if a player gets a lot of extended time in a positive blow out, his numbers will go up, and vice versa. so you can't just go by straight plus/minus and say "here... this is who should play."

what you look for when you read the charts are two things... players who are getting steady backup minutes who are putting up terrific plus/minus numbers who you may want to get some more time, and players who are getting a ton of minutes with a poor plus/minus number compared to other players who get big minutes.

with a quick look at the heat's plus/minus (per minute played) chart, two things stand out big time.

+/- per minute played
1. jones .266 - 431 miunutes played
2. bosh .201 - 616 minutes played
3. ilgauskas - 323 minutes played
4. anthony .161 - 278 minutes played
5. haslem .150 - 344 minutes played
6. james .148 - 678 minutes played
7. arroyo .121 - 394 minutes played
8. wade .087 - 607 minutes played
9. house -.002 - 352 minutes played
10. chalmers -.025 minutes played



wade's plus/minus numbers are alarming. it could mean one of two things... either wade simply isn't as good as people make him out to be, or he is really struggling to find his way playing beside lebron.
 
I think that you have already nailed the issue on the head: neither LeBron or Wade knows how to move without the ball. The vast majority of possessions, then, consist of Wade or LeBron playing one-on-five, and the team has no one who is able to salvage the bricks through offensive rebounding or opportunistic play-making.

I bet that Anderson Varejao is looking pretty damn attractive to LeBron right now, because Andy bailed him out on countless occasions over the last few years by grabbing offensive rebounds from his ill-advised threes and mid-range turn-arounds. I imagine that Haslem did the same for Wade. But now neither of them are present.
 
Wade could average forty points a night in this scheme if he were able to move without the ball like Ray Allen.
 
it's both of 'em... wade and the queen. their fundamental skills are lacking. lebron can't even set a damned screen. paul pierce sets a ton of ball screens for pick & pops and pick & rolls for the celtics. lebron has not shown any ability to even do that. he has zero post game, at 6'8", which is baffling... he's tried using it a little now, but all he's doing is a fugazi mark jackson where he tries to back you down and barrel you over.

lebron is just... i dunno. he's the epitome of everything that's wrong with grassroots basketball in america.
 
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