PHILADELPHIA — Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra kept saying the same thing. What’s more? He knew it.
As the pre-game availability for his team’s 105-104 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in the Play-In Tournament got going, it was easy to sense Spoelstra’s impatience — not only for answering questions from the media, but also for the game to get underway. This was the fourth time he had spoken publicly about facing Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey since the regular season ended, which means he had done so privately many, many more times.
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And yet, he repeated himself.
“If you’re cramming for the test defensively right now, and trying to prepare for as dynamic a talent as Joel is, you’re not going to be able to do it with one day of practice,” Spoelstra said. “We’re going to be who we are. They’re going to be who they are. Let’s tip this thing up.”
The Heat lost, and they might be done for, if not on Friday against the Chicago Bulls then in the first round against the Boston Celtics, now that Jimmy Butler is out with an MCL sprain.
Heat confirm Jimmy Butler has an MCL sprain and is out. https://t.co/W0Mnx8Rcws
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 18, 2024
Yet, it is clear Spoelstra gives the Heat the best chance they’ve got, again and again and again. To oversimplify wildly, an NBA coach has two main jobs. First, to prepare his team to play well. Second, to get his team to believe in some overtly hokey bull-dung. The two are tied together in a manner that might not seem obvious. If you do not believe in a game plan, it can be difficult to buy into a message of togetherness. If you do not buy into a message of togetherness, it can be difficult to commit to a game plan that calls for ultimate togetherness.
Within the first half of the first quarter on Wednesday night, Bam Adebayo picked up his second foul guarding Embiid. He had to come out of the game. Big man Thomas Bryant is far from a defensive stopper. At 6-foot-10 and 248 pounds, however, he was the only player who could hope to provide some one-on-one resistance for Embiid.
Instead, Spoelstra called for a zone defense, using 6-foot-8 Kevin Love as the biggest player on the floor. After the game and during it, Spoelstra did not seem rocked by Adebayo’s foul trouble. More importantly, neither did his team. Between the time Adebayo checked out of the game with two fouls and checked back in with about eight minutes to go in the second quarter, the Heat outscored the 76ers 31-17.
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“That’s the cost of doing business against a guy like Embiid,” Spoelstra said. “Bam was still able to play his minutes after that point.”
This is where the preparation comes into play. According to Synergy Sports, the Heat played a zone defense 13.1 percent of the time during the regular season. The Utah Jazz were the other team in double digits, at 10.1 percent, and only one other team was above 6 percent. Yet, the Heat were so in sync with it — surely aided by Embiid still looking for his sense of rhythm and timing — that Philadelphia looked hapless against it. Philadelphia turned the ball over 12 times in the first half, leading to plenty of easy looks that the Heat offense cannot generate otherwise.
It was interesting to watch Delon Wright, a player I covered for his first three and a half years in the league with the Toronto Raptors, within the system. Wright has always been a toolsy guard who struggles to make decisions quickly offensively. However, he has good defensive instincts, quick feet and a good wingspan. Along with Haywood Highsmith, he was doing side-to-side drills at the top of the zone, making any entry pass into the paint difficult. On offense, he knew to fire away on open 3s and to make the safe, sure pass if that look wasn’t there.
Miami won his 28 minutes by 23 points. Wright, by the way, came to Miami after the Washington Wizards bought out the remainder of his contract. Thursday was the two-month anniversary of Wright as a member of the Heat. Yet, it appeared he knew exactly what to do.
“That’s why we really like the vets that we have, because they’re always ready,” Spoelstra said on Sunday after the end of the regular season. “And when they play, they contribute to winning. Both (Wright and Bryant) played well in their stints in the second half of the season. Delon (has a) shorter sample size. But he has played winning basketball.
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“So many people in this league talk about how you need veteran leaders — you need veteran guys to accept roles, guys that will play and provide that mentorship, leadership. But very few vets really want to do that. Those two guys do it well.”
Again — hokey, but Spoelstra does not shy away from that. Leading up to Wednesday’s game, he repeatedly used the phrase “clear minds,” close enough to the first part of fictional coach Eric Taylor’s mantra in the TV series “Friday Night Lights” that frequently sent his players barrelling with belief onto the field. (Taylor, however, wasn’t much of a preparation guy.) Spoelstra actually said the words “Friday night lights” in sequence when looking forward to the game against the Bulls, although with the final two words decidedly lower case.
When you read my colleague Jason Quick’s feature on Spoelstra from a year ago, another fictional leader comes to mind — chef Carmy Berzatto from “The Bear.” Spoelstra seems to favor open communication that can veer into confrontation, with every effort to keep it from becoming personal. That doesn’t always work out for the fictional chef, and has led to some bumpy moments publicly for Spoelstra. There is no doubt, though, that when Spoelstra gets a little hammy, his players might actually buy into the message.
“We’re here. We’re in the same position as last year,” guard Tyler Herro said. “Nobody expected us to do what we did last year, and we continued to get closer, kept continuing to play together. And a couple of things went our way. So we’ll just continue to do that.”
It’s only corny if you don’t believe it.
(Photo: Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
