The Official Fire Spo Topic

[miamiballer]

if we eventually fire spo who do you want as coach? what do you think of jvg?

[DWadeno3]

He's a good coach, no doubt, but after the comments he made about Wade I doubt he'd be the best solution. I know both are grown men and should put personal stuff behind them but it might still cause tensions. On the other hand you'd definitely know that JVG isn't holding anything back and if he messes it up with Wade, one could still fire him even though it wouldn't be too good to fire two coaches in such a short period of time.

[Iputsomepantson]

Yeah JVG with Wade after his on-air comments...not gonna happen.

Byron Scott.

[MiamiHustlin]

thoughts on avery johnson? accomplished a lot as a player and coach, would gather some respect.

[abark]

You think Bosh and Steve blake turn this team into champions?

I strongly disagree with adding Blake to this team to be any more than a backup. There isn't a player in the league that is less deserving of the starts he receives.

Still, if you are going to judge our offseason moves based on whether we will be the leading title contenders going into next year, then I can guarantee that we will be a failure by those standards. Our goal with this offseason will be to create an elite core that we can build around.

Still, we are going to be limited, because in order to pay for an elite player to pair with Wade, we have to sacrifice our depth. Even with this limited depth, we would still rank among the top tier teams in the East.

But NBA trends have shown that if you are in contention, then acquiring top tier role players becomes much easier. Do you think a player of Ron Artest's caliber (not him though) wouldn't love to be third fiddle to Wade and Bosh for the MLE? I'm willing to bet on it.

Having Wade and Bosh locked up long term makes us a very good team next year (something we haven't been since 2006). But more importantly, we will have the opportunity of being a great team moving forward.


Disclaimer: Just in case Toronto fans are roaming here. We are not taking your Bosh. He's your Bosh, not our Bosh.

[insfo]

thoughts on avery johnson? accomplished a lot as a player and coach, would gather some respect.

Yeah sure .. the same Avery Johnson who couldn't figure out how to stop the lame "Give the ball to wade and get the feck out of the way" offense that we all love to laugh at. That one?

face it ... If Michael Paul Beasley Jr. got 48 minutes a game and even if we were 0-31, this topic would not have been created.

Sorry, I don't buy into how great a coach Phil "you are all out of whack, you need to get in whack" Jackson is and how he would have improved our record considerably. Heck, wasn't Doc Rivers considered a dunce until he got the current team in Boston??

[Iputsomepantson]

The bad thing about big threads is good points get hidden into obscurity. Hence causing people like insfo, who only read like 2 or 3 of the posts to begin with, to suddenly think we all have no clue wtf we're saying.

[Iputsomepantson]

Van Gundy said seeing a player of Wade’s status failing to hustle back on defense can pollute a team.

This is a key point some of us who are pissed with Spo are talking about. Our players aren't HUSTLING. If you wanna debate that feel free, but we think Spo needs to be gone by the beginning of free agency for the offseason because it's obvious his players have given up on him.

[insfo]

The bad thing about big threads is good points get hidden into obscurity. Hence causing people like insfo, who only read like 2 or 3 of the posts to begin with, to suddenly think we all have no clue wtf we're saying.

.. sorry about that! Didn't mean to single anyone out .. other than the poster that was quoted And even that was meant to be light hearted!

Anyway, the purpose of this thread should be to suggest alternatives right? I already put in my 2Cs earlier, suggesting we hire some decent assistants .. some of you felt that would not solve the problem and that Riley made a mistake and Spo has to go. Thats fair, but whom are you guys suggesting should take over?

Lets face it, the folks who were against Spo to start with (for not playing Beasley enough) and were questioning his substitution patterns (subbing Beasley out) and for his not riding the hot hand (Beasley) and for having rigid substitution timings (Haslem for Beasley at the 5 or 4 minute mark in the first quarter) ... etc are the same people fueling this train.

The one gripe I can agree with is Spo not making adjustments mid-game. But this is one area where the assistant coaches are paramount, because they can see the game at a slower pace by not having to be in the hot seat. This is why I hate seeing Ron Rothstein in Spo's ear alllllllllllllllllllllll game .. come on, can't we let go of this crap and find some one better?

Which among our assistant coaches do you see becoming future head coaches?

[dflash3]

thoughts on avery johnson? accomplished a lot as a player and coach, would gather some respect.

Yeah sure .. the same Avery Johnson who couldn't figure out how to stop the lame "Give the ball to wade and get the feck out of the way" offense that we all love to laugh at. That one?

face it ... If Michael Paul Beasley Jr. got 48 minutes a game and even if we were 0-31, this topic would not have been created.

Sorry, I don't buy into how great a coach Phil "you are all out of whack, you need to get in whack" Jackson is and how he would have improved our record considerably. Heck, wasn't Doc Rivers considered a dunce until he got the current team in Boston??

Haha well duh. Spoelstra would have been fired if the Heat had the worst start in the history of the NBA

[insfo]

thoughts on avery johnson? accomplished a lot as a player and coach, would gather some respect.

Yeah sure .. the same Avery Johnson who couldn't figure out how to stop the lame "Give the ball to wade and get the feck out of the way" offense that we all love to laugh at. That one?

face it ... If Michael Paul Beasley Jr. got 48 minutes a game and even if we were 0-31, this topic would not have been created.

Sorry, I don't buy into how great a coach Phil "you are all out of whack, you need to get in whack" Jackson is and how he would have improved our record considerably. Heck, wasn't Doc Rivers considered a dunce until he got the current team in Boston??

Haha well duh. Spoelstra would have been fired if the Heat had the worst start in the history of the NBA

Obviously I was exaggerating to emphasise my point. Duh

[Iputsomepantson]

Anyway, the purpose of this thread should be to suggest alternatives right? I already put in my 2Cs earlier, suggesting we hire some decent assistants .. some of you felt that would not solve the problem and that Riley made a mistake and Spo has to go. Thats fair, but whom are you guys suggesting should take over?

Lets face it, the folks who were against Spo to start with (for not playing Beasley enough) and were questioning his substitution patterns (subbing Beasley out) and for his not riding the hot hand (Beasley) and for having rigid substitution timings (Haslem for Beasley at the 5 or 4 minute mark in the first quarter) ... etc are the same people fueling this train.

I don't think I ever criticized Spo for no playing Beasley enough. Hell I hated Beasley up until about a month and a half ago when I realized he was one of the few people on this squad hustling.

As for assistants, I completely agree, we need better ones. A couple of great assistant coaches can really help Spo out with many of his shortcomings, but I think it's too late for that option. He's lost the team and there is no recovering from that.

[dflash3]

Obviously I was exaggerating to emphasise my point. Duh

I liked how you spelled out Beasley's entire name. Nice touch

[MVP-3]

JVG would be a good choice. If he can stand up to Wade then that is what we need. We can't use a coach who is scared of Wade. We need one who can tell the truth and not care if people's feelings are hurt. A coach that is proven. He made his conference finals a lot with NYK and one finals appearance. Give him a good team and I'm sure he can coach it. His down fall with the rockets was more to do with the team in my opinion. He has learned from Riley too.

Of course I'd take Riley before him. Still though take JVG and make Spo assistant to him if Pat doesn't want to come back .

[Iputsomepantson]

^ It's one thing to stand up to Wade, it's another thing to coach him. Even Riley watched his words when he called out Wade to avoid upsetting him. This is Wade's team.

Crazy how I have said Wade name in every sentence of this post.

[BFO]

JVG would be a good choice. If he can stand up to Wade then that is what we need. We can't use a coach who is scared of Wade. We need one who can tell the truth and not care if people's feelings are hurt. A coach that is proven. He made his conference finals a lot with NYK and one finals appearance. Give him a good team and I'm sure he can coach it. His down fall with the rockets was more to do with the team in my opinion. He has learned from Riley too.

Of course I'd take Riley before him. Still though take JVG and make Spo assistant to him if Pat doesn't want to come back .

Do you mean star players tuning out to his incessant ways? Trying to coach in a style that didn't suit the players he had? In your opinion, it appears you are already getting that from Spo.

[DWadeno3]

Sorry to interrupt your thought but an interesting article was just published online on the website of the Sun Sentinel. They talked about Wade limiting his turnovers and the reasons for it but also about Beasley's playing time. The interesting fact to me is that Wade went out and kinda supported Spoelstra by saying Beasley's defense wasn't NBA ready yet(which is true) and that this is the reason why he's not getting crunchtime minutes. On the other hand Wade also talked about making adjustments on the fly. I can't help but laugh about it. Even Wade should see that Spo is not doing that at all and that it's always the same procedure.
But no matter what, he's still backing Spo up and to me, this is not the best sign.

[CoolD]

thoughts on avery johnson? accomplished a lot as a player and coach, would gather some respect.

Yeah sure .. the same Avery Johnson who couldn't figure out how to stop the lame "Give the ball to wade and get the feck out of the way" offense that we all love to laugh at. That one?

face it ... If Michael Paul Beasley Jr. got 48 minutes a game and even if we were 0-31, this topic would not have been created.
Sorry, I don't buy into how great a coach Phil "you are all out of whack, you need to get in whack" Jackson is and how he would have improved our record considerably. Heck, wasn't Doc Rivers considered a dunce until he got the current team in Boston??

face it ... If Michael Paul Beasley Jr. got 48 minutes a game and even if we were 0-31, this topic would not have been created

You probably right.
Though things are starting to feel like the boat might sink.
First we have a huge part of the fanbase, right or wrong that want Beasley to play at all cost.
Then we have this same fanbase that doesn't care if Wade is happy.
They think that we can simply babysit Beasley, and hand him the keys, while Wade is calling Beasley out for playing sorry defense down the stretch of games.
There is a lot bad signs, will the inexperience coach go and try to make Wade happy, or the Beasley squad. I think the pressure is getting to that guy.

The only reason having a Pat Riley would help, even if we suck, even if he benches Beasley, the guy is a winner, but Spo has to win at all cost to keep the heat of him. So the fact our team is not talented as many fans seem to think, if we go in a big slump, things might get dicy. Wade might really flip out of Miami. Because Wade might not like Heat babysitting Beasley.

[heat4life]

I don't think Pat Riley or even Phil Jackson could get more wins out of this team. This is an average team with average talent (besides Wade and still growing Beasley). The fact that we are the 5th seed in the East so far with this roster is something to appreciate.

Basketball is a game in which talent wins you games. It is the reason why Atlanta has been so successful this season, why Boston, Cleveland and Orlando are at the top of the conference and why a mini-hot streak or mini-losing streak cold make a difference between a team like Miami and a team like Milwaukee in seeding.

[lukekarts]

I don't think Spo is a coach. I literally don't see any changes during the game, other than making Wade play non-stop for the 2nd half against Charlotte. He is so set in his routine that we're not effective at adjusting to what other teams do. And at the same time, he's so set in his routine that he'll bench someone who has made their last 4 shots because he had decided before the game that's what he is doing. And I'm not just talking about Beasley. I can't remember what game it was, but Q-Rich had gone 7-7 or something from 3 pointers, and then sat out of the game for almost an entire quarter, and didn't take a shot for 15 minutes. Why is someone going 7-7 and then frozen out of the game for 15 minutes?

Anyone sensible would know that you don't make huge changes if a) you don't have the quality on the bench to do so, and b) you're winning.

He frequently puts out the most inexplicable lineups. Arroyo, Cook, Wright, Haslem, Anthony. Who the f is gonna score?

Or he'll put Haslem in at Center, to cover someone like Okafor. Nice on Sporon.

Our defensive rotations are also damn strange. How do we always, always manage to leave open 3 pointers? Why has this not been addressed?

I don't care what our record is this year, all I want to see is a little bit of adaptation from the coaching staff, some lineups that make sense, and some plays that help us develop our youngsters. Right now we're sitting in no mans land.

As for the changes I'd make? I'd give someone like Avery Johnson a 6 month contract and see what he can do. Call it a trial - if he does well, he comes back next year.