Miami Heat: Erik Spoelstra Has the Ferrari, but Is He Afraid To Drive It? By @RonHamp

This season was headlined by the super team put together by Miami Heat brass Micky Arison and Pat Riley. With LeBron and Chris Bosh
joining forces with Dwayne Wade this team is expected to win
immediately. So far this season the Miami Heat have been decimated with
injuries and chemistry issues and are off to an 8-6 start.

Fourteen games is too early to judge a team's success, but with the
newly improved roster, excuses are not in favor of the Miami Heat in
Erik Spoelstra. Fellow NBA
players, coaches and owners have all taken jabs at the Miami Heat for
their slow start. Memo to the rest of the NBA: Choose your words
wisely—there are still almost 70 games left in the season.

One glaring issue with the Miami Heat has been the coaching
performance of Erik Spoelstra. Spo is a young and up-and-coming coach
who is at the helm of the Miami Heat. Pat Riley hired Spoelstra because
he was a young, energetic coach with a great basketball mind. Not
knocking Spoelstra, but I don't think he was up for the lofty
expectations this season.

How can a coach like Spoelstra, with a resume as short as Mugsy
Bouges, be in the same sentence as Pat Riley, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade
and Chris Bosh on a day-to-day basis? You have a two-time MVP, an NBA
Finals MVP and one of the greatest coaches to ever coach the sport of
basketball...and Erik.

Something is missing from the Miami Heat. The motivation is not there
and the respect from the players may not be there. The Miami Heat need a
coach that can motivate the players and get the maximum effort out of
all active players on the roster.

The offense has been stagnant and the defense has been horrendous. This past week was a prime example playing against the Indiana Pacers. The Heat showed lack of interest and terrible body language throughout the game.  

In all of the Heat's losses they have been burned by guard play and
post play from the opposing defenders. Coach Spoelstra may want to get
in Dwayne Wade's face for going under screens when Ray Allen is shooting
or yell at Chris Bosh for shooting jump shots, but he really can't.
Coach Spo does not command the respect of a Larry Brown, Jerry Sloan or
Greg Poppovich.

Only time will tell regarding the coaching situation with Erik Spoelstra and the Miami Heat.

This roster is too talented not to win. Star players need to be
challenged by their coaches. Phil Jackson never hesitated to challenge
Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant
and Greg Poppovich never hesitated to challenge his stars. Coach Spo
may not have the pedigree of these coaches, but his players will respect
him more if he demands better play on the court.

The season is still young for the Miami Heat and in order for them to
succeed Coach Spoelstra has to realize that this is his team, despite
having LeBron James and Dwayne Wade on the roster. Coach Spo has the
keys to the Ferrari, but as of now he still has it in park. Memo to Erik
Spoelstra: Pat Riley has repossessed teams before...just ask Stan Van
Gundy.