One of the keys to the series between the Celtics and the Heat will undoubtedly be at the edge of the floor, where it is a safe bet that Erik Spoelstra tries by all means to make his experience speak, to gain the upper hand over the rookie Joe Mazzulla, not always convincing until now.
In the Florida locker room, no one seems to doubt the ability of “Coach Spo” to achieve this, he who works miracles at miami for years now.
“ He always has the right things to say and the most important thing for us is that he has the right mindset and is positive », summarizes for example Bam Adebayo. “ He is always prepared, adapting is what he does best “, adds on his side Caleb Martin.
For Bam Adebayo, it was in the “bubble” of Orlando, in 2020, that his outlook changed vis-à-vis Erik Spoelstra, a basketball lover whom he compares to a kind of… mad scientist !
“ This is where I really saw [Erik Spoelstra] concentrate “, he judges as well. “ Obviously, we had a lot of time in the bubble and he looked a bit like a mad scientist, who said to himself: ‘I have the feeling [que l’adversaire] going to do this, he’s going to do that’ and he was just identifying things. The further we went, the more he said to himself: ‘I know what they are going to do, I know what will happen’. So to have such a coach, able to make adjustments and predict the future for us, is kind of… scary. I’m glad he’s on our side. »
A trainer who does not disappoint
It’s not just current Heat players who say they’re both seduced and impressed by Erik Spoelstra’s methods because Shaquille O’Nealwho rubbed shoulders with him in the 2000s, is also dithyrambic.
” He is very action-oriented, he spends a lot of time watching videos, dissecting the game and inventing new systems. », explained the Hall of Famer, last week. ” I knew he was going to get good, but I didn’t know he would get this good. He’s accomplished a lot, he’s won titles in his own way, he’s been involved in this culture from the start and he’s helped make it even bigger. »
Same story with Stan Van Gundy, one of those who took him under his wing about fifteen years ago, and who only thinks well of his former assistant.
” Do you remember the season when [le Heat] was 11-30 mid-season and then went 30-11? asked the one who now works as a consultant. ” That kind of stuff doesn’t happen all the time, especially without a major transfer, so it was crazy… But I also think back to the teams he had before LeBron [James] And [Chris] Bosh does come with mainly [Dwyane] Wade and Jermaine O’Neal. There were a few bad years in the lot, failed playoffs, but I never watched a team of [Coach Spo] telling me she was disappointing. »
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Jimmy Butler | 64 | 33.4 | 53.9 | 35.0 | 85.0 | 2.2 | 3.7 | 5.9 | 5.3 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 22.9 |
| Bam Adebayo | 75 | 34.6 | 54.0 | 8.3 | 80.6 | 2.5 | 6.7 | 9.2 | 3.2 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 2.8 | 20.4 |
| Tyler Herro | 67 | 34.9 | 43.9 | 37.8 | 93.4 | 0.4 | 5.0 | 5.4 | 4.2 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 20.1 |
| Max Strus | 80 | 28.4 | 41.0 | 35.0 | 87.6 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 2.1 | 11.5 |
| Kyle Lowry | 55 | 31.2 | 40.4 | 34.5 | 85.9 | 0.8 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 5.1 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 2.6 | 11.2 |
| Victor Oladipo | 42 | 26.3 | 39.7 | 33.0 | 74.7 | 0.4 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 10.7 |
| Caleb Martin | 71 | 29.3 | 46.4 | 35.6 | 80.5 | 1.2 | 3.6 | 4.8 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 9.6 |
| Gabe Vincent | 68 | 25.9 | 40.2 | 33.4 | 87.2 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 2.3 | 9.4 |
| Kevin Love | 21 | 19.9 | 38.8 | 29.7 | 85.7 | 0.8 | 4.9 | 5.7 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 7.7 |
| Cody Zeller | 15 | 14.4 | 62.7 | 0.0 | 68.6 | 1.7 | 2.6 | 4.3 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 6.5 |
| Duncan Robinson | 42 | 16.5 | 37.1 | 32.8 | 90.6 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.8 | 6.4 |
| Dewayne Dedmon | 30 | 11.7 | 49.6 | 29.7 | 72.7 | 0.9 | 2.7 | 3.6 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 5.7 |
| Nikola Jovic | 15 | 13.6 | 40.6 | 22.9 | 94.7 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 5.5 |
| Jamal Cain | 18 | 13.3 | 56.1 | 35.0 | 77.3 | 0.8 | 2.1 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 5.4 |
| Omer Yurtseven | 9 | 9.2 | 59.3 | 42.9 | 83.3 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 2.6 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 4.4 |
| Haywood Highsmith | 54 | 18.0 | 43.1 | 33.9 | 46.4 | 1.1 | 2.4 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 4.4 |
| Udonis Haslem | 7 | 10.1 | 34.5 | 33.3 | 80.0 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 3.9 |
| Jamaree Bouyea | 4 | 16.3 | 46.2 | 40.0 | 50.0 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 3.8 |
| Orlando Robinson | 31 | 13.7 | 52.8 | 0.0 | 71.0 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 4.1 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 3.7 |
| Dru Smith | 5 | 13.4 | 35.7 | 16.7 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 2.2 |
