Is he back next year? He got absolutely owned by Carlisle the entire series.

I could see Riley's ego getting in the way...but come on...you can't fire a coach the year after he takes a team to the NBA Finals. They'll at least wait a year.

[This message has been edited by aggie_2001_2005 (edited 6/12/2011 10:10p).]

Honestly his raw talent carried them to the finals.

But he got owned in the finals....had no clue. If I were Pat Riley I would consider it.

I think it would be unfair to give him the shaft after his first year with the big three, taking them to the championship. It's apparent this team doesn't have the role players they need to get it done.

Going to be an interesting offseason for that team. I am sure rumors will be swirling for the next couple weeks w/ barely any mention of the Mavs.

his best player went houdini..cant fault him for that..although mike brown got faulted for that in cleveland...

They should have lost by waaaaayyy more than they did tonight. If Dirk is nailing his usual shots Dallas might have won by 25 or more. Starting Chalmers was a very bad move because they no longer had a difference maker coming off the bench. Eddie House was getting owned by JET all night and couldn't guard anyone. Miami got caught in a three-point shooting contest and they failed miserably.

Riley should have come down and stepped in, this would have ended very differently.

Riley was pulling strings in between games, meeting with players individually.

Give Carlisle those 3, and it's a sweep.

Dude, he got to the finals in a year where they were supposed to be "bonding and building chemisty." He will be back. And MAVS ARE CHAMPS!!!!!!!!!!!

Coaching wasn't the problem.

No shame in being out-coached by Carlisle. There are a lot of coaches worse than Spoelstra in the NBA.

In the postgame ESPN analysis, the guy between Stu and JB (forgot his name) seemed to suggest that many of today's players see coaching as criticism and disrespect. If that has any truth with the Heat, can he overcome that?

To me, the Heat spent much of the second half tonight waiting for the officials to bail them out. Except for a call or two, that didn't happen. That attitude is ALL on the head coach.

For those that weren't around or don't recall, check out the name Gene Shue and see if there are some similarities (late '70s with Philly).

[This message has been edited by 91AggieLawyer (edited 6/12/2011 11:37p).]

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Coaching wasn't the problem.

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How can you say that? Not buying into the coaching is the problem, which ultimately is coaching.

Hard to tell. Honestly, I wonder if the that combo of egos, and how they came together, is gonna make a tough time for any coach to do their thing.

They 100% need to make a move at coach. Not only was Spoelstra bad on the court, but worse in the locker room. They have zero maturity on that team, and his presence only exacerbates the problem.

How you do you explain the benching of Ilgauskas in favor of Howard? Or how about the inconsistent minutes of Joel Anthony after being a plug at the rim for the Heat? How about playing Lebron 46+mpg almost every single game. How about the inability to figure out a zone with an NBA squad? etc

I agree with claym.

Hell, Coach K had difficulty managing LeBron's ego. A relatively new coach like Eric doesn't stand a chance. Plus schematically he appears unprepared.

But also give credit to Calisle. That was a coaching job for the ages. He outclassed even Phil earlier in the playoffs.

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They 100% need to make a move at coach. Not only was Spoelstra bad on the court, but worse in the locker room. They have zero maturity on that team, and his presence only exacerbates the problem.

How you do you explain the benching of Ilgauskas in favor of Howard? Or how about the inconsistent minutes of Joel Anthony after being a plug at the rim for the Heat? How about playing Lebron 46+mpg almost every single game. How about the inability to figure out a zone with an NBA squad? etc

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First of all, that team is going to be immature no matter who the coach is.

Secondly, Ilgauskas is too slow these days to play pick and roll defense and Juwan Howard was more reliable. Joel Anthony's inconsistent minutes were his own fault -- he couldn't stay out of foul trouble early in the series. Dallas' zone has been giving teams fits all year long. Dallas' defense was top 5 all year long, due in large part to their ability to switch from man to zone and play both well.

Miami's defense was the best in the league for all the year due in large part to their excellent coaching. They are very good at playing aggressive, doubling hard, switching fast, forcing turnovers, and getting into transition. They were able to have the best defense in the league without a dominating center and a slow starting point guard. Miami's roster was in a state of flux all year long as different pieces came and went all year long and injuries plagued the team. Miami has TWO players that have huge egos and play best with the ball in their hands and have limited skill sets off the ball or with their back to the basket. That was going to be a difficult problem for any coach to solve.

The fact of the matter is that the Heat's roster was fundamentally flawed all year long. Their record masked the fact that they struggled against good teams during the season and doubly struggled in the 4th quarter of close games all season long. Remember that 0-16 shooting mark in game-winning shots statistic? When you have 2 of the best 3 players on the planet, you expect those players to make plays when the games are close. They did not make plays for most of the year and they did not make plays in the finals when it mattered most.

Spolestra said from the very beginning that his first focus was to get the defense to a high level and that hopefully their offense would feed off of that to begin with. That part worked and the won the Eastern Conference because of it. The reports from Miami were that they never fully installed their offense until just before the playoffs, when they started to play well. My guess is that the Heat will be more than a mediocre offensive team next year when they have the offense installed all year and have a chance to acquire some better pieces to go around their stars.

Even if Spolestra was out-coached during the series does not mean he's a bad coach. Rick Carlisle is one of the best coaches in the league and the Mavs are literally the MOST veteran team in the league. By saying Spolestra is a bad coach and Lebron choked and what not is just taking credit away from where it is due -- to the Mavs. They were full of old players who were extremely hungry for a championship with a huge chip on their shoulder. They were lead by a great coach and a great leader in Dirk. They had so many talented players they could lose players like Butler and Haywood AND permanently bench talented players that were expected to contribute like Roddy B and STILL win the NBA Championship. They surrounded Dirk with sharp shooters and paired him in the front court with a physical, defensive bruiser who was a dominating rebounder -- obviously the PERFECT match and someone who does everything Dirk doesn't. Dirk has basically modified his game to the point where he has no weaknesses. He is unstoppable in single coverage with his fade away and moves to the basket and he is a skilled passer out of the double teams. The entire team was full of great passers like Jason Kidd and Jason Terry who moved the ball with great skill.

One thing that was not mentioned enough was how the Mavericks were a bad match for the Heat from the start. The Heat love to put pressure on the ball, trap and double, play aggressive, force turnovers, etc. But obviously those moves are aggressive and leave you exposed in other areas and you just hope your rotations are fast enough and people can get back before you get burned. However, Dallas is one of the best teams in the league at making the extra pass and finding the open man and swinging the ball around. There are no "ball stoppers" on that team and they find ways to get guys open for good shots. Chicago wasn't that kind of team, so they struggled against the Miami pressure.

I don't think you can use Spoelstra's inability to install an offense as a defense against his poor performance...

He wasn't unable to install an offense. He was like Billy Gillispie when he arrived at A&M -- he used his available time to get their defense to championship level before turning his gaze on the offense. The strategy worked.

It worked if they were gunning for second place.

When it matter most, tied 2-2 in the NBA Finals, the Heat defense got torched for 53% fg and 51% from 3pt.

The Heat were brutal to watch, offensively. I think the rotation was mismanaged. And, I think Lebron's minutes were mismanaged.

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It worked if they were gunning for second place.

When it matter most, tied 2-2 in the NBA Finals, the Heat defense got torched for 53% fg and 51% from 3pt.

The Heat were brutal to watch, offensively. I think the rotation was mismanaged. And, I think Lebron's minutes were mismanaged

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I think you will find that the Heat played the best defense on Dallas of any team the entire post-season and possibly the entire regular season. Even the Lakers were completely flummoxed defensively, coached by Phil Jackson and anchored by a healthy Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, and Andrew Bynum.

The defense wasn't really why they lost. It was their offense's inability to make more that a couple buckets in the final 5 minutes of games. Seriously, in two games Miami could have made 4 points in the final 5 minutes, they'd be champs right now.


Heck, thanks to Bosh they at least were able to make it a 6 games series.

The bottom line is this cast of characters needed a veteran coach that could demand respect. Having Pat Riley try to do it in the background only further undermines the coach. The Heat gambled they could get away with playing "All-Star" team style offense and paid the price.

Hotard, I think they played really good defense for the most part, but Dallas killed them in game 5 and 6. Sure, some of it was lucky shots in game 5, but there were plenty of really good looks, in game 6 especially.

Their offense was really bad, and who can you blame but Spoelstra? They ran very few plays. Most of the time it was give it to Wade and get to the hoop or give it to Lebron and go 1 on 1. As long as the other guys aren't killing it from 3 and wade/lebron dont go for 35, its not going to work over 7 games.

Carlise made in-game moves and between game moves that put the Heat on their heels. Spoelstra never countered to put the Mavs on their heels, he was alwasy trying to catch up. On some of his "wired" segments it was more emotional motives than schematic moves.

Not saying that Spoelstra didn't made several gaffes in the Finals, but remember where the Heat were in February. Spoelstra held the team together and got them playing their best basketball going into the playoffs and in the first 3 rounds. Plus, he has dealt with injuries all year long. It might have been easier to have your offense and rotations established if he had Miller and Haslem for a full year.

Heck, if the Heat could make a few timely free throws or buckets, they could have won the series 4-1. I didn't see Spoelstra out there bricking free throws or dribbling off his foot.

The Mavs played incredible basketball as everything came together for them this postseason. Give them all the credit. I think Spoelstra deserves at least one more full season to try and get a title. He is only 40 and probably learned a lot from this year's run.

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In the postgame ESPN analysis, the guy between Stu and JB (forgot his name) seemed to suggest that many of today's players see coaching as criticism and disrespect. If that has any truth with the Heat, can he overcome that?

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So the guy suggested that many of todays players are young black males who have been told how awesome they are their entire lives? I don't really think that is something you "overcome".

He's gotta be back. A coach that makes the finals in his first season does not get the boot.