Erik Spoelstra deserves to be Coach of the Year this season as he has done a fantastic job with the Miami Heat. The Heat lost many key pieces last summer in free agency, including their franchise superstar, Dwyane Wade. However, Spoelstra kept the team competitive, and the Heat stayed true to their identity, despite everything that happened. Miami did not start over, but they rather continued from where they stopped, just with different faces on the same team.
Erik Spoelstra does not get enough credit
Even though he has been a head coach for nine years and winning 61 percent of the games he coached, Erik Spoelstra was never named the best coach in the NBA. He was in charge of the Miami Heat when they went to four straight NBA finals and when they won two championships, but nothing was enough for Spoelstra to win this prestigious award.
Many people consider that Spoelstra's job was easy in those four years when the Heat had Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh. However, his job was far from easy, and he needed to figure things out quickly so three superstars can function together and come up with big results.
His head coaching position was not safe, and he was on the hot seat a lot of times. Fortunately, Spoelstra came up with solutions for Miami Heat's woes and turned them into one of the best teams in the NBA.
Spoelstra is a genius
This year's Miami Heat roster is an excellent example of what Erik Spoelstra is capable of doing. The current roster has no all-stars and no superstars, yet they had the longest winning streak in the NBA this season. Most of their losses were in close games, yet they had multiple wins against top NBA teams, including two wins against reigning champions Cleveland Cavaliers and a win over the Golden State Warriors.
Despite being three wins under .500, Miami Heat has one of the best defenses in the entire NBA.
They rank fifth in opponent's points per game and defensive rating, sixth in opponents' field-goal percentage and third in allowed points off turnovers. The Heat is also very good at limiting fast break points from their opponents as they rank third in this category as well. Erik Spoelstra's coaching always had a defense in its focus, and the Heat are doing a great job executing it.
While it's true that there are a lot of candidates for Coach of the Year award this season, it's also a fact that no NBA coach has done so much with so little help. Erik Spoelstra is a genius, and when it comes to head coaching, he is as good as it gets. The only question that remains is whether the NBA will recognize how good of a coach Spoelstra is and give him the award that he deserves.