MVN - Most Valuable Network

Riley out, Spoelstra in

Pat Riley stepped down as Miami Heat head coach Monday and promoted long-time assitant Erik Spoelstra.

Haven’t we been down this road before? Pat Riley stepping down after a terribly bad season and handing down the reigns to one of his loyal assistants?

On Monday, Riley once again proved he wasn’t a man of his word when he backed off his promise less than a year ago when he said he would coach the team for three more years by stepping down to solely focus on his role as team president.

The Heat not only gambled their future with their roster during that 2006 championship season, but they also missed out on a great head coach in Stan Van Gundy. Was it all worth it to win a championship? Of course. But the joy of that championship parade only makes today a whole lot dimmer because not only is the Heat’s roster in disarray, but now their coaching staff is questionable.

I don’t know much about Spoelstra. In fact, neither did Micky Arison. Riley told the media during the 4 p.m. ET press conference that Spoelstra and Arison had never sat down and had a conversation until this past weekend. Spoelstra has been working under Riley for 13 years and is only 37 years old. I’m sure he has as much basketball IQ as anybody in the league. But I’ve said this before, to fix this Heat team, you need more than knowledge of the Xs and Os. You need leadership and a strong character. Spoelstra seems timid, shy and maybe even a little apprehensive. Is he the kind of guy who can get respect from his players to get them to do the things he wants. Will guys like Ricky Davis or Jason Williams even listen to him?

That remains to be seen. My only question is: When the Heat draft Michael Beasley/Derrick Rose, pick up some premier free agents, resign Shawn Marion and get a healthy Dwyane Wade, will Spoelstra suddenly want to spend more time with his family?

This entry was posted on Monday, April 28th, 2008 at 5:02 pm and is filed under Game Recap. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.