Caffeinated coach Spoelstra: ‘I don’t think anybody knows what day it is’
The irony was not lost on Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, as he conducted a pregame media session at 11:45 a.m. on a Monday.
“I’m on my third cup of coffee today,” he quipped before the clock struck noon, in advance of Monday afternoon’s game against the Toronto Raptors at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex. “I think I do that anyway, so I just like it better, because I get all my coffee out of the way before lunch, instead of having a cup of coffee at 7:30, 8 o’clock at night.”
With the NBA playing in a bubble type of setting amid the coronavirus pandemic, weekday games, as well as early-morning and late-night practices have become the norm, and will remain so going forward.
“Our team has adapted very well,” Spoelstra said. “It started out in our practices every single day. We just had a schedule that the league gave us, what time we had to be there. You have three hours to get everything done.
“It took a lot of decision-making out of my hands, where I did not have to overthink things. But, more importantly, you just had to adjust and go at different times. We’ve had 9 a.m. practices, we’ve also had 9 p.m. practices. All of this I think has prepared us for these kind of scenarios with the games.”
He paused and laughed. “As far as the games,” he said, “I don’t think anybody knows what day it is. You just know whether it’s game day or off day.”
As for his coffee, that’s where he particularly misses assistant coach Octavio De La Grana, who remains in South Florida.
“I think Jimmy’s got all of it,” he said when asked about “the good coffee,” with forward Jimmy Butler having traveled with an ample personal supply of the best beans.
“No, I’m just drinking the cheap stuff that’s in my room. No, I miss the good coffee. I need Coach O to send some from home.”
Who they are: While several Heat seeding-game opponents at Disney also stand as potential playoff opponents, Spoelstra said it’s not easy to necessarily play it close to the vest against teams such as the Raptors, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers.
“Yeah, I get that idea of it,” he said. “But you are who you are. And it’s more important ultimately that you can do that, consistently, whatever your identity is. I have a real comfort level to be able to do that, particularly when there is adversity. And you build that through competition.
“Trying to hide things or disguise what your identity is, I think it defeats the purpose of what you’re trying to get accomplished.”
Challenging week: Monday’s game against the Raptors opened a run of three in a row against the top teams in the East, to be followed by Tuesday against the Celtics and Thursday against the Bucks.
“If you’re a competitor, this is what you want,” Spoelstra said. “You want all of the games to have meaning, context and to be the best competition. And that’s what you’re looking at in this bubble scenario.”
The NBA did not invite the eight teams with the league’s worst records.
“Basically,” Spoelstra said, “it’s all the teams that are in the playoffs or fighting desperately to get in. It’s great.”
Not this time: Spoelstra received a vote, but the National Basketball Coaches Association selected the Bucks’ Mike Budenholzer and Oklahoma City Thunder’s Billy Donovan as coCoaches of the Year, in a poll of the organization’s membership.
It is the second tie in the voting, with Spoelstra sharing the 2017 award with the Houston Rockets’ Mike D’Antoni.
The NBA’s official award, the Red Auerbach Trophy, is voted upon by the media, will be announced at a later date.
Coach’s call: Spoelstra ended his pregame comments with, “Please visit Heat.com/vote, Heat.com/BlackLivesMatter. Check it all out. And particularly the voting site, a lot of really pertinent information on who’s running for what and information on each candidate. Thank you.”