Heat’s Spoelstra takes on a spectator’s role
Coach enjoying rare opportunity to sit in the stands as a spectator.
The Miami coach likes what he sees in the summer league, particularly the development of marquee talent Bam Adebayo.
Erik Spoel
SACRAMENTO, CALIF. — stra isn’t used to being in a gym and not sitting in the front row, yelling out instructions and tak
ing charge of everything from who’s in the game to what sets are being run.
In summer league, however, the Miami Heat coach fades into the background, sitting in the stands and soaking in the play of a group of young players.
Spoelstra was in the stands for two of Miami’s three games in Sacramento, including Thursday’s 86-76 victory over the Kings, giving summer league coach Eric Glass his space. He’ll follow the team to Las Vegas, where it opens play Saturday. And Spoelstra likes what he has seen so far, especially from the team’s marquee player, Bam Adebayo.
“He’s had a great six weeks of training,” Spoelstra, who is
entering his 11th season as a head coach, said before the Heat’s game against the Kings. “(Glass) has challenged Bam to be the loudest defender in summer league. The staff has challenged him to be the top rebounder in summer league, and that’s defensive and offensive. We want the pursuit,
the constant effort, the activity to keep on going to the glass, and I’m seeing that.
“The other parts of his game he’s been developing and I want him to explore handling the ball more, being more offensive- minded. That’s what summer league is for. He’s put in a tremendous amount of time. His confidence has grown. I think he’ll be more efficient as summer league goes on.”
Spoelstra has seen a lot to be happy about in his three days in Sacramento. He cited the effort on the defensive end and the way the team has shared the ball. Miami had 27 assists on 33 field goals in a victory over the Lakers on Tuesday.
“Your natural instincts are to try to impress everybody who is watching by doing things on your own,” he said. “But that’s not how the game of basketball (is played) when you want to have team success. The guys that stand out historically for us bought into team basketball and finding a way to continuing to be noticed within the team concept.”
Spoelstra touched on other players and topics Thursday. Some of his thoughts:
On visiting the Atlanta Falcons’ minicamp June 12: “I like visiting coaches and business people and leaders during the offseason, just to continue to try to get better and get different perspectives. (Falcons coach) Dan Quinn is somebody that I met years ago. I think he runs a great program . ... The way he does things and connects with players, the modern-day athlete, the environment he creates and the culture that he cultivates are so noteworthy that I wanted to see it firsthand.”
On forward Derrick Jones Jr., who has stood out in summer league after signing a contract Saturday: “He’s been terrific. He’s been all in with all the work. He wants more. Those guys tend to do well in our program. I was really happy for him when he signed the contract. It’s not easy in this league when you’re not drafted and then somebody cuts you. You have to show a level of grit and determination to be able to restart. He did that; he trusted us to help him with that. His next step as a pro, it’s been fun to watch him improve.”
On undrafted rookie Duncan Robinson, who had 19 points Tuesday: “We love our shooters. He’s unique. He’s a big shooter. He’s one of the best stand-still shooters that we’ve seen coming out of the draft. He has to develop diversity and complexity and level of difficulty shooting the basketball often on the move, those things. But those are the things we like to develop and we’ll want to see if a player can take the next step. We thought he’d be a very good fit with how we play and how we value shooting.”