Spoelstra praises Riley as ‘a force of nature’
Just minutes after the NBA announced that Memphis Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman had been named the Executive of the Year for this season, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra spent time complimenting his own front office.
“Pat [Riley] is on the Mount Rushmore of executives,” Spoelstra said following Thursday’s morning shootaround at Wells Fargo Center ahead of Game 6 of the Heat’s second-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers. “He should always be in that consideration every single year because he kind of sets the blueprint and he’s been able to do it so many different times and then do it when people think that you can’t.
“Then Andy [Elisburg] and his staff are a major part of that. Even when we think that those cap logistics just doesn’t seem like it will add up, Andy will find a creative way to make things work. Then the scouting department, everybody is on the same page. We know what works in our building, we know what doesn’t. It doesn’t mean we don’t make mistakes. But we have great confidence in our front office.”
Kleiman became the youngest recipient of the award at 33 years old, receiving 16 of 29 first-place votes from a panel of team basketball executives across the NBA. Heat president Riley finished tied for fourth in the voting with Phoenix Suns general manager and Miami native James Jones, who spent
six seasons of his playing career with the Heat.
Riley, 77, received three firstplace votes, three second-place votes and two third-place votes for the Heat’s work last offseason, when it added point guard Kyle Lowry, forwards P.J. Tucker and Markieff Morris,
developmental center Omer Yurtseven and also signed forward Caleb Martin to a two-way deal before making him a member of the 15-man roster. The Heat, which entered the playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s top seed, also re-signed Duncan Robinson, Dewayne Dedmon, Max Strus, Gabe Vincent and Victor Oladipo
last summer.
Riley has been named the NBA’s Executive of the Year only once. It came when he was
the co-recipient of the award with then-Chicago Bulls general manager Gar Forman for the 2010-11 season.
“Pat is a visionary. He’s a force of nature,” Spoelstra said. “He has 50 years of experience in this league at the highest level and has had as much success in this league as anyone. He has a blueprint and he has a way of making things happen. But he’s also adapted and adjusted. You don’t have this kind of success if you haven’t adapted over the years. I think that’s one of the things that gets overlooked a lot. He has reinvented how we do it and how we put together teams over and over again depending on the era.”
Spoelstra added that if it were possible, Riley “could be Hall of Fame in both as a coach in this league and as an executive on its own. That’s how good he is.”
OLADIPO’S ROLE
Oladipo has turned into a consistent contributor off the Heat’s bench.
Entering Thursday’s Game 6, the former All-Star guard had logged double-digit minutes in seven consecutive playoff games, six of them in a bench role. Oladipo has averaged 12.4 points while shooting 42 percent from the field and 29 percent on threes, 3.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals in those seven postseason games.
The Heat has outscored opponents by 7.2 points per 100 possessions with Oladipo on the court in this year’s playoffs.
“For our team, the versatility just really fits,” Spoelstra said of Oladipo. “His ability to guard multiple positions but also to be able to organize us a little bit, have that kind of experience and talent when Kyle is out. That potentially could be really devastating to some teams. But we have a lot of other guys that have been able to step up and
Vic is one of them . ... Vic in this role without Kyle, it allows Tyler [Herro] still to be Tyler. That’s really important for our team.”
Oladipo, who played in just eight regular-season games this season after making his season debut in March following knee surgery, is willing to accept whatever role he’s given. He just wants to play.
“Whatever they need from me, whatever they ask of me,” Oladipo said. “I just go out there and do it to the best of my ability and do whatever I can to help the team win. If they need me to play the backup one, if they need me to play the four, the five. Whatever the case may be, I just go out there and just do it and do whatever I can to help the team win.”
LOWRY’S ROLE
Lowry missed his second game in a row Thursday after re-aggravating his strained left hamstring in Sunday’s Game 4 loss. But Lowry still traveled with the team to his hometown of Philadelphia for Thursday’s Game 6.
Why? Leadership.
“He has just an amazing way of infusing confidence into guys, and yeah, we need that right now,” Spoelstra said. “That moves the needle. It might just move it a little bit, it might move it a lot. Who knows? But it’s all hands on deck. He’s here to help, to serve and just to make sure guys are playing comfortable, confident and always keeping that attention to detail.
“Kyle is very, very detailed. The details matter to him, and when he doesn’t see the details being executed, he’s the first one to hold guys accountable. He can do that because he builds genuine relationships with the guys.”
Lowry was the only Heat player ruled out for Game 6.
The rest of the Heat’s injury report for Game 6 includes Herro (left ankle sprain), Martin
(left ankle sprain), Strus (right hamstring strain), Tucker (right calf strain) and Vincent (right knee irritation).