Why Heat's Erik Spoelstra is shrinking rotation at worst time - Hot Hot Hoops

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is relying on the wrong players at the wrong time. (Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)

The Miami Heat’s most recent loss to the Boston Celtics felt like an all-too-common occurrence.

Miami surrendered 147 points, their second time allowing 147 or more over the last week, on 58.3 percent shooting with 21 made Celtic threes. Once prided on its defensive fortitude, the Heat displayed an episodic collapse on that end of the floor, loosely defending the 3-point line and looking hopeless against a well-spaced Celtics attack.

They’ve lost their identity, evidently leading to everything else crumbling at the worst time of the season. At this point, we know where the Heat are destined — and that’s to their fourth-straight play-in.

It would be one thing if head coach Erik Spoelstra was relying on the team’s youth and they were failing. But he’s not. In fact, he’s treading in the opposite direction, shrinking his rotation to seven players as the regular season winds down.

And that’s not the way this cataclysmic finish should be managed.

The ship is sinking with players who aren’t providing results:

Let’s preface by saying that Spoelstra has forgotten more about basketball than I will ever know. He’s one of the league’s top innovators, tacticians and motivators.

There’s only so much impact a coach can have in today’s player empowerment era. He hasn’t necessarily been helped out by his front office, but he also hasn’t done himself a ton of favors; Spoelstra isn’t absolved from criticism when looking at the bigger picture.

And the big picture is that this team isn’t going anywhere. What’s typically been an abnormality — an undisciplined team lacking so much attention-to-detail, especially defensively — under Spoelstra has turned into the norm the last few weeks. Yet, the longtime head coach is doubling — or even tripling — down on his rotation.

For the second-straight game, Spoelstra largely relied on the aforementioned seven-game rotation. That will likely expand to eight when Norman Powell is healthy, but as the kids say these days, Spoelstra’s “lost the plot.”

At this juncture, the Heat should be prioritizing their future, not moving away from it. If Kasparas Jakucionis is healthy, he should be playing; if Nikola Jovic is available, regardless of how turbulent this season’s been for him, he should be playing; Kel’el Ware, regardless of how frustratingly inconsistent his motor is, should be playing (more); heck, even Myron Gardner and Keshad Johnson should be getting more burn.

Miami’s defense has given up 128.6 points per 100 possessions over the last two weeks with a defensive rating of at least 130.0 in seven of its last nine games.

Yes, we know the Heat want to win games. But they’re not; their current formula isn’t working. That’s not to say they should bench, say, Bam Adebayo. They shouldn’t. But it’s time to try something else, especially since this season’s a lost cause. And it’s time to give others chances, especially since none of it can possibly be worse than what we’re already seeing.

Why Heat’s Erik Spoelstra is shrinking rotation at worst time – Hot Hot Hoops

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