Where Spo's heart lies

MANILA, Philippines - Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra won the NBA title with the Heat in only his fourth season on the job but the tumultuous journey seemed like it took forever. Spoelstra, 41, endured a swirl of speculation that he wouldn’t be back on the bench next season in the wake of rumors of an increasing dissociation with the Big Three – LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.

When the trio joined forces in 2010, there were promises of multiple titles that put a lot of pressure on Spoelstra. And as the trinity’s first season wore on, Spoelstra felt the heat from the Heat. Bosh complained of a rigid practice schedule. James deliberately shoulder-bumped Spoelstra during a timeout to show his displeasure. Still, Miami made it to the Finals but after breaking out to a 1-0 lead, lost three in a row and bowed to Dallas in six. Spoelstra took the flak for the setback because the assumption was Miami couldn’t lose with the Big Three and the failure had to be the coach’s fault.

In the recent Indiana playoff series, Wade jawed at Spoelstra and had to be restrained by teammates. Spoelstra wasn’t spared the NBA’s wrath as he was slapped a $25,000 fine for taking a pot shot at officiating in the course of the same Indiana series which was excruciatingly tense.

To advance to the Last Dance this season, Miami went through the wringer. The Heat had no difficulty disposing of New York, 4-1, in the first round of the playoffs with Jeremy Lin out of the Knicks lineup. The only loss was a two-pointer on the road so that could’ve easily gone the other way. But against the Pacers, the Heat was severely challenged. Miami went down, 1-2, after losing Game 2, 78-75, at home and Game 3, 94-75, on the road. The Heat showed resiliency in bouncing back to sweep the next three encounters, including two on the road to seal it. Boston was next on the agenda and unexpectedly, pushed the Heat to the limit. Miami lost three in a row and fell behind, 2-3, before rising from the grave to claim Game 6, 98-79, on the road and Game 7, 101-88, at home.

Oklahoma City enjoyed the homecourt advantage in the Finals and looked deadly in crushing the Heat, 105-94, in Game 1 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Thunder flashed young legs in bowling over the Heat under an avalanche of fastbreak points, 24-4. Spoelstra, however, wouldn’t be boxed in. Miami came charging back to win the next four outings, including the three middle games in the 2-3-2 format, for its first championship under Spoelstra’s watch.

Spoelstra made an immediate impact as Heat coach when he took over from Pat Riley in 2008-09 to post a remarkable turnaround from a 15-67 record to 43-39. He went on to improve Miami’s mark to 47-35. But in those two seasons, the Heat didn’t go beyond the first round of the playoffs. When the Big Three arrived, Spoelstra barged into the Finals only to be ambushed by the Mavericks.

This season, Spoelstra made sure there would be no ambush. He made critical tweaks in his lineup. Joel Anthony was struck out as the first-string center and Bosh, formerly the starting power forward, moved to the middle. It was to Spoelstra’s credit that he kept Miami’s hopes alive while Bosh sat out nine early playoff games with an abdominal strain. Instead of tapping veteran Udonis Haslem to start at power forward in place of Bosh, Spoelstra picked Shane Battier who’s a tougher one-on-one defender and a three-point threat. Spoelstra kept his faith on the Big Three and got more than what he could ask for from his other troopers, particularly Mike Miller who drained seven triples in Game 5, Mario Chalmers who fired 25 in Game 4 and Battier who hit 17 in Game 2. Miller is the fourth highest-salaried player on the team behind the Big Three.

Throughout the Finals, Spoelstra challenged James to stay on attack mode, Wade to provide the leadership on the floor and Bosh to be an intimidating presence in the interior. He got the Heat to buy into his concept that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Spoelstra, whose mother Elisa Celino is from San Pablo, is proud of his Filipino roots and has visited here every summer the last three years. There’s a possibility that he may bring his mother along this year – she hasn’t visited since 1986. Last year, Spoelstra brought his sister Monica over and she hadn’t visited since she was 7 in 1973.

On the court celebrating the championship, Spoelstra declared, “I’m a Manny Pacquiao fan” and showed where his heart lies. Before he was hired as a video coordinator with the Heat in 1995, Spoelstra considered playing in the PBA as a Fil-Am. Today. Spoelstra – who played point guard at the University of Portland and was an import in the German league – regrets not having seen action in the PBA. Spoelstra painstakingly worked his way from the video room to the top. Wade once called him Batman because Spoelstra disappears after every game and practice to retreat to his cave where he plans for the next battle like there’s no day off in his schedule. But it isn’t just Spoelstra’s uncompromising work ethic that has made him an NBA championship coach. It’s also his ability to relate, listen, communicate, motivate and learn from mistakes. Spoelstra has redefined the character of a total achiever.