I have always pondered the challenge of being an NBA coach, so here’s my attempt at coming up with three different key strategies for both coaches and teams to implement if they are going to win the championship.
I personally feel that San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich is not only the premier coach in the game today, I actually believe he is one of the greatest leaders of any sport in the history of our country.
On the other side you have Miami’s Erik Spoelstra, who came out of the video room to be groomed by one of the all-time greats in Pat Riley. It’s hard to argue with the success Spoelstra has had, pressing the right buttons and getting to the Finals for now a fourth straight season, which puts the Heat in rarified company.
So I write this breakdown with the utmost respect that only a coach could have for other coaches who are at the top of their game and the top of the coaching mountain.
Finally, as my friend and legendary coach Larry Brown once told me when I asked him if there would be a big difference going from coaching college to the NBA game – which he has done so successfully – especially because I’ve never played or coached in the league before.
He responded, “Bobby, it takes the players five minutes to see if you know what you’re doing, and if you do they will respect you, even if you’re from another planet. They all want to get better and win, and they know if you can help them do that.”
So with that said, let’s sit back and watch two heavyweights and their teams slug it out for a memorable Finals.
THREE THINGS I WOULD DO TO BEAT THE HEAT
1. I would play small, taking out Tiago Splitter and replacing him with both Boris Diaw and Matt Bonner at the 
4 spot to match up better with Chris Bosh and to spread the floor. If the 4 can be a threat from the 3-point line, it will open things up for the Tony Parker/Tim Duncan pick-and-roll, which is the Spurs’ bread and butter.
2. I would constantly rotate shooters. Last year, Danny Green made 25 threes in the first five games of the series before the Heat made adjustments. San Antonio has several good shooters in Green, Marco Belinelli and Manu Ginobili. The Spurs’ 3-point shooting, getting to open areas and moving the ball without turning it over to keep the Heat out of transition is a huge key to the series. That’s especially true because the Heat will be flying around trapping ball screens, doubling, scrambling and trying to speed up the Spurs and turn them over.
3. Utilize the top bench in the league. Make sure the Spurs’ role players – everyone from Kawhi Leonard, who will be tasked with guarding LeBron James, to guys like Patty Mills, who will come in to offset the Heat’s quickness – must outplay the Heat’s role players. Often during this four-year run it has been the timely threes of guys like Ray Allen and Shane Battier that have gotten the Heat over the hump in close games. If the Spurs’ second unit can outplay the Heat’s, subs, it will go a long way toward reversing last year’s outcome.
THREE THINGS I WOULD DO TO BEAT THE SPURS
1. Try to go at Tony Parker. Wear him down, trap, and run at him as much as I could, rotating fresh bodies like Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole on him. With the uncertainty of his ankle and the fact that he becomes lethal
when he’s allowed to dictate tempo and play pick-and-roll through Tim Duncan, containing Parker is the key to the series for the Heat defensively, especially since if he shoots over 50 percent.
2. Try to be very physical with Tim Duncan and control the defensive glass, not allowing the Spurs to dominate them with second- and third-chance points from their post players. This is a big key to slowing down the Spurs’ inside game.
3. Run as much as possible. The Heat will have to get fast break points and run outs and try to make the game a track meet, because they are quicker and younger. If the game becomes a halfcourt, possession-by-possession game, it will be to the Spurs’ advantage, especially because they have the best big guy in the game in Duncan. On the other hand, when the game is more up-tempo, then the Heat has the best guy on either team in James.
I personally think the Spurs have got a little better personnel-wise from last season while the Heat have gotten a little weaker without Mike Miller. But there is the uncertainty of Tony Parker’s ankle injury and Dwyane Wade playing much better than a year ago, so it will be a heavyweight battle.
I’m going to go with the Spurs in Game 7 at home, because of the revenge factor and the fortitude and mental toughness it took for them to get back to the Finals after last year, and also because they came through a much harder road to get here in the rugged Western Conference. In my view, San Antonio will prevent Miami from a three-peat.
Bobby Gonzalez is a former Division I coach at Manhattan and Seton Hall now writing columns for SheridanHoops.com. You can reach him via e-mail.
