CHARLOTTE — The superlatives for Erik Spoelstra are a typical part of most pregame media sessions with opposing coaches. The respect for Spoelstra’s body of work is universal, from the two championships to the six appearances in the NBA Finals since being named Miami Heat coach in 2008.
But with Charlotte Hornets coach Steve Clifford, the praise is personal, and profound.
For all of Spoelstra’ downplaying his achievements, Clifford routinely takes time before matchups to remind what the Heat have in Pat Riley’s successor.
“He and I started way back,” Clifford said earlier this season, with the Heat and Hornets meeting Tuesday night at Spectrum Center in an NBA In-Season Tournament game. “We were advance scouts together when I was with the Knicks and he was (with the Heat). So we traveled a lot together and we’ve always been good friends.”
While Clifford has worked for a variety of teams, including the Knicks, Hornets, Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers, Spoelstra solely has worked in the NBA under the shadow of Riley, the Heat’s president.
“I don’t think sometimes, because he’s done it so well for so long, that one of the things that I’ve always respected was how drastically he changed the way they played when he went from Coach Riley, who’s obviously nobody better in my time than him,” Clifford said.
Clifford went on to offer as an example the dramatic overhaul in the Heat defensive precepts under Spoelstra, as well nuanced changes in the Heat’s offensive approach.
Clifford said it was apparent almost immediately that Spoelstra was his own man on the sideline.
“You just don’t walk in one day and say, ‘I’m changing the pick-and-roll defense,’ ” Clifford said of what Spoelstra did. “That’s a battle right there.”
The adjustments, as Clifford noted, have continued since, including during and after the Heat’s Big Three championship era with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
“They went from running, when they had the Big Three, to he became much more conceptual with those guys,” Clifford continued. “Like, I think with Coach Riley, they had their sets and then they had their variations and it was clockwork.
“And after the first year with those guys, (Spoelstra) made a big adjustment where he went to less sets and was much more conceptual.”
Another nuance of the Spoelstra way, Clifford said, has been the investment in a framework for zone defense, an approach Riley bristled at when the NBA began allowing zone during Riley’s coaching tenure.
“Them and Portland are the only two teams that play zone,” Clifford said. “Everybody else, we’re doing it, too, right? Everybody watches them play zone and it’s very effective. But they play zone. The rest of us show zone, and after you throw it here and we don’t know what to do, play man to man.”
The Heat’s playoff success, Clifford said, is therefore no accident, including the Heat’s run to last season’s NBA Finals against the Denver Nuggets.
“He’s done all of these things that have led to this place,” Clifford said. “When you watch the playoffs, you’ve got to have a lot of stuff that you’re good at.
“So, to me, Denver has the most offense they’re good at. Miami has the most defense they’re good at. And that is, I mean, a tribute to him and how they do things.”
So even during uneven starts, such as the 1-4 one the Heat endured this season, Clifford said it is apparent the Heat, under Spoelstra, build toward something sustainable and formidable.
“That’s what Miami does as well as anybody,” he said. “Every year they figure out how they have to play, so that as the season goes on, they get to the next level.”