Wut da blood clot??: The Official Miami Heat 2015-16 Offseason Thread
- Thread starter OfTheCross
- Start date
Highlights from Pat Riley's postseason press conference:
• On Chris Bosh: "We, all of us, the doctors and Chris are looking to proceed forward to find a way to get him back on the court. That's all we can say right now. We are very encouraged by trying to find a way over the next two or three months to find a protocol and program to get him back playing. That's always been our objective. It's the X factor in everything we're trying to do this summer....
"Last year, we were blindsided and Chris was too, what happened to him. This year, we're in it eyes wide open with him. We all knew what the treatment was going to be this year. When we got to this point this year, it's eyes wide open. That would be our desire [for him to play] but it will have to be done in a way we all feel good about. It definitely has hurt the team, but more so than anybody, he's the one who's suffering through it... Up to the All-Star break, he was our best player."
• On impending Hassan Whiteside: "He's our No.1 priority, a game changer. I don't think he's even reached his ceiling. When a player has had six years everyone telling him he's not good enough to play in the NBA. That could be individually important. It might not be as good for the team. Once that's out of the way, the roof is the ceiling. He has shown all of us he can be 15 and 15 and 4 blocked shots and 75 percent field goal a game. There are other areas I think he can [improve]. He's very, very high on our priority list.
"I met with him and asked if he likes chocolate gummies in his gift basket or go to Parrot Jungle or sight-seeing tour of Miami for a house. He will be right there at 12:01 am [July 1] for us. I want to build a team that can win and he's got to be part of it. You get to the other part of negotiations and find out how much he wants to win, too. That doesn't mean he has to take a haircut. He's got to carry a load every night that allows you to be a contender. I think he can do that....
"I saw him in Texas with [Heat scouting chief] Chet [Kammerer]. He was playing for Marshall. He was in the middle of the lane with his hands up. Tall, skinny guy. We thought about drafting him at 32, 31. Going to Lebanon, going to China, NBDL. Yes, he fell into our laps at a time when he had enough of people not believing what he could do. He was [angry]. He learned a lot. What he brought to us was he brought this incredible talent, this state of the art talent. He wanted to prove he can play. He's had quite a journey.
"We have him here and we want to keep him here. We want you now to be able to carry a team, and that's going to take a lot more focus and discipline and growth and understanding what winning is all about. I think he's ready for that."
• Overall thoughts: "I would like to keep the real core of the team together. We're always looking for a whale [meaning superstar], if there's one out there. We have the flexibility to do that. How far have we come and how good are we? That can only be answered hypothetically if Chris was healthy. All you can do is go back and lament he didn't have the time with Goran when Goran was playing his best basketball. He didn't have the time with Hassan [in the playoffs]. I do believe what we have, and with Dwyane's leadership. I think this is the best season he's had prior to the Big Three....
"To take on the load and the pressure and to go back to what we expect of that player every night, which is an all of the time superstar.... He played 74 games and I want him to continue to think about that as a magic number. And not go over 230 pounds this summer or I'll go looking for him.
"This was one of the best locker-rooms we've had. We have a good mix. I'm very optimistic. Why would I not be optimistic? We have the flexibility this year and next year."
• On whether to give Wade one year or more in his next contract this summer: "We'll sit down and talk about that with Dwyane. He wants to win as much as he wants to do anything. Compensation, to a player, is not just a way to get paid and live your life. Compensation to a player is about recognition and respect. We know where he belongs.... He's a lifer. What he's done in this city over the last 13 years is irreplaceable. We want to do the right thing, no doubt."
• Overall: "I really think we took a major step forward this year. I'm never satisfied with ever ending a season early. When you look at where we were two years ago and where we are today, not only an infusion of young talent that already has been through a pressure cooker. The flexibility we have created, we took a big step forward. Fourteen games in the playoffs which we just played. It was a little bit too much [adversity] in the seventh game against Toronto, but 14 great, compelling playoff games. I'm looking forward to what's going to happen in the summer."
• Does he see this as a 1-year or 2-year process? ""Trying to keep flexibility is very important. Build a team, keep the corps together. Try to keep your corps guys together. Look at all the teams that had lottery picks, God bless them... To me, the only way you can make a dramatic change in our team is to get a proven superstar with your team. Every now and then, it happens. You have to keep yourselves a little bit flexible for that opportunity."
• On Justise Winslow: "Justise can pretty much fit into [positions] 2 through 4 if you want to use him that way and he can run offense for you. Eventually, he will be playing the position he's very comfortable with and that will be in the frontcourt somewhere."
• On Luol Deng: "Luo saved us. He found his way along with Goran, again, in the middle of the season. He was getting more space. He's a great leader, high character guy. We've got to try to do everything we can do to keep him."
• On needing three-point shooters: "If you can get a lot of players who are rhythm shooters, it's not so much about getting three-point shooters. You can become a great three-point shooting team by creating opportunities that are comfortable for players. If somebody were to tell me that Josh Richardson would lead the league in three-point shooting after the All-Star break, I would have lost my house and my wife."
• How do you go about determining how close you are to a championship? You look for "the opportunities through trades and free agency to try to find a player to even fit. You don't know what teams are going to be gaining or losing players. Hard to gauge that."
• Riley likes the Heat's fast-paced tempo after the break and hope it continues, but that's Spoelstra's call.
"You can run. You can play half-court. You can pack the paint. You can do a lot of things. Right now, with everyone talking about how you can play to win, it's predicated on personnel. We would like to play at a fast pace. Erik did a great job putting together something coherent that opened up the floor for our best players. It's not a secret that something did look different after the All-Star break.
"How he decides to play next year will be determined on what he sees in training camp. Our best offensive games, we hold teams to 38 percent. Your offense is only as good as what you do on the defensive side. That's why Hassan is so important to us in a lot of ways. He will scare the hell out of four or five other players coming into the paint. He's got some intangible.
"It's the same thing from a defensive standpoint. We're seeing 60, 70 pick and rolls a game. Offensive players are becoming so proficient in the concept of opening holes for shooters. That has to be dealt with. You might play three pick and rolls differently. It was simple for me 10 years ago, everything we could trap and suffocate, we would do. You can't do that today. You have to have multiple schemes that players have to pick up."
• On Dragic: "He will start Aug. 1 training with his national team once a day. We will send a coach over to work with him. He needs to develop his game a little bit in certain areas... Now he's settled. [He was out of shape last summer because of a difficult pregnancy for his wife and free agency.] I said you can't use that excuse next summer. His No. 1 objective is to come back in October in better shape and a better player. He's got to improve his game in certain areas. I see players at 32, 33, get better in certain parts of their game.... He's got to be a player than can create and score when there is no space. That's part of the game too... He said, 'I totally understand, coach.'"
• He said Josh Richardson is probably a two-guard longterm. "Josh can get you into offense. Especially he will have to develop catch and shoot jump shot. what I like about him best to this day is his defensive ability, his competitiveness, his character. I don't think I've ever seen guards block shots from behind like he does. He has unique timing as a defensive player. His upside is there. We like Tyler Johnson, as you know. I look forward to seeing what Briante Weber can do in the summer league."
• On Dwyane Wade's threes: "It was something he had to go to to win some games. He has always been a to-the-rim guy, a medium range guy. Three-point shots were only prayers.
"When you work in a program like Coach Spo has, if you did it for 20 minutes a day, you would improve. The threes I saw him make, every time he lifted and released, I said, this has got a chance. The ones before, when he was jacking them up, had no chance. He is going to need that a little bit, too, next year. Maybe he could become a 40 percent, 38 percent three-point shooter. I wouldn't give him an open look. That would be a big added part of his game next year because nobody thinks he can do that."
• On Josh McRoberts: "You saw a little bit of it in the playoffs. What you saw against Toronto in the last couple of games. He's really a unique player in a lot of ways. Being sidelined and really stopped in his tracks from playing consistently is the No. 1 reason why he's sort of out there.
"When you watch players play with him who know how to play with him, he's very effective. Once you get it down knowing how to play with him --- he's going to do something out of the box. He has the ability to make plays at 6-10, 6-11, and the consistently of being able to shoot 38 percent from three, which I think he's capable of. We're still high on him. We're praying all the time he stays healthy."
• On Udonis Haslem's future: "Whatever he wants to do. I'm 71 and Udonis is 36. I thought he was 33. He said he learned more than ever about leadership this year. He can still play. That's what we want - a player who wants to play but preaches to the players, that's the way it has to be. He's like Dwyane, like Zo. He's a forever guy."
• On Riley's future: "I don't know what else I would do. The reason I still really want to do this is the development and growth of Andy Elisburg. Before that, Randy Pfund, Dave Wohl. To see Erik's growth not only as a coach but someone who has a personnel bent. And rightfully so, because it's his system. There have been a lot of people who have grown with me and have alleviated the pressure of the day to day things I don't want to do.
"So I can sit there and look at my screen-saver and think of ways to get Micky into the tax and play for championships. There will be one day when they will be next and I can be laughing at them from some island somewhere about sustainability. It's a privilege. The NBA has served all of us well."
Click to expand...
• On Chris Bosh: "We, all of us, the doctors and Chris are looking to proceed forward to find a way to get him back on the court. That's all we can say right now. We are very encouraged by trying to find a way over the next two or three months to find a protocol and program to get him back playing. That's always been our objective. It's the X factor in everything we're trying to do this summer....
"Last year, we were blindsided and Chris was too, what happened to him. This year, we're in it eyes wide open with him. We all knew what the treatment was going to be this year. When we got to this point this year, it's eyes wide open. That would be our desire [for him to play] but it will have to be done in a way we all feel good about. It definitely has hurt the team, but more so than anybody, he's the one who's suffering through it... Up to the All-Star break, he was our best player."
• On impending Hassan Whiteside: "He's our No.1 priority, a game changer. I don't think he's even reached his ceiling. When a player has had six years everyone telling him he's not good enough to play in the NBA. That could be individually important. It might not be as good for the team. Once that's out of the way, the roof is the ceiling. He has shown all of us he can be 15 and 15 and 4 blocked shots and 75 percent field goal a game. There are other areas I think he can [improve]. He's very, very high on our priority list.
"I met with him and asked if he likes chocolate gummies in his gift basket or go to Parrot Jungle or sight-seeing tour of Miami for a house. He will be right there at 12:01 am [July 1] for us. I want to build a team that can win and he's got to be part of it. You get to the other part of negotiations and find out how much he wants to win, too. That doesn't mean he has to take a haircut. He's got to carry a load every night that allows you to be a contender. I think he can do that....
"I saw him in Texas with [Heat scouting chief] Chet [Kammerer]. He was playing for Marshall. He was in the middle of the lane with his hands up. Tall, skinny guy. We thought about drafting him at 32, 31. Going to Lebanon, going to China, NBDL. Yes, he fell into our laps at a time when he had enough of people not believing what he could do. He was [angry]. He learned a lot. What he brought to us was he brought this incredible talent, this state of the art talent. He wanted to prove he can play. He's had quite a journey.
"We have him here and we want to keep him here. We want you now to be able to carry a team, and that's going to take a lot more focus and discipline and growth and understanding what winning is all about. I think he's ready for that."
• Overall thoughts: "I would like to keep the real core of the team together. We're always looking for a whale [meaning superstar], if there's one out there. We have the flexibility to do that. How far have we come and how good are we? That can only be answered hypothetically if Chris was healthy. All you can do is go back and lament he didn't have the time with Goran when Goran was playing his best basketball. He didn't have the time with Hassan [in the playoffs]. I do believe what we have, and with Dwyane's leadership. I think this is the best season he's had prior to the Big Three....
"To take on the load and the pressure and to go back to what we expect of that player every night, which is an all of the time superstar.... He played 74 games and I want him to continue to think about that as a magic number. And not go over 230 pounds this summer or I'll go looking for him.
"This was one of the best locker-rooms we've had. We have a good mix. I'm very optimistic. Why would I not be optimistic? We have the flexibility this year and next year."
• On whether to give Wade one year or more in his next contract this summer: "We'll sit down and talk about that with Dwyane. He wants to win as much as he wants to do anything. Compensation, to a player, is not just a way to get paid and live your life. Compensation to a player is about recognition and respect. We know where he belongs.... He's a lifer. What he's done in this city over the last 13 years is irreplaceable. We want to do the right thing, no doubt."
• Overall: "I really think we took a major step forward this year. I'm never satisfied with ever ending a season early. When you look at where we were two years ago and where we are today, not only an infusion of young talent that already has been through a pressure cooker. The flexibility we have created, we took a big step forward. Fourteen games in the playoffs which we just played. It was a little bit too much [adversity] in the seventh game against Toronto, but 14 great, compelling playoff games. I'm looking forward to what's going to happen in the summer."
• Does he see this as a 1-year or 2-year process? ""Trying to keep flexibility is very important. Build a team, keep the corps together. Try to keep your corps guys together. Look at all the teams that had lottery picks, God bless them... To me, the only way you can make a dramatic change in our team is to get a proven superstar with your team. Every now and then, it happens. You have to keep yourselves a little bit flexible for that opportunity."
• On Justise Winslow: "Justise can pretty much fit into [positions] 2 through 4 if you want to use him that way and he can run offense for you. Eventually, he will be playing the position he's very comfortable with and that will be in the frontcourt somewhere."
• On Luol Deng: "Luo saved us. He found his way along with Goran, again, in the middle of the season. He was getting more space. He's a great leader, high character guy. We've got to try to do everything we can do to keep him."
• On needing three-point shooters: "If you can get a lot of players who are rhythm shooters, it's not so much about getting three-point shooters. You can become a great three-point shooting team by creating opportunities that are comfortable for players. If somebody were to tell me that Josh Richardson would lead the league in three-point shooting after the All-Star break, I would have lost my house and my wife."
• How do you go about determining how close you are to a championship? You look for "the opportunities through trades and free agency to try to find a player to even fit. You don't know what teams are going to be gaining or losing players. Hard to gauge that."
• Riley likes the Heat's fast-paced tempo after the break and hope it continues, but that's Spoelstra's call.
"You can run. You can play half-court. You can pack the paint. You can do a lot of things. Right now, with everyone talking about how you can play to win, it's predicated on personnel. We would like to play at a fast pace. Erik did a great job putting together something coherent that opened up the floor for our best players. It's not a secret that something did look different after the All-Star break.
"How he decides to play next year will be determined on what he sees in training camp. Our best offensive games, we hold teams to 38 percent. Your offense is only as good as what you do on the defensive side. That's why Hassan is so important to us in a lot of ways. He will scare the hell out of four or five other players coming into the paint. He's got some intangible.
"It's the same thing from a defensive standpoint. We're seeing 60, 70 pick and rolls a game. Offensive players are becoming so proficient in the concept of opening holes for shooters. That has to be dealt with. You might play three pick and rolls differently. It was simple for me 10 years ago, everything we could trap and suffocate, we would do. You can't do that today. You have to have multiple schemes that players have to pick up."
• On Dragic: "He will start Aug. 1 training with his national team once a day. We will send a coach over to work with him. He needs to develop his game a little bit in certain areas... Now he's settled. [He was out of shape last summer because of a difficult pregnancy for his wife and free agency.] I said you can't use that excuse next summer. His No. 1 objective is to come back in October in better shape and a better player. He's got to improve his game in certain areas. I see players at 32, 33, get better in certain parts of their game.... He's got to be a player than can create and score when there is no space. That's part of the game too... He said, 'I totally understand, coach.'"
• He said Josh Richardson is probably a two-guard longterm. "Josh can get you into offense. Especially he will have to develop catch and shoot jump shot. what I like about him best to this day is his defensive ability, his competitiveness, his character. I don't think I've ever seen guards block shots from behind like he does. He has unique timing as a defensive player. His upside is there. We like Tyler Johnson, as you know. I look forward to seeing what Briante Weber can do in the summer league."
• On Dwyane Wade's threes: "It was something he had to go to to win some games. He has always been a to-the-rim guy, a medium range guy. Three-point shots were only prayers.
"When you work in a program like Coach Spo has, if you did it for 20 minutes a day, you would improve. The threes I saw him make, every time he lifted and released, I said, this has got a chance. The ones before, when he was jacking them up, had no chance. He is going to need that a little bit, too, next year. Maybe he could become a 40 percent, 38 percent three-point shooter. I wouldn't give him an open look. That would be a big added part of his game next year because nobody thinks he can do that."
• On Josh McRoberts: "You saw a little bit of it in the playoffs. What you saw against Toronto in the last couple of games. He's really a unique player in a lot of ways. Being sidelined and really stopped in his tracks from playing consistently is the No. 1 reason why he's sort of out there.
"When you watch players play with him who know how to play with him, he's very effective. Once you get it down knowing how to play with him --- he's going to do something out of the box. He has the ability to make plays at 6-10, 6-11, and the consistently of being able to shoot 38 percent from three, which I think he's capable of. We're still high on him. We're praying all the time he stays healthy."
• On Udonis Haslem's future: "Whatever he wants to do. I'm 71 and Udonis is 36. I thought he was 33. He said he learned more than ever about leadership this year. He can still play. That's what we want - a player who wants to play but preaches to the players, that's the way it has to be. He's like Dwyane, like Zo. He's a forever guy."
• On Riley's future: "I don't know what else I would do. The reason I still really want to do this is the development and growth of Andy Elisburg. Before that, Randy Pfund, Dave Wohl. To see Erik's growth not only as a coach but someone who has a personnel bent. And rightfully so, because it's his system. There have been a lot of people who have grown with me and have alleviated the pressure of the day to day things I don't want to do.
"So I can sit there and look at my screen-saver and think of ways to get Micky into the tax and play for championships. There will be one day when they will be next and I can be laughing at them from some island somewhere about sustainability. It's a privilege. The NBA has served all of us well."
Click to expand...
Green Ranger
I Am Legend
Last edited:
Green Ranger
I Am Legend
For all you thinking UD is goneHim & Wade riding out til the end together
OfTheCross
Veteran
Hornacek might prefer a more experienced PG for his system, maybe even a player he's coached before
lol, them knickas have nothing I want thoughHornacek might prefer a more experienced PG for his system, maybe even a player he's coached before
((ReFleXioN)) EteRNaL
RIP MR. SMOKE
idk. I think dragic had a breakthrough in the playoffs. he was finally able to adjust to the half court and have some beastly games. I have no problems bringing back our main guys. we just need a deadly shooter some more size to back up hassan. i'm more worried about spo's offense than anything. cause no matter who we get, we're still gonna struggle to put up points until spo gets some help with offensive schemes. i'm not trying to go through another year watching hassan look completely lost on offense....running around setting screens all game while everybody else puts up bricks. I don't know if it's wise to continue with the up tempo shyt if we're just gonna keep getting exposed in the playoffs. if spo can't keep us up tempo in the playoffs then it means nothing.
just getting the computers putin'
If there was ever a team to unload McRoberts that might be it
It's not a matter of "keeping us up tempo" though.
We went in to the playoffs with one big man, the games we looked good we limited turnovers and crushed squads on the boards, both of those are out of Spo's hands for the most part. Once the other team gets back, Goran pulls out even if we're across half court fairly quickly. What he needs to do is bully smaller pgs more often, he did it a few games, but no where near enough.
I know we disagree about Hassan on offense, he's better than a Deandre, but I'm not dying on the hill of feed Hassan in the post and let him go to work..dude has made about 5 passes out of the post all season and more turnovers..
I expressed my concerns in last years offseason thread about this coaching staff. Juwan is a good player development guy, understands the game. Chris Quinn, another player development guy. No one on the staff with a track record of having a strong offensive pedigree, and Fizdale is likely going to get a HC gig. His wife in the spoilers btw
Spo might have to have one of those summers like 2011 where he travels around the country and reinvents himself, too much talent here to waste. 
((ReFleXioN)) EteRNaL
RIP MR. SMOKE
wtf. that bytch badI expressed my concerns in last years offseason thread about this coaching staff. Juwan is a good player development guy, understands the game. Chris Quinn, another player development guy. No one on the staff with a track record of having a strong offensive pedigree, and Fizdale is likely going to get a HC gig. His wife in the spoilers btw