Mannix: Any Real Criticism of Spoelstra is 'Laughable'
The Miami Heat's starting frontcourt -- Chris Bosh and Josh McRoberts -- will miss 103 combined games this season due to injury.
Still, there's some folks out there directing the blame in coach Erik Spoelstra's direction for Miami's 36-45 record, something Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix thinks is comical.
"It's laughable that there could be any real criticism of Erik Spoelstra," Mannix said on the Joe Rose Show on 560 WQAM. "This team, before Chris Bosh goes down, everyone on the outside was looking at the starting five saying, 'look, if they could find a way to play these guys 30-plus minutes every single night, they've got a chance to be the darkhorse in the Eastern Conference.' Then all of a sudden Chris Bosh goes down -- he's your best player. And remove the best player from any team in the league, Joe, and they're going to fall apart. It's as simple as that.
"Nothing that Erik's done this year has diminished his brand, in my opinion, as one of the top coaches in the entire NBA. They've just been riddled with injuries."
[Follow WQAM on Twitter | Facebook]
Miami has a 95-percent chance to miss the playoffs this year after four consecutive trips to the Finals.
But if there are people out there who want to play this game of futility, declaring the Heat's sub-500 record as unacceptable with no excuses attached then you must also factor in the big picture, noting Miami won 72 percent of their games the previous four regular seasons, made it to four NBA Finals, and won two NBA championships.
As for the LeBron-James-carrying-everything argument, how about we realize you don't win championships without superstar players? You also don't contend for championships without your core staying healthy.
No matter how you look at it, playing the blame game with Erik Spoelstra, as Mannix said, is laughable.
Follow Josh on Twitter (@JoshBaumgard)
