The Miami Heat offense ranks eighth in efficiency to start the season after being in the twenties each of the past three seasons. Erik Spoelstra consulted former Memphis Grizzlies assistant coach Noah LaRoche to help install a motion-based system that reduced pick-and-rolls for a more free-flowing offense.
“You know Spo is running the polar opposite of the system that [Heat president] Pat Riley used to run, where he called every play and each play design was exact,” a league executive said. “And it makes me further appreciate and respect that the organization is about the right s—. They’re about exploring and teaching in Miami.”
The Miami offense is more egalitarian and better equipped to leverage LaRoche’s concepts than the Grizzlies were last season.
“I love it,” a scout said of the new offense. “It’s so different than everybody else. You don’t need to have a point guard, you need ballhandling wings. It’s nonstop, and it’s refreshing to see. It vibes with Miami’s principles, which is to play hard on defense and push the tempo.”
Bam Adebayo has been supportive of the new model despite the fact some of his actions have been taken away. Miami must also incorporate Tyler Herro into the offense once he returns from injury.
“Coaches love this type of system, because it’s about movement and team concepts — not the ‘hunt the mismatch’ style you see a lot of places,” one scout said. “To make this work, you probably can’t have a ball dominant star and you probably need a pretty strong coach. Well, that’s what they have in Miami.
“They didn’t really have that in Memphis. We’ll see how it all works when [Tyler] Herro comes back [from a foot injury].”