Miami Heat: Pat Riley and 10 Other Coaches Who Could Fix the Mess
All the hype, all the bling hasn't amounted to a thing yet for the Miami Heat.
Miami lost to the Indiana Pacers 93-77 on Monday and now has an 8-6 record. It's still early in the season, but do you honestly believe that a team with Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh should be hovering just above .500?
There's still plenty of time to fix this mess, and it has to begin with replacing coach Erik Spoelstra, who clearly isn't the right fit for this pressure-packed position.
Obviously, Pat Riley would appear to be the most likely replacement, but is he the best fit? Or is there someone even better who could point this team in the right direction?
Anything less than an NBA title will be a massive disappointment. Besides Riley, here are 10 other names who could still give Miami a chance.
11. Del Harris
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Harris is now in retirement, and most recently served as an assistant for former Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro. He's been a coach for 50 years, and entered the NBA as an assistant for the Rockets in 1976.
He took Houston to the NBA Finals in 1981, and was named Coach of the Year in 1995 while with the Los Angeles Lakers.
10. Brian Shaw
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It's just a matter of time before the Lakers assistant coach actually gets a head coaching job, and you'd think he could likely be groomed to take over once Phil Jackson retires.
Think about it, though. Would Shaw be any worse than Spoelstra?
9. Don Nelson
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His teams have never been big on defense, but heck, you know he'd definitely at least tap into the talent and make that offense really click.
8. Isiah Thomas
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He's said over and over that he wants to get back into the league and coach again. Right now, though, he's the men's basketball coach at Florida International University.
Which is in Miami.
Let's see what he can do.
7. Rudy Tomjanovich
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Anyone else miss Rudy T.?
Tomjanovich led the Houston Rockets to two NBA titles in his 12 seasons, and has worked as an analyst and scout for the Los Angeles Lakers since 2005. He also has survived a battle with bladder cancer.
The man can coach, and you've got to like his chances with Miami's Big Three.
6. Mike Krzyzewski
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He's been quite adamant that he has no desire to move to the NBA.
But Krzyzewski did coach the Big Three in the 2008 Summer Olympics. The respect is there, and so is the familiarity. This could work.
5. Jeff Van Gundy
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Life is easy as an NBA analyst, but Van Gundy would be crazy not to jump at the chance to come back and coach in Miami.
Would he be successful? Probably. If you watched his teams in New York and Houston, you know that he would at least get a lot more effort out of this Heat team than what they've shown so far.
4. Bill Laimbeer
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Yes, that Bill Laimbeer. The same former Pistons player that everyone loved to hate.
Laimbeer would be the ultimate curveball move for Pat Riley to make. He's led the Detroit Shock to three WNBA titles, and still remains as abrasive as ever, calling one of his players a "crackhead." He later tried to play it off and said he was joking.
Laimbeer would either be a brilliant fit, or he'll end up being so disliked players will want to punch him.
3. Jerry Sloan
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He's with the Utah Jazz, and remains one of the NBA's all-time best coaches. It's a crime that he hasn't won a title yet.
2. Pat Riley
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He is a coaching legend, and has handled megastars before back in the 1980s with the Showtime Lakers. This situation wouldn't even make him blink.
1. Larry Bird
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Everything would change immediately.
It almost makes too much sense. Bird did a great job as the Pacers head coach, and you know he'd gain immediate respect in Miami. And you have to wonder if the Big Three would play better simply because they wouldn't want to disappoint him.
