Postgame Interview: Erik Spoelstra

Postgame Interview: Erik Spoelstra

Okay do we start with the resilience of a team coming back having that 12 run and still finding a way um or or is it something bigger than that the way you guys put together sort of a statement at a time of year when statements mean everything look games are long like more

Than anything this was an introduction to our new players uh especially Terry that this is an introduction to Heat Nicks you know this is what these games uh are it’s going to be back and forth all game long uh teams will get a double digit lead the other team will come back like

That’s what happens um but you have two teams are very committed to doing tough things you know particularly on the defensive end and it’s tough to generate you know wideopen looks and anytime there is an open look uh you see both benches just going crazy like uh you

Know overreacting to any kind of miscue but uh you know somebody does have to score you know this is not just a cage match um but it’s really competitive and um it was good to see us respond to the competition um and find a a way to win

It uh at the end uh you know that when they came back um you know you you hear the groaning or you hear uh you know some of the um smattering of of Nicks fans you know you can do a couple things you can either you know start to feel sorry for

Yourself or you just respond in a competitive way it’s a great a great living you know that we have it’s a great time of year um it’s awesome to be a part of these type of games that have this kind of spirit you know you have to

Play well you know have to you have to do things well uh connected together to be able to earn wins and we were able to do that tonight defensive disposition it seemed I mean this is not atypical for you guys obviously but you talked about Terry having an introduction to Heat Nicks

This almost seemed like a continuation of the introduction of what playoff defense oh for sure um you know and you know Terry had that introduction early on in his career and then you know it’s really been the last five years where you know people have forgotten U but he’s always had a competitive

Disposition about him uh even going back to college you know he’s played uh big and big games that’s when he’s uh been at his best uh but you never really know until you’re in these environments and it’s taken them you know some time to get comfortable uh here and you know we

Wanted to show him a little bit of grace through that but we had a a ton of moving parts and uh I think by now he he knows that everybody wants him to be that aggressive and and you hear that hey go be yourself but you know what

Does that actually mean uh when you have Jimmy and Bam telling him that all right okay I it’s okay for me to to take over moments uh during the course of the the game and particularly late uh it it just shows you you know what he’s capable of

Um because he’s done that a lot you know even in Charlotte when when they weren’t playoff ramification type games but they still are fourth quarter clutch games it seemed like you couldn’t take Haywood out of the game there late um he made some shots but how much was his defense

Well tonight he’s so inspiring you know right now he just continues to grind he continues to work continues to get better and he just does all the little things you know for a team to help help you win uh and you need players like that in this league uh I’ve talked about

It so many times everybody celebrates everything onse that final line of the box score and you know everything um in college and nil it just gets AA it just gets a little bit confusing you know for players but uh if you can Embrace a role and and

Compete and and do winning things on both ends of the Court he shows that that’s really valuable um and he hit you know big three you know that that was that that kind of gave us a little bit of distance when they made their run and he hit the three

Went up three I was like okay you know let’s just compete and enjoy these last three minutes and uh and figure out how we’re going to get this win but defensively yeah he’s uh he he he has the ability but it’s really more born out of all the work and and Drilling and

Film watching and he just he really works at it you know and he uh he takes it seriously you know that side of the floor um we just really appreciate what he’s given us we know brunson’s good enough that he’s not always going to shoot five of

18 no matter how good the defense is but what did you feel like you guys did right in terms of coring his drives and giving up the right shots at least yeah it it is difficult you know because you Corral them and then now they have the three-point Shooters you know every time

Probably everybody’s saying how did he get open that’s how he got open you know great players uh force you to bring a second Defender and sometimes a third Defender uh and then you have to scramble and make things up from there um but he’s that good right now you know

His footwork uh and his cleverness his aggressiveness uh playing against your aggressiveness the entire package it just makes it uh uh extremely you know challenging you just have to be absolutely rock solid uh and discipline and sometimes he’s going to make shots even when you do that all right go just curious what’s

Going through your head when Terry’s taking on that final shot kind of coming off that bam screen and kind well at that point I’m like hey go do what you’ve been doing go do what we’ve seen you do you know for several years go do what you’ve did against us for too many

Years uh there’s four seconds left on the clock the play got blown up uh and that’s what great players can do is they create something out of nothing and that step back is something that’s very comfortable it’s in his package it’s it’s probably one of the most

Comfortable shots he has and it’s also the one that’s going to his right A lot of people don’t you know feel comfortable doing that one that arguably I’ve never asked him but that might be arguably his most comfortable one and um you know we just all appreciate his

Ability to to shot create and make shots in those situations all right Ju Just Just quickly just Kevin’s first minutes in in a while since late February what did you see out of him yeah yeah yeah first you know it it takes a a real professional like Thomas you know to

Have an understanding of that this is what depth is all about uh you know and obviously we’ve used all of our depth but the depth you know becomes a little bit more complex when you have more guys available um and he he really given us such tremendous

Minutes uh the last six weeks while Kevin was out uh Kevin gives us something different you know it spaces the floor in a different way you get some overreactions uh that lead to open shots either for him or for somebody else that you can’t necessarily script or make a

Play call for uh and he just has that you know such great veteran experience you know for these kind of games these kind of matchups and then uh hopefully you know what’s ahead for us in the playoffs all right thank you

Apr. 2, 2024 – Erik Spoelstra speaks to the media following Tuesday night’s game vs. the New York Knicks.

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