Spoelstra: This Weekend Will be 'Very Painful'
As Erik Spoelstra sat down at the podium for his closing press conference of the season, there was an odd feeling swirling through the bones of American Airlines Arena.
If this were April 17 of any of the last four years, we'd be listening to Spo preach about defense, energy, and "process" as the championship favorites would be prepping for their first-round opponent, typically a feisty but overmatched team hovering around .500.
Today painted some perspective on the last four years of wealth.
"We're not used to this," Spoelstra said. "This is a new process for me, really having this much time off in an offseason. It's new for a few of our players. It's new for our organization.
"We have extremely high standards."
It was like hearing a billionaire talk about flying coach.
"I'd rather be working right now," Spoelstra said. "I know it will be very painful this weekend [when playoffs start]."
One of the silver linings within this tumultuous season of injuries and misfortune is the arrival and then explosive development of Hassan Whiteside, who finished his first season with the Heat averaging 11.8 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.6 blocks on 62-percent shooting. He also ranked sixth in the NBA in Player Efficiency Rating, the second highest big man on the list outside of Anthony Davis (No. 1). Not a bad return for the Heat considering he's under contract for just below $1 million next season.
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So what's the plan for the promising seven-footer in the offseason?
"Just commit," Spoelstra said. "We will put a very specific program together for him this summer."
Spo also stressed of not wanting "to put a ceiling on him."
Most teams just missing out on the Eastern Conference playoffs would be facing an arduous road ahead just to even think about joining the contender conversation but for a team returning proven stars in Bosh and Wade, expecting to return a dynamic guard in his prime like Goran Dragic, and a ceiling-less talent like Whiteside, the future looks bright.
Around this time next year the feeling around AAA shouldn't feel as empty.
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