Fil-Am Erick Spoelstra is New Miami Head Coach...

Damn.. Beat me to it. LOL. But way to represent!

spoelstra1.jpg


Once the final buzzer went off ending the deciding game of the 2006 National Basketball Association (NBA) finals in Dallas, marking the first championship victory of the 18-year-old Miami Heat, its legendary coach and future Basketball Hall of Famer Pat Riely didn't turn to the $362-million Heat team franchise owner, Mickey Arison or to the Heat's duo of superstars Shaquille O'Nel and Dwayne Wade for his celebratory hug.

Instead, he reached out for Erik Spoelstra, one of his assistant coaches.

Whether the hug was pure spontaneity or a wello-thought out act on Riley's part, Spoelstra deserved such an acknowledgement.

Spoelstra quietly worked the sidelines as an assistant coach, training young players, among them Dwayne Wader, the hottest NBA superstar of late. He devised their game plans from long hours of watching video recordings of games the team played. Spoelstra was an insider in the process that led to the team's first gold.

Born to a Filipino mother, the former Fe Celino, the 35-year-old Spoelstra is an ex-collegiate basketball players at the University of Portland, Oregon, a former professional player/coach for Tus Herren, a team in the professional sports league of Germany.

In Portland, where he was the starting point guard for four years, he averaged 9.2 points, 4.4 assists, and 2.4 rebounds per game and was named the West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year.

Spoelstra graduated from Portland in 1992 with a degree in communications. He's the first Filipino American ever to crack the highest playing rank in the NBA bureaucracy. There are only 90 bench assistant coaches in the NBA, a highly selective profession.

"While playing professional basketball in Germany, I applied for an entry level video coordinator position with the Heat. I applied for an entry level video coordinator position with the Heat. I had always wanted to get into coaching and I figured this might be a good way to get my foot int he door," Spoelstra relates. "I never imagined I would be here for eleven years."

"He did such a good job with that position and with working with players in the off-season that he became a bench coach on the Heat staff," says Tony Fiorentino, a former Heat assistant coach and now a SUN sports TV analyst.

Head coach Riley adds: "Erik comes as a whole package to the Heat organization. He is an intelligent operator who knows how to push the right button. He has a knack for seizing weak spots in opposing teams' defenses and turns around with smart game plans."



http://www.gmanews.tv/story/26427/Erik-Spoelstra-He-puts-the-Heat-on
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Nice! Good luck turning that franchise around...
ohwell.gif


Hopefully they win the lottery or at least get top 3.
 
can he sign Gabe Norwood or even Japeth Aguilar in the future?
idk,can those guys hang with the likes of d.wade?matrix?freaky ricky?or even chris quinn?having a fil-am coach does not make things easier forpinoys or fil-ams to break into the league if they can't play at the nba level. hell,pinoy players are barely if at all on nba teams scouting radars.
Click to expand...
 
Once the final buzzer went off ending the deciding game of the 2006 National Basketball Association (NBA) finals in Dallas, marking the first championship victory of the 18-year-old Miami Heat, its legendary coach and future Basketball Hall of Famer Pat Riely didn't turn to the $362-million Heat team franchise owner, Mickey Arison or to the Heat's duo of superstars Shaquille O'Nel and Dwayne Wade for his celebratory hug.

Instead, he reached out for Erik Spoelstra, one of his assistant coaches.

Whether the hug was pure spontaneity or a wello-thought out act on Riley's part, Spoelstra deserved such an acknowledgement.

Spoelstra quietly worked the sidelines as an assistant coach, training young players, among them Dwayne Wader, the hottest NBA superstar of late. He devised their game plans from long hours of watching video recordings of games the team played. Spoelstra was an insider in the process that led to the team's first gold.

Born to a Filipino mother, the former Fe Celino, the 35-year-old Spoelstra is an ex-collegiate basketball players at the University of Portland, Oregon, a former professional player/coach for Tus Herren, a team in the professional sports league of Germany.

In Portland, where he was the starting point guard for four years, he averaged 9.2 points, 4.4 assists, and 2.4 rebounds per game and was named the West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year.

Spoelstra graduated from Portland in 1992 with a degree in communications. He's the first Filipino American ever to crack the highest playing rank in the NBA bureaucracy. There are only 90 bench assistant coaches in the NBA, a highly selective profession.

"While playing professional basketball in Germany, I applied for an entry level video coordinator position with the Heat. I applied for an entry level video coordinator position with the Heat. I had always wanted to get into coaching and I figured this might be a good way to get my foot int he door," Spoelstra relates. "I never imagined I would be here for eleven years."

"He did such a good job with that position and with working with players in the off-season that he became a bench coach on the Heat staff," says Tony Fiorentino, a former Heat assistant coach and now a SUN sports TV analyst.

Head coach Riley adds: "Erik comes as a whole package to the Heat organization. He is an intelligent operator who knows how to push the right button. He has a knack for seizing weak spots in opposing teams' defenses and turns around with smart game plans."



Looks like Nick Vicera rushed this article
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watch pat riley take over again as head coach once this team becomes a title contender
 
I do not know if I want to congratulate him or condole with him for inherting a team in shambles. Still, great to see him making it big up there. Now, time tobring back Penny.
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