Ira Winderman: Do Heat risk Grizzlies reality by prioritizing pace?

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Dec 14, 2025

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MIAMI — Gimmicks come with expiration dates, as the Miami Dolphins learned with the evolution and then devolution of their Wildcat, quarterback-free approach in 2008 and 2009.

Now the question becomes whether the Heat are on a similar timetable, eight weeks into the shunning of NBA staples such as pick-and-roll sets in favor of a constant-movement wheel of offense, drive-and-kick passing, pace-on-steroids.

For weeks, as the Heat’s high-octane act toured the NBA, the questions were constant of the dramatic deviation by coach Erik Spoelstra. Eventually, and somewhat sheepishly, Spoelstra asked the questioners simply go with his previous comments.

The intention never was to come off as the smartest man in the room.

And then came Tuesday night’s NBA Cup game in Orlando, with the question again parsed pregame.

“If you’ve noticed,” Spoelstra said candidly and frankly, “the last few games our offense hasn’t been that good.”

After a 15-0 start, it wasn’t good that night against the Magic, either.

With that loss, the 14-11 Heat are now idle until Monday night’s visit by the Toronto Raptors to Kaseya Center.

It is a week off that can create a mental reset amid a four-game losing streak.

Or should the reset be something greater?

Because, perhaps, the Heat should have seen this coming.

A year ago, the Memphis Grizzlies opened their season with a similar approach to the one adopted ahead of this season by Spoelstra. An architect there was offensive guru Noah LaRoche.

And where is LaRoche now? “He’s a part of our staff,” Spoelstra said.

Actually, it later was clarified that LaRoche is a consultant.

No matter, the common thread and common voice is there.

And how did it go last season for the Grizzlies? Hellbent on offense at the start of the season to the degree that the same questions fielded by Spoelstra over these first two Heat months were being fielded by Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins.

As in then-Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins. Because by season’s end, opponents had scouted the offense’s intricacies, the scoring stalled at moments of truth, and on March 28, Jenkins was ex-Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins, in a Memphis housecleaning that also had LaRoche cast aside.

The parallels certainly are there.

Among the reasons it went south for the Grizzlies was a defense that no longer could keep pace with the offense.

As in, perhaps, the Heat’s recent defensive regression (No. 20 in the NBA the past six games)?

Another reason? It left Ja Morant less than sated, his trademark pick-and-rolls legislated out of the Grizzlies’ approach.

As in, perhaps, Tyler Herro’s ongoing attempt to play as seamlessly in the new Heat offense as Norman Powell?

The Herro question stands particularly pertinent with him now back six games after missing the first 17.

If Herro was with the Heat from the outset, and if it was uneven with Herro at the October start, would an adjustment have come then, as it might need to now?

Granted, players have bristled for years over systems, including as Phil Jackson guided championship Bulls and Lakers teams with Tex Winter’s triangle principles.

But even then, there was accommodation.

For the Heat, breakneck could have its breaking point.

When it comes to distance run this season, the Heat went into this break second in the NBA at 17.6 miles per game and first in the league and first in average player speed of 4.6 mph. The other team in the Top 2 in each of those categories? The 6-18 Indiana Pacers.

So, yes, about more than a system.

With Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, the Dolphins’ Wildcat stood as the rage in the NFL.

Until it didn’t.

For this season’s first six weeks, it was all Heat hype.

Until it isn’t?

At his stubborn Heat coaching best, when his players failed his rigid principles, including lock-and-trail defense, Pat Riley’s answers were simple and to the point — do it better.

So now, with the LaRoche system, it could be the same with Spoelstra — do it better.

Or perhaps history should be the guide.

Recent history.

As in the 2024-25 Memphis Grizzlies.

No, Spoelstra isn’t going anywhere. And he is not nearly the same rigid, unbending sideline presence as at the start of his coaching tenure nearly two decades ago.

But the league is catching up, if it hasn’t already caught up.

Or, perhaps, this was the plan all along, to maximize the benefits of something different, and then tinker and refine from there, basically scout the other teams’ scouting.

“We’re not scoring in the 140s no more,” center Bam Adebayo said just ahead of his five-day break created by Tuesday night’s failure in Orlando. “That was fun. We were sharing the game, playing together. We have to figure out how to put points on the board.”

Or find another way to have fun, if necessary, to avoid the Grizzlies’ reality.

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