At some point, Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is going to have to trust Kel'el Ware. Otherwise, the decision to continue to play absurdly small is going to continue to haunt the Heat's frontcourt. That's exactly what we saw in the season-opener, as the lack of size cost the Heat dearly down the stretch.
I wouldn't go all the way to suggest that rebounding was the only issue that doomed the Heat on opening night, but the four offensive rebounds at the end of the game weren't ideal. The fact that the Heat were getting bullied in the frontcourt as the lead was quickly evaporating while their prized athletic 7-footer was riding the bench was not a good look.
And if Spo doesn't want to lose the season before it even gets off the floor, he needs to break out of his natural stubbornness. It's time for Spo to trust Ware and the rest of this young core.
Spo needs to trust the young core
The instances to criticize Spo have been be far and few in between, but I can't help but wonder if Spo is only doing himself a disservice by limiting his options with his strict rotation. Not trusting the young core has a lot to do with that.
And if this past summer is any indication, it's pretty clear that Spo still has his concerns when it comes to Ware (and some of the other young players on this roster).
Ware and Bam Adebayo didn't play a single minute together in the opener. Perhaps that was by design, but I can't help but wonder why Spo wouldn't want to see his two most talented big men on the floor together. At least to me, that doesn't really compute.
Especially as the Magic quickly began to chip away at the Heat's lead, you'd imagine there'd at least be some natural instinct from Spo to want to try something different. Still, that didn't lead to re-inserting Ware back into the lineup.
This goes beyond the idea that Ware would've dramatically helped solve some of the Heat's rebounding issues down the stretch, but it's more about the overall idea that Spo needs to use this season to figure out what this young core is all about.
In order to accomplish that, he has to trust it.
And if Spo isn't willing to trust Ware, what is that going to say about the likes of Pelle Larsson, Kasparas Jakucionis, and Nikola Jovic in crunch time?
Spo is going to go down as one of the greatest head coaches of all time, but if he doesn't quickly fix this one blind spot in his philosophy, this season is going to go down as one huge waste for the franchise.