Even throughout his early-season struggles, Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra's faith and confidence in Klay Thompson never wavered. And now that Klay has had a breakthrough performance, you can see Spoelstra's vision through it all.
There may not be any greater indication of how important Klay is to the Heat's offense in the eyes of Spoelstra than his comments about the former All-Star guard after the game, in which he dropped what many believe to be the first "Spoism" of the year.
For those who aren't familiar with the term "Spoism," it's nothing more than a word or phrase (sometimes out of place) that Spoelstra will use to describe or motivate his team. Over the years, they've included phrases like "we have enough," "no one is going to make excuses for us," impact winning," and "don't let go of the rope." There are others, but those are some of the most recent ones most are familiar with.
Erik Spoelstra is already dropping 'Spoisms'
Klay has seemingly pulled the first one out of Spoelstra this season.
“He has an exponential possibility factor for this team. You can see why. He always will provide the gravity, but he’s the definition of ignitable...When he gets on a roll like that, he’s really tough to stop...It was fun seeing it tonight in a Miami Heat jersey.”
Despite the hyperbole, Spoelstra is 100 percent right. Could the Heat survive without Klay's production and efficiency on offense? Probably, but he'd probably have to be moved out of the starting lineup (eventually).
On the other hand, if Klay can have this game every so often and can play at a much higher efficiency level than he did through the first five games of the season, it certainly raises the ceiling for this Heat offense.
Even with the adjustments that Spoelstra has made with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo, the Heat still needs consistent shooting. And that's ultimatley what is going to be the big difference in the Heat being a good team versus a potentially great one.
That's part of the reasoning in Spoelstra calling Klay a player who has the potential to "ignite" the Heat's offense.
As the Heat witnessed on Friday night, Klay has the ability to flip a game upside down. The Heat, as a whole, played quite well against the Indiana Pacers, but it was Klay's "ignitable" third quarter that put the game out of reach.
That's what Klay has the ability to do when it all clicks. And that's a big part of the reason why the Heat were so willing to take a chance on the All-Star guard.
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