Heat players discuss what Spoelstra has done differently to try to snap team out of rut

In a season that could test the patience of any coach, Erik Spoelstra hasn’t thrown his arms up in disgust and asked for a new roster.

Instead, he has opened his arms in search of a greater connection and understanding — inviting players to his office, or for a chat on the side.

In explaining how the Heat’s coach has dealt with the frustration of this roller coaster season, several players say he has raised his communication skills — already considered good — to a higher level. He has attempted to inspire them with motivational clips from films or by placing notes in their lockers.

On the court, he has tried practically everything — changing rotations, using 24 different starting lineups, deploying zone defense at record levels and then barely using it at all, ending Kyle Lowry’s 10-year starting streak while making him still feel valued and engaged. Along the way, he has kept his players in his corner by supporting them publicly, as he has done throughout his 15 seasons in the job.

The results have been mixed. Miami (41-37) will enter Tuesday’s game at Detroit (7 p.m., Bally Sports Sun) in seventh in the East, which requires teams to qualify for postseason through the play-in round. The Heat’s maniacal effort — a staple of the team’s culture since Pat Riley arrived in 1995 — hasn’t been consistent. Miami has lost a handful of games it had no business losing, including four to league doormats Charlotte, Detroit and San Antonio.

Behind closed doors, where has Spoelstra fallen on the anger meter of coaches?

“I don’t want to say appropriate fear,” new Heat forward Kevin Love said. “But all of his reactions and his approach,... are very appropriate. I didn’t know it, but seeing it firsthand how high a level of a communicator he is, how he’s able to inspire but also get through to every player in his own way while also still understanding the team is the first priority — that is something that has stuck out to me.

“He’s able to communicate everything from strategy and X’s and O’s [to a] personal level of exactly what he needs from each of us. That helps get the most out of” players.

Udonis Haslem, in his 20th and final season, said Spoelstra — who stands 20th all-time in NBA coaching wins — has admonished when needed while also trying to uplift.

“Spo is about being real,” Haslem said. “He wears his emotions on his sleeve. If things are not right, he’s not going to act like it’s right just to make us feel good. He’s going to make it clear that things aren’t right. He’s never going to stop pushing us to be the best we can be and he’s not going to let anyone feel sorry for themselves.

“He’s just honest. I don’t know if anger is the right word [about his tone at times this season]. It’s frustration, frustration living in mediocrity, frustration not reaching our potential. He has voiced his frustration, yes. But we all get frustrated.”

Whereas Heat president Pat Riley sometimes ranted or threatened lineup changes during postgame news conferences when he was the Heat’s coach and the team wasn’t playing well, Spoelstra hasn’t done that a single time all season, remaining generally positive, even after losses.

“That has nothing to do with winning,” Spoelstra said. “To me, a press conference and a coach ranting doesn’t necessarily do anything for a win. Maybe it does. Maybe it doesn’t. I don’t know. That’s not my style, for better or worse. We handle our business here.”

One change, according to players? More one-on-one meetings.

“For sure,” Caleb Martin said. “This year has been more communicative in how he wants me to do things. He’s always done that, but it’s been a little bit more this year. Some in his office, a lot out here [on the practice court]. He knows how to connect with everybody differently. With me, it’s just being direct; that [works best] with me.”

Guard Gabe Vincent said “having more one-on-one time with him has been helpful to me” this season.

Love said: “Even in my first five weeks, I feel I can go to him with anything. I ask him if there’s anything he sees and he always has the answers or gives a question back to me where I have to go and think and come back to him. Those thought-provoking moments… in year 15 are good for me to keep my mind sharp.”

Spoelstra — who recently became the fourth coach in NBA history to win at least 700 games with one team — has used creative motivational tools, as many coaches do.

“Spo has been very active... showing inspirational films and getting messages across,” Haslem said. “Videos, quotes, putting things in our locker, books. Everybody learns differently. Some people are visual people. Some people like to hear things. Some people like to read things. Some people like to watch it on TV. So he pretty much covers all bases on how he can get his message across.”

Haslem was struck by one in particular — a video involving Steve Stoute, an American businessman and record executive, who “always felt he had to work 10 times as hard to get what the common man got.” Haslem could relate.

Love mentioned Spoelstra showing a documentary that had clips of FC Barcelona. “That level of professionalism and respect for the game is something that really resonated,” Love said.

Tyler Herro was struck by a video that Spoelstra showed them about “Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent and Eminem and how they started, and the manager they had and he was the one rallying the troops, which is Spo [for the Heat]. Spo does [this type of thing] every year, but this year has been a little bit more with how up and down the season has been.”

Haslem said Spoelstra realizes the need to try to inspire players in different ways because “every year is different. You can’t come back with the same stale things. You’ve got to try to incorporate new things, new messages, new ideas. That’s one thing we do a great job of.”

According to Martin, Spoelstra offered an outside-the-box idea to his players.

He mentioned that he sometimes writes down five thoughts in a journal — to keep in mind on a particular day — “and passed that on to us as an option. That’s one thing he does that keeps him engaged mentally every day. It’s more things to keep in mind, or five things to improve every day, or five things to keep yourself accountable on a daily basis.”

There have been moments of intense anger from Spoelstra, including throwing his clipboard down during a timeout after Omer Yurtseven made multiple defensive errors in a recent game.

Herro said Spoelstra has done all he can in “trying to motivate us. [But] it’s on us players to perform. He’s a great coach, makes sure we’re prepared and have a game plan to perform. [But] he can only do so much. At the end of the day, it’s on us as players.”