Spoelstra says Heat will play even faster in 2012-13

MIAMI—

Erik Spoelstra successfully revved up the Miami Heat's offense. He said Tuesday you haven't seen anything yet.

After the Heat played at a faster pace in their championship run than in previous seasons, going from 21st in the NBA in pace to 14th in 2011-12, Spoelstra said on the debut of the Jorge Sedano Show on WQAM that he is hopeful of pushing the tempo further this coming season.

"I hope to play faster," he said. "We turned it up a gear last year and I think we have the personnel to hopefully go even faster. And I think with a normal training camp and a full season, we can build that habit a little bit more."

The Heat's move to more of a transition game came in the wake of an NBA lockout that cancelled the team's summer program and curtailed the preseason.

A faster tempo in 2012-13 also would allow the Heat to maximize the contribution of Ray Allen, the team's prime free-agent offseason addition.

"He's a Hall of Fame-type catch-and-shoot player," Spoelstra said. "We haven't had that element before in our offense. So it's been a lot of fun, trying to X-and-O and come up with new ways to get him open. I don't want to overthink it. I don't want to totally change what we do, but that's a great element to have, that type of weapon."

Of the impending challenges this coming season, Spoelstra said the Heat is braced, with opponents such as the Brooklyn Nets, Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers reloading.

"We knew this would be a big summer, one way or another, that there were a lot of teams out there with money, that had an opportunity to make big moves, and some teams did, some teams did improve," he said. "The Lakers certainly did, and that's going to make it all the more fun."