MIAMI -- We're so entangled in all things LeBron James that we've neglected to consider what winning the NBA Finals would mean for Erik Spoelstra. It's not that the Miami Heat coach has as much impact on the series as LeBron. But he does have more to gain.

For LeBron a championship would mean relief. Shed baggage. A whole list of questions he'll no longer face. But he still would be ashamed to get into a ring-counting contest with the likes of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson or Kobe Bryant. LeBron would be in the club, just not in the VIP section.

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Derick E. Hingle/US PresswireHeat coach Erik Spoelstra has a lot riding on these finals, too.

Spoelstra, meanwhile, has a chance to join one of the most exclusive groups around: active coaches who have won an NBA championship. Gregg Popovich, Doc Rivers, Rick Carlisle. That's it. That's the list.

Winning championships doesn't necessarily help a player improve. However, it can help a coach be more effective. When a coach diagrams a play his players might pay a little more attention, if they see the light reflecting off his gaudy championship ring. When he discusses his concepts they're a little more likely to take if he can prove that they've worked in the past.

Merely winning three consecutive NBA Finals games has made a difference.

One day into the series I wrote about the sense of disconnect I felt about the Heat, because Spoelstra's message wasn't being echoed by the players in the manner I'd heard on previous championship teams. That's gone now. It's as if they've become computers, cycling through the data input by Spoelstra.

"I'm sure Spo has said it 100,000 times, is staying in the moment," Chris Bosh said after Game 4. "That's what you always have to do. You have to stay in the moment, put everything in the past behind you, don't worry about the future."

Looking ahead to Game 5, James said: "We've got to prepare like we've prepared all series and all season. You know, Coach Spo and the coaching staff [have] given us a great game plan."

If that's what winning a few games will do, imagine winning it all.

"I think the last couple games we've been more consistent to our identity, but it still comes down to making those winning plays," Spoelstra said. "These are months of habits, of building it, and you can't overthink it. At that point, in the moment of truth, you've got to trust your instincts and just make it happen."

The instincts and abilities of LeBron and Dwyane Wade still have the greatest relevance to this Heat team. Identity comes from the coaching staff. I know this because I have heard Spoelstra use the word "identity," as in "play to our identity," about 537 times since the Finals started. I feel like it has started to become part of my identity. I'm a guy who listens to Spoelstra talk about identity. At some point all of those reps kick in and actually work for a team. It's happening for the Heat.

In this series, Spoelstra hasn't been revolutionary, just sensible. He moved Bosh back into the starting lineup for Game 2. It was time. He has anchored Joel Anthony to the bench. While the Heat could use a shot-blocking deterrent at the rim, they also can't afford to let any Thunder defender roam off Anthony when the Heat have the ball.

Spoelstra showed just the right touch with his handling of the point guards in Game 4. Mario Chalmers began by missing his first three shots, so Spoelstra sent in rookie Norris Cole. Cole scored five points in three first-quarter minutes, bonus baskets from a player who had given the Heat only two points in the first three games. When Spoelstra reinserted his starter, Chalmers unleased the fury, scoring 25 points in the final three quarters of the game, including 12 points in the fourth.

While Oklahoma City's Scott Brooks had Kevin Durant guard LeBron James from the outset of the first three games of the series, Spoelstra tried to wait until the fourth quarter to put James on Durant full-time. Two games' worth of foul trouble for Durant caused Brooks to come around to Spoelstra's way of thinking and put Durant on Mario Chalmers to start Game 4.

You don't want to make drastic moves late in the series. It's a sign that things are going awry. Ask Spoelstra, who chose Game 6 in the 2011 NBA Finals to sit Mike Bibby after starting him the first five games. It was more panic than prescience.

No such tactical delays for Spoelstra this year. If we're going to say his players learned from last year's experience, so has he. This team would be an extraordinary burden for any coach, let alone someone as relatively unaccomplished as Spoelstra.

He's already joined a select group that has led teams to the NBA Finals in back-to-back seasons over the past 25 years: Phil Jackson, Pat Riley, Larry Brown, Byron Scott, Rudy Tomjanovich, Jerry Sloan and Chuck Daly. That trivia tidbit was tweeted by none other than Heat owner Micky Arison, a sign of the regard with which Spoelstra is held in the organization.

Then there's Riley, who Tuesday night said of his protégé: "He does a great job. He has a great relationship with our whole team, and he's not fearful of the moment in any way, shape or form. I watch him every single day, and I'm not amazed by what he's done."

Just imagine what they'll be saying about Spoelstra if he actually brings home the title.

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