The Official 2013 NBA Finals Thread: San Antonio Spurs vs Miami Heat

[PHX]

Rest of work-week officially will not include hours between 11am and 2pm.

Work can GAGF'd.

 

[Dirtywhirl]

Pop knew what he was doing when he rested Green for that TNT game in Miami

Shooting 66% from three with 25 makes. Quite incredible really

Corners need work

 

[Barnzy]

LeBrick will not be getting his 2nd ring

And to think some raved on about him being on par with Michael Jordan or a better player than Kobe Bryant (5 rings + 2 x finals MVP).

Don't write off Miami. This series has gone back and forth and they have responded every time they needed to in the playoffs the last couple seasons.

They will win game 6 IMO then it will be a toss of the coin game 7. I hope it goes 7 and I will be taking that day off.

 

[mitchzz]

Hoping for a repeat of this in game 6:

Never forget that game.

 

[footscore]

Don't write off Miami. This series has gone back and forth and they have responded every time they needed to in the playoffs the last couple seasons.

They will win game 6 IMO then it will be a toss of the coin game 7. I hope it goes 7 and I will be taking that day off.

true but the Heat broke down against the Mavs a few seasons ago because they had greater depth and got valuable minutes from their bench.
They also had a genuine A grade pg in Kidd and genuine centre in Haywood and the Spurs have a similar blue print imo.

As good as what Wade is, he's not the player he was 3 years ago, was good today but Wade in his prime wouldn't have hesitated knocking down open 3's and James....well, he's a wonderful player but against teams who guard the paint and don't mind physicality like San Antonio, he's not going to have it all his own way.

 

[PP34]

recap - danny green now has the finals 3 pt record formerly held by bostons ray allen (at the time)

nbaman1

In shock, and in five games only, not a bad effort.

He needs to play a big game 6, and seven if necessary.

 

[footscore]

 

[PP34]

true but the Heat broke down against the Mavs a few seasons ago because they had greater depth and got valuable minutes from their bench.
They also had a genuine A grade pg in Kidd and genuine centre in Haywood and the Spurs have a similar blue print imo.

As good as what Wade is, he's not the player he was 3 years ago, was good today but Wade in his prime wouldn't have hesitated knocking down open 3's and James....well, he's a wonderful player but against teams who guard the paint and don't mind physicality like San Antonio, he's not going to have his own way.

Kidd was ordinary, not even close to A grade in 2011. I thought he defended Wade okay, but looking back Wade had a huge series.

Haywood? I think you mean Chandler.

Wade has always been an ordinary jump shooter, only used to hit them when feeling hot.

 

[footscore]

Kidd was ordinary, not even close to A grade in 2011. I thought he defended Wade okay, but looking back Wade had a huge series.

Haywood? I think you mean Chandler.

Wade has always been an ordinary jump shooter, only used to hit them when feeling hot.

yeh sorry, Chandler, not Haywood!

Yeh true about Kidd but he could still play consistent ball and was better than Chalmers or Cole.

Wade's also carrying something, clearly not 100% but still, they won't be any better next season.

 

[PP34]

Wade's carrying old age. His knee troubles might point to bad luck, but these kind of things happen after being such an explosive player for ten years. Wear and tear.

The 30s are when players with lots of mileage tend to deal with knee issues that drag on. KG, Kobe, Pierce and Dirk off the top of my head.

 

[hayes]

Was so good seeing Ginobili play like that again. One of my favourite players to watch when he's up and going. If he can play like that again that should be enough for another title.

 

[footscore]

I reckon Duncan will be the one who plays his best game next, he'll put in one of his best performances of the season as he really hasn't been the dominant player most know him to be but like nbaman said, that happens with wear & tear along with age but I'm thinking he goes off for 28 points, 13 rebounds & 4 blocks to close one hell of a stellar career

 

[peternorth]

isnt it surreal watching teh finals? long distance shots are dropping with ease. its like nba jam!

 

[Chadwiko]

i think its possible. however, history says teh star will win as normally the star will pull out a herculean performance to turn heads.

Pau Gasol agrees with this.

 

[PP34]

Nothing beats Pau and his screaming and travel in the '10 finals.

 

[hans moleman]

2 solid games in a row from Wade. I like that when the chips are down, he comes to play - he's aggressive and looks to impact the game. Sure, it manifests itself as a hero complex (which can sometimes be detrimental), but at least you know he's not one to shy away from the big moment...it's now LeBron's time to step it up.

Was so good seeing Ginobili play like that again. One of my favourite players to watch when he's up and going.

Agreed

isnt it surreal watching teh finals? long distance shots are dropping with ease. its like nba jam!

"He's on fire!!!" -Danny Green
"He's heating up!" -Manu Ginobili
"He's building himself a house, one brick at a time!" -Mario Chalmers
"He just hung his defender out to dry after putting him through the spin cycle!" -Tony Parker
"Covered like a rug on your floor!" -Diaw's D on LeBron
"Look who it is, Johnny-Come-Lately with the shot!" -Ray Allen

 

[stewie griffen]

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/blog/e...-historically-taking-advantage-of-bad-defense

Decent breakdown of all Danny's three pointers and the defensive breakdowns accompanying them

 

[jod23]

A few thoughts and feelings...

• Danny Green is unconscious. We are seeing the greatest three point shooting display in the history of the NBA Finals. It's not just how many he has hit either. Sure he has hit, what 25? But he hasnt taken 70 threes to hit that. He is 25 from 38 isnt he or something like that. Ridiculous.
• Also staying with Green, how does he keep getting looks, how have the Heat not figured that out. For me, he is the Finals MVP if the Spurs win Game 6 and he plays well. Duncan close second then Parker.
• Boris Diaw while guarding LeBron. LeBron goes 1-8. WTF?
• Sticking with Diaw, the boy can pass. Gave them huge minutes off the bench.
• Manu starting was a great move by Pop, got him involved early and it snowballed. 24 points and 10 assists, vintage Manu. If he plays like that in Game 6, the Spurs might actually win this series.
• Mike Miller since starting has not scored a point and has gotten into foul trouble in both games. Back to the bench with you, back I say! Or keep starting cos it aint helping the Heat.
• Norris Cole cant guard Parker.... at all.

It's a very strange NBA Finals though, outside of Game 1, they have all been blowouts. It's difficult to explain why, I mean they are pretty much the best two teams in the league. They should be hard fought close games where one or two possessions or big shots decide each game. Instead it's just blow out after blow out.

In closing, in this thread I voted for the Spurs in 6 but that was with my heart because you just have to love TP, Manu and the big fundamental. But I still think the Heat will win games 6 and 7. The Spurs have to get game 6. If they dont game 7 will be a walk in the park. Game 6 is their chance to close it out. But in every game after a win in this series, they just havent shown up. So it aint looking likely.

 

[stewie griffen]

• Also staying with Green, how does he keep getting looks, how have the Heat not figured that out. For me, he is the Finals MVP if the Spurs win Game 6 and he plays well. Duncan close second then Parker

Read the above post
The chief reasons being laziness, going under screens, losing him on the baseline, lack of secondary help

 

[jod23]

Read the above post
The chief reasons being laziness, going under screens, losing him on the baseline, lack of secondary help

Oh yeah I know that, but what im saying is that it's the NBA Finals, the bloke is freaking unconscious from deep and the effort the Heat have been putting into guarding him is woeful.

If I was Spo I would make whoever is guarding him not worry about anything else apart from staying in Green's pocket. Parker open layup, dont leave Green to contest. Duncan mismatch in the post on Chalmers. Dont leave Green to double.

Your child wins the nobel peace prize and gets married all at the same time. Dont leave Green open.

It's as simple as that.

 

[Chadwiko]

+ the heat just aren't that good when you take away the top 2 players.

 

[Olden_Polynice]

If I was Spo I would make whoever is guarding him not worry about anything else apart from staying in Green's pocket. Parker open layup, dont leave Green to contest. Duncan mismatch in the post on Chalmers. Dont leave Green to double.

Pop would love that tbh

 

[peternorth]

Here's my take:

- Diaw stepping up. With patty out of the finals with an "infected toe", it was diaws chance to shine. Everyone is aware of his awesome all round game. Remember he was a trip doub machine at PHX. Diaw is getting minutes now as a point forward. Doesnt need to complete with patty for mins now.
- expect miami to win game 6. game 7 will go the same way.
- game 5 was emotional for the spurs club. i think they have spent their petrol/gas tickets.

 

[Dez!]

Here's my take:

- Diaw stepping up. With patty out of the finals with an "infected toe", it was diaws chance to shine. Everyone is aware of his awesome all round game. Remember he was a trip doub machine at PHX. Diaw is getting minutes now as a point forward. Doesnt need to complete with patty for mins now.
- expect miami to win game 6. game 7 will go the same way.
- game 5 was emotional for the spurs club. i think they have spent their petrol/gas tickets.

I'd love to see what Diaw could do if he was in decent shape, tremendous passer and played solid, smart defense on LeBrone.

 

[stewie griffen]

If I was Spo I would make whoever is guarding him not worry about anything else apart from staying in Green's pocket. Parker open layup, dont leave Green to contest. Duncan mismatch in the post on Chalmers. Dont leave Green to double.

Thing is you can't do that, the Spurs can just expose the space. You can't leave Green in the corner, thats fair enough, but on the rest of the line you can, the other defenders have to read it and cover your back tho. That and you can't gamble on steals... I'm looking at you Dwyane. It's surprising that he can turn a baseline cut into so much space tho. Miami just aren't keeping eyes on him when sagging off, then bang he's open in the other corner. Thats just laziness pure and simple.

Tbh I think Miami should return to Battier starting and bring Wolfman off the bench again. Sure he can hit three's but the Spurs starters can key in on his defensive weaknesses, much like Miami do to Bonner.

Miami will probs win game 6, but SA are gonna come out hard