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2013 NBA Finals |OT| The "Big 3" looks to hang another banner... against the Heat

I

iamshadowlark

Banned
GaimeGuy said:
Perhaps, but the spurs have statistically had a better defensive postseason than Indiana, and they weren't that far behind Indiana in the regular season (Indy's defense was #1 in the league, Spurs' was #3).

No disrespect to Vogel, but the fact is, Popovich is a better coach, and the spurs are better disciplined, and that's why they've performed better in the playoffs. And, unlike the Pacers, the Spurs have the offensive weapons to make the Heat pay for their ticky-tack trap defense.
Click to expand...

I say that there are definitely mental advantages for the spurs over indy but its pretty hard to overcome physical advantages. Thats why Hibbert was able to dominate us. Our offense has consistently been better than it was against indy.
 
V

Vahagn

Member
iamshadowlark said:
I say that there are definitely mental advantages for the spurs over indy but its pretty hard to overcome physical advantages. Thats why Hibbert was able to dominate us. Our offense has consistently been better than it was against indy.
Click to expand...

The Spurs know they can out score you. It's why they don't just take the foul in transition or play a general brand of Fuckball. Pop is more than willing to let the pace of the game get to a point where final scores are 110-105 as long as the game is played on his terms.

Comparing Spurs stats to Fuckball is silly because Fuckball is a strategy Pop doesn't employ. I think Spurs defense is better because outside of transition, there is very very little that Wade or Lebron are doing in the paint and if Pop elects not to take the foul in transition than FG%, points in the paint, stats like that will be heavily skewed as compared to Indy.

It's clear by now Pop's made a decision that he'd rather keep Lebron off the line, than out of transition. Strategy, and one which skews certain stats like crazy, you have to take stuff like this into account when discussing defense.

Let's also remember that Lebron is the guy who had the videotape of someone dunking on him in a private camp confiscated. I have to believe that missing layups in transition like he's done a handful of times is fucking with his head. He's probably missed as many layups in transition this series as he has all year and he's doing it on the biggest stage with the most viewers.

We've seen him lose confidence in his jumper when he clangs a few, why not lose confidence in his drives when he's missing layups? That's what Pop's counting on and it might be part of why he's not aggressive off the dribble in the half court - that and Timmy and Kawai of course.
 
H

HeavenlyStriker

Member
oh man, i was so close to putting 5 bills on the spurs at +280...i know they will continue to play well, but the refs will have too much of an influence.

2 quick fouls and and bam, momentum shift and green or duncan will have to sit the rest of the quarter/half.
i can already see it happening...

anyway,

here's an old, but fun read on lebron james' dominating stretch during the regular season run, hyping him up, but then don't realize what mj had already done...

http://espn.go.com/chicago/nba/stor...reatness-not-surpassed-lebron-james-dominance

edit: yes, i know it's mike wilbon
 
S

Subitai

Member
HeavenlyStriker said:
oh man, i was so close to putting 5 bills on the spurs at +280...i know they will continue to play well, but the refs will have too much of an influence.

2 quick fouls and and bam, momentum shift and green or duncan will have to sit the rest of the quarter/half.
i can already see it happening...

anyway,

here's an old, but fun read on lebron james' dominating stretch during the regular season run, hyping him up, but then don't realize what mj had already done...

http://espn.go.com/chicago/nba/stor...reatness-not-surpassed-lebron-james-dominance

edit: yes, i know it's mike wilbon
Click to expand...
Thoes Oscar and Wilt numbers are just insane.
 
J

Jake Tower

Banned
Vahagn said:
The Spurs know they can out score you. It's why they don't just take the foul in transition or play a general brand of Fuckball. Pop is more than willing to let the pace of the game get to a point where final scores are 110-105 as long as the game is played on his terms.

Comparing Spurs stats to Fuckball is silly because Fuckball is a strategy Pop doesn't employ. I think Spurs defense is better because outside of transition, there is very very little that Wade or Lebron are doing in the paint and if Pop elects not to take the foul in transition than FG%, points in the paint, stats like that will be heavily skewed as compared to Indy.

It's clear by now Pop's made a decision that he'd rather keep Lebron off the line, than out of transition. Strategy, and one which skews certain stats like crazy, you have to take stuff like this into account when discussing defense.

Let's also remember that Lebron is the guy who had the videotape of someone dunking on him in a private camp confiscated. I have to believe that missing layups in transition like he's done a handful of times is fucking with his head. He's probably missed as many layups in transition this series as he has all year and he's doing it on the biggest stage with the most viewers.

We've seen him lose confidence in his jumper when he clangs a few, why not lose confidence in his drives when he's missing layups? That's what Pop's counting on and it might be part of why he's not aggressive off the dribble in the half court - that and Timmy and Kawai of course.
Click to expand...

I've come to believe that Lebron is Gladiator from Marvel Comics.

Gladiator possesses a number of superhuman capabilities as a result of his unique alien physiology including superhuman strength (capable of shattering a planet),[9] superhuman speed, stamina and durability (capable of withstanding an explosion equivalent to a supernova);[38] reflexes; heat vision (stated as "hotter than a star");[39] frost breath[40] and is capable of warp speed flight (measured as "a hundred times the speed of light").[38] Gladiator's abilities increase and decrease in accordance with his level of confidence[41] and he is vulnerable to a certain form of rare radiation.[42]
​

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladiator_(Kallark)#Powers_and_abilities

Essentially, an emo Superman whose power level fluctuates with his mood and self-confidence.
 
T

Talon

Member
ph33nix said:
I hope Chalmers gets less playing time. It's alright to miss open shots (no not really) --- but it's even worse when you're making horrible plays and reads and thinking you're some kind of superstar with 18 seconds left on the shot clock. I swear he singlehandedly gave the Spurs 10 points. This team can't afford his Wario/Mario switch.
Click to expand...
The thing I don't get is the number of easy shots Miami missed at the rim. Wade missed at least two that I remember. Lebron missed two (one on the putback, most notably).
 
S

SamuraiX-

Member
I'll just leave this here.

w1g3rnE.jpg
 
P

ph33nix

MWO
Talon said:
The thing I don't get is the number of easy shots Miami missed at the rim. Wade missed at least two that I remember. Lebron missed two (one on the putback, most notably).
Click to expand...

Yeah those were the shots that they hit in game 4 to continue momentum. They needed to hit those last night to come from behind.

They're going to have to convert those, cause those are the ones the Spurs missed a few of in game 4...
 
S

Sho_Nuff82

Member
Into said:
Say Miami does not win the 'ship, do they entertain the idea of trading Bosh? Is losing 2 finals and winning 1 good enough proof that the Big 3 is working or?

His numbers have gone down since his Raptors days, he is playing on a much better team than the Raptors, he should be getting more open shots than ever before. He is just 1 year older than LeBron and is already seeing decline in his game. Just because he is the same age as LeBron and is getting paid the same as him, does not mean you can expect him to play like the best player in the league, but for his contract, his age and the team he is in, he is punching far below his weight.
Click to expand...

Bosh (and Wade) had a career high in FG% this year.

He gets less touches because he knows and accepts being the number 3 option, and his defense has actually been one of their few bright spots the last 3 games.


Edit: as long as we're making comparisons, LeBron is becoming basketball's Brett Favre. Or even Peyton Manning. Great player, great stats, led tons of good/great teams, baffling meltdowns in multiple big playoff games.
 
F

Future PhaZe

Member
If LeBron wants to leave and bring a ring to Cleveland I think that's justified, but Miami changing anything would be dumb. This Spurs team may not even be together next year and they have a good chance of beating most teams that come out of the West.
 
X

xnipx

Member
No way Wade is this good next year. Any year where the Heat don't dominate the finals how they crushed the thunder is a disappointment from a talent standpoint and they should be ashamed of themselves.
 
V

Vahagn

Member
Dark FaZe said:
If LeBron wants to leave and bring a ring to Cleveland I think that's justified, but Miami changing anything would be dumb. This Spurs team may not even be together next year and they have a good chance of beating most teams that come out of the West.
Click to expand...

4 straight finals is pretty damn difficult. Done less times in league history than 3 peats. Injuries will derail the team next year in the post season.

Kobe and Shaq were under contract after 2003. If they weren't they'd probably have split up before the team reloaded with GP and Malone.

I say Lebron leaves next summer, tries to go back to Cle, and for shits and giggles Dan Gilbert says no, and writes the rejection letter in comic sans
 
C

captmcblack

Member
The Heat shouldn't blow this up.

It's basically guaranteed to get at least to the ECF for as long as its together, so why change that? Some luxury tax? The owner of the team also owns a damn airline. I think they're alright.

Even if Wade is legitimately finished being an S-rank player, is there a better player than him that you could plug in that allows the Heat to do the same or better than they do now? Same for Bosh...what could you get for Bosh that would be as good or better than having Bosh there?
 
K

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Into said:
Say Miami does not win the 'ship, do they entertain the idea of trading Bosh? Is losing 2 finals and winning 1 good enough proof that the Big 3 is working or?

His numbers have gone down since his Raptors days, he is playing on a much better team than the Raptors, he should be getting more open shots than ever before. He is just 1 year older than LeBron and is already seeing decline in his game. Just because he is the same age as LeBron and is getting paid the same as him, does not mean you can expect him to play like the best player in the league, but for his contract, his age and the team he is in, he is punching far below his weight.
Click to expand...

What team is going to trade with MIA, consciously making them a better team?
 
S

Sharp

Member
K.Jack said:
What team is going to trade with MIA, consciously making them a better team?
Click to expand...
You're not thinking like a GM. The reality is that only 2 teams even get to the finals (and one of the Heat, Lakers and Spurs have been in every Finals since 2000, right? Or am I forgetting one?) and 16 miss the playoffs entirely. Unless you're one of those three teams--two, actually, since the Heat can't trade with themselves--if you see a way to make it more likely for your team to get further, you do whatever it takes and you don't give a shit how much you're improving Miami.
 
I

ItWasMeantToBe19

Banned
Wow, that Wilbon article is horrible and is basically a bunch of rambling about raw stats without taking into account pace or efficiency.

Not sure why guys who say that hate stat guys like Wilbon does will then base entire arguments on raw numbers.

Red Blaster said:
18 ppg with a ts% of 81

if danny green doesn't win finals mvp it'll be the biggest nba tragedy ever
Click to expand...

Plus the best transition defense ever.
 
R

reilo

learning some important life lessons from magical Negroes
ItWasMeantToBe19 said:
Wow, that Wilbon article is horrible and is basically a bunch of rambling about raw stats without taking into account pace or efficiency.

Not sure why guys who say that hate stat guys like Wilbon does will then base entire arguments on raw numbers.
Click to expand...

Which article?
 
V

Vahagn

Member
ItWasMeantToBe19 said:
Wow, that Wilbon article is horrible and is basically a bunch of rambling about raw stats without taking into account pace or efficiency.

Not sure why guys who say that hate stat guys like Wilbon does will then base entire arguments on raw numbers.



Plus the best transition defense ever.
Click to expand...

Take a look at that 3 point shot chart.


I am Michael Bolton said:
Neither do I. It comes off as desperation and even creepy fanboyism. Like the Spurs winning will somehow destroy the Lakers legacy or something.
Click to expand...

*woosh* you totally mis read what he wrote.
 
S

SamuraiX-

Member
Jag said:
It's actually the Carnival cruise line. They ships look great at first, but tend to have severe operating problems at critical times.
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...I just went on my first cruise a couple weeks back on that cruise liner... Oh God, I feel so filthy now. I need another shower.
 
F

Future PhaZe

Member
But this notion that what LeBron has done over these past six games is the best stretch of basketball in the history of the sport is -- to use one of my favorite Bill Russell phrases -- "in error."
Click to expand...

Stopped reading here. You don't know shit about Russell Wilbon and to think you know him well enough to have "favorite phrases" is absolute eye-ball rolling, vomit inducing drek written only as a way to stealthily pump up your credentials for that shit article.
 
S

StickSoldier

Member
Is next game gonna be another blowout? I feel like this is one of the most boring Finals ever. The only cool thing about it is Danny Green. Manu having a bad series is new, but the LBJ/Wade thing have already been played to the Dirt.
 
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