2013 NBA Finals: San Antonio Spurs (2) vs Miami Heat (1)

[SoF'nAwesome]

Let's see if 14 people rooting for Spurs are correct or the 4 rooting for Heat.

[koberulz]

The only problem for the Spurs is if they've run out of gas and Miami has figured out how to take away their threes.

When was this?

The decision to review Allen's three

During this.

Is a score against you not a sub opportunity in the final minute? It is in FIBA, which I thought was part of the introduction of all those NBA rules a couple of years back.

Did we ever find out why Wade was late out of the locker room after half time?

[NovU]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball- ... 04921.html
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball- ... 07080.html
"Are you allowed to cradle the ball like a running back?"
"People, replays are available at the NBA's YouTube channel. The Heat are expecting a timeout? What are you talking about? You can clearly see in the replay that they are at a defensive stance, and 3 of their players are going to the opposite basket. Why don't you watch the replay first before hating? Always blaming the refs when the Heat win. SMH"

[benji]

The Spurs collapse was the worst since the Trailblazers in the WC Finals back in the day. Missed FT's, awful coaching decisions, random luck. Amazingly crazy game.

Lakers blowing 24 point lead in 2008 Finals?

Let's see if 14 people rooting for Spurs are correct or the 4 rooting for Heat.

Those 14 people are already wrong and I wonder how many voted after game five and before the last minute of game six. And just voting that way doesn't mean you want them to win.

Is a score against you not a sub opportunity in the final minute? It is in FIBA, which I thought was part of the introduction of all those NBA rules a couple of years back.

You can't sub during a replay:
https://twitter.com/IraHeatBeat/statuse ... 6117770240

[koberulz]

Huh. I was under the impression you could sub after being scored on in the last minute, even without the replay.

Additionally, under any logical ruling the replay would've been a dead ball, and thus a sub opportunity whether they could have subbed after the bucket or not. If the referee blows the whistle and stops the game, how can the ball not be dead?

[benji]

Zach Lowe backs up my point about Wade killing spacing and the offense with a series of moving and unmoving pictures over on the Grantland: http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-trian ... e-in-years

No Wade, Spurs afraid to leave three point bombers:


Wade, Spurs abandon him and pack the lane:

The Heat are minus-12 for the series, but the James–Mike Miller–Ray Allen super-shooting trio is a crazy plus-50 in just 68 minutes, per NBA.com. The James-Miller-Chalmers trio is plus-43 in just 80 minutes, and the combination of those four players is a stunning plus-49 in just 29 total minutes together, per NBA.com.

Those four have only played 15 minutes total with Bosh. The other 14 have come with Chris Andersen in Bosh’s place, and that group has been so successful in those 14 minutes — plus-26 — they nearly break NBA.com’s stats database and replace it with that Home Alone image of Macaulay Culkin screaming.

Which is to say, depending on the flow of Game 7, Erik Spoelstra’s hook on Wade has to be quicker. This is the entire season on the line. He cannot just roll with Wade like it’s 2006 or 2008, trusting Wade’s “warrior” nature and big-game reputation. And he certainly cannot reserve precious late-game out-of-timeout possessions for Wade plays, as he did in calling for a Wade post-up with 2:40 left and the Heat up 87-84. Wade is 6-of-27 on post-ups during the playoffs, per Synergy Sports. He has drawn exactly zero fouls on those 27 shots. He has turned the ball over on 16 percent of his post-up possessions. His post-up game is dead. It might return at any moment — Wade is a crazy shot-maker, as Games 4 and 5 reminded us — but Spoelstra has to operate under the assumption that it is dead until next season.

...

Wade had value in this game, and he’s had value in this series. But his minutes have sometimes been out of proportion to his value, and Spoelstra has to find the right balance on Thursday night.

I like to ask point guards which bigs they hate facing in pick-and-rolls, and Bosh’s name almost always comes up. Point guards hate his speed, and they especially hate how wide he spreads his arms in his defensive stance. They always mention his arms.

Fun random note: The Heat, desperate for spacing when Wade is in the game, are often having Bosh stand out of bounds along the baseline to drag Duncan away from the rim. As I noted last week from San Antonio, the competition committee has recommended the league ban this ploy starting next season. The Heat are going to squeeze what they can get from it while it’s still legal.

Leonard is a monster already. Rewatch any possession on which you think LeBron could have attacked the rim more aggressively, and chances are you’ll catch Leonard doing something to make James think for an extra beat. He slithers through screens with crazy good footwork. His arms and hands are giant, and he knows how to use them to make the paint look more crowded than it really is. He has been a breakout star in these playoffs, and more than one executive I’ve talked to over the last 36 hours thinks that if the Spurs win, Leonard should be the MVP of the Finals.

Huh. I was under the impression you could sub after being scored on in the last minute, even without the replay.

Additionally, under any logical ruling the replay would've been a dead ball, and thus a sub opportunity whether they could have subbed after the bucket or not. If the referee blows the whistle and stops the game, how can the ball not be dead?

Replays are not considered dead balls. Ask the league.

[NovU]

That's because LBJ also doesn't exactly space the floor when Wade has the ball in his hand. LeBron's reluctant to take spot up open jumpers and likes to put the ball on the floor before doing anything. Spoelstra is not running enough plays for Wade to be effective because of his knee problems.

Wade already hinted that LBJ was doing too much on his own during the Pacers series.

[koberulz]

Replays are not considered dead balls. Ask the league.

We've already established that they aren't, I'm just saying they should be.

[hova-]

NovU,

yeah, maybe, but the question is, does this Heat team need him? Wouldn't it be better to have a shooter at the two? Like the Jet was for the Mavs, like Green for the Spurs? I don't know about Allen, since he is washed up, but a good C would be more valuable than a good SG for the Heat imho.

So for these Playoffs, where Wade is playing underwhelmingly (cause of injury), if you could just trade Wade for a guy like Tyson Chandler (who earns the same money), the Heat would have no trouble winning it all. (My opinion)

Actually I said this a few days ago. Still my opnion. Sometimes too much star power and similar playing style is not giving you the best possible result (still a very good result though)

[NovU]

First, you should never ever break up the championship team just because the player had one bad series due to an injury. That's just absurd, especially when you consider Wade's talent.

Second, the team is in the midst of achieving something meaningful. How many teams historically has made to the Finals for 3 straight years? The team belongs to a group of historical elites in some perspective. You don't want to risk it just because Wade had one bad series due to his bum knee. That's just absurd #2.

Lastly, you are right, 'still a very good result though' indeed. It's not even close to a time where the Heat should be pressing a panic button, at least until the 'bad result' starts to happen regularly.

[Jackal]

Leonard is a monster already. Rewatch any possession on which you think LeBron could have attacked the rim more aggressively, and chances are you’ll catch Leonard doing something to make James think for an extra beat. He slithers through screens with crazy good footwork. His arms and hands are giant, and he knows how to use them to make the paint look more crowded than it really is. He has been a breakout star in these playoffs, and more than one executive I’ve talked to over the last 36 hours thinks that if the Spurs win, Leonard should be the MVP of the Finals.

This! I was really happy to see Paul George go up against LBJ but Leonard is a whole different animal (defensively). Love the way the guy plays, he's a mini Duncan in demeanor. Just does his work. Never seen the guy complain about a call. (Duncan complains about every call though..) Just moves on to the next play.

[Andrew]

Had to feel for him after missing that free throw late in Game 6. Mind you, he's shooting under 65% from the line for the postseason, so it wasn't exactly a collapse of Nick Anderson in 1995 proportions.

[shadowgrin]

I still don't know why Pop didn't call time out down on the possession where Ginobili got fouled (who btw shouldn't be given the ball next game).

Spurs had a chance on a fastbreak where the Heat defense wasn't properly set yet as compared to calling a timeout and allow that Heat defense to buckle down and do work.

[hova-]

Had to feel for him after missing that free throw late in Game 6. Mind you, he's shooting under 65% from the line for the postseason, so it wasn't exactly a collapse of Nick Anderson in 1995 proportions.

And it was a bad bounced as the ball was looking inside and rimmed out. Tough luck. But does not take away anything from his game. For such a young player playing this kind of finals is just amazing.

First, you should never ever break up the championship team just because the player had one bad series due to an injury. That's just absurd, especially when you consider Wade's talent.

Second, the team is in the midst of achieving something meaningful. How many teams historically has made to the Finals for 3 straight years? The team belongs to a group of historical elites in some perspective. You don't want to risk it just because Wade had one bad series due to his bum knee. That's just absurd #2.

Lastly, you are right, 'still a very good result though' indeed. It's not even close to a time where the Heat should be pressing a panic button, at least until the 'bad result' starts to happen regularly.

You are definitely right. It is more of a "what if" I am thinking of here. I doubt that Wade will ever leave the Heat (I hope it for him, so he is one of those rare one team winning guys), but what would a defensive presence in the paint bring this team? Would they be unstoppable? Or would they maybe lack the driving and perimetre D by Wade that LeBron also offers? Just "what if?"

[Sauru]

the trailblazers were also playing against the refs back then too. just like the kings had to. the nba had a real love affair with the lakers back then

I have thought the officiating has been fine both ways. I am a Pacers fan, rooting against the Heat, and I just did not see where the officials were anything like the refs back in that series. THat series was bad in regards to strange fouls (as well as the Wade/Shaq finals).

yeah i think the rtefs have been fine this year. i mean there have been bad calls made but in no way do i think one team has received all the calls. not like back them. you are also right, the first time the heat won it all wade pretty much flopped his way to a ring.

[NovU]

You are definitely right. It is more of a "what if" I am thinking of here. I doubt that Wade will ever leave the Heat (I hope it for him, so he is one of those rare one team winning guys), but what would a defensive presence in the paint bring this team? Would they be unstoppable? Or would they maybe lack the driving and perimetre D by Wade that LeBron also offers? Just "what if?"

It's definitely a discussion that can both ways. First of all I can see where you are coming from. In place of Wade, you instead get a better big and a decent shooting shooting guard. This theoretically can work. But it also requires a critical thinking because it's totally a system changer.

Wade does a lot of things as a SG like blk, reb, stls, all pretty good. But forget that because he really shines as a shot creator, gunner, and a playmaker, definitely one of the best in the league. You replace him with something else, you're changing an entire system. And we saw what happened in Cleveland. Mo struggled to provide as a playmaker, and LBJ couldn't get over the hump. Wade comes in differently but as an intimidating/overpowering factor going into all games. Didn't happen to be much of that in this series but there were couple stretches and key plays only he could have made. I don't like keying on a particular play as an example but LeBron's critical 3 in game 6 was possible because Wade tipped the rebound to Miller who then passed to LBJ for a wide open 3. Wade did that against much bigger Kawhi Leonard with his great instinct. And of course we also have his heroic game 4 performance to remember. Now, there're only handful of players who can elevate their games to win the games like that. That means a lot.

There's a saying that you go to(mostly) your superstar(s) to win you a critical game. In this series... Parker won game 1. Supporting casts won 1 for each teams, big fundamental consistent in all wins, Wade won game 4, and LBJ won game 6. Imagine LeBron again was a lone force to deal with. The teams would just pile up on him and take his game away, and you are left with... Collective Effort like the CLE days? Something to think about.

[SoF'nAwesome]

Heat isn't heated without Wade.

And this whole discussion started just because Wade didn't play up to the mark this season. And that's because of his injury. But remember last year when he was healthy, the synch between him & LJ and that really grooved the whole team. It's not like there are any chances of it happening but if Wade is not in Heat, they won't be able to take shots at the title in my opinion. And I'm hands on my head, touch knees to elbows that Wade will be healthy next season & we will have that rhythm that we had last season. It's not like we didn't play good this year, there was just this X factor missing that wasn't last season.

BTW, will/should Miller be starting tomorrow?

[Stress Fracture]

I don't know about starting Miller. Let Allen start and have his 2/14 shooting in 2010 happen again.

[NovU]

http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/51105760

[Andrew]

Magic Johnson's analysis:

Game 7 will probably come down to what team's "Big 3" will out play the other! As I said on First take this morning,… http://say.ly/AJW65A6

[Manni Live]

No matter who wins tonight this series will go down as one of the greatest of all time two super teams going at it in a back to back battle for the trophy,in one decisive Game 7

[benji]

phpBB [video]

[RedPhazon8]

That has to be the worst quarter performance from the Spurs I've probably ever seen.

[werewolf914]

Damn, first time I was right in the whole playoff (but I mean it reverse), and Heat took home the trophy. Damn, just damn it.

[_Steve_]

Shit!
What did Manu think he is doing during the last couple of possessions?
Congratulations to the Heat...