Pros/Cons of game 1..

[HarlemHeat37]

Pros
- Tony Parker..he played a controlled game, picked his spots and he didn't force any shots, tbh..Parker drawing the trap opened up opportunities for the rest of the team, although the shooters didn't always take advantage..

- Tim Duncan in the post + defense/rebounding..horrible start and his jump shot is broken, but his defense and rebounding was phenomenal, his passing was solid, and he finished well at the rim..his post game was very good when he kept is simple, tbh..

He needs to take smarter shots on a consistent basis..

- Kawhi Leonard's all-around effort..great defense against the best player on the planet..10 rebounds and created offense very well, including 2 passes that led to FTs for Duncan and Splitter..

His jump shot is broken, though, unfortunately..

- Ginobili in the pick&roll game..he passed well and attacked the basket at a high level, tbh...

- Small ball..surprisingly, the Spurs outplayed the Heat using their own strength, small-ball..I don't know if this is a viable option moving forward, but it worked in game 1..

- Turnovers..only 6, and only 1 or 2 erratic turnovers IIRC..limiting their transition points is essential..

Cons
- Falling asleep against shooters..this has been a problem all playoffs long, tbh..Miami has the shooters to make the Spurs pay, though..

Green falling asleep on Ray Allen, late to recover, leading to a foul on the 3..

Parker falling asleep on a Chalmers 3..Manu had several plays where he was late to recover and allowed an open 3..Gary Neal did it repeatedly, although that's expected..

Bonner left Battier wide open twice, luckily he missed..

- Danny Green guarding Dwyane Wade..Wade abused him in the post and on the drive, Green didn't have an answer for him, tbh..

- Gary Neal playing 22 minutes..7 points on 9 shots and his usual, horrible defense..ugh..

- Late-game execution..

After Danny Green's 3, I wasn't a fan of the Spurs decision making..

Parker made a crazy shot to end the game and Tim drew a foul on a broken play, but they weren't good possessions..Manu took a hero 3, followed by Danny Green's stupid foul on a Ray Allen 3 that gave the Heat some life when the game should have been over, tbh..

Luckily, Miami made horrible decisions down the stretch, as well..


Overall, Spurs played a B- game and still won, they should be very encouraged..Lebron played a C game, so expect him to come out with an A effort in game 2..Spurs need to clean a lot of shit up and stay disciplined, tbh..

[T Park]

So Miami's bad decisions weren't due to the Spurs's defense? Nah...

[Marcus Bryant]

Well, gosh darn on the one hand wes won game one which is a plwus. But on dee oder hand der is still more games remainding.

[HarlemHeat37]

Lebron being passive and Bosh shooting 3s is a product of Miami's poor decision making..

Spurs guarded Lebron 1 on 1, he chose to be passive down the stretch, you'll hear plenty of criticism towards him in the next few days for passing the ball too much..

[Floyd Pacquiao]

Pros- missed a buch of open 3s and still won...

[dbreiden83080]

Enough with all the

"TBH".. I fucking believe you...

[Mr. Body]

The Spurs' shooters should get into a better rhythm. They haven't played in a while. If - a big if - Ginobili gets into a rhythm, that's it.

[mercos]

Miami played about as well as they can for 3 quarters. Lebron didn't score a lot because the Spurs forced the ball out of his hands. Dwyane Wade played well for about a half, but as expected he can't keep up that level for a whole game. The Heat role players nearly beat the Spurs by making a ton of open shots. The question is, can they do it four more times?

[HarlemHeat37]

Ya, Spurs missed a ton of open jump shots, including the stretch of Leonard/Green missing 5 open 3s in a row to end the 3rd/start the 4th..

Spurs really should have won this game by double digits, tbh..

[hater]

I don't think there were any cons tbh

Spurs played a near perfect game

shots didnt fall late in the 3rd otherwise Spurs win by 12+

[Budkin]

:lol we didn't even play that great a game... missed a ton of shots... they made a ton of shots... lebron had a triple double... and we still won on their court. I'd say we're doing ok.

[HarlemHeat37]

Miami played about as well as they can for 3 quarters. Lebron didn't score a lot because the Spurs forced the ball out of his hands. Dwyane Wade played well for about a half, but as expected he can't keep up that level for a whole game. The Heat role players nearly beat the Spurs by making a ton of open shots. The question is, can they do it four more times?

Agree with your point about Wade and the role players, but I disagree that the Spurs forced the ball out of Lebron's hands..

He played a passive game and looked to create for others all game, which is usually a recipe for disaster for opposing teams..

[imjunsul]

Lebron was scared. He was scared to shoot in the 4th.

[Spurs21Fan4Ever]

There is a reason LeBron didn't play his best game and chose to be passive, and that reason is Kawhi Leonard's defense!

[DesignatedT]

Sucks we have a shitty legendary coach.

[Holt's Cat]

On duh one hand we won.

On de oder hand we won.

[hater]

Sucks we have a shitty legendary coach.

:lmao

[ElNono]

You need to add Manu's defense on Wade to the Pros... Verde was way too erratic on Wade in the first half... Manu really did a good job of not buying on the pump fakes and limiting Wade...

[freetiago]

Neals 3s have abandoned him this year
probably the foot injuries
but hes been money from 2s
his best games this season were all predominately scoring off 2s except a Houston game where he hit like 7 3s

if the Spurs run the Loop play for Neal or run him off screens like prime Allen/Hamilton did he can be a very good offensive weapon
his passing was solid today too
if he gets mid range shots and makes solid passes he might be an overall + for once

[Brazil]

Agree on Manu elnono, he had a solid game overall.

[DarrinS]

There is a reason LeBron didn't play his best game and chose to be passive, and that reason is Kawhi Leonard's defense!

Yep

[mercos]

Agree with your point about Wade and the role players, but I disagree that the Spurs forced the ball out of Lebron's hands..

He played a passive game and looked to create for others all game, which is usually a recipe for disaster for opposing teams..

He could have tried to shoot over the double teams, but they wouldn't have been good shots. Lebron usually makes the right basketball play, some would say to a fault. He has been catching shit for this for years. Its easy to make him give the ball up.

[Floyd Pacquiao]

Pros- Spurs didn't bite on Wades bullshit pumpfakes

[testies]

I thought Spltter had some very good defence and got an impotant shot over BronBron

[DarrinS]

:lol we didn't even play that great a game... missed a ton of shots... they made a ton of shots... lebron had a triple double... and we still won on their court. I'd say we're doing ok.

This

[team-work]

:toast

[SpursRock20]

Tiago went from not being able to post up Derek Fisher last year to posting up Lebron James :toast

[SA210]

Enough with all the

"TBH".. I fucking believe you...

:lol

[timmy2003]

Tiago went from not being able to post up Derek Fisher last year to posting up Lebron James :toast
Well said.

[DarrinS]

No cons

[DarrinS]

That douchebag epicenter is scared, and rightfully so

[Mugen]

Closing out on shooters can be fixed tbh. Better focus and less Gary Neal should help the cause.

[HarlemHeat37]

No cons

:lol you agreed with the poster that said the Spurs didn't play a great game, so of course there were cons..

The Spurs should be encouraged that they won game 1, and they have a lot of room to grow and improve going forward, tbh..

[capek]

No cons

[DarrinS]

:lol you agreed with the poster that said the Spurs didn't play a great game, so of course there were cons..

The Spurs should be encouraged that they won game 1, and they have a lot of room to grow and improve going forward, tbh..

Yes, you read my take correctly.

[itzsoweezee]

Bonner looked scared as shit. He didn't even pretend like he was going to shoot.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Neal and Bonner need to play short stretches only. That 10mins of Neal in the 2nd Q was a killer. And no Boris in the 2nd half was odd. I think Pop needs to shorten the rotation a bit from here on in, but I understand that he was playing around with lineups for the first 3 Qs trying to find out what worked against Miami. Even though some of those lineups sucked we still won the game, so that bodes very well for the rest of the series.

I don't think we played anywhere near our best on O, although the D was superb and got us to the win. Tony, Kawhi, Tim were excellent, I thought Splitter played nice D and had a strong 4th Q, and Danny made his 3s. And Manu as the release-pass guy was deadly at times - he got the ball to the open man repeatedly when the Heat trapped TP, and next time the shooters might actually knock down their open 3s.

All in all, an imperfect and surprising but satisfying win.

:D

[timtonymanu]

Yeah why didn't Boris play in the 2nd half?

Pop did the same thing to Boris during the GS series. Playing Bonner over him, though Boris was just coming off the back surgery.

[Kori Ellis]

Spurs won a game on the road to kick of the NBA Finals. So the cons are insignificant to me.

[GrandeDavid]

Pros- missed a buch of open 3s and still won...

Exactly!

[Warlord23]

Lots of scope for improvement for the Spurs: Tim being more aggressive in the post, shooters knocking down open looks, sticking close to Ray Allen etc.

Hope Pop figures out a way to manage minutes without Gary Neal. If Spo goes small with Battier, hope Pop plays Diaw and posts him up on Shane.

2 days off till the next game. Parker played 40 minutes today and Duncan 37, so time off will do them good.

[Yuixafun]

40X Better Game

Same Lebron.

He is who we thought he IS.

So he wins 1 championship last year and suddenly he's a different person? Naw...

Remember the knock was that he lacked that Killer Edge, Step on the throat mentality, of a Jordan, and Kobe, a Duncan even.

Well he's still the same nail biter under all that muscle.

He'd still rather pass the ball then take the game winner honestly.

He's still the same lebron from 2007 in his heart.

[Kool Bob Love]

Sucks we have a shitty legendary coach.

Notice how he skip over this post. :lmao

[Brunodf]

Neals 3s have abandoned him since 2011

Fixed

[Horry Hipcheck]

I stopped reading after the first "tbh". Cut that shit out.

[Trainwreck2100]

cons

Their scrubs made shots, hopefully they regress to Pacer series level in game 2

The majority of the 50/50 balls went to the Heat

[DMC]

It wasn't so much "falling to sleep" as it was the game plan to pack the paint and guard Lebron. Ray can hurt you, so they try to close out and I've been calling Danny on this all year how he goes flying at the defender as if that's ever been a legit defensive strategy. Normally it flies by them and struggles to recover as they pump fake and then take a wide open look.

[Spur|n|Austin]

Pros
- Gary Neal playing 22 minutes..7 points on 9 shots and his usual, horrible defense..ugh..


Pop had to see something that we didn't see, because it worked til the very end, even when I was arguing against it to my TV the WHOLE NIGHT.

Gary's D will always be bad, but there was something about the match up tonight that worked in his favor.

[HarlemHeat37]

It wasn't so much "falling to sleep" as it was the game plan to pack the paint and guard Lebron. Ray can hurt you, so they try to close out and I've been calling Danny on this all year how he goes flying at the defender as if that's ever been a legit defensive strategy. Normally it flies by them and struggles to recover as they pump fake and then take a wide open look.

This has been a problem in every series, though..the Warriors killed the Spurs using the same strategy, particularly Thompson in game 2..

Against Memphis, they kept leaving Pondexter, despite being the only shooter on Memphis's roster..

[TrainOfThought5]

So Miami's bad decisions weren't due to the Spurs's defense? Nah...
Miami missing open 3s??? that has nothing to do with us. and it needs to be corrected.

[Darius McCrary]

Pros
- Tony Parker..he played a controlled game, picked his spots and he didn't force any shots, tbh..Parker drawing the trap opened up opportunities for the rest of the team, although the shooters didn't always take advantage..

- Tim Duncan in the post + defense/rebounding..horrible start and his jump shot is broken, but his defense and rebounding was phenomenal, his passing was solid, and he finished well at the rim..his post game was very good when he kept is simple, tbh..

He needs to take smarter shots on a consistent basis..

- Kawhi Leonard's all-around effort..great defense against the best player on the planet..10 rebounds and created offense very well, including 2 passes that led to FTs for Duncan and Splitter..

His jump shot is broken, though, unfortunately..

- Ginobili in the pick&roll game..he passed well and attacked the basket at a high level, tbh...

- Small ball..surprisingly, the Spurs outplayed the Heat using their own strength, small-ball..I don't know if this is a viable option moving forward, but it worked in game 1..

- Turnovers..only 6, and only 1 or 2 erratic turnovers IIRC..limiting their transition points is essential..

Cons
- Falling asleep against shooters..this has been a problem all playoffs long, tbh..Miami has the shooters to make the Spurs pay, though..

Green falling asleep on Ray Allen, late to recover, leading to a foul on the 3..

Parker falling asleep on a Chalmers 3..Manu had several plays where he was late to recover and allowed an open 3..Gary Neal did it repeatedly, although that's expected..

Bonner left Battier wide open twice, luckily he missed..

- Danny Green guarding Dwyane Wade..Wade abused him in the post and on the drive, Green didn't have an answer for him, tbh..

- Gary Neal playing 22 minutes..7 points on 9 shots and his usual, horrible defense..ugh..

- Late-game execution..

After Danny Green's 3, I wasn't a fan of the Spurs decision making..

Parker made a crazy shot to end the game and Tim drew a foul on a broken play, but they weren't good possessions..Manu took a hero 3, followed by Danny Green's stupid foul on a Ray Allen 3 that gave the Heat some life when the game should have been over, tbh..

Luckily, Miami made horrible decisions down the stretch, as well..


Overall, Spurs played a B- game and still won, they should be very encouraged..Lebron played a C game, so expect him to come out with an A effort in game 2..Spurs need to clean a lot of shit up and stay disciplined, tbh..

1) Kawhi's jumpshot is not broken. His 3 point shooting is. There's a difference. Furthermore his jumpshot can stay broken, if he plays defense, he's still amazing...leading to....

2) The hugest question tonight was "Did Kawhi defend Lebron well in the 2nd half, or did Lebron become to passive?" We all know Lebron is a past-first player. But we also heard the announcers crying to the bball gods that Lebron was 3 assists away from a TripDub. Did Lebron go for the triple double instead of playing in the game? Or did Kawhi defend him and make him make freakishly difficult passes?(Not all, but some were). I tend to think Lebron got so vain he went for his TripDub. But no matter what side of the argument you take, we lack the data to be correct about anything. Only the next game or two will tell if Kawhi did a great job on Lebron in the post..

3) Your cons actually convince me to drop the Spurs performance from my original "B" to a "C". Yet we still were in striking distance the whole game and ended up winning.

4) No matter what anyone says, going into the 4th, they were shooting good from 3, we were shooting bad. In the 4th, we shut them down, and we hit the clutch shots. On the road.

[100%duncan]

Bron had a triple double. Yup a C game IMHO.

[Chinook]

I really am fine with Green's first-half performance. Wade should be welcome to take the contested fadeaways that Green was giving him. I don't think Wade falling off after the third quarter was really due to Green not being on him. Speaking of Green, his match-ups with James were interesting. I don't think Lebron has a very high opinion of Green as a player, and he paid for it somewhat by only beating Green in the post once and letting Green drive past him a couple of times, which led to easy baskets for other players. In general, Green's going to have to be aggressive if his defenders continue to not respect him.

I liked what I saw from Leonard, but I'm not as excited as many people on this board are. I think James will have a much better game on Sunday and most of the improvement will be due to him going at Leonard more aggressively. I think Leonard will adjust pretty well to it, though, since unlike George, he doesn't carry a large offensive burden. If Kawhi can hit some three-pointers, he can close the match-up gap with James a little more, and that would really be a death knell to the Heat.

At least one of Splitter and Diaw needs to step up in their time with Duncan. Splitter's size makes him a mis-match when Haslem is on him (like he was to start the game). The Heat will probably start doubling Duncan soon, so Splitter winning his match-up would really help keep the Heat off balance. Diaw is too versatile to be on the bench as much as he was. He's usually a jack-of-all-trades, but tonight, he was a master of none. If he can stay with a Heat shooter on defense, his size and post game could really help on offense.

Parker and Duncan were good, as we had hoped. When James switched onto Parker, I had hoped the Spurs would run James off a lot of screens, but due to the clock running down I guess, they simply let Parker iso on James. That played right into Miami's hands, and if not for Parker's great shot, James would have won that match-up. Going forward, Parker's going to have to try to get open more. Chalmers is one person that doesn't take a lot of effort to shake, but James and even Cole will require a lot of ball movement, and I hope we see it if Lebron tries to check Parker in the future.

Neal shooting even half-way decently was very welcome. Him getting his shot back would still be a great help to the Spurs. There's no reason Neal can't stay on Miami's shooters, but Pop needs to stress that this is his priority. If Neal can't guard anyone, he'll have to get on a hot streak to convince me that even a passive Joseph shouldn't get Neal's two-guard minutes.

[313]

Con: No T=Mac

but I'm guessing pop is just saving him to light up game 4 (closeout game)

[MannyIsGod]

Lebron being passive and Bosh shooting 3s is a product of Miami's poor decision making..

Spurs guarded Lebron 1 on 1, he chose to be passive down the stretch, you'll hear plenty of criticism towards him in the next few days for passing the ball too much..

The Bosh thing is nothing new though. At this point it is who he is - especialy in Miami's stupid system. Spolstra is lucky to have such a stacked team because otherwise he'd have been fired long ago. The dude is a terrible coach.

[MannyIsGod]

It wasn't so much "falling to sleep" as it was the game plan to pack the paint and guard Lebron. Ray can hurt you, so they try to close out and I've been calling Danny on this all year how he goes flying at the defender as if that's ever been a legit defensive strategy. Normally it flies by them and struggles to recover as they pump fake and then take a wide open look.

No there was definitely a lot of ball watching and falling asleep by the Spurs shooters. I agree with every instance HH brought up. There was even a point where they fell asleep and gave Lebron an open 3. You can't get caught watching the ball. Frankly, its amazing to me that this can happen to NBA athletes in a Finals game but I saw it a lot tonight.

[DejuanorwhatDude]

Harlem, you're a great poster, but please stop overrating the Heat. They're facing a team equal to them in terms of basketball IQ. Losing game 1 was very bad for them; if the Spurs win game 2 they're winning the series.

[MannyIsGod]

Whether you think Lebron was passive or not the fact is that he still accounted for a massive amount of their offense. 18 and 10 is a pretty substantial portion of your team's production - especially when you only score in the mid 80s. I still think that Kawhi did a great job on him that isn't really reflected in the stats and the overall game plan to shut down his drives was excellent. But this is where I thought we sucked as well. I get that if you're a wing player you've got to be ready to rotate on a double but you also have to remember that 3 point shooter that is your primary defensive assignment. Almost everyone on the wing fell asleep at some point.

But even if Lebron is more assertive I won't mind. He'll probably take more contested shots and he won't make all of them. He also won't be getting his team involved. I liked the gameplan tonight and hope to see more of it. Honestly, I don't think Spolstra can adapt. He rode the sheer dominance of Lebron to an amazing regular season but does anyone expect him to be able to outcoach Pop? He's not Phil Jackson so what adjustment is he going to make that is going to make them better? He's got to basically hope that Bosh plays better but considering his trackrecord over 3 years with him I'm guessing thats not extremely likely.

[HarlemHeat37]

How am I overrating the Heat?..I said the Spurs played just a B- game and still beat them, which is great news for the Spurs..

[cheguevara]

We won despite shootin 40% and lebrons triple double in Miami. Yah no cons tonight

[MannyIsGod]

BTW - that supposed amazing Miami PnR defense? MIA, for sure. Tony and Manu broke it down with regularity.

[Richie]

BTW - that supposed amazing Miami PnR defense? MIA, for sure. Tony and Manu broke it down with regularity.

I'm shocked at how easily the Spurs penetrated. I think Miami will be much better in Game 2.

[SanDiegoSpursFan]

I think another pro is that the refs seem like they want to let this verticality bs stick. Tiago took advantage of this a couple of times today and I think not calling a foul on that shit can make Tiago much more of a defensive force as a rim protector.

[HarlemHeat37]

Miami's adjustments IMO:

- Forcing Parker to pass more and make Duncan/Ginobili and the shooters beat them..they'll put Lebron on him for longer periods of time IMO..

They're going to swarm him more and live with the rest of the Spurs beating them..

- Lebron will obviously be more aggressive..

- More mid-range shots for Bosh, he had good looks tonight and the Spurs have a tendency to allow open jump shots to bigs that can shoot..

Running plays with Bosh about 5 feet closer can make a significant impact, but Spoelstra is usually slow to adjust, we'll see if he does it..

- More Norris Cole and Mike Miller, less Chalmers and Battier..

- More small ball..

[HarlemHeat37]

Bron had a triple double. Yup a C game IMHO.

Lebron had a triple double in the game he "quit" against Boston in 2010..triple doubles are extremely overrated, tbh..

He had an average game tonight..

[MannyIsGod]

I doubt you'll see more of Cole and Miller right off the bat. They'll probably play all of them and see who is hot.

Lebron on Tony is the obvious go to move but good luck with that when Lebron is put through screen after screen after screen.

[HarlemHeat37]

I wouldn't put Lebron against Parker for long stretches if I'm Miami, but it will eventually be a desperation move for them..

The 2 Spurs possessions with Lebron on Parker looked terrible tonight, despite Tony making the miracle dagger..when Miami switches Lebron on Parker, throw it in to Duncan IMO, or even look for Leonard in the mismatch(although I highly doubt Pop would trust him if it's a key possession)..

[100%duncan]

Lebron had a triple double in the game he "quit" against Boston in 2010..triple doubles are extremely overrated, tbh..

He had an average game tonight..

Whatever I say ya'll gon defend Bron for having an average game besides the 3ple double. I won't waste my time tbh. A triple double is a triple double. :lol at comparing it to a game 3 years ago when he had a shit team.

[HarlemHeat37]

Ok, I'll ask you..as a Spurs fan, knowing his ability, were you satisfied with Lebron's performance tonight and do you hope he replicates it every game in this series, tbh?..

If you told me Lebron would play like he did tonight in every game of this series, I'd say the Spurs are going to sweep Miami, tbh..

[nkdlunch]

well one thing is that we only had 4 TO which is historical and we still only won by what 3, 4?

I think we do need some adjustments because we for sure will have a lot more turnovers next game.

I am pretty sure Miami Heat runs will be a lot more punishing in game 2. 10-15 point leads. Those will be a lot harder to get back on

[nkdlunch]

Ok, I'll ask you..as a Spurs fan, knowing his ability, were you satisfied with Lebron's performance tonight and do you hope he replicates it every game in this series, tbh?..

If you told me Lebron would play like he did tonight in every game of this series, I'd say the Spurs are going to sweep Miami, tbh..

Lebron won't play like this for long. He will take the entire team onhis back next game or the one after. game 2 3 and 4 will be a lot harder for the spurs. these are still the champs

[Kidd K]

'Eh, I can't say I agree with some of that. Especially how half your cons are the exact same thing. You listed how the Spurs fell asleep on 3pt shooters, then your next 3 points were about leaving 3pt shooters open.

The awful manu 3pt shot was incredibly stupid though. Manu not only needs to be fined for that shit, but I would not be upset if someone slaps him in the face for doing it. There was at least 10 seconds left on the shot clock in a 5 point game where we had the ball with only a minute and a half left. The clock is your friend, yet he launches a 30 foot three with 10 seconds left? What a god damn moron.

Back to the leaving guys open for three though, I do agree with that point. That was the worst part of the Spurs in the first half, but they addressed it in the 2nd half. I think that was one of the main issues cropping up in the "rust" factor.


The main issues I saw (aside from the Manu three and the sagging off 3pt shooters I agreed with already) were the lack of rebounding (on both ends) and the use of Gary Neal for too long. Gary Neal. . .who is a great shooter, does not belong on a winning team in the NBA Finals. I'm sorry to say it but every second he's out there just feels like Pop trying to steal rest minutes for other players. His defense is too garbage to risk leaving in there.

[TE]

Lebron will put it in beast mode, probably in Game 2. The Spurs should make adjustments to limit Miami's role players from contributing.

[nkdlunch]

oh Lebron is going super sayan in game 2

no doubt about it

[KL2]

The Spurs played like absolute shit, Duncan missed around 5 wide open jumpers to start off, guys from Manu-TD-TP were missing point blank layups, Leonard bricked 3 wide open 3's in a row, the refs took Duncan out of the game which lead to MIA extending their lead. If Duncan didn't pick up that BS foul against Wade, which also gave MIA 2pts despite Wade not shooting, Miami doesn't go on that huge run.

Leonard played great defense on LBJ, he was passive because every single time he got in the paint there was Duncan/Splitter and Kawhi in his face, two of the best defenders in the NBA, can you think of a better defensive SF-PF combo? Kawhi has guarded the likes of Artest, Griffin, Landry, Gasol, etc. he isn't some some ordinary defender with average size, having Kawhi on you is like having a PF or center guarding you with that length.

[TampaDude]

:lol we didn't even play that great a game... missed a ton of shots... they made a ton of shots... lebron had a triple double... and we still won on their court. I'd say we're doing ok.

^ this, tbh

[AaronY]

Neal and Bonner need to play short stretches only.
No, they need to not play at all..

[angelbelow]

Good list both ways. Some are complaining about listing cons since we won. That's fine, enjoy the win for the next few days. But Pop and the rest of the Spurs aren't going to stop and enjoy it for long. They'll be analyzing their mistakes and continue to strive for excellence. Nothing wrong with fans doing the same.

[GSH]

[Edit:] Ah, hell... what am I thinking? You want the biggest Pro of all? The Spurs have now played 15 playoff games, and they have held their opponents to 92 or fewer points in regulation 13 times. If they keep playing defense like that, nothing else matters - they will be hoisting another LOB.



Pros
- Tony Parker..he played a controlled game, picked his spots and he didn't force any shots, tbh..Parker drawing the trap opened up opportunities for the rest of the team, although the shooters didn't always take advantage..

One of Parker's smartest plays of the night was on D, and won't get talked about. With 2:40 left, and the Spurs nursing a 4 point lead, Parker got locked up on LeBron in the left corner. No disrespect to Tony, but that's a mis-match that's going to give up points almost every time, and a classic and-1 situation for LeBron. Tony immediately reached out and intentionally fouled Lebron. That let the Spurs get back to their defensive set, and the Spurs got a stop on that possession. VERY heads-up play, and quick recognition of the overall situation by Tony.

Speaking of quick recognition - the Heat killed Indiana with those traps in Game 7. The Spurs did an excellent job of making good, quick reads and passes. The Heat get a lot of steals from all the arm-slaps when trapping. They never got the opportunity tonight. Tony did a fantastic job of not letting himself get taken out by those traps.

- Tim Duncan in the post + defense/rebounding..horrible start and his jump shot is broken, but his defense and rebounding was phenomenal, his passing was solid, and he finished well at the rim..his post game was very good when he kept is simple, tbh..

He needs to take smarter shots on a consistent basis..


I would kill to see Tim put some of those 15-footers off the glass. That was a signature shot for so long, and I really believe it's what's missing from his shooting game right now. If he got that shot going, the Heat would be in deep shit. But that won't happen if he doesn't go there. SMH.


Cons
- Falling asleep against shooters..this has been a problem all playoffs long, tbh..Miami has the shooters to make the Spurs pay, though..

Some of that was falling asleep on shooters. But some of it was just having to pick your poison against Miami. Usually, the wide open 3's came when Miami snapped off two or three quick passes, after someone sagged to help with LeBron. But it's kind of hard to argue against helping on Lebron. I don't like seeing Ray Allen uncovered, but I'll take my chances with Bosh over LeBron.


- Danny Green guarding Dwyane Wade..Wade abused him in the post and on the drive, Green didn't have an answer for him, tbh..

Wade had 3 points in the 1st quarter - 1 FG and 1 of 2 FT's. Both of those scoring opportunities came off steals, and had nothing to do with Green. Wade also had zero points in the fourth quarter, and I think he made two shots when Green was out of the game.

Bottom line, Wade did most of his damage in about a minute-and-a half stretch in the second, when Neal and Bonner were both in the game - i.e. defensive clusterfuck minutes. I don't think Green was perfect, but I don't think you can say he got destroyed by Wade either. And while Wade had 17 points, 2 assists, 2 RB, and a steal, Green had 12 points, 5 RB, a steal, and a block. So his production just about equaled Wades. I'll take that.


If you want one big Con, it's what happens when Tony Parker is out of the game. I know +/- is a BS statistic. But Corey Joseph being -6 in 2:14 isn't a coincidence. And Neal... ugh, Neal.

Another is Tiago's 2 rebounds, in 25 minutes of play. As a team, Miami has great foot speed - Tiago, not so much. That's not going to change. He's going to have to do a LOT better job at boxing out, and in establishing rebounding position earlier. Because if it comes to last second corrections, Miami is going to eat his ass up.

[therealtruth]

[Edit:] Ah, hell... what am I thinking? You want the biggest Pro of all? The Spurs have now played 15 playoff games, and they have held their opponents to 92 or fewer points in regulation 13 times. If they keep playing defense like that, nothing else matters - they will be hoisting another LOB.

Good point. We know the Spurs can score more than 92 but if the defense can keep it up they will win. The defense can keep it up if Pop limits minutes for the Neal/Bonner.

[therealtruth]

Ok, I'll ask you..as a Spurs fan, knowing his ability, were you satisfied with Lebron's performance tonight and do you hope he replicates it every game in this series, tbh?..

If you told me Lebron would play like he did tonight in every game of this series, I'd say the Spurs are going to sweep Miami, tbh..

You could have asked the same question about Lebron's '11 Finals performance.

[Horse]

I don't think there were any cons tbh

Spurs played a near perfect game

shots didnt fall late in the 3rd otherwise Spurs win by 12+

We were no where near perfect, that's the best thing about it. For 3 quarters they were close to perfect lebron's triple double, wade and bosh played well and their role players hit shots. We shot 41% and still won. Huge Pro!

[DMC]

No there was definitely a lot of ball watching and falling asleep by the Spurs shooters. I agree with every instance HH brought up. There was even a point where they fell asleep and gave Lebron an open 3. You can't get caught watching the ball. Frankly, its amazing to me that this can happen to NBA athletes in a Finals game but I saw it a lot tonight.
You cannot take away everything. I think we'll live with Lebron shooting 3s, but not with Ray Allen shooting them. If we close out on Lebron, he drives (ala Paul George game 1 ECF). He's not a great 3pt shooter, like Allen. You cannot stop that Mike Miller run up jumper from 27'. It's something you live with. Those 12' jumpers from Bosh were painful, and they did hit some 3s, but all in all I don't think we ignored them that much. I think there was a game plan and it included some concessions and priorities and Lebron's 3pt shooting was lower than his drives, on that list.

[DMC]

You could have asked the same question about Lebron's '11 Finals performance.

It's not how Lebron played so much as how he was forced to play by the play of his teammates. He got 18 rebounds and Bosh got 5. If Bosh stays in the paint Lebron gets 30pts, but instead Lebron was relegated to playing PG and having to play center at the same time. Dude's good but not that good.

[Beaverfuzz]

Four turnovers, that's it. Smartly played basketball game. The shots will fall, just like they didn't fall for Miami in the second half. The law of averages always catches up.

[Yuixafun]

40X Better Game

Same Lebron.

He is who we thought he IS.

So he wins 1 championship last year and suddenly he's a different person? Naw...

Remember the knock was that he lacked that Killer Edge, Step on the throat mentality, of a Jordan, and Kobe, a Duncan even.

Well he's still the same nail biter under all that muscle.

He'd still rather pass the ball then take the game winner honestly.

He's still the same lebron from 2007 in his heart.


TBh.

[therealtruth]

You cannot take away everything. I think we'll live with Lebron shooting 3s, but not with Ray Allen shooting them. If we close out on Lebron, he drives (ala Paul George game 1 ECF). He's not a great 3pt shooter, like Allen. You cannot stop that Mike Miller run up jumper from 27'. It's something you live with. Those 12' jumpers from Bosh were painful, and they did hit some 3s, but all in all I don't think we ignored them that much. I think there was a game plan and it included some concessions and priorities and Lebron's 3pt shooting was lower than his drives, on that list.

He's a rhythm player and just taking open jumpers with no rhythm is difficult.