What adjustments will the Heat make in game 2...

[skulls138]

...so that the Spurs can be ready? Is it mere effort, or is it more X's and O's?

[Richie]

They're going to come out and blitz the first few pick and rolls. If we can score on them in the first 3 minutes when they go 100%, it will be demoralizing for them.

[Warlord23]

Offensively:
1. LeBron and Wade will focus on driving more to the basket to try and get our bigs in foul trouble
2. LeBron will try and back down Leonard in the low post
3. Bosh will get some iso opportunities on the high post against Splitter, rather than stay camped at the 3 point line
4. Mike Miller gets more minutes at Battier's expense

Defensively:
1. They will trap the pick and roll earlier and force Parker to make a difficult pass over the defense
2. Play Norris Cole more minutes, as he has better foot speed than Chalmers and can stay in front of TP
3. Be more physical on Parker and Ginobili when they drive
4. Lay off Leonard and Splitter and challenge them to score more

[jestersmash]

Interesting little tidbit - the Heat had a 1-2 hour long film session on Friday, while the Spurs had a "short" film session on Saturday.

I think this fact reflects the two different coaching philosophies of Pop and Spo. Spo's always been a film guy (given that he started his career in the film room), while Pop has always said that he doesn't want to "overload" his players with too much film analysis.

But it makes me wonder if our guys are well prepared with a detailed "counter"-strategy for anticipated adjustments from the Heat.

[Warlord23]

The silver lining for the Spurs is that most of those adjustments will end up in the Heat expending more energy early on. If LeBron and Wade want to take on more of the offensive load, and try and play aggressive trapping defense on the other end, the fatigue factor will be even more prominent than it was in Game 1. Plus Spoelstra's go-to move is to overplay LeBron when in trouble.

The Spurs are going to be hit with a haymaker early on. They just need to keep their composure and stay within striking distance early on. That should give them a fairly good chance of out-executing the Heat again late in the game. One thing that the Spurs do not do normally, but I would like to see them do, is play a more physical style when the Heat go small. Unfortunately Splitter, Diaw, Bonner are not a David West or Noah type player who can dish out some punishment in the paint. David West beating up on Battier and even LeBron was a factor in the ECF going to 7 games.

[BillMc]

Offensively:
1. LeBron and Wade will focus on driving more to the basket to try and get our bigs in foul trouble
2. LeBron will try and back down Leonard in the low post
3. Bosh will get some iso opportunities on the high post against Splitter, rather than stay camped at the 3 point line
4. Mike Miller gets more minutes at Battier's expense

Defensively:
1. They will trap the pick and roll earlier and force Parker to make a difficult pass over the defense
2. Play Norris Cole more minutes, as he has better foot speed than Chalmers and can stay in front of TP
3. Be more physical on Parker and Ginobili when they drive
4. Lay off Leonard and Splitter and challenge them to score more

Succinct and spot on.

Blowing out the opponent after a loss is the Heat's MO. If we can win tonight, we take strong control of the series. Huge Game!

[polandprzem]

But it makes me wonder if our guys are well prepared with a detailed "counter"-strategy for anticipated adjustments from the Heat.

Pop said that he does not want to over smart himself /basically not exact words/. The adj are made on the court. It's just simple basketball.

And IMo it's all good when you can have short film session well prepared just to pint out some things. get back to practice and run it.

[Richie]

I hope Bosh comes out like he did in Game 7 of the Pacers series, he was trying too hard on offence and was completely out of control on his drives and shot something like 1-9 to start.

I actually think Bosh played well in Game 1, it's Spoelstras mistake to have him anywhere near the 3 point line. You never see Duncan spotting up for 3 for example, because it's a bad shot. I'm sure if he did he'd get around Boshs' 30%, which is exactly why Pop is smart enough to never use it. Except against the Suns.

[jestersmash]

I hope Bosh comes out like he did in Game 7 of the Pacers series, he was trying too hard on offence and was completely out of control on his drives and shot something like 1-9 to start.

I actually think Bosh played well in Game 1, it's Spoelstras mistake to have him anywhere near the 3 point line. You never see Duncan spotting up for 3 for example, because it's a bad shot. I'm sure if he did he'd get around Boshs' 30%, which is exactly why Pop is smart enough to never use it. Except against the Suns.

Never say never!

trdsKp94Io0

[Warlord23]

IMO schemes and adjustments from either coach will not be the biggest factor in this series. Unless you have HOF bigs like TD, Hakeem or Shaq in their prime, the Finals are mostly decided by who steps up and performs under pressure. The last 3 NBA finals, for instance, came down to heart / effort, not unstoppable schemes. The 2010 Lakers just had a little more energy in the tank than the Celtics. The 2011 Mavs had players like Terry and Barea playing inspired ball. In 2012 Harden shit his pants while Battier played magnificently.

It will come down to which team is able to execute under pressure.

[Mal]

Free throws. NBA is still capable to give one team 50 of them.

[Anonymous Cowherd]

Interesting little tidbit - the Heat had a 1-2 hour long film session on Friday, while the Spurs had a "short" film session on Saturday.

I think this fact reflects the two different coaching philosophies of Pop and Spo. Spo's always been a film guy (given that he started his career in the film room), while Pop has always said that he doesn't want to "overload" his players with too much film analysis.

It also reflects that we won and they lost.

[jdiggy0424]

Offensively:
1. LeBron and Wade will focus on driving more to the basket to try and get our bigs in foul trouble
2. LeBron will try and back down Leonard in the low post
3. Bosh will get some iso opportunities on the high post against Splitter, rather than stay camped at the 3 point line
4. Mike Miller gets more minutes at Battier's expense

Defensively:
1. They will trap the pick and roll earlier and force Parker to make a difficult pass over the defense
2. Play Norris Cole more minutes, as he has better foot speed than Chalmers and can stay in front of TP
3. Be more physical on Parker and Ginobili when they drive
4. Lay off Leonard and Splitter and challenge them to score more

Extremely good take

[TampaDude]

IMO schemes and adjustments from either coach will not be the biggest factor in this series. Unless you have HOF bigs like TD, Hakeem or Shaq in their prime, the Finals are mostly decided by who steps up and performs under pressure. The last 3 NBA finals, for instance, came down to heart / effort, not unstoppable schemes. The 2010 Lakers just had a little more energy in the tank than the Celtics. The 2011 Mavs had players like Terry and Barea playing inspired ball. In 2012 Harden shit his pants while Battier played magnificently.

It will come down to which team is able to execute under pressure.

Yup...but to be fair, the Celtics would've won in 2010 had Perkins not gotten hurt. When he went down, it changed the series completely.

[dbestpro]

As I watched the game, again the thing that popped out to me was Miami's lack of ball movement. The ball would get stuck in iso with James, Wade, and even Coles. They might pass, at times, but not to set up a team mate. Bosh had some open shots, but not because of ball movement.

[dbreiden83080]

I expect to see Lebron posting up KL so it will be up to Pop whether or not they want to double it or let KL try and contain it as best he can.
Wade will try to get to the rim more.
Bosh may finally start looking for his offense closer to the basket.

Spurs need to post Tim up more in the fist half
Again limit TO's and make more of their 3's this game..

[PublicOption]

Joey Crawford and Ken Mauer is all they need.

[ginobilized]

I believe that regardless of the Heat's adjustments, the Spurs are focused on themselves and can relax a bit in knowing that they are well-coached, well-prepared and can pay attention to detail as a collective whole. Of course, the Heat will be making an egoic statement early on. I have the sense Pop is at least 5 moves ahead of Spo at this point. If our role players step up, we avoid foul trouble and execute at a high level, there's a good to great chance we win game 2. It's Leonard, Green, Splitter, Neal, Bonner, & Diaw vs. Miller, Cole, Allen, Haslem, Anderson and Chalmers. That is where the adjustments will really count instead of the bigger ones regarding the superstars. It's highly likely that Birdman will lose his composure in the next few games. Might be a factor.

[ironman2886]

The pressure is on Miami. I know thinking of a super aggressive Lebron and Wade seem scary, but I trust Pop in his defensive scheme. I trust the ball movement, excecution, and the will of the Big Three. If anything, Miami should be worried if they have to make that many adjustments. Spurs played just ok in game one. Heat wont beat a great game by the Spurs. As long as the Spurs don't play like they did early in game three of the WCF(loose with the ball/turnovers,) there's no reason to believe the Spurs don't have a chance in game 2. Don't turn over the ball, move the ball, and play defense. "I want some nasty."

[Spurs and Mavs fan]

The Heat will probably be amped up like the Grizzlies were in Game 3, and jump out to a double-digit lead.

If there were any game in which it would be immensely valuable for the Spurs to jump out to an early, big lead, it would be this one. If by the end of the first quarter, the score is something like Spurs 28, Heat 16, that crowd will be very, very demoralized and any "Game 2 momentum for the Heat" would have been sapped.

[gnsf0946]

The Heat will probably be amped up like the Grizzlies were in Game 3, and jump out to a double-digit lead.

If there were any game in which it would be immensely valuable for the Spurs to jump out to an early, big lead, it would be this one. If by the end of the first quarter, the score is something like Spurs 28, Heat 16, that crowd will be very, very demoralized and any "Game 2 momentum for the Heat" would have been sapped.
well to be fair the reason Bears got a huge lead was more us choking than them playing out of this world basketball, although their defense was better in that period than anytime during first 2 games, i'll give them that

[gospursgojas]

Whatever adjustments Riles tells Spo to make tbh

[Budkin]

Succinct and spot on.

Blowing out the opponent after a loss is the Heat's MO. If we can win tonight, we take strong control of the series. Huge Game!

If we win tonight it's over. We aren't losing 2/3 in SA.

[Chinook]

I think we'll see them go small pretty quickly. Birdman isn't really for this series, so he won't get many of Bosh's minutes. The thing about it is that the Spurs are one of the few teams against whom James can NOT play the four. He can't guard Splitter or Duncan straight up, as they both showed last game. If Pop can find a way to keep two bigs in the game, he can match James' post-ups on Leonard with Splitter post-ups on James. I don't know if there's anything more demoralizing than watching your best defender require help when guarding the opposing teams' fourth option.

[Spurs and Mavs fan]

I've never understood why the team leading 1-0 can't be the one playing from the start with greater urgency, rather than the team trailing 0-1.

Would be interesting to see two teams both in a rush, playing Phoenix Suns-style fast break basketball, both trying to build up a big lead.