Random Thoughts After Game 2 Heat Blowout in 2013 NBA Finals

[timvp]

-Worst case scenario coming into this game was Heat blowout that makes them feel great about themselves going forward. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened.

-This is a tough result to swallow because everything was going so well. LeBron was playing perhaps the worst game he's played in the last two seasons. Danny Green was on fire. The Spurs were right there, Miami looked kinda nervous ... and then it fell apart. Part of it was due to the Heat being a great team that started living up to their ability. The other part was the Spurs had so few players play well.

-I'm a bit scared following some of Miami's adjustment. Going all out blitz in Game 1 on Parker I thought was dumb because TP is too smart and will figure it out. Tonight, they not only switched up tactics continuously, they also switched up defenders. That's really, really tough to handle if you're Parker -- infinitely tougher than the blitzing gimmick of Game 1.

-That Chalmers-LeBron pick-and-roll is terrifying. It gets LeBron close to the basket with Duncan out of the play. The Spurs can't switch it because TP can't guard LeBron. If they don't switch, you're giving up a layup for Chalmers or have to leave an outside shooter on the weakside. It's going to be difficult to stop going forward....

-Ginobili was pretty damn terrible. He wasn't alone but he struggled to do just about everything. I've never seen him turn into such a klutz just trying to dribble the ball twice.

-Parker is going to have to be in attack mode in Game 3. If they aren't going to blitz him every play, he has to attack. He did that well at times this game ... but not nearly often enough.

-Duncan wasn't good, especially offensively. But really, I didn't love the touches he was getting. He rarely got a clean look with adequate space around him. Give the Heat credit for swarming him constantly but the Spurs need to create the spacing to give Duncan a chance to have a big game.

-Leonard's rebounding was great. The Spurs need better shotmaking going forward but his rebounding and defense on LeBron made it a positive night at the office for him.

-Green was damn good. It was great to see him step up big in the huge moments. Let's hope he can remain hope for the duration of the series.

-Splitter needs to make more of an impact. Not rebounding against this poor rebounding team is inexcusable. He also needs to use his size more consistently on offense.

-I know Spurs fans love a scapegoat and Neal is that man right now but I don't think he was too horrible when factoring in expectations. He scored some useful buckets early and held it together defensively for a while. He fell apart in the collapse -- but so did just about everyone else.

-I'm hoping the Spurs can sustain a healthy level of confidence. Being at home will help; hopefully more player step up in the friendly confines of the AT&T Center.

-This remains the biggest challenge the Spurs have ever faced. If the Heat take momentum into Game 3, S.A. is going to have to play close to flawless basketball to win three more in this series.

-We'll know much more after Game 3. The scary thing is the Heat have actually looked better on the road than at home for much of these playoffs.

-The bright side is the Spurs had the lead in the third despite playing C- basketball on the road. Time to get some better individual performances, get the home crowd involved and play with more desperation to get Game 3. Now is the time show how much you want this.

Believe.

[Budkin]

I'm not worried. These guys have been here before. SA is going to be crazy.

[Baam]

Let's go big tbh.

Tim Splitter Boris Leonard TP
Baynes TD/Splitter Leonard Green TP

Both Kawhi and Boris can bully Wade in the post, we need a mismatch to open things up. Also Wade has been great so far, may has well put KY on him for a while, the whole team is guarding Lebron anyway.

[Kori Ellis]

Just a few thoughts:

-- After Parker flopped the first two times and got no calls, he should have gave up flopping for the night.

-- Hopefully Splitter can recover psychologically from that block.

-- I knew the Spurs were going to get seriously rocked in one game this series. Glad it was Game 2 instead of the elimination game.

-- Spurs in 6.

[Baam]

Neal tends to get trapped in a corner against this team, it happened several times, each time they doubled him aggressively he couldn't find a pass, that's the most annoying thing about him but I agree he wasn't the worst.

[chrhawk]

What do you think about Boris Diaw? Coming into this series I thought he would've been a great outlet for Parker and Ginobili when they got trapped. But I haven't been too impressed with him these last two games.

[TJastal]

:lol @ timvp defending Neal per par

[crc21209]

I disagree with the "Everything was going so well comment." Sure Green was unconscious from 3 and LeBron was having an off night, but that's ALL that was going well in this game if you ask me. Tony wasnt aggressive enough and dissapeared, Tim was taking turnaround fade away jumpers, and Manu couldn't dribble the damn basketball. The only bright spots were Green's 3's and Kawhi's defense and rebounding. And yet the Spurs were right there. They were right there with alot of things going wrong. Playing Neal extended minutes was also a horrible idea. He leaves shooters open too damn much for him to be out there so much...

[Brunodf]

Just one adjustment : Play the best 7-8 players/No small ball/no mad scientist

[baseline bum]

I disagree with the "Everything was going so well comment." Sure Green was unconscious from 3 and LeBron was having an off night, but that's ALL that was going well in this game if you ask me. Tony wasnt aggressive enough and dissapeared, Tim was taking turnaround fade away jumpers, and Manu couldn't dribble the damn basketball. The only bright spots were Green's 3's and Kawhi's defense and rebounding. And yet the Spurs were right there. They were right there with alot of things going wrong....

Gotta agree with that. There was no point of the game where I thought anything was going well. Most of the first 2.5 quarters I felt the Spurs were extremely fortunate to still be in the game and I kept expecting that big run to surface some time with how badly the Spurs were playing.

[Libri]

-Splitter needs to make more of an impact. Not rebounding against this poor rebounding team is inexcusable. He also needs to use his size more consistently on offense.

Splitter tried to be aggressive and got blocked twice. We'll see if he becomes even more timid on offense.

[mercos]

The two big keys for the next three games are going to be turnovers, and the Heat role players. If the Spurs turn the ball over more than 12 times, they are probably going to lose. Turnovers get Miami going, and they are the best front running team in the lead. When they get going, it is hard to stop them. The Spurs looked out of whack tonight. Ginobili couldn't dribble, and he wasn't even facing intense pressure from the Heat. Many of the Spurs turnovers were unforced errors.

If the Heat role players bring that level of play to San Antonio, the Spurs probably lose. They are doing a great job on Lebron. He has been contained thus far. If Ray Allen, Mike Miller, and Mario Chalmers knock down every open three, you have to tip your hat and admit they are the superior team.

[apalisoc_9]

I trust this team enough to know their confidence would not drop just because of game 2. In fact, i think getting blown out would only give this team more motivation to fix whatever is needed to be fixed.

Spurs in 6.

[Mojazz]

Were on the road... shit happens!

[UZER]

Just a few thoughts:

-- After Parker flopped the first two times and got no calls, he should have gave up flopping for the night.

-- Hopefully Splitter can recover psychologically from that block.

-- I knew the Spurs were going to get seriously rocked in one game this series. Glad it was Game 2 instead of the elimination game.

-- Spurs in 6.

Thought the exact same thing. But just continued flopping all night. Sometimes you just gotta man up.

[timvp]

I disagree with the "Everything was going so well comment."

Maybe "everything" was a poor choice of words but you're up in the third with LeBron sucking, the Heat with no rhythm and the Big 3 having nowhere to go but up. That was a damn great opportunity, IMO.

[DarrinS]

Just a few thoughts:

-- After Parker flopped the first two times and got no calls, he should have gave up flopping for the night.

-- Hopefully Splitter can recover psychologically from that block.

-- I knew the Spurs were going to get seriously rocked in one game this series. Glad it was Game 2 instead of the elimination game.

-- Spurs in 6.


This. Any long time Spurs fan knew one of these games was coming.

Spurs won't be demoralized, instead they'll be really focused in game 3.

[UZER]

Good thing about the players is they get over this blowout and move on better than fans will for the next two days.

[gnsf0946]

anyone like the pace? we usually play at a fast pace but i think it's a bad idea vs. Miami especially after 3 days of rest

[Darius Bieber]

This loss could mean one of two things:

1. This wakes up the Heat, and they start becoming unbeatable.

2. This wakes up the Spurs and they actually start playing to their ability.

[HarlemHeat37]

There's no reason to be demoralized, it's a product of fans that underestimated Miami, just because they were taken to 7 by Indiana and lost game 1 against the Spurs..this is the toughest opponent the Spurs have met in the Finals, this is going to be a long series..

We're fans though, we're going to discuss the flaws of the team in their losses, regardless of the outlook for the rest of the series..

The worrisome aspect is that Miami's best strategy and go-to option is more sustainable than the Spurs optimal strategy, tbh..

[Juggity]

Luckily Pop is the master adjustment-coach. After every loss in these playoffs, he has come out with a solid gameplan and the spurs have executed it well. This is an unfortunate loss, and I'll reiterate that I think the spurs' title chances took a significant hit tonight, but I think this team is capable of being invigorated by a loss.

[siraulo23]

- the series will depend on whether or not the spurs can slow down the chalmers/lebron pnr, im not sure they can, i dunno how theyre gonna play that
- how did defend they defend parker? i though they were blitzing just more aggressively i didnt realize they were switching, i have to rewatch the game, but if the heat did switch pnrs im assuming they did it with a small lineup... james switching the pnr thats definitely tough... great adjustment by the heat

[vander]

didn't look much like spurs offense in the first half, to me anyways, where was all the ball movement and off the ball movement? lots of standing around...

[BatManu20]

This loss could mean one of two things:

1. This wakes up the Heat, and they start becoming unbeatable.

2. This wakes up the Spurs and they actually start playing to their ability.

Hope it's the latter, but I fear it's the former. When Miami turns it "on" they're easily the best team in the league.

[SA210]

:lol "scary" "scared" "terrifying"

[Floyd Pacquiao]

Just want tim on the left block shooting right handed hookshots off the glass all night...Pedo, haslem, bosh couldn't handle him in game 1 on the left block...

[SayTown]

No way Spurs can be more focused than they were tonight and to be blown out means alot

[Nathan89]

I can't comprehend Splitter's inability to get rebounds vs. any team in the playoffs. Last I checked he was 6'11.

Most concerning thing is the Chalmers-Lebron pnr.

[spursparker9]

I think Splitter took off a step too far for the dunk that got blocked.

[BatManu20]

Lebron played poorly until garbage time and we out rebounded them, and we still got blown out.. not a good sign. Splitter provides almost nothing, and Manu is not Manu anymore, so basically it comes down to whether or not Tony and Tim can score 20+ points a game each, all our role players can hit their open looks, and we have to keep TO's down big time in order to have a chance. Game 3 is imperative.

[siraulo23]

i guess the only thing the spurs can do on the chalmers james pnr is to force a wide open chalmer mid range jumpshot

i cant come up with an answer

[Nathan89]

Might consider putting Green on Chalmers to help stop the pnr. We need to play Kawhi and Green more minutes to be as good as we can be defensively.

[UZER]

I think Splitter took off a step too far for the dunk that got blocked.

:lol the one time he should've pump faked, he doesn't.

[siraulo23]

Might consider putting Green on Chalmers to help stop the pnr. We need to play Kawhi and Green more minutes to be as good as we can be defensively.

hmmm, :tu that way spurs can switch and tp can hide on ray allen, just dont sag off too much tp :lol

[TD 21]

Just one adjustment : Play the best 7-8 players/No small ball/no mad scientist

He is. Other than the Joseph cameo early in the 3rd, he played strictly an 8 man rotation until garbage time. And with Splitter continuing his playoff long Bargnani impression (and that's being generous; he might be even softer and less competitive at the moment) and Diaw not doing much of anything, what choice does he have but to go small? Right now, their five best consists of one big and four smalls, plus it's easier to match up with the Heat, who are going to play small plenty either way.

If neither Splitter nor Diaw play with an ounce of intestinal fortitude in their initial stint, then it's time to turn to Bonner again. Yeah, I know he'll have trouble getting a shot off against their defense, but I don't care. They need as much scoring as they can get and their is no low post scoring big for the Heat, so what value do Splitter and Diaw have right now, other than the former providing a semblance of rim protection when Duncan rests?

As far as adjustments, same one as game one jumps out: Post Duncan more.

[SA210]

@RealSkipBayless (https://twitter.com/RealSkipBayless) 1h (https://twitter.com/RealSkipBayless/status/343914196758577152) LeBron is great in garbage time.

[Budkin]

Just a few thoughts:

-- After Parker flopped the first two times and got no calls, he should have gave up flopping for the night.

-- Hopefully Splitter can recover psychologically from that block.

-- I knew the Spurs were going to get seriously rocked in one game this series. Glad it was Game 2 instead of the elimination game.

-- Spurs in 6.

Kori has seen the future!

[TheGoldStandard]

It was embarrassing tonight, The Spurs didn't show up but Danny Green did. Tim, Tony and Manu need to get a tongue lashing by Pop and Pop needs to reconsider all the playing time for Gary Neal. He hit some shots, but damn his defense during that stretch was piss poor. The only thoughts that I had is the Spurs need to make shots and be aggressive. Tim can't be fading away on the baseline and Tony can't be passive in the paint.

[Brunodf]

He is. Other than the Joseph cameo early in the 3rd, he played strictly an 8 man rotation until garbage time. And with Splitter continuing his playoff long Bargnani impression (and that's being generous; he might be even softer and less competitive at the moment) and Diaw not doing much of anything, what choice does he have but to go small? Right now, their five best consists of one big and four smalls, plus it's easier to match up with the Heat, who are going to play small plenty either way.

If neither Splitter nor Diaw play with an ounce of intestinal fortitude in their initial stint, then it's time to turn to Bonner again. Yeah, I know he'll have trouble getting a shot off against their defense, but I don't care. They need as much scoring as they can get and their is no low post scoring big for the Heat, so what value do Splitter and Diaw have right now, other than the former providing a semblance of rim protection when Duncan rests?
Our top players are starting 5+Manu/Diaw/Cojo.

[Budkin]

This loss could mean one of two things:

1. This wakes up the Heat, and they start becoming unbeatable.

2. This wakes up the Spurs and they actually start playing to their ability.

Or they could just play more close games.

[TD 21]

Our top players are starting 5+Manu/Diaw/Cojo.

What are you talking about? Neal has taken Joseph's spot and they're down to eight.

[Brunodf]

What are you talking about? Neal has taken Joseph's spot and they're down to eight.
i am talking about best players.Play the best players.

[SpurOutofTownFan]

People need to calm down - what happened was possible so it isn't terrible. It was actually nice that the Spurs didn't lose by one but got blown out so they understand what they need to do 3 more times. That's all.

[spurraider21]

i think splitting the miami games is all we could have realistically asked for. iirc in the 2005 finals against detroit we got killed in games 3 and 4

[DPG21920]

Spurs need to win 2-3 at home. Go back at 3-2 with 2 shots.

[jmanu20]

I think the current approach to LeBron needs to change. The Spurs game plan has been daring the Heat role players to step up while getting the ball out of LeBron's hands as much as possible. Allen/Chalmers/Miller combined for 8 threes tonight. Maybe just have Kawhi play Lebron straight up, force him to take a lot of jumpshots, and stay home on the Miami shooters?

[jmanu20]

i think splitting the miami games is all we could have realistically asked for. iirc in the 2005 finals against detroit we got killed in games 3 and 4

Yup, one of those losses was by 31 too. It's all about how you finish the series!

[Robz4000]

First team to win two in a row takes the series tbh.

[spurraider21]

Yup, one of those losses was by 31 too. It's all about how you finish the series!
people need to realize this isn't soccer. point differential doesn't matter :lol

we can lose 3 games by a combined 100 but win 4 by a combined 10 and we're good.

[AFBlue]

Just a few thoughts:

-- After Parker flopped the first two times and got no calls, he should have gave up flopping for the night.

-- Hopefully Splitter can recover psychologically from that block.

-- I knew the Spurs were going to get seriously rocked in one game this series. Glad it was Game 2 instead of the elimination game.

-- Spurs in 6.

Completely agree.

Kori's takes > timvp's takes imo tbh

[SnakeBoy]

i am talking about best players.Play the best players.

Game 1 Joseph looked like he just wasn't ready for the pressure of the finals so it's understandable why Pop went with Neal. Tonight I think Joseph earned his way back in the rotation. Impossible to predict what Pop will do but I expect to see more of Joseph in game 3.

[hommeaetage]

the only frustrating thing about this game is while they were not playing well, the Spurs had them on the rope. Things started going downhill when Pop subbed Green/Leonard for Neal/Manu when they had all the momentum. Things started going downhill since

[gameFACE]

Splitter looked gassed for some reason. Manu couldn't handle the ball. Out-rebounding the Heat by 8 didn't help since the Spurs had 10 more turnovers.

Spurs got this. This loss was so Spurs. Prime time and on Sunday to top it off. Away game. Huge opponent. That reeks of a Spurs loss.

[Pirate_Ghost]

Getting this game would have been great, but Spurs still heading home with a split.

[taps]

First team to win two in a row takes the series tbh.

That seems obvious, no Finals team has come back from 3-1

[Agloco]

Gotta stick Green or Ginobili on Chalmers and put Tony on one of Allen or Miller. Tony can't be part of the PNR equation on the defensive end of the court.

Yes, this means that Kawhai, Manu and Danny need to be on the court together a whole hell of a lot.

[TampaDude]

Spurs played like a team that didn't really need to win Game 2.

Heat played like a team that desperately needed to win Game 2.

It matters not. Spurs in 5.

[milkyway21]

I am just 40% hopeful that we can beat Miami in game 2.
Before the finals started, I only asked & pray we can win 1 game in Miami, just 1 game, and let's just take care of the rest in San Antonio. My wishes granted, we are not down 0-2, we are tied @ 1-1. and the Spurs are heading home.. And I am positive they can get back to form when the play games 3-4-5 here.

back to my original prediction Spurs in 6

:flag:

[Pirate_Ghost]

Maybe "everything" was a poor choice of words but you're up in the third with LeBron sucking, the Heat with no rhythm and the Big 3 having nowhere to go but up. That was a damn great opportunity, IMO.

To be fair, LeBron was having a subpar game as well up until that ridiculous run they went on. But yea, that bron/chalmers combo is glaring.

[Agloco]

It was embarrassing tonight, The Spurs didn't show up but Danny Green did. Tim, Tony and Manu need to get a tongue lashing by Pop and Pop needs to reconsider all the playing time for Gary Neal. He hit some shots, but damn his defense during that stretch was piss poor. The only thoughts that I had is the Spurs need to make shots and be aggressive. Tim can't be fading away on the baseline and Tony can't be passive in the paint.

Kawahi Leonard showed up as well.

[Mugen]

Not unexpected. I'm ecstatic the Spurs got the split going home tbh. Momentum rarely transfers game to game and I like our chances getting 2 out of 3 in San Antonio.

[lefty]

-Worst case scenario coming into this game was Heat blowout that makes them feel great about themselves going forward. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened.

-This is a tough result to swallow because everything was going so well. LeBron was playing perhaps the worst game he's played in the last two seasons. Danny Green was on fire. The Spurs were right there, Miami looked kinda nervous ... and then it fell apart. Part of it was due to the Heat being a great team that started living up to their ability. The other part was the Spurs had so few players play well.

-I'm a bit scared following some of Miami's adjustment. Going all out blitz in Game 1 on Parker I thought was dumb because TP is too smart and will figure it out. Tonight, they not only switched up tactics continuously, they also switched up defenders. That's really, really tough to handle if you're Parker -- infinitely tougher than the blitzing gimmick of Game 1.

-That Chalmers-LeBron pick-and-roll is terrifying. It gets LeBron close to the basket with Duncan out of the play. The Spurs can't switch it because TP can't guard LeBron. If they don't switch, you're giving up a layup for Chalmers or have to leave an outside shooter on the weakside. It's going to be difficult to stop going forward....

-Ginobili was pretty damn terrible. He wasn't alone but he struggled to do just about everything. I've never seen him turn into such a klutz just trying to dribble the ball twice.

-Parker is going to have to be in attack mode in Game 3. If they aren't going to blitz him every play, he has to attack. He did that well at times this game ... but not nearly often enough.

-Duncan wasn't good, especially offensively. But really, I didn't love the touches he was getting. He rarely got a clean look with adequate space around him. Give the Heat credit for swarming him constantly but the Spurs need to create the spacing to give Duncan a chance to have a big game.

-Leonard's rebounding was great. The Spurs need better shotmaking going forward but his rebounding and defense on LeBron made it a positive night at the office for him.

-Green was damn good. It was great to see him step up big in the huge moments. Let's hope he can remain hope for the duration of the series.

-Splitter needs to make more of an impact. Not rebounding against this poor rebounding team is inexcusable. He also needs to use his size more consistently on offense.

-I know Spurs fans love a scapegoat and Neal is that man right now but I don't think he was too horrible when factoring in expectations. He scored some useful buckets early and held it together defensively for a while. He fell apart in the collapse -- but so did just about everyone else.

-I'm hoping the Spurs can sustain a healthy level of confidence. Being at home will help; hopefully more player step up in the friendly confines of the AT&T Center.

-This remains the biggest challenge the Spurs have ever faced. If the Heat take momentum into Game 3, S.A. is going to have to play close to flawless basketball to win three more in this series.

-We'll know much more after Game 3. The scary thing is the Heat have actually looked better on the road than at home for much of these playoffs.

-The bright side is the Spurs had the lead in the third despite playing C- basketball on the road. Time to get some better individual performances, get the home crowd involved and play with more desperation to get Game 3. Now is the time show how much you want this.

Believe.
No shit

[MR-Clutch]

-Agree that parker flopped too much, I also thought he was uncomfortable offensively,as he seemed to force things too much.

-Kawhi is playing great D. If he keeps limiting Lebron the way he has,the Spurs should win this series.

-I'll live with Chris Bosh shooting jumpers and Mario Chalmers being their lead scorer on the team.

-Pop gave up on Cory way too early. He played well in garbage time and closed out on shooters 10x what Neal was doing.

-Don't understand WTF Pop is trying to do with Neal. Diaw pissed me off a lot tonight too. Diaw was late on rotations, and his hesitations were hurting the offense. When he plays like that I would rather have Bonner in.

-Manu hopefully played the worst game of this series. If he keeps playing like bad Manu, the Spurs are doomed. Manu just had one of those nights, and unfortunately he could barely dribble out there.

-The Spurs gotta do a better job of getting Duncan better positions in the post, and more spacing (looking at you Kawhi).I also thought Duncan did get the ball, that he should've attacked and gone towards the rim, rather then settling for jumpers and over the shoulder shots away from the basket.

-First half, Kawhi was getting murdered on offense, and all those offensive boards that he was sucking up.The refs swallowed their whistles, and called ticky tack on our players.

-It was a frustrating game, because I felt the Spurs were the better team all game, and there was just so many brain farts by both Pop, and the players (Neal,Manu,TP,Duncan), and those mistakes blew the game wide open.

[TheGoldStandard]

Kawahi Leonard showed up as well.

Not offensively but he played well on the defensive end. 4 of 12 & 1-3 at the 3pt line isn't going to cut it plain and simple. Manu checked out tonight, had a horrible performance tonight and can only hope that he rebounds at some point in the series.

[milkyway21]

Almost everybody panicking, bring memories when in those old days during their championship runs the Spurs LOST their 1st playoff game, fans acting like it was the end of the world :lol

[TacoCabanaFajitas]

-The Spurs need to either commit to staying Big or staying small.

- A lineup of Duncan/Green/Leonard/Parker/Ginobili gives us our best chance to win.
If Tiago continues to not crash the boards and lack toughness inside, why lose that way? Put our best on the floor and let the chips fall where they may,
this lineup would also neutralize that Chalmers/lebron shit. If Miami is going to trot out Lebron/Bosh/Wade/Chalmers/Miller then lets matchup with:

Parker-Miller
Leonard-Lebron
Duncan-Bosh
Manu-Wade
Green-Chalmers

[Borosai]

Parker had tunnel vision. Ginobili couldn't bounce the ball. Duncan settled for bad spots and shots.

That's not a winning combination.

I hope they have a better plan for game 3.

[TheGreatYacht]

I will give you my take and I'll start by criticizing our big 3. Tim Duncan was pathetic on defense. Early on he was extending outside trying to block jumpers instead of staying on the paint and protect the rim. I don't know how the hell he had 11 rebounds because Chris Bosch absolutely outplayed him on those offensive boards. Timmy does not box out his man after we get a defensive stop. Duncan had ZERO blocks. When Duncan posts up, instead of using brute force or using foot work to get to the rim, he does some tough fade away shots. This is probably the worst playoff game that Duncan has had this year. Duncan looked old tonight.

Manu was terrible on handling the ball. The man looked like he needed to be on a cane out there. This game looked like he completely lost all of his ball handling skills. He did a decent job on Dwayne Wade but he did leave Mike Miller and Ray Allen open at times. Another thing that pissed me off about Manu was those canon ball passes that he would do after being double teamed off a pick n roll. Manu looked like an old man today.

Tony was non-existent for the most part. Early on he had his couple of moments but for the most part he looked like the TP from the last month of the regular season. Seems to me like he completely gave up on the pick n rolls because of the way the Heat defend it. I give the Heat some credit for mixing their pick n roll defense and also mixing up their defense on Parker. Parker needs to move around and try to play off the ball. After being double teamed and passing up the ball, he just stays stationary on the perimter spectating his teammates (Gary Neal trying to play point guard). Tony is going to have to try to be more effective off the ball.

TIAGO SPLITTER. He playe 22 minutes and one fu**ing rebound. Are you fu**ing kidding me?

I give props to Danny Green and Gary Neal. They played well offensively. Khawi Leonard played pretty good defense on Lebron James. On the other hand perimeter defense is another story. Everyone kept leaving Mike Miller and Ray Allen open for three's. Credit Lebron for collapsing our defense. Mario Chalmers had the game of his career.

The officiating was so blatantly one-sided. We got no calls at all. I can't blame the officiating today because of the Spurs terrible defense.

[Darius McCrary]

Gotta agree with that. There was no point of the game where I thought anything was going well. Most of the first 2.5 quarters I felt the Spurs were extremely fortunate to still be in the game and I kept expecting that big run to surface some time with how badly the Spurs were playing.

This :depressed:

[Spurminator]

- The whole first half felt like fool's gold. Even with the wide open looks we were getting from 3, you can't rely on hitting that high of a percentage. A normal shooting night and this started to look like a blowout even earlier.

- Manu looked like he was playing with a ball that didn't have enough air in it.

- I'm so sick of seeing Splitter take so much weak shit to the rim. And on the block, I think Lebron spared him from bricking a dunk off the front of the rim.

[Spurs21Fan4Ever]

Here are my thoughts:

The Big three never looked so immature and inexperienced, especially in the playoffs. Tony only tried to draw fouls by initiating contact, that's all he did. He would drive, go nowhere, throw up a crap shot, fall down, and yell at the refs. He looked like Stephen Jackson out there and he was embarrassing.

Manu was also embarrassing. He couldn't dribble the ball, and he was so rattled, he literally tried to force plays, he didn't let the game come to him. He looked like a scared rookie out there. He looked like Danny Green in the WCF last year!

Tim Duncan was playing so soft. He never made things easy for himself. He started off the game also trying to draw fouls, and he never went up strong. Every time he got the ball on the post, he faded away. Why?! You're better than Bosh! Go up strong! Birdman outplayed him tonight and that's just sad.

Overall, the big three looked like a bunch of kids out there. They tried to force things that weren't there, they weren't passing the ball well, they weren't including their teammates, and they just looked dumb and embarrassing. It was horrible. They need to relax, let the game come to them, and do what they do best, outsmart opponents.

Pop's rotations have always been a problem at times, but it was a huge problem tonight. At no point in the 3rd quarter should he have not had both Kawhi and Green on the court. Those two gave the team a chance at winning and carried the team. Both guys were playing tremendous defense, and they wore out LeBron. You could see how tired LeBron was when Green swatted him. The Spurs looked like they would be able to shut the Heat down for the rest of the night and go up 3-0. Then cue the bad rotations. After hitting a three, Pop takes Leonard out. Then after getting two straight fouls. Green goes out. Now, we have Manu and Neal in there.

That brings me up to me next spot, Neal should never play again. When Neal and Manu went in, LeBron started driving, and when he drives, Neal stands in the most useless spot ever. Neal doesn't put himself in a position where he could double LeBron, but he also isn't in a position where he could close out on the shooter. He is literally in the most ineffective spot possible. He is a dummy on defense! Miami hits a few threes, Chalmers scores easily on Neal, and Miami goes on a run, picks up a 10 point lead, and they have momentum. Once they got momentum, LeBron found his second wind and got his energy back. If Pop never puts Neal in, the Spurs may have won this game. This was a HUGE mistake by Pop that potentially cost SA a 2-0 lead. Duncan sucked, but we've seen Duncan suck and have a great 4th quarter before. We didn't even get a chance to see what Duncan, Parker, and Manu could do in the 4th quarter with a tired Miami team and a LeBron with no legs because Pop put in Neal and Neal ruined the team. The guy was -28 with 22 minutes. He's a joke of a player.

For game 3, Spurs need to try and wear out the Heat again, and when they do, Pop's sole focus needs to be defense, not offense. No Neal, and the Spurs need to make sure they're not getting lost on defense and that they're blocking out and getting rebounds (seriously, only Kawhi was blocking out tonight, really?!).

I'm not sure, but it almost felt at times as if they were complacent after winning game 1.

Hopefully the spurs bounce back and win game 3, because game 3 is a must win for SA.

[Agloco]

Not offensively but he played well on the defensive end. 4 of 12 & 1-3 at the 3pt line isn't going to cut it plain and simple. Manu checked out tonight, had a horrible performance tonight and can only hope that he rebounds at some point in the series.

He had 8 offensive rebounds. I'll forgive him the 4 of 12 performance if he gives us that each night. It would be nice to see him hitting his threes because hes definitely in a slump. Id expect that to continue though seeing as hes on Lebron most of the game.

[timtonymanurich]

It's times like this that heading back to San Antonio, Pop will get the guys in the frame of mind to play above the officiating. Granted there are nights where no matter how good you are, the Heat +3 (officials) can always have a better game plan like tonight, but IN San Antonio is very hard to win. Miami will be fortunate to win one of three which I see happening. But I also expect the Spurs to play OUT OF THEIR MINDS for the three games and close the LeB!TCH out in 5.

Everyone get's lucky. Miami can't expect to shoot 75% in every 4th, and for the Spurs to go ICE COLD and have no execution in the next 5 - 4th Q's either.

[LongtimeSpursFan]

-Worst case scenario coming into this game was Heat blowout that makes them feel great about themselves going forward. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened.

-This is a tough result to swallow because everything was going so well. LeBron was playing perhaps the worst game he's played in the last two seasons. Danny Green was on fire. The Spurs were right there, Miami looked kinda nervous ... and then it fell apart. Part of it was due to the Heat being a great team that started living up to their ability. The other part was the Spurs had so few players play well.

-I'm a bit scared following some of Miami's adjustment. Going all out blitz in Game 1 on Parker I thought was dumb because TP is too smart and will figure it out. Tonight, they not only switched up tactics continuously, they also switched up defenders. That's really, really tough to handle if you're Parker -- infinitely tougher than the blitzing gimmick of Game 1.

-That Chalmers-LeBron pick-and-roll is terrifying. It gets LeBron close to the basket with Duncan out of the play. The Spurs can't switch it because TP can't guard LeBron. If they don't switch, you're giving up a layup for Chalmers or have to leave an outside shooter on the weakside. It's going to be difficult to stop going forward....

-Ginobili was pretty damn terrible. He wasn't alone but he struggled to do just about everything. I've never seen him turn into such a klutz just trying to dribble the ball twice.

-Parker is going to have to be in attack mode in Game 3. If they aren't going to blitz him every play, he has to attack. He did that well at times this game ... but not nearly often enough.

-Duncan wasn't good, especially offensively. But really, I didn't love the touches he was getting. He rarely got a clean look with adequate space around him. Give the Heat credit for swarming him constantly but the Spurs need to create the spacing to give Duncan a chance to have a big game.

-Leonard's rebounding was great. The Spurs need better shotmaking going forward but his rebounding and defense on LeBron made it a positive night at the office for him.

-Green was damn good. It was great to see him step up big in the huge moments. Let's hope he can remain hope for the duration of the series.

-Splitter needs to make more of an impact. Not rebounding against this poor rebounding team is inexcusable. He also needs to use his size more consistently on offense.

-I know Spurs fans love a scapegoat and Neal is that man right now but I don't think he was too horrible when factoring in expectations. He scored some useful buckets early and held it together defensively for a while. He fell apart in the collapse -- but so did just about everyone else.

-I'm hoping the Spurs can sustain a healthy level of confidence. Being at home will help; hopefully more player step up in the friendly confines of the AT&T Center.

-This remains the biggest challenge the Spurs have ever faced. If the Heat take momentum into Game 3, S.A. is going to have to play close to flawless basketball to win three more in this series.

-We'll know much more after Game 3. The scary thing is the Heat have actually looked better on the road than at home for much of these playoffs.

-The bright side is the Spurs had the lead in the third despite playing C- basketball on the road. Time to get some better individual performances, get the home crowd involved and play with more desperation to get Game 3. Now is the time show how much you want this.

Believe.

There really is no such thing as momentum in basketball. Each game is uniquely different. Next game maybe Spurs don't make as many turnovers, maybe shots fall, maybe Spurs guards are able to get into lane a little easier, maybe defense plays with a little more energy, maybe Chalmers doesn't play like he part of the big three, maybe Timmy hits his outside jumper, etc. These are two equally good teams and sometimes things go your way that enable you to win. You try to control as many variables as you can via practice and coaching but there are some that inherently left to chance.

[therealtruth]

- I'm so sick of seeing Splitter take so much weak shit to the rim. And on the block, I think Lebron spared him from bricking a dunk off the front of the rim.

Unfortunately, I think you are right. He might have took off too far from the basket.



Gotta stick Green or Ginobili on Chalmers and put Tony on one of Allen or Miller. Tony can't be part of the PNR equation on the defensive end of the court.

Yes, this means that Kawhai, Manu and Danny need to be on the court together a whole hell of a lot.

I agree.

[DMC]

Just a few thoughts:

-- After Parker flopped the first two times and got no calls, he should have gave up flopping for the night.


I had that exact thought during the game "Ok Tony it's not working, get your ass off the floor".


-- Hopefully Splitter can recover psychologically from that block.

He recovered ok from landing on his ass on a dunk, I think he'll be ok. It's not like he's a superstar. Tim was blocked by Amare a few years back in similar fashion and we won that series.

[Tuddy]

TD cant settle for turnaround jumpers or face up jumpers against Haslem and Birdman. He needs to back them down and either get into the lane for a hook or drop step and layup. They cant guard him.
6 turnovers in 5 mins at end of 3rd/start of 4th gave them 5 points when they were hitting shots anyway, as well as costing us shots and gave them all the momentum.

[Sean Cagney]

Just a few thoughts:

-- After Parker flopped the first two times and got no calls, he should have gave up flopping for the night.

-- Hopefully Splitter can recover psychologically from that block.

-- I knew the Spurs were going to get seriously rocked in one game this series. Glad it was Game 2 instead of the elimination game.

-- Spurs in 6.

I agree with her!!!!!!!!!!!!

[polandprzem]

I was grabbing my head many times in this game. What the hell spurs were doing? The defense was poor except the one on James. Nobody got going on ofense. manu was lost like child in the fog. TD played a bad game. It all seemed like the spurs got satisfied with the 1st game and were sure about their gameplan and that it's gonna win by itself.

We had no use in Neal. His hesitation and falling under pressure was painful to watch. But you needed to expect that as he was not playing much because of his injury. Now in a battlefield he was run of his spots.

Spurs did it wrong. As I said before. We cannot make it a guards game because the Heat are too good at it. Destroy them inside! In game 2 no frickin comment. I was pissed all the times about not making Miami pay for being poor inside team.

gameplan for Miami. James a contributor in 1st half. make everybody play. get some rest and go to work in 2nd half. They've done it. They killed the spurs. They were cocky . They were chestbumping and they looked like they won the crown already.

Defend THE ALAMO CITY now hit them with 3 straight accurate bullets. Be victorious.


All in all spurs had a 7-0 b4 this game. There needed to be one relief loss.


Ps. Good post LJ :tu
All basketball.

[polandprzem]

btw. as I mentioned in the 'split' thread of mine

96-79
102-71

[biskvito]

According to Varejao, Miami broke the Spurs defense with 3pointers from Miller and others, which opened the paint for Lebron.

[mingus]

This was a case of the Spurs horrible offense to some extent fueling Miami's offense. Miami deserves credit for their defense, but I thought the Spurs offense needed a heavy dose of 4-down when other things weren't going so well offensively. Quite a bit of what the Spurs did was self-inflicted.

[Thebesteva]

2-3-2 format is extremely unfair for the road team. You have to pull off some heroics as the road team to win like the 2004 Pistons or the 2011 Mavs. It makes it nearly impossible to win the series. The Spurs, in all likely hood will have to close this serious out IN Miami. I think this is going to be a 7 game series though.

[MilesTeg]

Cautious optimism is in order. The Heat certainly looked great in defense, but I'm waiting to see how much of it was because of Parker and Ducan having bad games. TP looked scared of committing turnovers.

I disagree with Manu being awful, he was the only one creating good shots. We need to take more risk against a team playing that well in defense. We can't just rely on contested 3s if we want to win the series...

[MilesTeg]

About the 2-3-2 format... people have short memories. Just a few years ago, people were saying it's good for the team with home court advantage, because it's tough to win 3 straight at home. I remember when the Pistons split the first 2 against the Lakers in 04, people were saying they'd lose at least 1 for sure. Since then a couple teams have won all 3 games, and every one is saying it favours the underdog... I'm not convinced.

[boutons_deux]

"close this serious out IN Miami"

Fuck Pop and anyone who says HCA doesn't matter in the Finals.

At very best, Spurs will go back to MIA up 3-2. Good luck getting the 5th LOB.

[T Park]

"close this serious out IN Miami"

Fuck Pop and anyone who says HCA doesn't matter in the Finals.

At very best, Spurs will go back to MIA up 3-2. Good luck getting the 5th LOB.





With how the west and east was the spurs had no shot making up the 8 games. They had Orlando and Charlotte for 8 games themselves ALONE

They only got to this point due to health and IMO that was gained through pop's plan the regular season of resting.

[Strategic]

Late in the 3rd quarter when the Heat made their run I thought Pop should have gotten more involved with trying to slow their action with more timeouts, calling different plays, trying CJ, Bonner, Blair, anything. In game one the Big 3 looked like they were ready to win this thing. In game two the Big 3 looked like they were looking for someone else on the team to win this thing. Manu looked like he was trying to dribble a football at times. This started as a best of seven with Miami having home court advantage, now it's a best of five and the Spurs have HCA. Game one is again important.

[milkyway21]

my random thoughts about the stats :


T. Parker, PG 33 min 5-14 = 13 pts

K. Leonard, SF 33min 4-12 = 9 pts

T. Duncan, PF 30min 3-13 = 9 pts

D. Green, SF 30min 6-6 5-5 = 17 pts. could have been Green's big night :( perfect FG, perfect from the arc

T. Splitter, C 23min 2-5 0-0 = 4 pts.

Manu - played only 18 min - 5 pts
Neal - 22 min with decent 10 pts

-------------------------------------------------
Spurs 32-78 FG

10-20 3pt

Miami 41-83 FG

10-19 3pt

the 3Pt % are the SAME

the FT Spurs 10-14 Miami 11-14 --- the same

but, THE FG :

besides of the low FG %, the Spurs are keeping the ball way too long.

that's practically a 10-pt differential there. (78-83)

unless they make more 3s they cannot win over Miami if they are not attempting more FGs IMO

[TampaDude]

my random thoughts about the stats :


T. Parker, PG 33 min 5-14 = 13 pts

K. Leonard, SF 33min 4-12 = 9 pts

T. Duncan, PF 30min 3-13 = 9 pts

D. Green, SF 30min 6-6 5-5 = 17 pts. could have been Green's big night :( perfect FG, perfect from the arc

T. Splitter, C 23min 2-5 0-0 = 4 pts.

Manu - played only 18 min - 5 pts
Neal - 22 min with decent 10 pts

-------------------------------------------------
Spurs 42-78 FG

10-20 3pt

Miami 41-83 FG

10-19 3pt

the 3Pt % are the SAME

the FT Spurs 10-14 Miami 11-14 --- the same

but, THE FG :

besides of the low FG %, the Spurs are keeping the ball way too long.

that's practically a 10-pt differential there. (78-83)

unless they make more 3s they cannot win over Miami if they are not attempting more FGs IMO

Actually, the Spurs were 32-78, not 42-78. If the Spurs had hit 42-78, they would have won last night.

[UZER]

Actually, the Spurs were 32-78, not 42-78. If the Spurs had hit 42-78, they would have won by 1 point last night.


:lol yeah when I was looking at that it didnt look right. I was thinking, "wait a minute, then how the hell did we lose."

[TampaDude]

:lol yeah when I was looking at that it didnt look right. I was thinking, "wait a minute, then how the hell did we lose."

Heh...same here...that's why I had to look it up. Actually, we could've won by more than 1 point if some of those missed FGs were 3s.

[therealtruth]

About the 2-3-2 format... people have short memories. Just a few years ago, people were saying it's good for the team with home court advantage, because it's tough to win 3 straight at home. I remember when the Pistons split the first 2 against the Lakers in 04, people were saying they'd lose at least 1 for sure. Since then a couple teams have won all 3 games, and every one is saying it favours the underdog... I'm not convinced.

[Obstructed_View]

Everyone on the team should apologize to Danny and Kawhi for wasting the opportunity those two players gave them.

[UZER]

typical media bithcing about the 2-3-2 just because Miami lost home court. If Spurs had home court and lost one of the first two games, media would be justifying the format.

[milkyway21]

Actually, the Spurs were 32-78, not 42-78. If the Spurs had hit 42-78, they would have won last night.

yeah TampaDude you are right ! :lol

I also think maybe those 10 FG differential are because the Spurs had 10 more turnovers than Miami

[milkyway21]

Everyone on the team should apologize to Danny and Kawhi for wasting the opportunity those two players gave them.

:tu what a perfect game for Danny :worthy:

[TheGreatYacht]

Cautious optimism is in order. The Heat certainly looked great in defense, but I'm waiting to see how much of it was because of Parker and Ducan having bad games. TP looked scared of committing turnovers.

I disagree with Manu being awful, he was the only one creating good shots. We need to take more risk against a team playing that well in defense. We can't just rely on contested 3s if we want to win the series...I don't know what game you were watching buddy but Manu looked pathetic out there. Watching him play last night made me wish that he would retire already. He could not dribble the ball at all. He looked like he had wobbling legs or was nervous as f*ck.

[spurspokesman]

Spurs need to win 2-3 at home. Go back at 3-2 with 2 shots. This

[GrandeDavid]

I feel that this is a rare series where homecourt advantage means little. Here you have the Spurs, a veteran team who has seen all sorts of road challenges over the years. Then you have champion Miami who thrives on the road. I feel that this series is unique in that its almost as if each game is played on a neutral court. I don't think that Miami's White Stripes humming crowd intimidates the Spurs, just ask Danny Green. And I don't think Miami could give a hoot about the Spurs' loud home crowd.

The Spurs need to minimize turnovers and that will give them a good chance to win the series, pretty simple as that.

[Creation88]

Spurs can't continue to rely on their 3 pt shooting to bail them out.....we need easy baskets. they killed us in points off turnovers, fast break points, AND points in the paint.

[Duncan2177]

typical media bithcing about the 2-3-2 just because Miami lost home court. If Spurs had home court and lost one of the first two games, media would be justifying the format.

Who cares what the media thinks.

[milkyway21]

In this playoffs, I believe in the Spurs because it didn't matter to them if they are down 15 pts or more they don't yield that easily (remember game 1 vs GS? the 18-2 run @ 3:47 4Q), I am thinking if we can expect some more like that.

[Spur-Addict]

16 turnovers, gave up 9 offensive boards, and ill advised shots. Lucky we were down 5 at half, due to great games by Green and Leonard. I saw some uncharacteristic frustration as well, it will be interesting to see if that is becomes a trend, or stays an anomaly. Surely that PnR with Parker is a problem, just like the G.S series. I can't give credit to Spol on that one. If they're going to front the post (and they will), entry feeds and ball movement will be key. It's on Timmy to seal. Gino had a great entry feed that led to a dunk (That front turned into a great seal).

[milkyway21]

I feel that this is a rare series where homecourt advantage means little. Here you have the Spurs, a veteran team who has seen all sorts of road challenges over the years. Then you have champion Miami who thrives on the road. I feel that this series is unique in that its almost as if each game is played on a neutral court. I don't think that Miami's White Stripes humming crowd intimidates the Spurs, just ask Danny Green. And I don't think Miami could give a hoot about the Spurs' loud home crowd.

The Spurs need to minimize turnovers and that will give them a good chance to win the series, pretty simple as that.

Right, I didn't see Green intimidated in any way against top seed Miami. He silently bailed the Spurs before, sending the game to OT by his 3ptr.
Hope he can keep on shooting more 3s @ a high percentage like in game 2 - 100%

[Gospursel]

Anyone remember squeezing past Golden State in game one of the Conference Semi Finals with late game heroics and then being clearly slammed by the better team in Game 2? Sound familiar? I began to die to the season in that second game against Golden State. I thought "we just don't have what it takes. Another disappointing season". We went to Golden State in a split series that should have been an 0-2 hole. What the spurs did the rest of that series pleasantly surprised me. Their response to adversity and the adjustments they made are what has made them a championship caliber team this year.
Now, I'm not at all suggesting that Golden State is anywhere close to the opponent that Miami is - what I'm pointing out is that in that series the Spurs took it to another level that I wasn't sure they had. The Spurs will have to do that again now. I'm sitting in a place much like I did then - wondering "do the spurs have what it takes?" I really hope they take it to another gear and surprise me. This spurs team has raised their ceiling of potential before - and I believe they can do it again.

Believe.

[MmP]

-That Chalmers-LeBron pick-and-roll is terrifying. It gets LeBron close to the basket with Duncan out of the play. The Spurs can't switch it because TP can't guard LeBron. If they don't switch, you're giving up a layup for Chalmers or have to leave an outside shooter on the weakside. It's going to be difficult to stop going forward....

That play by Spo really really scared me because I saw the same thing. I dunno how the hell he realized that.
I think Manu / Green should guard charlmers in order to switch and leave tony on Ray / Miller (although Ray will curl and may shoot over Tp...)
What do you think?

[41times]

Did anyone really expect the Spurs to win game 2. I mean really expect it?
The CHeat won 66 games this year. They were the best team in the NBA this year
So who really thought the Spurs were going to beat them TWICE in a row on their home court????
Yeah the margin of loss was huge. But the game was tight mid way in 3rd.
Once the run was over Pop cut his losses and rested some players. Smart.

The other thought i took from the game was the 3 point shooting finally came back for the Spurs.

So you come home for 3 straight games. And you can win ALL 3 if you do the following:
1. Take care of the ball. Less than 10 turnovers in each game.
2. Continue to shoot the 3 well
3. Play solid Spurs Defense.

The Glass is DEFINITELY Half FULL

[elec99]

C'mon, when was the last time the road team went and took the first two away from the home team in the finals? Dare I say definitely not within the last 10 years??
It's not going to happen this time either. If the spurs had to lose then you want it to be by a blowout so they get their s*** in check for the next game.

Our defense basically said "anyone but lebron" and it worked for one out of two games. Even with their excellent D the game was close until near the end of the 3rd quarter. Will they all click again in game 3 in SA? Will our big 3 do as poorly in game 3? I will say:

Our big 3 will all do better in game 3
It's hard to see Green score as many in game 3 though
But being at home our role players step up
We dont have as many TOs

Their role players dont do as well
lbj scores more
Their TOs go up


Law of averages, it swings the other way.

[SuperDave]

Very frustrating to see Tim repeatedly go to the short jumper instead of trying to back his man down. Didn't seem to work hard to get his seal, and then, with maybe one exception, he wasn't willing to try to get a better shot. If Tim can't/won't post up Anderson, we're in trouble.

The bigger problem IMO was Manu. With the Heat paying so much attention to Tony, we need Manu to step up and make plays. Most of the plays he made were for the Heat. I hope he still has something left, but I'm doubting it more than I ever have. Manu has got to find a way to make a positive impact in this series.

I don't fault Parker too much at all. It was all eyes on Parker from the Heat most of the time. If they're going to do that, we have to work the ball around and take advantage of the fact they're paying too much attention to Tony. Green was the only one who stepped up in that regard.

Of the role players I was very disappointed in Diaw. He never looked comfortable and basically gave us nothing out there. He's got to play better in SA.

We really did miss a golden opportunity. Credit the Heat for a lot of that, but we really play well at all. Bad time to lay an egg.

[Keepin' it real]

Who cares what the media thinks.

Nobody right? That's why nobody watches any TV, listens to any radio or reads anything online. :rolleyes

[milkyway21]

1. limit turnovers (game 1 : 6 TOs win for Spurs game 2 : Heat 6 TOs win for Heat.
2. share the ball.
3. make more 3s.
4. perimeter D
5. find a way to give Duncan the ball.

[024]

Turnovers really killed the team. Spurs had a record low 4 turnovers in game 1. For the Heat, who are probably one of the best at converting turnovers into points, the low turnovers denied them a lot of points. When the Spurs revert back to the average, all of a sudden, the floodgates open.

Yes, Spurs fans should be happy with the split. But at the same time, Miami was coasting in game 1. When they actually play with energy and intelligence, they are the best team in the world.

Another thing is even when the Heat big 3 somewhat contained, their role players stepped up. When the Spurs big 3 are contained, only Green stepped up. Where did Splitter and Diaw go? I'll forgive Leonard because most of his energy is expended on the defensive end but when he gets an open shot, he still needs to knock it down.

[Skull-1]

I don't know what game you were watching buddy but Manu looked pathetic out there. Watching him play last night made me wish that he would retire already. He could not dribble the ball at all. He looked like he had wobbling legs or was nervous as f*ck.

And one!

Manu was horrible. Losing his dribble every time he touched the ball. Not only was it a bad game, but it was probably the worst game of Manu's career. Certainly in the playoffs. Ginobili was The best bench player for the Heat.

[milkyway21]

Any thoughts on the refs?

fair or what?

thanks God BTW, no more Crawford until game 7

[SpursDynasty21]

Game 2 was a must-win for the Heat. They won by a lot, but the Spurs should just get ready for the rest of the series.

[ace3g]

Neal couldn't handle the Heat pressure D last night, got trapped too easily; won't even mention all the defensive lapses he had.

CJ has to be the main back up guard from now on, in fact, the Spurs regained the lead in the 3rd quarter when he was on the court, then after a break he never was on the court again till the game was a blow out. He is perfect against the Heat: he can rebound, hustles, good ball handler, attacks/makes good cuts to the basket. Oh and doesn't get beat on every Heat PnR play, causing other Spurs to help thus our D breaksdown. CJ is perfect against players like Cole.

CJ might not have the scoring of Neal but we need more defensive players off the bench.

[dallasmaverickslose]

If we defend the 3 better (not giving them a million open looks like we did) i guarunteed you that game 2 would have gone down to the wire.

[Horse]

What I saw was a team happy with getting their split and a desperate miami team. You will see our focused Spurs in game 3. And we all know how miami lets their guard down after a win. Role players games ususally don't travel. Atleast we got joey out of the way.

[BackHome]

I don't know what game you were watching buddy but Manu looked pathetic out there. Watching him play last night made me wish that he would retire already. He could not dribble the ball at all. He looked like he had wobbling legs or was nervous as f*ck.

Did a Heat fan spike his drink cause he looked like he was on something out there....

[Gagnrath]

I thought that the tony parker early had decided tunnel vision where he was either obviously trying to pass to one person on a possession or get to the rim and was dominating the ball for long stretches. When this happens it seriously hurts the spurs pace and flow, though in this case it was the first quarter and early second so didn't look that bad in scoring. Oddly this act really seems to hurt diaw though about 1/2 the time he's the person tony is trying to get the ball to.

Manu just didn't look right at any point in the game, be it passing or shooting or dribbling. It was kinda sad.

Duncan, moderately decent on defense and the boards but it wasn't great, was putting up weak jumpers mostly, on a couple of possessions especially right after the "block" (sure looked like James off hand was holding TD down and James was pushing himself up of Tim's clavicle. tough to see real speed but the replay as soon as lebron's hand hits the shoulder tim's direction changes to backwards and down. http://www.slamonline.com/online/media/slam-tv/2013/06/lebron-james-blocks-tim-duncan-in-game-2-video/)

Pretty good game by Kawhi, Really good game by Green.

I'm not going to flat blame Neal he was pretty decent in the first half and in the first few of the 3rd. He was in for a good bit of the collapse but everyone was sucking then. He's not a superstar, he's a roleplayer who is playing through an injury though it looks like his legs are coming back hope his shot follows. You're also asking your 3rd string SG/PG to bail you out and take the blame, that's not really his role.

Splitter, he's got the physical ability, he has skills, he even has decent hands unlike Malik, Somehow though he is more passive than Diaw because Diaw is only passive when it comes to shooting.

[Embedded]

[QUOTE=TampaDude;6643381]Spurs played like a team that didn't really need to win Game 2.

Heat played like a team that desperately needed to win Game 2.

It matters not. Spurs in 5.[/QUOT
I agree 100%. I could tell from Mr. Parker and Mr. Ginobili's lack of focus (hence the turnovers and missteps) to know they are happy going back to San Antonio with Home Court Advantage. Yes, out of the remaining 5 games, 3 are in San Antonio. In the past, San Antonio responds big time when blown out. Now we should be the more energized team in Game 3.

[moisaenz]

Spurs will bounce back a lost like this was bound to happen, happy it was on the road and a game 2.

[Budkin]

Everyone flipping out... this team is awesome and they WILL bounce back at home, including Manu. I'd go so far as to say that it's possible that we blow THEM out.

[SouthernFried]

Spurs get 1 in Miami...2 in San Antonio...and 1 more in Miami.

All going according to plan.

[RD2191]

Not even worried...Heat role players are not going to play as well on the road. Lebron is still being contained very well and the Heat big 3 have to step it up in order for them to in in SA.

[look_at_g_shred]

I think our guys gave up middle of the 3rd. I think pop did too. Maybe they were fine with the split knowing the next three games are in SA. I didn't see any fight in our guys expect Leonard and Green.

[look_at_g_shred]

Kinda reminds of game 2 of the 2005 Finals when we got blown out by the Pistons. Everything went wrong in that one.

[SA210]

:lol


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTPILxkcF50

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Gotta agree with that. There was no point of the game where I thought anything was going well. Most of the first 2.5 quarters I felt the Spurs were extremely fortunate to still be in the game and I kept expecting that big run to surface some time with how badly the Spurs were playing.

I agree as well. I am tired of saying, "they are playing like shit but at least we are only down <10 points."

[Slippy]

Offensively spurs big 3 let down their team. Manu never got his handles under control. Tony often got his pass intercepted and tended to hold the ball too long. Tim repeatedly threw up soft fade aways in the post. Not much chance of this happening again this series.

There's more chances of seeing Gary Neal getting beat easily, committing mental lapes on defense and taller shooters simply shooting over him. It's on pop for playing longer than he should.

[Strategic]

I feel that this is a rare series where homecourt advantage means little. Here you have the Spurs, a veteran team who has seen all sorts of road challenges over the years. Then you have champion Miami who thrives on the road. I feel that this series is unique in that its almost as if each game is played on a neutral court. I don't think that Miami's White Stripes humming crowd intimidates the Spurs, just ask Danny Green. And I don't think Miami could give a hoot about the Spurs' loud home crowd. Home court also means home beds. The Spurs will get about nine nights in a row of it. That means something!

The Spurs need to minimize turnovers and that will give them a good chance to win the series, pretty simple as that.While home court advantage might not mean much the Spurs will get about nine nights in a row in the home beds. That does mean something.

[cd021]

He is. Other than the Joseph cameo early in the 3rd, he played strictly an 8 man rotation until garbage time. And with Splitter continuing his playoff long Bargnani impression (and that's being generous; he might be even softer and less competitive at the moment) and Diaw not doing much of anything, what choice does he have but to go small? Right now, their five best consists of one big and four smalls, plus it's easier to match up with the Heat, who are going to play small plenty either way.

If neither Splitter nor Diaw play with an ounce of intestinal fortitude in their initial stint, then it's time to turn to Bonner again. Yeah, I know he'll have trouble getting a shot off against their defense, but I don't care. They need as much scoring as they can get and their is no low post scoring big for the Heat, so what value do Splitter and Diaw have right now, other than the former providing a semblance of rim protection when Duncan rests?

As far as adjustments, same one as game one jumps out: Post Duncan more.

This^

[cd021]

Kinda reminds of game 2 of the 2005 Finals when we got blown out by the Pistons. Everything went wrong in that one.

Remembered wrong, its game 3. We won the 1st two is S.A.

[look_at_g_shred]

Remembered wrong, its game 3. We won the 1st two is S.A.

Oh yeah my bad, yet you get the idea.