What kind of adjustment do you think Miami will make in Game 4?

[apalisoc_9]

- Stay on shooters
- Less Birdman
- Pressure Ginobili, Neal full court
- Sag off leonard

[hater]

IMO they gonna let Manu/TP beat them. stay on the shooters. which will be very sound strategy given Manu is playing awful 1-1 ball and Parker seems injured.

IMO Dunan needs to have a huge game or this series will be tied at 2 a piece

[BatManu20]

They're probably going to try and make a hobbled Tony beat them. I bet they shadow Green the whole game. I don't even think they're worried about Manu at all so they will prob sag off him until he proves he can make a jump shot.

I expect them to be really aggressive and try to get to the FT line as much as possible. And their D will be extremely tight.

[hater]

oh and also free throw parade from now on. tbh

[unforeseen]

Hack-a-Splitter.

[BatManu20]

IMO they gonna let Manu/TP beat them. stay on the shooters. which will be very sound strategy given Manu is playing awful 1-1 ball and Parker seems injured.

IMO Dunan needs to have a huge game or this series will be tied at 2 a piece

Agreed. Timmy and someone else need to have big games cause you know miami's going all out this game. We need guys to step up, esp with Tony potentially ineffective.

[2centsworth]

Not much they can do if our other players like Tiago, Tim and Manu start to participate offensively. If boner can some how find his huevos, lights out.

[Budkin]

oh and also free throw parade from now on. tbh

This. The bullshit fouls will be flying out of those whistles. LeBron leads his team back from the brink!!!

[Spurs21Fan4Ever]

Hope they make shots and Spurs don't. Spoelstra's secret gameplan.

[Kidd K]

LeBron will shoot more. May or may not hit more, but his attempts will probably go up by 5-8 just to shut people up.

Heat are going to try bulldozing into the paint more and will probably get bailed with FTAs instead of offensive fouls being called.

Parker will get roughed up if he plays. Yes, I'm saying they will use dirty tactics to try and take him out. Most likely Haslem or Anderson. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and I don't think they are above it.

They're going to let the three ball fly. I expect they will play faster and more aggressive across the board and try to give us a taste of our own medicine from three.

I think they may give up some drives to the paint to stay on shooters. It's against their (and most teams') defensive philosphy, but can they really risk letting Green and Neal destroy them again? They will have no chance if they do.

[HemisfairArena]

Push the tempo alot with Parkers injury. Best thing you can do is make someone run if they have a leg injury if you want to beat them. Heat will want this game going into the 100's. And another night of Green and Neal hitting 3's is probably not gonna happen.

[Spurs and Mavs fan]

Have LeBron James drive to the basket about 20 times. Really make an effort to score points in the paint and draw fouls.

[Spurs21Fan4Ever]

I think the Heat will try to draw cheap fouls on Kawhi, Green, and Duncan early, and good chance refs call those cheap fouls. Then LeBron will just drive to the hoop.

[ironman2886]

Honestly game 2 was a must win for the Heat, and they went all out the whole game. Spurs had to spot lots of extra possessions with turnovers in the last three minutes of the 3rd quarter and early four just for them to take back the lead for good. Spurs helped out too much on Lebron, and the rest is history. Limit turnovers and stay on the bulls eyes shooters, and the Spurs got this.

[cd021]

Less starting lineup of
Chalmers
Wade
James
Haslem
Bosh

On account that only one of those guys actually takes 3's. More Miller possibly some Battier at the 4.

Chalmers
Wade
Miller
James
Bosh

I'd actually expect this group to start. That would be a bad move IMO. All the Spurs would have to do is have Splitter stand near Miller on D and on offense watch as Miller and Chalmers attempt to keep Splitter off the glass. They had this happen against Indiana ( they'd send another guard in the lane to help Miller box out Indiana's big, thus making them much slower in transit).

Neal & Green will have a ton of attention payed to them. Lebron may even check Green, which would be a waist of his defense. Leonard may have Wade or even Miller checking him both of them would have their own problems against him.
Battier may have to check Duncan, conversely Duncan would have to check a ice cold Battier from deep. As long as Wade plays the Spurs are going to mock him by sagging off him like he's Tony Allen (His 3pt % is actually similar to Allen's).

[Knoxxx]

IMO Dunan needs to have a huge game or this series will be tied at 2 a piece

Who's Dunan?

[HarlemHeat37]

I'm expecting them to continue the same strategy against Parker, since it's working, tbh..

They did a good job of running Danny Green off the line in the 1st half, but their strategy failed in the 2nd..I expect Lebron to guard him more and make him put the ball on the floor, tbh..

That will allow Kawhi to post up against Wade or get open for a 3, but Miami is going to live with that IMO..

They are also going to live with Duncan beating them, since he has struggled, offensively..

Offensively, I expect more attacking from Lebron and Wade, particularly Lebron..he only has 6 FTAs in 3 games, which is unreal, he's going to try to get to the line as much as possible IMO..they may play Wade a lot less, since he has been killing them on both ends..

They only ran the Chalmers-James pick&roll 2 or 3 times IIRC, expect more of it..

Bosh got great looks in game 3, he just missed most of them, I don't expect them to go away from his looks..

[HarlemHeat37]

It'll be interesting to see if Spoelstra reduces Wade's minutes, tbh..

Wade kills Lebron's spacing in the post, and he's currently an inefficient chucker that plays horrible defense(the injury has hindered him for most of the playoffs)..Miami has been much better running Lebron and shooters, so it's possible that Spoelstra pulls him early if he continues to struggle..

[siraulo23]

i'll suspect miami is gonna mix it up defensively not being overly aggressive on the pick and roll ball handler all the time

we'll see if they overreact to one crazy shooting night, spurs arent gonna make 16 3s again but they gotta keep attacking that aggressive d by the heat the same way

- i think james be very aggressive from the get go and if the spurs let bosh get those open looks again in the first half, expect him to hit those

[TampaDude]

It won't matter. Spurs will win Game 4 by double digits.

[SpurPadre]

The refs will probably sense that the Heat are going to try to force feed into the lane and force us to throw our hands up or the refs will grant them a shitload of free throw attempts. Oh well, good. I'd rather them fight for two than giving Allen and Miller all day to hit their open threes. Lebron will put up huge numbers but how many shot attempts will he need to put up those huge numbers? It might be one of those Kobe games where he gets 30-40 but has to jack up 30 shots to get them.

[JingleJangleJingle]

Who's Dunan?

Jim Dunan is #21 for the Spurs

[m33p0]

green and neal most likely won't have the same night as last time but heat won't take that chance. heatles will stay home on the shooters. this will leave room for the BIG 3 to operate.

lebron will most likely go cleveland. our boy kawhi is up to the task as he has been all series long (fingers crossed).

duncan and manu will have to come up huge in Game 4.

[m33p0]

The refs will probably sense that the Heat are going to try to force feed into the lane and force us to throw our hands up or the refs will grant them a shitload of free throw attempts. Oh well, good. I'd rather them fight for two than giving Allen and Miller all day to hit their open threes. Lebron will put up huge numbers but how many shot attempts will he need to put up those huge numbers? It might be one of those Kobe games where he gets 30-40 but has to jack up 30 shots to get them.
30+ points at 30 something percentage. :king:

[m33p0]

i'll suspect miami is gonna mix it up defensively not being overly aggressive on the pick and roll ball handler all the time

we'll see if they overreact to one crazy shooting night, spurs arent gonna make 16 3s again but they gotta keep attacking that aggressive d by the heat the same way

- i think james be very aggressive from the get go and if the spurs let bosh get those open looks again in the first half, expect him to hit those
get? spurs are gonna GIVE him those wide open 3s all game.

[GSH]

I think they will prepare some better excuses ahead of time:

LeBron can't do it all by himself.
Wade's knee is bothering him.
Bosh has a stomach virus.
That little mariachi kid's conchos blinded us.

[chrhawk]

Spoelstra will likely go to his shooters much earlier. Which will leave the Heat much more vulnerable defensively. LeBron will probably get a lot more post-up attempts.

[Baam]

I don't think they can play defense any other way, that's their whole system and it worked quite well aside from 2 quarters.

On offense I expect Lebron being ultra aggressive in the post tho.

[Poolboy5623]

Idk with green...they must not have been paying attention in game 2, because he was 5-5 from 3...and they didn't do much about that in game 3. I think the key is the spurs, with their ball movement and d. If they play their brand of ball, they'll be just fine. They have done this for all but 15 mins of this series. Hopefully experiencing the heat and their desperation in game 2, will help the guys in game 5.

[CGD]

If Lebron comes in chucking outside shots from the start to make a point, that just plays into Pops plan. I'd rather have James shot those than drive or post. Yes dude is a beast, but I take the percentages of long 2s over drives 100% of the time. If he beats the spurs with that, take your hat off to him.

[m33p0]

If Lebron comes in chucking outside shots from the start to make a point, that just plays into Pops plan. I'd rather have James shot those than drive or post. Yes dude is a beast, but I take the percentages of long 2s over drives 100% of the time. If he beats the spurs with that, take your hat off to him.

:tu

[siraulo23]

get? spurs are gonna GIVE him those wide open 3s all game.

i said if the spurs let bosh get those looks, hes gonna knock em down, i thought bosh had at least 4 wide open mid range shots in the 1st quarter, thats his game, he makes those, spurs would have to respect him a little bit more

[Poolboy5623]

I don't understand James...Im confused as to why he's not shooting the wide open shots..wade passing them up is one thing. Is it the mental aspect of the d sagging off, or is he just not confident in his outside shot?

[m33p0]

i said if the spurs let bosh get those looks, hes gonna knock em down, i thought bosh had at least 4 wide open mid range shots in the 1st quarter, thats his game, he makes those, spurs would have to respect him a little bit more
longs 2's? i can live with that since it will still take him out of the rebounding action.

[m33p0]

I don't understand James...Im confused as to why he's not shooting the wide open shots..wade passing them up is one thing. Is it the mental aspect of the d sagging off, or is he just not confident in his outside shot?
that's the idea. make him question himself.

[Spurs and Mavs fan]

Would it be so hard to simply have Parker shoot jumpers and have several other players aggressively try to score more points in the paint? (Not Ginobili, his dribbling and turnovers have been terrible of late)

[siraulo23]

longs 2's? i can live with that since it will still take him out of the rebounding action.

thats pretty much bosh's game but i agree the spurs can live with those shots... but im just saying he's very capable hitting a high clip if theyre wide open like they were in the 1st quarter of game 3

[HEBsteaks]

LeBrons game is built on blowing past, overpowering people and getting near the rim. The Spurs are blocking it by playing off of him and packing the paint. Now he is forced to take nothing but jumpers and you can tell he doesn't want to shoot them. It's the same thing the Heat are doing to TP, blocking him from his strength. Sometimes TP gets stubborn and forces it, LeBron seems to be the opposite, he gets frustrated and passive.

The only way this changes is if he starts scoring on those jumpers, and even then, the Spurs might live with it. The other is if he tries to storm through the paint, with the spurs packing it, they need to be in position to take charges. I'm sure there will be adjustments, but I wouldn't be surprised if hes under 20 points again. I think hes getting physically and mentally tired and defeated. So many minutes, so little production.

[Spurs and Mavs fan]

The strategy of allowing James to shoot jumpers but defending the paint sounds like the Suns' strategy for defending against Parker in Game 3 of the Western Conference first round. It backfired spectacularly as Parker scored 41 points, many of them on jump shots.


James' poor shooting last night doesn't give confidence that he could score effectively from the field, but he has been known in his career to score many points from jump shots (i.e., Game 6 of the 2007 ECF against Detroit.)

[m33p0]

strange but that same defense the spurs are putting up isn't going to work on the spurs themselves. they are always told to take the shot if it's there. they actually get benched if they don't.

[ShoogarBear]

Have LeBron James drive to the basket about 20 times. Really make an effort to score points in the paint and draw fouls.

Yeah, I think LeBron starts out the game in complete beast mode. No deferring to Wade and Bosh, they can get theirs in the second half.

And they're going to go after Parker hard to see how mobile he is.

The first half is going to be an onslaught. The Spurs need to be ready to take the best punch the Heat can give out.

[Budkin]

In the Finals I can think of where the home team won all 3 games (Pistons 2004, Heat 2012), Game 4 has always been the toughest for the home team to win. The Lakers looked like they were going to take it until the Pistons made a push in the second half of the 4th. Last year OKC came out on fire and won the first quarter 33-19 and Miami had to fight uphill to get back in it and then win. I think this is going to be one of if not the toughest game in the series.

[Man In Black]

It's time for DWhistle and LBJ free Throw Parade.

It can only be countered by making the 3 ball. So, let's hope the shooters stay hot!

[BackHome]

Not worried about Lebron taking over but more so of the reffs taking over. On a side note I just noticed that the game we got killed in all three refs were white and they last game we killed them all three refs were black. With all the cultural diversity it just seemed kinda weird to have that type of set up.

[Splits]

good, better, best...never let it rest, until your good is better and your better is your best

[TheGoldStandard]

Parkers suspect hamstring might lend a hand in the reffing department, a hobbled Parker might get a few more whistles. I expect James to try to carry the load which is fine.. Pop has to be content with this and don't double or triple him at all, let him take jump shots, if he attacks funnel into the paint but rotate over to cover the open shooters. The trouble with Miami is that unless James is scoring consistently they don't generate enough offense if you stay with there shooters, Wade disappears at half time and Bosh is averaging what he normally does. They all become spectators waiting for James to do something and he's been deferring.

If we play the kind of defense that we are capable of, control the turnovers under 10 a game or so we can win this next game. James will not go for 40 tomorrow night.

[SA210]

Our problem will be the refs. Look for Lebron to get a call for every breath of air that touches him.

[lefty]

They just hope we miss TBH

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lr3446sGXR1qk26dzo1_500.gif

[Go0n]

James is going to attack. He feels the full weight of the expectations and he's not going to spend another game hesitating as the Spurs lay off him. He's going to force tighter D by Leonard/Green by hitting his shots early in the game. This will open up the lane for him to drive, which will draw an extra defender and leave someone open on the perimeter. I expect mid to high 30's in scoring from LeBron. He won't leave another game in the hands of the Heat role players.

Parker will play a limited role on offense, most of the ball handling will be done by Ginobili / CoJo. Joseph will have increased minutes, and our offense will suffer for it. (nothing against CoJo, I like him. He's just not going to score while guarded by Cole.) Duncan will lead the team in scoring, Spurs by 3 in regulation.

[BillMc]

Yeah, I think LeBron starts out the game in complete beast mode. No deferring to Wade and Bosh, they can get theirs in the second half.

And they're going to go after Parker hard to see how mobile he is.

The first half is going to be an onslaught. The Spurs need to be ready to take the best punch the Heat can give out.

Exactly. But if Parker passes the test, and we repel LeBron's drives to the basket without getting in foul trouble, we'll be set. We get through the first half "punch" and the series may be ours.

[T Park]

They only ran the Chalmers Lebron PNr 2 or 3 times because the Spurs pretty much figured it out.

[T Park]

Also I think fatigue will start to play a role in the second half. If the Spurs are winning at half, the series will be just about over.

[dg7md]

In the Finals I can think of where the home team won all 3 games (Pistons 2004, Heat 2012), Game 4 has always been the toughest for the home team to win. The Lakers looked like they were going to take it until the Pistons made a push in the second half of the 4th. Last year OKC came out on fire and won the first quarter 33-19 and Miami had to fight uphill to get back in it and then win. I think this is going to be one of if not the toughest game in the series.

Game 4 is definitely the hardest to win because this is practically a game 7 for Miami. However, we have the luxury of being far superior than those other teams in question, even the 2012 Thunder.

I want the Spurs to play the best they can without slouching to try to pull off a victory in 5. I truly think they can do it. If it goes to 6, Miami is suddenly in the driver's seat.

[kaji157]

I think their main adjustment will come from them being more agressive on the closeout of 3´s and not so much on the pick and roll, going under screens if Parker is not hitting his midrange. But mostly, they have their backs against the wall, no team has come back from 3-1 in the finals, so they will play with a sense of urgency that will be difficult for Spurs to match given that they are up in the series.
We need the guys to keep it close and not let the refs or any Heat player take over.

PS: I loved that Pop quote to Neal "oh Gary, Tony told me to tell you, if you don´t mind, don´t ever leave Miller or Allen, no matter where you are on the court" Pop´s priceless

[41times]

The CHeat will gaurd the perimeter tonight much better than Tuesday to stop the 3 pt shot.
Now if Tony Parker was 100% that would be fine because then He and Timmy would simply slice and dice the CHeat to death.
But with a wounded Parker (if he is really that wonded, could be a trick?) but if he is wounded then it will be tough for the Spurs to slice in and dish the rock.
The CHeat will hang their had on the fact that they believe Tony is injured and they will sell out to stop the outside shot.

[Brazil]

- Test Parker the 5 first minutes by attacking him on every possession

[Seventyniner]

Who's Dunan?

Lead singer for Dunan Dunan.

[manufan10]

I don't see the Heat changing their defensive strategy. I think they will live with Danny Green and Gary Neal beating them. Maybe have TOSB Wade stay at home on his man instead of helping so much.

Offensively, we'll probably see a little more of LeBron posting up and being more aggressive on offense.

[Spurs and Mavs fan]

From watching the Pacers-Heat ECF you could have gotten a feeling that Mike Miller's 3-point shooting ability wasn't going to be good news for the Spurs.........

[dbestpro]

They will attack the basket relentlessly like they did in game 7 against Indiana, and try to put the game on the back of the officials.

[tmtcsc]

I expect them to yell "MISS IT" as they close out on our 3 pt shooters.