chazley
05-28-2014, 05:08 PM
The Thunder with Serge Ibaka have compeltely annihilated the Spurs the last two games. Tony Parker, other than a great start to game 4, has looked 40 years old. Tim Duncan was pushed around by Kendrick Perkins and was even stomping around and screaming at teammates and coaches. Manu Ginobili was a ghost. The question becomes, what can we do about it? I believe there are some things that can be fixed. Here is what every rotation player must do going forward:
Tony Parker - It is time. Tony Parker must become the MVP candidate he was for much of last year. He cannot give us less than 20 points and 5 assists. He has to be attacking, drawing defenders, and making them pay with good passing and scoring. It is also very wierd to me we have not seen much action with Tony Parker off the ball in OKC. We need to be running Westbrook through tons of screens every possession. I do not like iso-Tony against this team.
Danny Green - Danny just has to do what he does. Make some threes and don't try to do too much.
Kawhi Leonard - The Thunder really pulled away at the end of the second quarter, and Kawhi was suspiciously on the bench while Durant went on a personal 8-0 run. Kawhi needs to play every single minute that KD does. On top of this, he has to go back to giving us 12-15 on the offensive end. He is one of the few Spurs players who can finish over the top of a shotblocker, and we desperately need that.
Tim Duncan - Paging Tim Duncan. WE NEED YOU. Hopefully Tim Duncan is still capable of a throwback performance, because the Spurs desperately need him to start playing like an all-star again. Does he have a 24-16-3 block game in him? If he does, it has never been as needed as Game 5.
Tiago Splitter - This is not the series for you. I suspect a starting lineup change. You've played great all year, but you get exposed against smaller, athletic teams because you are incapable of scoring on your own.
Manu Ginobili - I WANT SOME NASTY. Manu, go in there and play fearless, reckless basketball. Attack the rim. Give us a throwback dunk over Serge. We could also desperately use your ability to draw some fouls against the OKC big men. Manu has been a much better player this year than he was last year, and we have leaned on him throughout the season. He needs to have a vintage Manu game. Time to show up Manu.
Boris Diaw - I loved what we saw from Boris once Pop threw in the white flag. He was aggressive, fearless, and he was our vocal leader out on the floor. He annihilated KD in the post when the Thunder were small against us down the stretch. I suspect we see Boris starting next game, and playing 30+ minutes.
Patty Mills - I believe Patty is still the backup PG. However, he's got one half to prove he is capable of doing what he's done all year: make shots. He has been terrible this series shooting the basketball, and has been absent. However, Patty Mills is a guy who is capable of giving you 10 in a quarter. I think he has the potential to be a wild card for us in Game 5. I think if given the chance, he can still step up and make an impact.
Cory Joseph - You played well and with alot of heart, and I respect that. However, our problem is offense in this series, not defense. Patty Mills is the significantly better offensive player. I wouldn't be surprised to see Cory playing over Patty in game 5, but I'd prefer to stick with Patty.
Pop/General thoughts - We have got to do some stuff to neutralize their athleticism. We've got to get people moving, and moving ALOT. Whoever Westbrook is guarding, you've got to run him around and take advantage of his natural instinct to jump passing lanes. We did a great job of this in game 1-2 and stopped doing it in games 3-4. We need to run alot of our offense through Boris. When Serge is guarding him, he can take him away from the hoop and use his pump-fake arsenal to get him in the air at the hoop. Against KD, he is quicker and stronger than KD and embarrasses him on the low block. Start Boris over Tiago. We need to see alot more passion, energy, and flat out WILL TO WIN. We have to play every possession with controlled desperation and ferocity that we have not seen yet.
We can still win this. Time to see if we are worthy of being champions.
Tony Parker - It is time. Tony Parker must become the MVP candidate he was for much of last year. He cannot give us less than 20 points and 5 assists. He has to be attacking, drawing defenders, and making them pay with good passing and scoring. It is also very wierd to me we have not seen much action with Tony Parker off the ball in OKC. We need to be running Westbrook through tons of screens every possession. I do not like iso-Tony against this team.
Danny Green - Danny just has to do what he does. Make some threes and don't try to do too much.
Kawhi Leonard - The Thunder really pulled away at the end of the second quarter, and Kawhi was suspiciously on the bench while Durant went on a personal 8-0 run. Kawhi needs to play every single minute that KD does. On top of this, he has to go back to giving us 12-15 on the offensive end. He is one of the few Spurs players who can finish over the top of a shotblocker, and we desperately need that.
Tim Duncan - Paging Tim Duncan. WE NEED YOU. Hopefully Tim Duncan is still capable of a throwback performance, because the Spurs desperately need him to start playing like an all-star again. Does he have a 24-16-3 block game in him? If he does, it has never been as needed as Game 5.
Tiago Splitter - This is not the series for you. I suspect a starting lineup change. You've played great all year, but you get exposed against smaller, athletic teams because you are incapable of scoring on your own.
Manu Ginobili - I WANT SOME NASTY. Manu, go in there and play fearless, reckless basketball. Attack the rim. Give us a throwback dunk over Serge. We could also desperately use your ability to draw some fouls against the OKC big men. Manu has been a much better player this year than he was last year, and we have leaned on him throughout the season. He needs to have a vintage Manu game. Time to show up Manu.
Boris Diaw - I loved what we saw from Boris once Pop threw in the white flag. He was aggressive, fearless, and he was our vocal leader out on the floor. He annihilated KD in the post when the Thunder were small against us down the stretch. I suspect we see Boris starting next game, and playing 30+ minutes.
Patty Mills - I believe Patty is still the backup PG. However, he's got one half to prove he is capable of doing what he's done all year: make shots. He has been terrible this series shooting the basketball, and has been absent. However, Patty Mills is a guy who is capable of giving you 10 in a quarter. I think he has the potential to be a wild card for us in Game 5. I think if given the chance, he can still step up and make an impact.
Cory Joseph - You played well and with alot of heart, and I respect that. However, our problem is offense in this series, not defense. Patty Mills is the significantly better offensive player. I wouldn't be surprised to see Cory playing over Patty in game 5, but I'd prefer to stick with Patty.
Pop/General thoughts - We have got to do some stuff to neutralize their athleticism. We've got to get people moving, and moving ALOT. Whoever Westbrook is guarding, you've got to run him around and take advantage of his natural instinct to jump passing lanes. We did a great job of this in game 1-2 and stopped doing it in games 3-4. We need to run alot of our offense through Boris. When Serge is guarding him, he can take him away from the hoop and use his pump-fake arsenal to get him in the air at the hoop. Against KD, he is quicker and stronger than KD and embarrasses him on the low block. Start Boris over Tiago. We need to see alot more passion, energy, and flat out WILL TO WIN. We have to play every possession with controlled desperation and ferocity that we have not seen yet.
We can still win this. Time to see if we are worthy of being champions.