OV's Spurs Dubs breakdown, Segunda Parte

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Well, folks, once again we find ourselves in uncharted territory. Yet another matchup of the two best teams at this point in the season in the history of the NBA. Thanks to the weakened west, we find the two elite teams in the west having massively bloated records. If the Spurs are going to have any shot at home court in the conference finals, this is the first step to making it happen.

Many factors remain the same from my breakdown of the first game (http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=256451): Don't turn the ball over, get back on defense, secure your rebounds. A few things have changed since the January game, and I'll spell the most important ones out here.

Smallball experimentation

The Spurs had run virtually zero small lineups prior to the first game, which didn't stop Pop from resting Duncan, essentially throwing the whole team off the boat. The result was sinking in quite spectacular fashion. While I hope Pop allows the Duncan/Aldridge/Leonard front line a chance to see how they defend the Warriors tonight, at least there are some small lineups that have gotten time together, and we should all expect a number of lineups being put out there to see how they do, regardless of whether or not the game gets out of hand.

Lean on your superstar scorer

Since the blowout in Oakland, Lamarcus Aldridge has undergone a transformation. He's much more reliable as a scorer. I thought the Spurs could post him up to take advantage of the smaller lineups of the Dubs, and I hoped that would get him going. He's going now, so the Spurs need to make sure he gets a lot of touches in the pick and roll game and in the post and allow him to make decisions.

Draw fouls

While hitting open jumpers is going to be essential, I think the Spurs need to be more aggressive going to the rim. Frankly, the way they go to the rim should be changed, as too often we've seen a guy go in for a layup, avoid the worst of the contact to get the shot away, miss the shot and not get the whistle. More than they have, the Spurs should initiate the contact and ensure a trip to the line.

Play 48 for a change

As Elnono aptly pointed out, the Spurs aren't winning shit against this team if they screw around for 36 minutes like they did against Portland. The Spurs have been blowing games open in the third and fourth quarters. The Warriors have been resting for the third and fourth quarters. Last night, they closed out Dallas in the 4th, so it's not like they lack the wind to play a complete game. If you want your home streak to continue, you'd better show up ready to play.

The Spurs are as close to having home court on their racket as anyone could ever have expected by this point in the season. It would be nice to see them take that seriously. I don't really see the Spurs playing their best ball at this point. They've come out flat and dropped a few games they shouldn't, and played down to their competition in others. I think Pop knows this too, and I expect him to chicken out and sit a couple of people for this game. If he doesn't, this is a good test. I think the home streak probably ends tonight, renders the next two meetings moot and gives the Spurs something to think about and work on between now and the playoffs.

[TheDoctor]

:flag:

[YGWHI]

Lean on your superstar scorer
Since the blowout in Oakland, Lamarcus Aldridge has undergone a transformation. He's much more reliable as a scorer. I thought the Spurs could post him up to take advantage of the smaller lineups of the Dubs, and I hoped that would get him going. He's going now, so the Spurs need to make sure he gets a lot of touches in the pick and roll game and in the post and allow him to make decisions.




Since the Spurs have in Kawhi a superstar scorer with a favorable matchup against Barnes/Klay w/o Iguodala, I'd like to see Pop asking Kawhi to be aggressive on offense.
The Spurs won't win a game against the Warriors if Kawhi takes only 6 shots like last game...

[YGWHI]

Play 48 for a change
As Elnono aptly pointed out, the Spurs aren't winning shit against this team if they screw around for 36 minutes like they did against Portland. The Spurs have been blowing games open in the third and fourth quarters. The Warriors have been resting for the third and fourth quarters. Last night, they closed out Dallas in the 4th, so it's not like they lack the wind to play a complete game. If you want your home streak to continue, you'd better show up ready to play.



If Pop doesn't put Danny on Curry in the first minutes of the game...we'll lose the 1st quarter by 15. Play 48? Sure. But Spurs slow starts have killed them against good teams so play the first 12 TOO.

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Since the Spurs have in Kawhi a superstar scorer with a favorable matchup against Barnes/Klay w/o Iguodala, I'd like to see Pop asking Kawhi to be aggressive on offense.
The Spurs won't win a game against the Warriors if Kawhi takes only 6 shots like last game...

If you think that matchup is somehow more favorable than Lamarcus against anyone the Warriors have, then I don't know what to tell you. Green is a fine defender, but Lamarcus should eat him up.

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Play 48? Sure. But Spurs slow starts have killed them against good teams so play the first 12 TOO.

Can't play 48 if you don't play the first 12, tbh.

[Nathan89]

If you think that matchup is somehow more favorable than Lamarcus against anyone the Warriors have, then I don't know what to tell you. Green is a fine defender, but Lamarcus should eat him up.

Kawhi is a better offensive player and Klay and Barnes are worse on defense than Dray. Plus they don't get away with everything like Dray. It's a much more favorable matchup.

[YGWHI]

If you think that matchup is somehow more favorable than Lamarcus against anyone the Warriors have, then I don't know what to tell you. Green is a fine defender, but Lamarcus should eat him up.

Well, Green is a better defender than Barnes and Klay, so I'd say yes. LMA has one, but Kawhi's matchup is nicer.

[YGWHI]

Can't play 48 if you don't play the first 12, tbh.

Of course....Just tell Pop and our guys to remember that and the Spurs will be fine.

[YGWHI]

My point is to have BOTH involved not only LMA in the crucial first minutes.

Having a passive Kawhi on offense parking in the corner for most the first half waiting to establish Parker-LMA two man game, and just give him the ball in the 2nd half won't give the Spurs a victory against Warriors, they're not the Blazers.

[Spurs9]

Good take tbh

[houston spurs fan]

Great write-up OP

[turb0time]

TY OP :bobo

[BillMc]

Nice job OP!

[Dex]

Solid work as usual, O_V.

This game is worth going for. If the Spurs manage to win this game, it elevates the importance of the remaining two contests with the Warriors ...and if somehow the Spurs could pull those off, that would make the #1 seed a legitimate possibility.

If the Spurs lose this game, then fine...go ahead and punt the next two against the Warriors. But there is still a very shiny brass ring to play for tonight. The question is...how many cards are the Spurs willing to show to go get it?

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My point is to have BOTH involved not only LMA in the crucial first minutes.

Having a passive Kawhi on offense parking in the corner for most the first half waiting to establish Parker-LMA two man game, and just give him the ball in the 2nd half won't give the Spurs a victory against Warriors, they're not the Blazers.

I suppose if Kawhi comes out and plays completely out of character, then yeah, that's a problem. I guess I needed to specify that the Spurs couldn't just dump it in to Aldridge and stand around. I guess I also need to specify that they have to hit their jumpers and free throws and stuff, but I figured that was understood in a big game.

Aldridge knows when to shoot and when to pass, is playing with a lot of confidence and he's been a leading scorer in this league. None of that takes away from what the other players can contribute, or their value to the team. Getting him a lot of touches early on seems like a good strategy to me.

[Obstructed_View]

If the Spurs lose this game, then fine...go ahead and punt the next two against the Warriors. But there is still a very shiny brass ring to play for tonight. The question is...how many cards are the Spurs willing to show to go get it?

I don't know honestly how many cards there are to show. I can a few occasions where strategy completely turned a series. Nellie put his center 30 feet from the basket against Robinson, and Jackson doubled Duncan hard late to beat the Spurs. Neither team really has any secrets, and the Spurs won't know to come up with one if they don't play the Dubs straight up.

[bigzak25]

I'm no expert, but in my humble opinion, you put the claw on klay. Shut his ass down for the night. Green guards curry to start, and our other guards take turns on him. Nothing easy. Hard fouls if necessary. If curry goes crazy from outside...you live with it. You stay home on all other dubs. No one goes off except maybe curry. If absolutely necessary, Kahwi can guard him late 4th in a tight game. On offense, attack the bucket and rebound like men and they should be ok. The Warriors might win a game with the Spurs playing this way, but there is no way they'd win a series. Curry cannot carry that team if he's the only one allowed to go off...not for a 7 game series anyway...I don't care how young or how much stamina that boy has. Let him have his. Not easy. But live with him being a ball hog and shut the rest down...then plan the parade. Go Spurs!

[ElNono]

I'm no expert, but in my humble opinion, you put the claw on klay. Shut his ass down for the night. Green guards curry to start, and our other guards take turns on him. Nothing easy. Hard fouls if necessary. If curry goes crazy from outside...you live with it. You stay home on all other dubs. No one goes off except maybe curry. If absolutely necessary, Kahwi can guard him late 4th in a tight game. On offense, attack the bucket and rebound like men and they should be ok. The Warriors might win a game with the Spurs playing this way, but there is no way they'd win a series. Curry cannot carry that team if he's the only one allowed to go off...not for a 7 game series anyway...I don't care how young or how much stamina that boy has. Let him have his. Not easy. But live with him being a ball hog and shut the rest down...then plan the parade. Go Spurs!

I know what you're saying, but if you're not ready to throw your beer bottle at the TV after Maurice Speights hits his 4th 3 pointer, you don't have blood on your veins, tbh

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I'd be interested in seeing what happens when you just concede 28 feet out and stop everything else*. Does he go 18-28 from nearly half court?

*But I don't want the Spurs to be the ones to do it. :lol

[mingus]

I didn't see the first game, so I don't know what all Pop tried against them. Obviously, going by the score it doesn't looked like it worked.

I don't see the Spurs beating the Warriors at their pace. The key to slowing down Curry/Warriors is giving them less shots at the basket. This means playing at a slow, deliberate pace and only pushing the tempo when there's an almost automatic good shot opportunity. The Spurs have a theoretical advantage over the Warriors in the halfcourt considering their size & strength advantage. They can also try and tire & bruise Curry by having him chase whoever he's guarding around screens (TP or DG).

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I didn't see the first game, so I don't know what all Pop tried against them. Obviously, going by the score it doesn't looked like it worked.

I only watched the first quarter. The Spurs threw the ball away, dribbled off their feet. If I didn't know better I'd have accused them of throwing the game. They were that bad. There simply wasn't time to try anything.