"An opposing NBA coach, speaking on the condition of anonymity, shares his insight on the Spurs and Oklahoma City entering the Western Conference Finals."
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...-an-nba-coach/
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"An opposing NBA coach, speaking on the condition of anonymity, shares his insight on the Spurs and Oklahoma City entering the Western Conference Finals."
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...-an-nba-coach/
:tu
interesting read.
I'm impressed with how nuanced and accurate his assessment of Leonard is. He's absolutely on point. It's as though he's seen all or at least most spurs games this season.
I don't know why he thinks Beli would guard Jackson, though. That would be about the worst move Pop could make. He also thinks Green has trouble guarding PGs, which is quite a weird thing to say. I also don't know if I've ever seen Leonard take a pull-up three in transition. He takes pull-up twos on the break and spots up at three, but he almost always tries to get to the rim whenever he has the ball.
I'm going with Monty Williams as the anonymous coach.
Carlisle?
what makes u say that.Quote:
Originally Posted by houston spurs fan
Carlisle makes sense. He just had finished scheming against San Antonio in round 1 which would explain why this coach's takes are so on point.
Too concise to be Mike Brown or Avery, IMO...
He was pretty accurate, but obviously it was not like he full on scouted the Spurs. Danny normally does well against PG's (even elite ones like CP3) and I think he meant Danny who takes pull up transition 3's instead of Kawhi. I would imagine TP guards Westbrook for decent portions, which allows Kawhi to guard Durant and Danny to guard Reggie. The biggest issue is Westbrook and Durant will play 45-48 minutes every game so who's guarding them those times TP is not?
You could also put TP on Reggie and Danny on Westbrook. Obviously, Manu has an opportunity to be huge, but I don't trust him Reggie let alone Westbrook.
The whole time I was reading that I was thinking "Bud"
I'm on the Kawhi-Durant, Green-Westbrook, Tony resting on Sefolosha wagon to start the game... but that made a lot more sense when OKC started big. Not sure what they're going to do now without Abaka...
However, Danny seems to be better at guarding the pass first PG's. A guy like Westbrook who likes to truly attack/shoot will be a much more difficult task. Danny did well on Curry, but Westbrook is a lot more athletic.
Well, with the results you saw against POR where TP did a fantastic job of guarding Lillard while still dominating on offense, it lead to an unreal advantage for SA because one of your top 2 perimeter defenders can now guard an "other" and really keep them from doing damage which is big against OKC..Quote:
Originally Posted by ElNono
I think there's a few major differences from that series to this one. For one, there's no penalty for resting Tony on Sefo. He's primarily out there to stretch the floor from 3. There's no post-game he can punish you with, and at most you're looking at backdoor cuts. Another issue here is that Westbrook is amongst the top foul drawing guards in the NBA. You don't want to get into a situation where Tony gets in foul trouble early, that would be a major issue for the Spurs.Quote:
Originally Posted by DPG21920
Lastly, Tony is banged up. Even if he's recovered now, you don't want to unnecessarily risk him chasing around a quick guy like Westbrook.
Just my 2c.
Got a Doug Collins vibe out of that article.Quote:
Originally Posted by ElNono
Good one BTW. :tu
Danny did well on Monta generally in the 1st round. He's closer to the kind of attack Westbrook has.Quote:
Originally Posted by DPG21920
Oh, I agree, I was just pointing out that if TP could manage that for stretches that it's a huge win for SA defensively. It would be unreasonable to expect that however.
I don't see how that doesn't happen unless Brooks starts Jackson for Ibaka. I think that whenever OKC runs with Jackson/Westbrook and Durant, Green will get the assignment on Reggie and Parker will "rest" on Westbrook. As awesome as Russ is athletically, he's really not that tough of a cover, since there's not much you can do to shut him down. You just give him space and let him shoot. Anyone can do that. The rest is up to the bigs.Quote:
Originally Posted by ElNono
I think that's because pass-first PGs are just easier to guard in general. Danny was fine guarding Wall/Lin (back when that was an accomplishment)/Ellis. As I said to Nono, of course you can't really stop Russ. But Green can take some parts of his game away. Danny has the length to contest shots without fouling and get back into the play when he's beaten. Him having the size advantage over Jackson (whereas he's about the same size as Westbrook) is why I prefer Green to guard Reggie.Quote:
Originally Posted by DPG21920
I have to imagine Scott starts Westbrook/Thabo/Durant/Adams/Perkins. Then you see a healthy dose of Westbrook/Reggie/Caron or Thabo/Durant/Adams or Collison with the latter being more of a concern.
Maybe he has Kawhi confused with all the other Spurs who like to pull up for 3 on the break: Green, Manu, Belinelli, Mills, and of course Neal from last year.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chinook
I agree; I would rather Danny shut down Reggie. You can survive Westbrook - if you manage to take out Reggie who has to be their 3rd option now, that is a big win. Danny is best equipped to do that.
My biggest concern is wearing out Tony on the screens. Obviously, if Reggie and Westbrook are out there at the same time, there's not much you can do about it, both are likely going to get screens to drive. That's why I said "to start the game" and mostly when Sefo is on the floor.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chinook
He might surprise us all by benching Perkins and playing Adams and Collison together. Adams may have decent mobility for a center, but the Thunder aren't going to be mobile enough to stop penetration if they play two fives. Not to mention the Spurs have the size to counter a two-C lineup as it is, an neither Perk nor Adams can space the floor. If Brooks starts them, he makes the Spurs' main burden of keeping Russ and KD out of the paint so much easier.
I'd say there's a 90% chance Collison starts.
Sounds like Carlisemo
You're giving Brooks too much credit tbh.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chinook
I agree. If Duncan were out, I'd imagine Pop would start Diaw even though he hates to mess with rotations. Starting Baynes, Ayers, or Bonner would just be too big of a dropoff in this situation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mugen
I know. I was saying that I don't think you have much to worry about in that regard. The only way I see Parker guarding Westbrook at the start of the game is if Pop feels like Tony needs to be engaged defensively for some reason. I think Tony will "rest" as much as he can, unless he's playing with someone like Beli who literally can't guard OKC's second-worst perimeter player at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by ElNono
The detail on Leonard makes me think it's Jim Boylen
I see a lot of 3 guard play for them, with possibly Collison/Adams manning the paint and Butler/Fisher spacing the floor. Defensively it could spell disaster for them, but they can be physical, and they already know their anchor isn't walking through that door. I'm actually not even sure how Pop defends that lineup. Kawhi/Green/Diaw/Tim and Manu or Parker? If it's closing the game, I see Kawhi/Manu/Tim/Boris/Tony...
There is no way IMO that Brooks doesn't start Perkins. He doesn't have the courage to do so, at least not right away. He will wait until game 3 or 4 to make that move and that's only if things have gone bad.
I think he probably wants Adams to start due to energy/athleticism but we will see.
Their best lineup is without question a small ball lineup.
Russ/Jackson/Fish or Butler or Sef/Durant/Adams.
That's a difficult lineup for the Spurs to guard especially when I think Danny and Kawhi need to be on the floor a lot together for the Spurs to advance. The Thunder aren't stopping anybody this series without Ibaka but they can put a much more potent offensive lineup than either POR/DAL could muster.
It should also be noted that Brooks did sit down Sefo for Jackson in the second half of Game 4(?) of their series against the Griz, when Reggie was having a good game. It's not apples-to-apples, because Sefo will likely be the designated defender on Tony, but I feel Scotty does feel he's an expendable guy if they need more offense.
Would you put Diaw on Reggie Jackson against that lineup?....Quote:
Originally Posted by Mugen
My best guess, is that we see Westbrook/Reggie/Caron/Durant/Adams or Collison the majority of the time.
If that is the case, assuming TP is good to go, we see TP/Danny/Manu/Kawhi/Tim or Tiago. At least I hope.
TP on Westbrook, Danny on Reggie, Manu on Caron, Kawhi on Durant, Big on Adams/Collison. That allows the Spurs to defend every spot pretty well and have plenty of ball handling/scoring.
This just smells like a Diaw series to me. He should be more than capable of guarding Fisher or Butler, and there's no one on OKC that can guard Boris. I think he gets a good deal of minutes at the four and even some at the five.
I'm with you, although thinking offensively, I would like to crowbar in Diaw somehow alongside a big. I think it would be a huge matchup plus for us on offense.Quote:
Originally Posted by DPG21920
We'll see Boris checking KD at times as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chinook
mchale is out.
I can even see him opening up the game for Kawhi... Adams would work on TD, but if the Spurs have Diaw and Kawhi, who does Durant guard? Either one can basically post up and make them pay... I think it's a huge bonus to counter their small ball.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chinook
Ideally, I'd want the Spurs to go with TP/Manu/Green/Leonard/TD to counter that lineup.Quote:
Originally Posted by ElNono
If Boris played, I'd prob put him on Fish/Sef/or Butler.
If Boris isn't abusing KD or whoever is guarding him on the post, I want a short leash on him in favor of Green in this series.
I'm thinking the coach was thinking about Green in particular, since that's a completely new element to Danny's game this season. It also wouldn't be the first time someone's taken positive things about Green and misguidedly attributed them to Leonard.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seventyniner
For Kawhi, or for Tiago? I can't see Leonard not starting, nor can I see Diaw playing the three in the SL.Quote:
Originally Posted by ElNono
Really want Spurs to post up Durant as much as possible
For Kawhi. If Adams check TD, I would suspect Scotty would put KD on Boris quickly. None of the others guys can defend him in the post. That opens up Kawhi posting up.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chinook
In a way, the Spurs need to use some of their size to punish OKC going small. I think the tools are there to do it.
EDIT: sorry missed the part about the SL. I'm talking generally. I don't think OKC will not start Perkins either, so I don't see that lineup from OKC starting.
It's the best way to tire a player out, especially a skinny one like KD.Quote:
Originally Posted by ace3g
At the end of the day, the key for the Spurs (like every other series) is limiting turnovers and rebounding.
If they don't give up easy looks to the Thunder, San Antonio will get better shots over the course of a game/series ESPECIALLY without Serge.
Just as simple as that IMO....
Sure, I can see Diaw getting major minutes when OKC goes small, which is why I said above that it smells like a Diaw series. But I don't think Pop would play Diaw instead of Leonard at any point when Durant is on the floor unless Kawhi had foul trouble. I know people like the put Durant and James in the same category, but I think they're completely different players. Lebron is a forward whereas KD is really just a tall guard. I don't see Diaw being able to guard Durant all. Instead, I feel Boris' value lies in his ability to defend players like Butler and Fisher while also being able to switch PnRs. Then, on offense, he can abuse whoever the Thunder put on him.Quote:
Originally Posted by ElNono
Exactly. That's pretty much what I said in one of the other billion defense threads. The Spurs just need to play honest positional defense with minimal help except from the bigs in the paint. The Thunder don't really have an offense against which the Spurs can game-plan. They simply need to do their best to make OKC inefficient and outscore them on the other end.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mugen
Thanks for sharing.
Wait. Is Duncan hurt?Quote:
Originally Posted by Seventyniner
Nah Bud would've been like 100% accurate. This guy was just 95% accurate.Quote:
Originally Posted by Splits
Plus, why would Bud make these comments anonymously?
He's no longer a coach though..Quote:
Originally Posted by Strange Love
Yeah, I was talking when they're both on the floor against their smalls. I just think Diaw is much more savvier posting up than Tiago.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chinook
Confused now.Quote:
Originally Posted by ElNono
Diaw > Tiago in the post... :lolQuote:
Originally Posted by Chinook
He probably meant Boris is savvier than Tiago at posting up.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chinook
fixed it
huh?Quote:
Originally Posted by sook
Probably in regards to the anonymous NBA coach that wrote this analysis.Quote:
Originally Posted by DPG21920
as a potential candidate for the "anonymous" coach. The quotes actually sound intelligent.Quote:
Originally Posted by DPG21920
I see - thanks.Quote:
Originally Posted by sook
Kawhi often takes the 3 early in the possession if it's available. He's not a pull up guy though. If he's got a break, he's taking it to the hole. Danny and Patty pull up on the break.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seventyniner
Let's get this show on the proverbial road.
We could really use a Complete Chronicles Thread for this series. There are just too many tiny threads clogging up the forum right now.Quote:
Originally Posted by DPG21920
i call BS on this coach thing
:rollinQuote:
Originally Posted by UZER
Seems like this is not a series for Belinelli
carlimosle
Did the SOB make a prediction?
Quote:
Originally Posted by EP Money Man
He calls TD Timmy, so not him. I think it's Rick.
Prolly Carlisle. The fact they actually have any idea what they're talking about is enough to knock off about 90% of current NBA coaches, leaving RC, Thibs, Bud, Brown, and Stotts (kinda). Doubt Thibs would bother and I'd like to think Bud and Brown would know Danny's game. Therefore, by elimination, it's RC or Stotts, and seeing as RC likes Pop and is nearby he'd be the obvious choice.
/deduction hat
It's Stotts tbh. McCarney has POR ties and talked about how open Stotts was w/the media during the WCSF.
Pick n roll em to death
Interesting take. I'm not sure it's somebody who is THAT familiar with the Spurs, as some of the takes are more based on reputation than on facts, such as Kawhi being always in control and a great finisher in transition. That's actually when he tends to be out of control the most (which ties in nicely with the spot-on comment that Kawhi can't be trusted to take more than 2-3 dribbles).
Re: defense, I don't think the big issue is whether to put Tony or Green on Westbrook, or Kawhi on Durant. The main issue is: who guards them for the 10+ minutes they'll be spending on the floor while our starters are resting? Those 10+ minutes are more than enough for a big run when they are being guarded by Manu and Beli and so on. Manu can get steals, but he's definitely a step too slow now to defend guys who are so athletic.
And I agree with Chinook, we'll need Diaw during this series, he creates an interesting mismatch.
Kawhi will always be on the floor with KD unless he's in foul trouble. When KD leaves, kawhi leaves. When KD sits, Kawhi sits. At least I hope so.Quote:
Originally Posted by will_spurs
Great breakdown and that Coach knows his shit.
Average for current playoffs:Quote:
Originally Posted by SpursFan313
- Kevin Durant: 44.5 minutes (reg season: 38.5)
- Kawhi Leonard: 31.8 minutes (reg season: 29.1)
Maybe Kawhi is suddenly going to play 13 more minutes per game at top efficiency. More likely the Spurs have to find somebody else who can vaguely stay with Durant for 10 minutes a game, without fouling too much.
That's how Pop handled it in the last two reg season games when Kawhi was healthy. In the two games Kawhi was healthy, he played 37 mpg and KD played 38 mpg.Quote:
Originally Posted by will_spurs
This is the first series where Kawhi was really needed for a big matchup tbh Batum and Shawn Marion aren't exactly offensive studs.
Kawhi averaged 37 minutes in the playoffs last year. That's still 7-8 minutes short of what Durant will play.Quote:
Originally Posted by SpursFan313
Kawhi has only 4 playoffs games with over 42 minutes played so far (all last year, 2 against GSW and 2 against Miami) -- all losses, by the way.
His minutes have been limited mostly because the Spurs have had big leads in half their games.Quote:
Originally Posted by will_spurs
Read my last post. Kawhi has never, ever played ~44 minutes with any kind of regularity, and the few times he tried the Spurs lost.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimcs50
Love the complements to Tony. Stupid haters can't comprehend his excellence.
It's probably going to happen eventually. Jackson will be coming off the bench for OKC and getting plenty of minutes with Ibaka out. A lot of those minutes are likely to coincide with det dude Beli's, and like the article noted, you'd rather have him on Jackson than Durant or Westbrook.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chinook
He may be able to hide a bit if he is out there with Sefolosha, but Marco's defense is definitely going to get tested this series. Hopefully he can step it up.
I'm glad to see the analysis doesn't fixate on what happened two years ago. There are some parallels and a lot of the faces are the same, but as someone pointed out, Matt Bonner played more minutes 2 year ago than Tiago Splitter did; Danny Green seemed totally shook to be on that stage and to be facing that sort of pressure and got dumped from the starting lineup by Game 5; Kawhi was a rookie who was sharing time with Stephen Jackson (though Jax played great on the offensive end in that series); and Diaw had only been around for 20 regular season games in a lockout-shortened season and hadn't really had to go through lots of adjustments in the first 2 rounds of the playoffs.
I'm not saying that all of those guys are extremely different players at this point, but I do think they're different enough to think that these aren't the same Spurs who fell apart against the Thunder in that series.
I always liked Collison tbh very underrated role player. Dude always find a way to make the right play, I'd absolutely love him in a spurs uniform. hard worker, never complains, plays clean and right. Good bb playerQuote:
Originally Posted by Mugen
A coach who thinks Green can't defend well guys like Westbrook...
A coach who thinks Leonard can't run the pick and roll...but thinks he can get the pull up 3s in transition..
Agree. :lolQuote:
Originally Posted by UZER
The "anonymous" coach said the Spurs could put their third best perimeter defender on Jackson...but who's that guy?
If Brooks starts Jackson, Pop'll put Green on Westbrook, Leonard on Durant and Parker on Jackson.
Tony did a great job against Lillard but after his injury maybe he doesn't need take a tough defensive assignment.
If Jackson plays in the second unit...Beli guarding him sounds like a very negative factor.
great read was going to post if not already
Good read indeed.
When they go small do we run them out the building like we did portland?
By the way, I don't think that Brooks will pull Perkins from the S5. He will already have to make one change in the starting lineup, I doubt he makes another, at least not for Game 1. You have to be careful to not juggle with the chemistry of both the starting and the bench unit too much - if you can avoid it, that is.
he got it right
" It turned into a six-game series now instead of seven."