Dion Waiters says LaMarcus Aldridge alone can't beat OKC

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/15...lone-beat-team


Dion Waiters says LaMarcus Aldridge alone can't beat OKC

OKLAHOMA CITY -- LaMarcus Aldridge has scored 79 points on 33-of-44 shooting in the first two games against the Oklahoma City Thunder. But despite 41 in Game 2 where he made 15 of his 21 shots, the Thunder escaped with a 98-97 win to even the series against the San Antonio Spurs 1-1.

"One man can't beat you," Thunder guard Dion Waiters said Wednesday. "So we're fine with that. If they want to continue to get out of their offense and throw the ball down there to him, we're fine with that. One guy can't beat us, no matter how much he scores."

"We've just got to make adjustments, try to make it tough on him," Waiters said. "He's a great player in this league, an All-Star. He's going to make shots. He's playing tremendous right now. But we're fine with one guy just beating us. We're fine with that. At the end of the day, Serge [Ibaka] and Steven [Adams] got to continue to do what they've been doing, but guys are going to make shots in the NBA and as long as they're not running the offense and dropping it down to them, we're living with that."

Aldridge was asked by reporters in San Antonio if he's putting pressure on himself to not cool down after his two big games in the series.

"I'm just playing basketball. I'm not trying to go do it," he said. "You know, honestly, I didn't think that I'd do it again after the first game. It's just I'm going with the flow of the game out there."

The Thunder primarily stuck with single coverage on Aldridge, with coach Billy Donovan saying they were mostly happy with the defense on the Spurs power forward. In the series, Aldridge is 17-of-26 on contested shots.

"We're making him take the shots that we want, and he's just making them," Adams said. "That's the only thing that's kind of bumming us out right now. ... We're making him take similar shots [as in the past] and he's just making all of them. And it sucks."

Ibaka and Adams have had the main assignment on Aldridge, with the Thunder doubling sporadically in Game 2. Asked if the Thunder are likely to feature that more in Game 3, Donovan said it's a possibility, but he also doesn't want to compromise the rest of the Thunder's defensive integrity just trying to stop Aldridge.

"I think there's been some times where Serge and Steven have done a really good job and he's made tough shots," Donovan said. "I think you have to give him a lot of credit for how well he's put the ball in the basket."

That's the problem, IMO. Probably wishing he had someone like Lillard to play with..

So, if you believe them, it's a "let LMA get his, shut down everyone else" strategy.

LOL............this statement will come back to bite Waiters in the ass. Thanks bro! :claw

Reminds me of the "they keep leaving Danny Green open" comment from someone.

Smartest guy in the league

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Originally Posted by NASpurs

Reminds me of the "they keep leaving Danny Green open" comment from someone.

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How so?

Luckily LMA is not the only Spur we have playing on Friday.

Dion Parker Waiters

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Originally Posted by Seventyniner

How so?

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Just how obvious and stupid a statement like that is.

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Originally Posted by NASpurs

Just how obvious and stupid a statement like that is.

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Bulletin Board material. I know the Spurs would say they don't pay attention to that crap but it's human nature to. They are pissed enough as it is.

lmao Remember when Waiters said back then when he was in Cleveland that he and Kyrie were the best backcourt duo in the League? Guy's crazy.

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Originally Posted by BillMc

So, if you believe them, it's a "let LMA get his, shut down everyone else" strategy.

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It's quite possible they know SA is a two man team and so long as they have one of them under wraps, the other alone going nuclear along with some scattered scoring from the committee won't kill them they think and of the two, Kawhi going off is probably the most dangerous to them bc Kawhi gets in a zone that can kill you with the 3.

But it's clear they don't want any role player to get it going off doubling so they will live with LMA, rather than giving up 3s to Danny or Kawhi for example. They risked the 3 with Tony and Tony didn't make those open 3s, but they were selective to not allow Tony to get in a rhythm either. They didn't dare him all night bc bottom line Tony can make those shots and if he gets the jumpshot going all of a sudden they need to worry about Tony too.

It's been a solid srategy so far.

To me that spells trouble for the bench and the roleplayers. If they execute well none of those guys will get anything easy. D west and Dias need to play better or Boban needs minutes with the bench.

After listening to Waiters struggle to talk in a manner you can actually understand, I think the BBIQ and intelligence of the Spurs collective will win out eventually. That guy is dumb as a box of rocks and was allowed to get away with it late game 2.

The ball will stick less and the collective depth will win out for us.

Plus Russ will throw out a 7-22 very soon. Just keep the fool off the FT line for the most part.

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Originally Posted by SAGirl

It's quite possible they know SA is a two man team and so long as they have one of them under wraps, the other alone going nuclear along with some scattered scoring from the committee won't kill them they think and of the two, Kawhi going off is probably the most dangerous to them bc Kawhi gets in a zone that can kill you with the 3.

But it's clear they don't want any role player to get it going off doubling so they will live with LMA, rather than giving up 3s to Danny or Kawhi for example. They risked the 3 with Tony and Tony didn't make those open 3s, but they were selective to not allow Tony to get in a rhythm either. They didn't dare him all night bc bottom line Tony can make those shots and if he gets the jumpshot going all of a sudden they need to worry about Tony too.

It's been a solid srategy so far.

To me that spells trouble for the bench and the roleplayers. If they execute well none of those guys will get anything easy. D west and Dias need to play better or Boban needs minutes with the bench.

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Anderson played like shit the last game, too. Pop needs to get with it, if the regulars aren't scoring THROW IN MARTIN. Spurs got Martin to score. 13 FTs were shot by SA. LMA had 10 of them.... PUT IN A PLAYER WHO GETS TO THE RACK. KL needs to get some balls.

They were down by 43 in game one and beat us by 1 point and now this fool talking shit??

He literally almost cost his team a game...

Westbrook shot about about as well as he could, he hardly missed a jump shot. Durant didn't miss many either. Adams had a great game and they won by 1.....

The Spurs on the other hand outside of Aldridge shat the bed, got behind big, but came back to LEAD, only to crap that away.

I mean, had the Thunder won that game by 10, Spurs didn't play their starters much in the fourth, then I'd be worried.

They'd played a C- game and damn near won....

:lol Westbrook scored 28 points on 26 shots, that isn't super efficient either. Hell, he missed a couple layups himself as well. Abaka and Adams' performances can easily be replicated and OKC's bench in general will play much better in the next two games. If anything I'll be surprised if the Spurs don't get blown out in both games.

Yeah he is the only player we have..

No shit

Need the others to step up

Kawhi better drop 30 on friday.

If there's anything he's better at than inbounding the ball, I'm sure it's analyzing the opponent's strategy.

In other news, water is wet. He's just stating the obvious that the Spurs will need contribution by more than one individual to beat the Thunder. Truth is truth.

Leonard goes off circa 2014 NBA Finals. Book it.

Bulletin board material but watch the Spurs have a "gutless worms" performance because of it.

Spurs better get game 3

Truth bomb from the waiter tbqh

We cannot beat okc in a series with only Aldridge.

I like this kid. His honesty reminds me.of the great TP

Uh, everyone knows this.

Next

LOL this clown and OKC are f*ckin SHOOK

It's an O League now . . .

The Spurs are struggling to keep up.

They are going to have "click" soon or it's back to the drawing board to come up with the next wrinkle that might get them one title until others start to beat them with it . . .

The team is leaning too much on LMA.

Need to get everyone involved

Straight to the bulletin board. I think the crowd will make it tougher for LMA mentally, but I also think Kawhi won't have the same game he had in Game 2.

He was a sequence of bad calls/plays away from beating them by himself on Monday. In a fluke game where everybody else was cold, OKC was hot, and where he didn't see a "one-man show" number of touches.... He literally was an Ibaka jersey grab and hack away from putting in a game winning layup for his 43rd point on just 22 shots.

I really think he could beat them by himself, but he won't have to.

Kawhi will bounce back. More worried about Tim than anyone.

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Originally Posted by Robz4000

:lol Westbrook scored 28 points on 26 shots, that isn't super efficient either. Hell, he missed a couple layups himself as well.

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Except for the FACT he didn't score a SINGLE basket against Kawhi & essentially all of his baskets in the 1st quarter came in transition off missed layups. Do you think it's a coincidence he has had a tough time scoring against Kawhi this ENTIRE series?:lol

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Originally Posted by Kawhitstorm

Except for the FACT he didn't score a SINGLE basket against Kawhi & essentially all of his baskets in the 1st quarter came in transition off missed layups. Do you think it's a coincidence he has had a tough time scoring against Kawhi this ENTIRE series?:lol

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Never said Kawhi couldn't defend him, in fact my statement supports Kawhi's D. However, Kawhi can't defend him all the time and the fact he absolutely abuses every other defender the Spurs put on him is worrisome.

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Originally Posted by Robz4000

Never said Kawhi couldn't defend him, in fact my statement supports Kawhi's D. However, Kawhi can't defend him all the time and the fact he absolutely abuses every other defender the Spurs put on him is worrisome.

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There is a simple solution: Kawhi shouldn't be on the bench anytime WestBrick is on the floor & quit switching PnRs (just go under the screen & if he make enough pull up jumpers to beat you then so be it but he ain't no Steph Curry).

Kawhi gonna have to choke a bitch. :lmao

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Originally Posted by Kawhitstorm

There is a simple solution: Kawhi shouldn't be on the bench anytime WestBrick is on the floor & quit switching PnRs (just go under the screen & if he make enough pull up jumpers to beat you then so be it but he ain't no Steph Curry).

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Unfortunately Pop has some kinda minutes restriction for Leonard.

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Originally Posted by Robz4000

Unfortunately Pop has some kinda minutes restriction for Leonard.

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:pop:

Backhanded shot a Kawhi.

These upcoming 2 games are "defining" games for Kawhi. He can't live off 2014 forever.

LMA is due for an average/mediocre game, so Kawhi, more than anytime in his career thus far aside from the 2014 Finals, needs to step up on the road and dominate.

He's got the bulletin board material. This team desperately needs consistent perimeter scoring. Time to prove you're a legit top 3 player in the league. I'm not even suggesting he go off for 40. If he can give us a "Kawhi game" 25 points on 9-15 shooting, 8-12 boards, 3 steals, 2 blocks, while causing defensive havoc for Durant and Westbrook, that's dominant enough. If the Spurs don't win with him doing that, then I don't know what to say. Unfortunately, the Spurs are legendary at wasting great performances from individual players.

What does a minutes restriction have to do with Kawhi fading in the 4th quarter AGAIN offensively because he couldn't take advantage of a defensive matchup...Waiters? Stop deflecting. It's Parker, it's Popovich. How about Kawhi just has to nut up? The way some of y'all "protect" him you'd think he was your child. You don't like being called a one man team? It's simple... the player supposedly Top 3 in the NBA has to perform as such. None of this but...but...he's doing it defensively. Top 3 players don't get a night off on one end of the floor.

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Originally Posted by south side spur

What does a minutes restriction have to do with Kawhi fading in the 4th quarter AGAIN offensively because he couldn't take advantage of a defensive matchup...Waiters? Stop deflecting. It's Parker, it's Popovich. How about Kawhi just has to nut up? The way some of y'all "protect" him you'd think he was your child. You don't like being called a one man team? It's simple... the player supposedly Top 3 in the NBA has to perform as such. None of this but...but...he's doing it defensively. Top 3 players don't get a night off on one end of the floor.

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These are definitely defining games.

We can excuse the Matt Barnes debacle last season with "Sometimes things like that happen," but if it happens for a 2nd playoff run in a row, then it'll prove he's just not ready to be the offensive alpha.

His fanboys will blame Parker, though :lol

He's correct, obviously..this is the sacrifice the Spurs made, they are now a team that heavily relies on 2 players to do all the heavy lifting in a new system..

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Originally Posted by hater

Truth bomb from the waiter tbqh

We cannot beat okc in a series with only Aldridge.

I like this kid. His honesty reminds me.of the great TP

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Biggest diss to Kiwi since Durant's system player tweet? :lmao

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Originally Posted by south side spur

What does a minutes restriction have to do with Kawhi fading in the 4th quarter AGAIN offensively because he couldn't take advantage of a defensive matchup...Waiters? Stop deflecting. It's Parker, it's Popovich. How about Kawhi just has to nut up? The way some of y'all "protect" him you'd think he was your child. You don't like being called a one man team? It's simple... the player supposedly Top 3 in the NBA has to perform as such. None of this but...but...he's doing it defensively. Top 3 players don't get a night off on one end of the floor.

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Who gave this man the nuclear codes?!?! :wow

Post more bro

The Thunder have no answer for Aldridge. He plays with supreme confidence against the Thunder for some reason. I hope im wrong, but I forsee him struggling in Oklahoma City. The Spurs big man baton is being transitioned before our eyes, and Lamarcus needs a signature on the road playoff victory against a conference rival.

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Originally Posted by xtremesteven33

The Thunder have no answer for Aldridge. He plays with supreme confidence against the Thunder for some reason. I hope im wrong, but I forsee him struggling in Oklahoma City. The Spurs big man baton is being transitioned before our eyes, and Lamarcus needs a signature on the road playoff victory against a conference rival.

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Don't disregard LMA's burning desire to advance further in the playoffs than Damon Lilliard.

That will propel him through OKC.

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Originally Posted by Keepin' it real

Don't disregard LMA's burning desire to advance further in the playoffs than Damon Lilliard.

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He seemed very upset when asked about the incident, not revealing much but you could tell he knew be had an O board when Ibacka grabbed his jersey forcing a fumble of the ball. He's coming back for more. He's just going to have to get ready for the double teams and Timmy better come correct with better efficiency or his best partner might be Boban who I am sure Adams will not dare leave to double Lma. Each game is its own.

He's awoken a sleeping giant :toast

I wonder if they gave the other players those wide-open shots on purpose? The ones that they just missed?

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Originally Posted by Dro210

He was a sequence of bad calls/plays away from beating them by himself on Monday. In a fluke game where everybody else was cold, OKC was hot, and where he didn't see a "one-man show" number of touches.... He literally was an Ibaka jersey grab and hack away from putting in a game winning layup for his 43rd point on just 22 shots.

I really think he could beat them by himself, but he won't have to.

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This. That's why the "let LaMarcus get his" theory doesn't hold up. He's not scoring so much by being a volume shooter, he's doing it efficiently. Tim had 8 shots (which is par for the course for him these days) , Kawhi 18, Danny 11, Patty 9, Tony 9, West 8, Manu 8. No major player had only 3 or 4 except Boris, it was fairly distributed. Make ONE more of them and we're good.

And if LMA had made that last shot for 43 and the win, what an epic performance this would have been. Legendary. Shame it didn't happen.

Win or lose, it has nothing to do with what any of these clowns say before or after the game.

Yeah and it the Spurs would have scored two more points in game 2 the Thunder wwould be talking about how Aldridge is dominating series and what they need to do to make him uncomfortable

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Originally Posted by DarrinS

The team is leaning too much on LMA.

Need to get everyone involved

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They didnt lean enough on him in the 2nd half.

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Originally Posted by Dro210

He was a sequence of bad calls/plays away from beating them by himself on Monday. In a fluke game where everybody else was cold, OKC was hot, and where he didn't see a "one-man show" number of touches.... He literally was an Ibaka jersey grab and hack away from putting in a game winning layup for his 43rd point on just 22 shots.

I really think he could beat them by himself, but he won't have to.

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:tu

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Originally Posted by dabom

Kawhi gonna have to choke a bitch. :lmao

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:lol

Gameplay is fine. LMA shots are fine. Rest of the spurs need to step up. Take away lma shooting percentage and the spurs had an embaressing night shooting for a home playoff game. They were 40% with his percentage. That's 4 in 10 shots with lma. And then lost by 1 pt. Waiters and the thunder wish the spurs would change it up. If the spurs are dumb enough to do it, they deserve to lose.

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Originally Posted by dabom

Kawhi gonna have to choke a bitch. :lmao

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don't be jinxing shit :lol

So he admits they almost got beat by one guy. More important who gives a fuck what he thinks?

Dion Waiters talking is the classic over confident scrub talking that you see every single year. Who cares. He will talk all the way up until the end of the series whether OKC win's or loses & whether or not he plays a role in that as long as there is a mic in his face.

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Originally Posted by SAGirl

It's quite possible they know SA is a two man team and so long as they have one of them under wraps, the other alone going nuclear along with some scattered scoring from the committee won't kill them they think and of the two, Kawhi going off is probably the most dangerous to them bc Kawhi gets in a zone that can kill you with the 3.

But it's clear they don't want any role player to get it going off doubling so they will live with LMA, rather than giving up 3s to Danny or Kawhi for example. They risked the 3 with Tony and Tony didn't make those open 3s, but they were selective to not allow Tony to get in a rhythm either. They didn't dare him all night bc bottom line Tony can make those shots and if he gets the jumpshot going all of a sudden they need to worry about Tony too.

It's been a solid srategy so far.

To me that spells trouble for the bench and the roleplayers. If they execute well none of those guys will get anything easy. D west and Dias need to play better or Boban needs minutes with the bench.

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They Just need to effn Show up!!!

What does Waiters call 124-92? And who has even heard of Steven Adams before this series? You get blown out in Game 1, win Game 2 by one point and speak as if you've played at least as good as SA the entire series.

Aldridge is getting easy points because OKC are soft defenders.

This is why I prefer Kawhi doing interviews his way and not Dion's way :lol

Who is "Dion Waiters"?

:wakeup

Good thing there's 4 other Spurs that play simultaneously WITH Aldridge.
Probably one of the dumbest things an opponent has said. Next to anything that came/comes out of Rasheed Wallace's halitosis-riddled chompers.

I guess Dion blocked out Game 1 when Kawhi and Green did a number on them in addition to LMA.

It's a shot at Kawhi because he was guarding him in game 2.

This guy is either going to look good by saying what he said or look like a fool depending on how the series turns out. Hopefully the Spurs win the series just for the comedy of seeing this guy fall apart.

Waiters is on fire, tbh..he is the same genius that pulled off a move that NBA officials and most people involved with the NBA had never seen before, and it helped his team get a playoff W:lol

He's just riding the momentum..

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Originally Posted by Robz4000

Unfortunately Pop has some kinda minutes restriction for Leonard.

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He sat for stretches with Westbrook on the floor in G2 because he picked up two fouls with like 6 minutes remaining in the first half. If the Thunderefs would let him fucking play he could reasonably stay with Westbrook more frequently.

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Originally Posted by timtonymanurich

Good thing there's 4 other Spurs that play simultaneously WITH Aldridge.
Probably one of the dumbest things an opponent has said. Next to anything that came/comes out of Rasheed Wallace's halitosis-riddled chompers.

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He said like Aldridge was the only one responsible for the shellacking they got handed in Game 1. Aldridge with 38, sure, but Kawhi had 25 and Danny had 18. Pick and pop with Aldridge worked wonders against them, so it makes sense to go to it somewhat frequently. Had Aldridge won Game 1 by himself and Game 2 played out the way it did, I could see this remark holding some weight. As it stands, Aldridge is torching them on offense and it took the entire rest of the team shitting the bed to give OKC a one point win.

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Originally Posted by DarrinS

The team is leaning too much on LMA.

Need to get everyone involved

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They are actually not. He's just been insanely efficient. He should have gotten the ball even more in game 2. His teammates really need to step up big time and help him out.

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Originally Posted by Ice009

They are actually not. He's just been insanely efficient. He should have gotten the ball even more in game 2. His teammates really need to step up big time and help him out.

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Agreed. Through two games he's only attempted 44 field goals. It's that he's scored 79 combined points on 33 makes and some converted FTs that make it look like he's the only offense the Spurs have. Tbh I feel like 2013 Finals Danny was the last time a Spurs player was so efficient on offense in at least two consecutive games.

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Originally Posted by T Park

Westbrook shot about about as well as he could, he hardly missed a jump shot. Durant didn't miss many either. Adams had a great game and they won by 1.....

The Spurs on the other hand outside of Aldridge shat the bed, got behind big, but came back to LEAD, only to crap that away.

I mean, had the Thunder won that game by 10, Spurs didn't play their starters much in the fourth, then I'd be worried.

They'd played a C- game and damn near won....

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All great points. Not worried here.

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Originally Posted by midnightpulp

Backhanded shot a Kawhi.

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Not really. That's on Spurs Offense.

He said "So we're fine with that. If they want to continue to get out of their offense and throw the ball down there to him, we're fine with that. One guy can't beat us, no matter how much he scores."

That tells us more about our offense only feeding LMA, and not involving other players.

Their strategy is "let LMA get his and shut down every else", that's why they didn't double him that much.

It's the same Warriors tactic, let LMA gets his shots from the pick and pops...the Dubs didn't even try to defend those plays in the 3 games of the regular season.

I'd look this numbers from Moore's article.

-In the 42 minutes and 51 seconds that Aldridge was on the floor, the Spurs were outscored by four points.

-Since 2009, when San Antonio started to transition their offensive approach, the Spurs have had only two 40-point-plus performances. Tony Parker scored 43 in a 2009 game against the Mavericks, and Aldridge in Game 2 vs. the Thunder. The Spurs are 0-2 in those games.

His first point is just BS but the latter shows why that's Thunder strategy. A team who involves only one player on offense it's easier to beat.

Dion Waiters will be out of the league within three years.

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Originally Posted by YGWHI

Not really. That's on Spurs Offense.

He said "So we're fine with that. If they want to continue to get out of their offense and throw the ball down there to him, we're fine with that. One guy can't beat us, no matter how much he scores."

That tells us more about our offense only feeding LMA, and not involving other players.

Their strategy is "let LMA get his and shut down every else", that's why they didn't double him that much.

It's the same Warriors tactic, let LMA gets his shots from the pick and pops...the Dubs didn't even try to defend those plays in the 3 games of the regular season.

I'd look this numbers from Moore's article.

-In the 42 minutes and 51 seconds that Aldridge was on the floor, the Spurs were outscored by four points.

-Since 2009, when San Antonio started to transition their offensive approach, the Spurs have had only two 40-point-plus performances. Tony Parker scored 43 in a 2009 game against the Mavericks, and Aldridge in Game 2 vs. the Thunder. The Spurs are 0-2 in those games.

His first point is just BS but the latter shows why that's Thunder strategy. A team who involves only one player on offense it's easier to beat.

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Except the Spurs weren't out of their offense. They employed the exact same scheme they did in game 1. Playing inside out balanced with pick-and-pops and Kawhi isos. The difference between the 2 games was Danny Green making open looks, Duncan playing well, and Kawhi shooting efficiently. Waiters is full of shit. The Spurs offense in terms of strategy is fine. The problem is the lack of consistent scoring outside the two big guns. Duncan blew like 5 easy bunnies. And Green and Mills didn't hit their open shots.

As DPG and others have said all season. The offense is creating looks (the Spurs assist rate is proof of that), but the role players aren't converting like they should be.

Sounds like you want to excuse Kawhi's subpar performance once again, calling out the offense this time for not "getting him involved." He had 19 shots in 36 minutes. I agree with you that Pop should've played him 40-45 minutes, but in terms of usage, he wasn't far behind LMA in that game. He's involved.

Also, OKC's defense can't shut down everyone else. They're a poor defensive team (again, the looks were there all night, but Green was doing his D-League thing). And Kawhi was being single covered by Waiters for stretches and couldn't capitalize. It's a shot. They don't think he can play well enough to beat them.

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Originally Posted by midnightpulp

Backhanded shot a Kawhi.

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pretty much

but Waiters and OKC are due for rude awaken if they think Kawhi will feel any sort of pressure with that tbh... :lol

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Originally Posted by DPG21920

Dion Waiters talking is the classic over confident scrub talking that you see every single year. Who cares. He will talk all the way up until the end of the series whether OKC win's or loses & whether or not he plays a role in that as long as there is a mic in his face.

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He's playing the Stanley Johnson to Kawhi Leonard's Lebron.

"I'm definitely in his head." :lol

Waiters reminds me of 2009 Mo Williams, acting all tough behind Lebron :lol

Kawhi might want to take a page out of Shaq's book and feel disrespected because a scrub ran his mouth, then show it on the court :lol

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Originally Posted by HarlemHeat37

Waiters is on fire, tbh..he is the same genius that pulled off a move that NBA officials and most people involved with the NBA had never seen before, and it helped his team get a playoff W:lol

He's just riding the momentum..

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And soon to be named the "Dion Waiters Rule".

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Originally Posted by HarlemHeat37

Waiters is on fire, tbh..he is the same genius that pulled off a move that NBA officials and most people involved with the NBA had never seen before, and it helped his team get a playoff W:lol

He's just riding the momentum..

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What no one is talking about is how Billy made the move we all knew he would - he put Waiters in for crunch time and took Roberson out. It was expected.

However, it was Waiters that buried the corner 3 that SA gave up right as they got the lead back to win OKC the game essentially. Everyone knew Spurs were going to dare Waiters or Roberson to shoot. Everyone knew Billy was going to put Waiters in for more offense.

Waiters hit the big shot though. It was a small sample size and can he do it consistently enough to change SAs defensive game plan? Don't know, but no one is discussing how big of a moment that was for Waiters/OKC when Waiters buried that 3.

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Originally Posted by DPG21920

...Waiters hit the big shot though. It was a small sample size and can he do it consistently enough to change SAs defensive game plan? Don't know, but no one is discussing how big of a moment that was for Waiters/OKC when Waiters buried that 3.

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It was a big moment definitely. With that trey Waiters outscored Kawhi for the entire 4th quarter.

Dion.. Who? :lol This scrub really talking shit. Cant wait to see his ass get punked.

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Originally Posted by HarlemHeat37

Waiters is on fire, tbh..he is the same genius that pulled off a move that NBA officials and most people involved with the NBA had never seen before, and it helped his team get a playoff W:lol

He's just riding the momentum..

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Waiters is the new Lance Stephenson, remember when he called out Wade & got his ass handed to him in 2014.:lol

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“D. Wade — I think his knee is messed up, so I’ve got to be extra aggressive and make him run and have him running around and make his knee flare up or something."

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Originally Posted by midnightpulp

Except the Spurs weren't out of their offense. They employed the exact same scheme they did in game 1.

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No. We didn't see the same Spurs pick and rolls than in Game 1, and most plays were "give the ball to LMA in the post"

Spurs reporters aren't brilliant but at least McDonals wrote about a play-call I didn't notice during the game.

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"With little else working for the Spurs in Game 2, coach Gregg Popovich called post-up after post-up for Aldridge, as he once did for Duncan.
At one point in the first half, Manu Ginobili audibled out of an Aldridge post-up, and got an earful.
“Run the (expletive) play,” Popovich told Ginobili.

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Of course that Kawhi missing shots doesn't help, but you can't say that the Spurs are running the same offense.

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Calling out the offense this time for not "getting him involved." He had 19 shots in 36 minutes. I agree with you that Pop should've played him 40-45 minutes, but in terms of usage, he wasn't far behind LMA in that game. He's involved

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Kawhi isn't highly involved. Even this guy agrees with this.

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The Spurs’ Aldridge-heavy game plan also took the ball out of Leonard’s hands.
“If he’s rolling like that, I don’t care if I’m not scoring the ball,” Leonard said.

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If this was a two-man offense, Kawhi wouldn't say that. Like it or not, the Spurs are now, a one-man offense. And most teams are easier to beat being one.

Famous last words, tbh

Dion is not wrong. They've choosen to double Parker and Leonard all the time on the pnr and pop. Its what they want to do.

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Originally Posted by midnightpulp

Except the Spurs weren't out of their offense. They employed the exact same scheme they did in game 1. Playing inside out balanced with pick-and-pops and Kawhi isos. The difference between the 2 games was Danny Green making open looks, Duncan playing well, and Kawhi shooting efficiently. Waiters is full of shit. The Spurs offense in terms of strategy is fine. The problem is the lack of consistent scoring outside the two big guns. Duncan blew like 5 easy bunnies. And Green and Mills didn't hit their open shots.

As DPG and others have said all season. The offense is creating looks (the Spurs assist rate is proof of that), but the role players aren't converting like they should be.

Sounds like you want to excuse Kawhi's subpar performance once again, calling out the offense this time for not "getting him involved." He had 19 shots in 36 minutes. I agree with you that Pop should've played him 40-45 minutes, but in terms of usage, he wasn't far behind LMA in that game. He's involved.

Also, OKC's defense can't shut down everyone else. They're a poor defensive team (again, the looks were there all night, but Green was doing his D-League thing). And Kawhi was being single covered by Waiters for stretches and couldn't capitalize. It's a shot. They don't think he can play well enough to beat them.

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They play their gane but they have also been limited in the pnr. You can say getting LMA pops is part of the spurs system, but it ignores a very obvious OKC defensive emphasis. Make the ball handler pass the ball. Its part of the reason why kawhi has barely shot the ball and whens the last time Parker took a shot.

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Originally Posted by YGWHI

No. We didn't see the same Spurs pick and rolls than in Game 1, and most plays were "give the ball to LMA in the post"

Spurs reporters aren't brilliant but at least McDonals wrote about a play-call I didn't notice during the game.


Of course that Kawhi missing shots doesn't help, but you can't say that the Spurs are running the same offense.


Kawhi isn't highly involved. Even this guy agrees with this.


If this was a two-man offense, Kawhi wouldn't say that. Like it or not, the Spurs are now, a one-man offense. And most teams are easier to beat being one.

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Did you miss this key point?

"With little else working for the Spurs in Game 2..."

Pop started force-feeding LMA as somewhat of desperation move because no one, including Kawhu, was hitting shit. We would've had 30 points in the 1st Q if Green, Duncan, and Kawhi had hit their looks at even a 45% clip. Danny, Tim, and Kawhi were 1-10 in the 1st. They were "involved."

It only became a "one man offense" because no other Spur seemed to feel like playing offense in that game.

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Originally Posted by midnightpulp

Did you miss this key point?

"With little else working for the Spurs in Game 2..."

Pop started force-feeding LMA as somewhat of desperation move because no one, including Kawhu, was hitting shit. We would've had 30 points in the 1st Q if Green, Duncan, and Kawhi had hit their looks at even a 45% clip. Danny, Tim, and Kawhi were 1-10 in the 1st. They were "involved."

It only became a "one man offense" because no other Spur seemed to feel like playing offense in that game.

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No, this is a thing since game 1 in the series, LMA got a lot more touches than Kawhi that game.

Kawhi had higher USG% against the Grizz than now, he isn't getting the ball that much.

It's fine with me, don't care who is scoring if the Spurs get the win, sadly they didn't in game 2.

But again, you can't say this is the same offense we saw in the regular season or first round.

To me having two guys involved on offense at the same time it's not that easier to beat than with only one. But the Spurs believe/play otherwise.

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Originally Posted by YGWHI

No, this is a thing since game 1 in the series, LMA got a lot more touches than Kawhi that game.

Kawhi had higher USG% against the Grizz than now, he isn't getting the ball that much.

It's fine with me, don't care who is scoring if the Spurs get the win, sadly they didn't in game 2.

But again, you can't say this is the same offense we saw in the regular season or first round.

To me having two guys involved on offense at the same time it's not that easier to beat than with only one. But the Spurs believe/play otherwise.

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The numbers prove you wrong that the team was not offensively involved. Kawhi will see less touches this series, though. I think (as Harlem pointed out) that OKC has had issues defending the PF position all season. So like it or not, LMA is eating first this series. But Kawhi is still getting shots. He got 19 of them in 36 minutes. And he should've been to the line about 4 more times.

I don't know what more you want. The Spurs aren't playing as a one man team. LMA's usage was actually pretty low: 21 shots plus 10 FTAs (which is 5 shot attempts) in 43 minutes. If Green, Duncan, and Kawhi shoot 50% that game, Kawhi scores 22 points, and Duncan and Green are both in double figures, and we're sitting here today praising the great team ball the Spurs played.

The Spurs only looked like a one man team because everyone else aside from Manu was ice cold.

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Originally Posted by midnightpulp

Prove you wrong...Kawhi will see less touches this series, though

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He's getting less shots ="he isn't getting the ball that much"

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The Spurs only looked like a one man team because everyone else aside from Manu was ice cold.

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You say this, I say this was the game plan. A risky game plan.

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Originally Posted by YGWHI

He's getting less shots ="he isn't getting the ball that much"


You say this, I say this was the game plan. A risky game plan.

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It wasn't the gameplan. LMA was only forcefed after after Kawhi and Co. weren't hitting anything in the first quarter. Also, LMA wasn't even that forcefed. His usage was 25.9 for the game. Kawhi's? 25.7. One man teams are like what Lebron's old Cavs were. This is nothing of the sort. And the numbers don't back you. Sounds like you're angling for another excuse should Kawhi fail. "He wasn't getting the ball enough so he couldn't get in rhythm!" "Pop didn't put him in the best position to succeed!"

If he doesn't come through with all this bulletin board material the Thunder are giving the Spurs, then you're just going to have to come to terms with the fact he might not be as good of an offensive player as you think he is. I've been telling you all season the weakness of wings who rely too much on midrange/midpost play. And those weaknesses could prove costly. Why do you think I've been banging the drum for Kawhi to take his dribble-drive game to the next level? And banging the drum for Parker to help mitigate matters by being a player who can take some pressure off Kawhi in that regard (penetration)?

This series is going tell us a lot.

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Originally Posted by midnightpulp

"He wasn't getting the ball enough so he couldn't get in rhythm!"

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He sat him remaining 6 minutes in the 1st quarter and 4' in the 2nd quarter. If you don't think that playing time and less shots aren't factors to get or not into rhythm...I can't help.

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If he doesn't come through with all this bulletin board material the Thunder are giving the Spurs, then you're just going to have to come to terms with the fact he might not be as good of an offensive player as you think he is.

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He "might" something is "a fact"?

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I've been telling you all season the weakness of wings who rely too much on midrange/midpost play. And those weaknesses could prove costly. Why do you think I've been banging the drum for Kawhi to take his dribble-drive game to the next level?

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In Kawhi's pre-draft workout video, he said his favorite player was Melo. There is a good reason for that, like many guys say here, his offensive game is Melo-lite, people want him to be a driver but he's a post-up/mid-range player like him. That's enough to make him a 20 ppg guy. And should be enough for the Spurs, too.

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Originally Posted by YGWHI

He sat him remaining 6 minutes in the 1st quarter and 4' in the 2nd quarter. If you don't think that playing time and less shots aren't factors to get or not into rhythm...I can't help.


He "might" something is "a fact"?


In Kawhi's pre-draft workout video, he said his favorite player was Melo. There is a good reason for that, like many guys say here, his offensive game is Melo-lite, people want him to be a driver but he's a post-up/mid-range player like him. That's enough to make him a 20 ppg guy. And should be enough for the Spurs, too.

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Yeah, and like many guys here, I'm not a fan of Melo's game. I don't care about PPG. I care about efficiency and how a player's total game can pressure a defense and open things up for the offense. Midpost stagnates ball movement too much. And the midrange shot is the most inefficient in basketball. For Kawhi to reach the next level, he has to develop a good dribble-drive game.

I disagree with the sitting. But as far as putting Kawhi in good situations on the court, Pop is doing fine.

Quit trying to invent excuses. If Kawhi doesn't come through, he's just going to have go back to work and improve further or come to terms to with his offensive limitations.

I think he comes through in this series, but I'm nervous.

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Originally Posted by midnightpulp

Midpost stagnates ball movement too much. And the midrange shot is the most inefficient in basketball

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Since the Spurs two main scorers are ISO/Mid-range players and the team had one of the best regular seasons in their history...I'd say their mid-range style is so successful

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Quit trying to invent excuses. If Kawhi doesn't come through, he's just going to have go back to work and improve further or come to terms to with his offensive limitations.

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Again. What's excuse? I said he had a bad game 2. But also, he's 24 years old, I refuse to define a player who is still developing his game.

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but I'm nervous

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Well, that's your problem. Not mine.

THIS GUY IS A FERRARI

WHAT A BEAST WE HAVE IN OUR HANDS!