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miami's defense is better than the Spurs in 99
Bibby compares Heat's defense to 1999 Spurs
Written by Jeff Garcia | 31 May 2011
Tonight the 2011 NBA Finals kick off in Miami as the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks square off onceagain since 2006. It will also mark Heat's Mike Bibby's first trip to the Finals and when asked about what got Miami to this point, he says it has been all about the team's defense.
In the same vein, he likens Miami's defense to the 1999 Spurs championship year defense when he was a rookie with the then Vancouver Grizzlies:
As for the team he joined in March, he repeatedly mentioned how impressed he was with the defense. "It reminds me of my first year in the league (with the Vancouver Grizzlies)," he continued. "I remember playing San Antonio. Everywhere I turned, there was somebody guarding me, helping out. They (Spurs) made it hard to do anything. I haven't had that again until I got here. It's all about defense, helping out.
Indeed the Spurs - during their dynasty years - proved defense wins championships. Miami is doing it in their current playoff run and the 1999 Spurs team defied an opposing team to score which led to the franchise's first NBA le. It also helped having one of the NBA's all-time defensive greats David Robinson and a young Tim Duncan patrolling the paint.
Hopefully the Spurs will get back to a defense-first mindset next season and once again look for le number five before Duncan and Manu Ginobili hang up their jerseys.
miami's defense is better than the Spurs in 99
Good to know that Bibby views the 1999 Spurs team as the gold standard of defense.
Miami's playoff defense is the best I've ever seen.
Miamis defense is great but not as good as '99 Spurs.
And like five months ago I said they had a chance to be the best defensive team ever, but I wanna see how they guard a legit seven footer. I think that's there weakness defensively and they'll be somewhat exposed there this series.
The Spurs front court defense is FAR superior to the Heat's, but the Heat's perimeter defense is OUTSTANDING.
I have enjoyed every minute of watching defense; I miss seeing that defensive effort on the Spurs.
The '03,'04, and '05 Spurs were all better than '99 AND this year's Miami team. The '99 team didn't have Bruce Bowen - don't underestimate how good he was on the perimeter.
Don't let the .4 shot re-write history for you. In 2004, the Spurs limited their opponents to just 84.3 PPG. (And that wasn't a lockout season.) That was an incredible defensive team, regardless of losing the series to the Lakers. Had the Finals matchup that year been between the Pistons and Spurs, it would have been the epic defensive battle of all time.
For that matter, the Pistons who won the Championship that year ('04) were a better defensive team than Miami is this year. That's not to take away from Miami - it's just fact.
The Heat's defense is good, but they haven't faced great offensive teams in the playoffs
Rose is the only Bulls' scorer, Rondo can't shoot and KG and Green didnt have an impact offensively, and the Sixers don't have a lot of firepower either
But the Mavs....
Similar in effect perhaps but quite different otherwise. The Heat are really, really aggressive out on the perimeter and they can be because they are so much more athletic than that 99 team ever was out there. They ing swarm like a football defense, create a lot of turnovers and generally pressure and disrupt a team's flow all over the court. The 99 D (and the league in general) was much more physical all the way around and built on the Twin Towers.
When I say similar in effect I mean that it just seems to wear opponents down, mentally as much as anything. Just watching on TV you could (and can) feel an offense's frustration. Even the most aggressive of players seem to go from "Time to take it to them" to " , these guys again?"
The Heat defense is as good as it gets on the wings. But the real test comes now against Nowitzki.
No way you can compare the two. We had the Twin Towers and Sean Elliott who was a waaay better defender than LeBron will ever be
the spurs 1999 defense wasn't anything special, Bowen was a pretty terrible defender back then even Joe Johnson would have dropped 40 on him regularly
Yeah, I bet Joe Johnson would have dropped 100 on him... maybe 200. Bowen didn't even show up for the games back then.
stick. Bowen wasn't even with the Spurs until 01-02. And you're the one who said Miami's defense was way better than the '99 Spurs up above? Figures. I bet your other 12 posts are real gems, too.
But with less class
You got trolled.
Bowen didn't start to become a dominant defender till 2007, TD 2005.
Didnt know Bowen was a Spur back then
It took 2 players to replace what sean Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Lu ck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_ brought to the team in bowen and jax, sean was a lock down defender and excellent shooter and slasher. The combination of David and a young Tim Duncan made it impossible to get to the basket, 99 Spurs team peroid would of taken a giant all over the teams in the playoffs this year.
ahaha elliott
gnsf
Overall I think Miami is as good as Spurs were but they are very different teams so you can't compare their defensive game.
Miami has his weakness but we had in 99 too
Look at the tape of any Spurs or Pistons championship team and you have seen better. It's just that Dallas is the premiere choke team on the big stage and makes Miami's defense look better than it is.
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