It's no secret as to how the Celtics accomplished their goal of winning the NBA Championship. They did it - with DEFENSE. They led the league in opp FG% and margin of victory from wire-to-wire. They virtually smothered Kobe and the Fakers into submission.
Game 6 was a microcosm and a testimony as to the defensive committment for which the Celtics displayed all year. They got virtually loose ball, cleaned the backboards spotless, limited penetration into the paint and hawked Kobe and friends on the perimeter.
In watching the Celtics play championship-level defense from wire-to-wire and seeing how, at the same time, the Spurs "dipped" a bit this year defensively (44% Opp FG%), I have a couple of questions for Spurs fans:
Do you believe it's necessary for the Spurs to re-up their defensive intensity in order to stave off the compe ion in the West and get back to the Finals?
If so, what do you think the Spurs need to do re-up that defensive intensity and which player(s) should they acquire to help them do so?
Intensity is always there with the Spurs, more like changing philosophies.
One thing the Celtics did, and what Pop is always reluctant to do was flooding the strong side and trapping Kobe. I don't recall many instances where Kobe wasn't trapped or double-teamed when after he took one dribble.
The Celtics also handedly outrebounded the Lakers all series.
In addition to Mahinmi who would be providing more post D and blocking, I would say acquiring Chalmers through the draft could help them on the defensive end with his nice 1-on-1 D, and ability to steal at a pretty good rate. Through free agency, someone like Posey, Jones, Ariza, Smith, Barnes, Giricek, or Gomes can all help us out.
someone to guard the small 4 spot (west,diaw,odom)
yeah, Spurs need to tweak their defensive gameplan a little.
Phil Jackson said they weren't allowed to do what they liked to do before the finals, because the Celtics cut off their dribble penetration.
Celtics did it the right way. Spurs have got it all twisted, with their "hope and pray their best player doesn't dismantle us" approach. They did it with Chris Paul, and then they did it with Kobe, trying to adjust to their offensive pace, instead of controlling the pace themselves with defense.
Phil said they were playing on their heels the whole game, and none of Kobe's teammates stepped up when they cut off the leader's offensive leadership.
Spurs on the other hand ed up by allowing Kobe free reign with during our typical 2nd half droughts.
oh yeah and as far as personnel, I HOPE we get a strong long, blocky SG/SF who can play the 2, 3
because all our guards are stringbeans, and Pop's default G at the 2 spot was always Finley when it came to matchup problems withlarger blockier players at the 3,4 spot. And he sucked.
Is it me or has James Posey now become "Big Shot Jim"?
well IMO...we dont produce enough on offence..we go on these scoreless points during the game that last like 4 to 8 mins...we get decent shots but cant drain em..or we force feed duncan sometimes...most of the guys cant create their own shot....we play great defence..good enough to win most of the games but we dont score enough points...
Re-sign Kurt.
Draft Chalmers and a project big.
Sign JR Smith.
Bring Sanikidze over.
Work Mahinmi into the rotation.
Call it an offseason.
Watching the Celtics manhandle the Lakers one can make the case that the west did not get tougher this year but weaker. The big dogs Spurs, Mav's and Suns all played down to the rest of the compe ion making teams like the Lakers look better than they really were thus truly earning the name Fakers. So in a nuts we have to get better and that starts with defense. The persons most likely to take us back to our defensive intensity is Artest and/or Camby.
Get younger. 35-yo's can't play Spurs defense for extended periods of time.
Retire Horry, retire Finley.
Bring in Thomas, Mahimi.
try to trade Udoka/Oberto
that would be a great start
i think a Good offense will lead to Great defense in the spurs case. when you shoot poorly or struggle for your shot you exert more energy and seeing shots rim out can take a toll on you mentally.
Our defense was fine in the Laker series
it was our offense and it's droughts that killed us.
You honestly want to get rid of Udoka after one season? In favor of who?
Whoa guys, lets slow things down........You have to get out of panic mode and think.....we lost to the lakers, we won only one game. Damn.
Now think, HOW did we lose....it wasn't because our defensive intensity just shut down completely. It was because a combination of things. Poor Manu Ginobili play, not knocking down open jumpers, mis-matches.
Pop is one of the best coaches in the league. We can not jump ship just because we didn't win this year. Stick to the game plan, just bring in one or two more players that can knock down open jumpers and hustle back on defense.
PLEASE DONT GET CAUGHT UP IN THE CELTICS HYPE.......we have 3 big scorers and two people who knock down jumpers (bowen, finley) relax.....breathe....1 big man to help rebound, 1 SF who has decent speed and can shoot.....
Dude, as much as age and a lack of scoring were and are issues for this team during the regular season and playoffs, the underlying fact is this team WAS NOT up to its normal capabilities on the defensive end either.
Do I need to remind you as to how the Spurs were carved up by the likes of Amare Stoudamire, Chris Paul, David West, and Kobe Bryant? That was in the playoffs. However, this team routinely played down to the level of inferior compe ion during the season too. Soimetimes, they were able to bail themselves out of it, other times they could not.
Statistically, this team allowed the opposition to shoot 44% for the season. May not seem like much. However, the Spurs have perennially in the top 2 or 3 in that category. The Celtics were number 1 in that category this season.
The point is, let's not forget this team, as it's gotten older, has slipped defensively too. You simply may not be quite as aware of it because of their horrific offensive woes.
get rid of whoever thought firing your only proven backup point guard, and replacing him with a proven choke artist,(mighty mouse)..get rid of whomever thought making late trades in a season, for a smaller, older, slower, backup center(who wasnt sure if SA meant seattle or san antonio)...wait that would mean getting rid of pop and his staff....that would be no good....and i guess getting rid of the person who said HCA in the west this season really wasnt important, is out of the question as well...wait that was pop too.....in all seriousness, we need another bigman next to tim, then after that another backup point, then after that bowen sure could use some help sooner or later..other then big 4, the rest of our squad has grown old fast.....maybe the FO has something up their sleeves....i sure hope it aint what its been lately...losing and watching valuable players sign with other clubs after you draft them is becoming a bad habit with these boys....someone fix it quick...or i will at least be able to say...i saw 4 nba rings in my lifetime and i never thought i would even see 1.....go spurs go
We need players with length. I would love to have a James Posey type of player on the Spurs. Players like Rondo, Pierce and Posey had great length and were able to to really distract Kobe.
Looking at the Spurs now, we really don't have a player like that outside of Duncan. Obviously we need to start looking for a Bowen replacement. Ime is decent, but I'm not sure he has the size to be that man.
The Lakers averaged 93.4 points against the Spurs.
The Lakers averaged 93.8 points against the Celtics.
I give the Celtics props for their defense but I believe it's getting overhyped at this point. The Celtics played desperate defense from the first preseason game to the last Finals game, which definitely is worthy of praise. On the other hand, the Spurs didn't even start trying to play defense until maybe around April 1. With four championships in the bag, it's not going to be possible to match the desperation of a team that's built around a bunch of championship starved players. So with that in mind, I don't really think the regular season stats come into play as much as they would if all factors were even.
The Celtics had defensive breakdowns in the playoffs numerous times. The Spurs had some defensive breakdowns but most of their ills were a result of their offense.
The real difference between the Spurs and the Celtics against the Lakers was offense. The Celtics averaged 102.2 points per game against the Lakers. The Spurs averaged 88.4 points per game against the Lakers.
I have little doubt that the Spurs can reclaim their spot as the best defensive team in the league with a few adjustments this summer. Finley was the worst defensive player on the team this past year. Eliminating him will make the team a better defensive team right away. Barry was playing on one leg, so he wasn't much better. On top of that, if the Spurs can have a second bigman that can alter shots in the lane, that'd also be very nice. Those two adjustments, in addition to a defensively adequate backup point guard, and the Spurs defense will be fine.
Offensively, the Big Three has to be healthy and the Spurs need to add a fourth scorer and a few other offensively capable parts. It won't be too difficult to improve on having Finley as the team's fourth scorer.
Overall, the Spurs' postseason demise I'd say was about 90% offensive related -- and a lot of that was due to Manu's injury. Taking out Manu's scoring was bad but taking out the easy shots Manu creates for others might have been even more damaging.
Next year, add back TD and TP playing at a high level, a healthy Ginobili and a couple more offensive parts and the Spurs will be able to make a good run at a le. They weren't too far away this year and they have the means to get the missing parts.
All in all, the Spurs aren't in a bad position. Hopefully they make the right moves in the draft and free agency to give themselves a chance.
I just hope Manu can get healthy after playing in the Smoglypics.
Well I like that kind of homerism.
I wonder what is the real problem for the spurs. Was it the heavy minutes played by the big three or them having havy lifting all season long with those minutes?
Taking that point - are the spurs still able to be able to get HCA for the playoffs and be freash and ready? Esp. ready for the intensity of the playoffs. That was my main concern all season long looking at the b2b games.
Spurs need some more versatile scorers.
I hear all of the talk about how all the all star players carved us up and what not. True, we had some lack luster defensive performances on the other end. However, look at whom they were against
CP3- 2nd place in the MVP race
David West- a mis-match in most places, and a star in the making
Kobe Bryant- no need 2 explain
Amare- Arguably one of the best in the game
These players are going to get their numbers!!!!!....a staple of the Spurs defense is how we react to them getting numbers. (I.E Suns...won, NO......won, Lakers.....nearly won, poor offense). Pop has lived (and occaisionally died) by containing the most talented opponents and making the role players beat you. The Lakers series came down to our poor offensive performance and their role players stepping up.
You can't expect for us to shut down every All-Star we face...be realistic....remember the series when Amare went off for like 40 ppg??????, tell me who won that series????.....
Our defense was there....our Role players were not....simple
Gone are the days when there was a clear cut top three in the west. THINGS HAVE CHANGED.....teams like the Lakers, Rockets, Jazz, and NO are no longer teams we can just stifle. Each of those teams that I have mentioned have 3 or more players that can light up the score boards. To expect the Spurs to remain as dominant as they were in the past is silly.
Things have changed, teams are better. But that also does not mean we go on a wild goose chase for an Athletic Swingman: who plays Defense, can rebound, shoot three, have discipline, get blocks, AND take severe paycuts to play here.
By getting caught up in the moment you can sacrifice what we have strove so long to build. A solid core of players that only need players to rotate on defense, and knock down open shots, to win a ring
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