what's okc's adjustment and what do you think pop's adjustment to that will be?

[Spurs da champs]

The fallacy of that thought though is that it wouldn't have helped any at all. OKC was playing small ball, so Ibaka would have been the only big out there. Sure he would have challenged shots at the rim, but instead of Gino and Parker getting into the paint for scores, they just would simply make Ibaka commit and then pass to Duncan for the score.

What happened in the 4th wasn't about talent or skill. What happened was all about execution and effort. OKC just got schooled on what execution and effort look like, not unlike the Jazz teams of the 90s used to do to the Spurs.

Once the Spurs hit some outside shots, the painted opened up like a car pool lane, and the Spurs made all the right plays and all the correct passes, like they've been doing all season.

I'm not denying that but I'm saying that's how they try & win all the time & it's obviously wont/hasn't worked against the Spurs.
But Ibaka defiantly would've made a difference, stating he wouldn't is just foolish.

[Nathan Explosion]

I'm not denying that but I'm saying that's how they try & win all the time & it's obviously wont/hasn't worked against the Spurs.
But Ibaka defiantly would've made a difference, stating he wouldn't is just foolish.

He definitely would have made a difference, in Duncan's stat line in the 4th. All those drives to the rim would have resulted in easy layups for Duncan because of Ibaka would have rotated over. In fact, Gino and Parker's assists would have gone up too.

I don't see Ibaka as a particularly smart player. He's not a dumb player, just not a smart one either. Duncan would have taken him apart.

But it wouldn't have mattered because the effort was lacking on OKC's part and the Spurs just took them apart. As Kenny Smith would say, they were just surgical in the 4th.

[angelbelow]

If they do, the next game Harden will be talking about how they have to close out better on the 3-point shooters.

Tough task trying to play perfect defense against the Spurs.

[Rapper]

The adjustment we need is to play like what we played during the regular season

PS: when can I start thread on spurstalk?

[therealtruth]

Total misconception though. Ibaka isn't a good one on one defender. He's a great help defender and gets his blocks off of help defense. You put him one on one with Duncan and your toast. Duncan took care of Ibaka one on one, and those +/- numbers you saw came with another big in the game.

This is what you'll see if Ibaka is one on one with Duncan.



If the Thunder try to go small ball with Ibaka in place of Perkins, they're still losing. They need both of them in the game. The problem is, that's one less wing player for OKC and their offense gets worse. And in the 4th, their offense was bad enough as it was with all the missed jumpers.

I don't think it's necessarily switching Ibaka for Perkins. It probably means going with WB-Harden-Durant-Ibaka-Perkins. Their problem wasn't offense. They gave up a 40 point fourth quarter. They needed better defense.

[PÒÓCH]

The Thunder should just acknowledge the superiority of the Spurs and just give up and fold.
Prior to the start of game two I suggest the all bow down to them and say "we're not worthy"

[z0sa]

The problem with Brooks making an adjustment or few many have already pointed out in the last 24 hours:

Neither team played their best. Particularly the Spurs tbh. Brooks really needs to toe the line and make great in game adjustments during Game 2, hoping he gets some definitive answers concerning their small ball lineup and whether or not a traditional lineup fairs better.

On the Spurs side, a similar set of cir stances exists obviously, but one thing you can point is you definitely want less FTs for Durant. Otherwise, if the Spurs can string together the 4th quarter's effort and sustain it, I think it's their series to lose, primarily because of the 1-0 lead and HCA.

[Budkin]

Splitter and Duncan isn't happening as long as they stay small, and no for the love of god no Blair...

Didn't Blair beast on them in the regular season?

[Budkin]

The Thunder should just acknowledge the superiority of the Spurs and just give up and fold.
Prior to the start of game two I suggest the all bow down to them and say "we're not worthy"

I think they're going to come out with a vengeance I'm game 2.

[ViceCity86]

Play 3 chuckers with the 2 bigs.
Thunder adjustment

[thunderfan]

Hey Duncan's clearing out there. lol Seriously though, Duncan WILL, at times, burn Ibaka. But all in all Ibaka has become a nice one-on-one defender. He's actually shown to be a pretty darn effective (as effective as one can be anyways) man defender on Dirk and did well on Gasol too. Duncan's gonna make him look foolish sometimes. He does that to everyone, but Ibaka has the ability to give Duncan a bit of trouble as well.

[Nathan Explosion]

I don't think it's necessarily switching Ibaka for Perkins. It probably means going with WB-Harden-Durant-Ibaka-Perkins. Their problem wasn't offense. They gave up a 40 point fourth quarter. They needed better defense.

They gave up 39 points in the 4th but, if you take away the Harden 3's, they score about 20 points. Ibaka would have to kept the Spurs to 29 points just to get that game into overtime. I don't see that happening.

The one thing that the Spurs can do is hide guys on Ibaka and Perkins because they're not offensive threats. More Ibaka would probably mean more Bonner and the threat of the 3, which keeps Ibaka out of the paint, which negates his one skill on defense, shotblocking.

[thunderfan]

I'm tellin ya, you guys are selling Ibaka short. Would he have made a huge difference in the 4th? I don't know, maybe not. Is he going to make Duncan go cold? Not likely. But you guys are making him out to be nothing but a weak side shot blocker. You think Brooks is going to start a guy who can't play man defense? Ibaka is a better than average man defender, trust me. I've seen every game he's ever played. In the short sample some of you have seen him, perhaps I can understand why you think otherwise..I don't know.

[Obstructed_View]

I'm tellin ya, you guys are selling Ibaka short. Would he have made a huge difference in the 4th? I don't know, maybe not. Is he going to make Duncan go cold? Not likely. But you guys are making him out to be nothing but a weak side shot blocker. You think Brooks is going to start a guy who can't play man defense? Ibaka is a better than average man defender, trust me. I've seen every game he's ever played. In the short sample some of you have seen him, perhaps I can understand why you think otherwise..I don't know.

When someone who is a "better than average man defender" finishes second in DPOY, it's because he's nothing but a weak side shot blocker.

[Nathan Explosion]

Marcus Camby was a 2 time DPOY if I'm not mistaken because he blocked shots like crazy. Turns out, he was a bad man to man defender and was just a good help defender and weak side shot blocker.

Ibaka= Camby 2.0

Plus, if Ibaka plays, so does Bonner because OKC doesn't have a guy who can score on the block. Bonner is a threat to hit from 3, so Ibaka has to play him on the perimeter. Can't protect the rim when you're at the 3 point line.

Put Ibaka on Duncan, and well, you saw the video.

[thunderfan]

When someone who is a "better than average man defender" finishes second in DPOY, it's because he's nothing but a weak side shot blocker.

THat doesn't make any sense. A guy who does nothing but blocks shots and sucks at man defense has no business even being in the discussion for DPOY. He got second because he's actually a pretty versatile defender. I don't think your limited views on him guarding Duncan really qualify you to say otherwise. How often do you watch Ibaka?

[thunderfan]

Marcus Camby was a 2 time DPOY if I'm not mistaken because he blocked shots like crazy. Turns out, he was a bad man to man defender and was just a good help defender and weak side shot blocker.

Ibaka= Camby 2.0

Plus, if Ibaka plays, so does Bonner because OKC doesn't have a guy who can score on the block. Bonner is a threat to hit from 3, so Ibaka has to play him on the perimeter. Can't protect the rim when you're at the 3 point line.

Put Ibaka on Duncan, and well, you saw the video.

Yeah..I saw the video. Strangely enough, Tim Duncan isn't the only guy Ibaka guards during the course of a season and that's also not the only defensive stance Ibaka has made this year. Like I said, I doubt anyone here has seen enough of Ibaka to make a very qualified statement on his defensive capabilities.

[thunderfan]

Why are we taking 1 video clip of Duncan schooling Ibaka and calling Ibaka a bad man defender? He's so bad that this year against OKC, Duncan has gone:

5-13, 11 pts
5-16, 13 pts
5-13, 16 pts
6-15, 16 pts

This from a HOF-er. Not exactly what I'd call bad man defense.

[Nathan Explosion]

Why are we taking 1 video clip of Duncan schooling Ibaka and calling Ibaka a bad man defender? He's so bad that this year against OKC, Duncan has gone:

5-13, 11 pts
5-16, 13 pts
5-13, 16 pts
6-15, 16 pts

This from a HOF-er. Not exactly what I'd call bad man defense.

Perkins guards Duncan. Yeah.

[xellos88330]

Yeah..I saw the video. Strangely enough, Tim Duncan isn't the only guy Ibaka guards during the course of a season and that's also not the only defensive stance Ibaka has made this year. Like I said, I doubt anyone here has seen enough of Ibaka to make a very qualified statement on his defensive capabilities.

So do you think Ibaka can defend Tim one on one, or do you think he will need some weakside help?

IIRC, Perkins played Duncan 1v1 until Duncan went into a shooting motion. That is when Ibaka comes in from the weakside to attempt to block the shot.

[thunderfan]

Perkins has not exclusively guarded Duncan this year. Ibaka has been on him plenty. To answer the question, I think Ibaka could play Duncan
one-on-one reasonably well. As well as Perkins? No. I'm not claiming Ibaka can shut down a guy like Duncan (who can?), I'm arguing the claim that Ibaka is not a good man defender and that he's nothing more than a weak side shot blocker.

[Obstructed_View]

THat doesn't make any sense. A guy who does nothing but blocks shots and sucks at man defense has no business even being in the discussion for DPOY. He got second because he's actually a pretty versatile defender. I don't think your limited views on him guarding Duncan really qualify you to say otherwise. How often do you watch Ibaka?

It makes perfect sense. He got second because he put up blocks on everyone's sexy pick to win the west, and nobody even notices that Perkins takes the big defensive assignment and Ibaka can roam from the weak side. And I agree that he has no business being in the discussion for DPOY. If you think I don't watch OKC play every game, how do you expect all the voters to have done so?

I have league pass broadband and can watch any game from the archive. Give me some examples of how great his individual defense is and I'll go take a look. If he's really this good then there should be plenty of examples.

[Obstructed_View]

Why are we taking 1 video clip of Duncan schooling Ibaka and calling Ibaka a bad man defender? He's so bad that this year against OKC, Duncan has gone:

5-13, 11 pts
5-16, 13 pts
5-13, 16 pts
6-15, 16 pts

This from a HOF-er. Not exactly what I'd call bad man defense.

"I watch every game he's ever played but never bothered to pay attention to who he's guarding"

[Leetonidas]

How to stop the layup drill - they will likely ease up on defending the perimeter in Game 2.

Yep so the Spurs wings need to be ready because they will probably get a lot more open looks from 3 tonight

[thunderfan]

Again - I have not stated or even implied that Ibaka is a "great" man defender. Please read carefully what I'm writing. I'm stating that Ibaka is a better than average man defender. Didn't even say he was "way better than average". Simply "better than average".

Vs. Pau Gasol (typically considered a fairly decent player) in Round 2:

24-54, 60 pts. 12ppg. Guys who can do nothing but block shots weakside typically allow much more offensive production from a guy like Pau Gasol.