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I agree. He pretty much gave Pop and the Spurs glimpses of what they are going to do in Game 3 and beyond. Bad move on his part because now the Spurs have a day at preparing for these kinds of looks that the Thunder are going to throw at them....
What? Today? Oh me, poor Clipper fans. My friend Al will be suicidal. Dumbest move EVER.well, scratch that... Del Negro got an extension
Wouldn't be surprised if CP3 and Blake walk after next season now.
YOU STERLING YOU SLUMLORD .
I agree. He pretty much gave Pop and the Spurs glimpses of what they are going to do in Game 3 and beyond. Bad move on his part because now the Spurs have a day at preparing for these kinds of looks that the Thunder are going to throw at them....
Brooks getting called out in the media:
As the Spurs started to build a second quarter double-digit lead on the Thunder, Durant and Westbrook were forced to watch. Scott Brooks chose to stick to his rotational guns and go with the bench.
Brooks' stubborness often pays off. He's a coach that likes stability and consistency, and he handles playing time much in that way. He trusts his players to execute and do their job and with one of the league's better benches, he saw no reason for them to not do their job there.
Except this is the playoffs and there's just not a ton of room for error.
In Game 1, Brooks was left answering questions about why he sat Serge Ibaka in the fourth quarter. This time around, it was two choices that are left to be picked apart: Sitting Westbrook and Durant the first five minutes of the second quarter as the Spurs started rolling and playing Derek Fisher the entire fourth as stopper Thabo Sefolosha sat.
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No question the Spurs can match up for small ball. But the Thunder were more effective than the Spurs tonight. 22 point lead cut down to 6, I believe. Thunder are going to get their FT so Spur fan here needs to get use to that idea.
People have already forgotten the Thunder were beating the Spurs by 9 going into the 4th quarter of Game 1. That was without small ball and without hack a Splitter killing momentum.
Usa usa usa usa
Manny my name is also, Manny. Oh, I agree with you too..
Manny, I'm not sure I agree that having Neal on the floor would be such a great idea against that small lineup. Think about what happened late in the 3rd and early in the 4th. OKC had Harden and Westbrook out there at the same time and all we had was Manu and Neal. .Neal was getting burned over and over on defense, and can't do anything but catch and shoot long distance shots (putting almost no pressure on one of those two defensively). Manu/Neal doesn't work is Westbrook is out there. Imo, Neal should never play against Westbrook. He will get destroyed.
He might get some shots, but it just lets Westbrook go off offensively which isn't worth the tradeoff seeing as how Neal is a streaky shooter. Neal goes cold while Westbrook's going off and we're ed.
Those sound like pretty decent stats for a defensive player. Extrapolate that over 4 quarters, and that's 8 steals, 12 boards, 12 points. Not exactly bad. Ibaka's blocks seem to get blocked either out of bounds or back into the opposing teams' hands, so they really aren't always that useful. Ibaka had what 4 blocks tonight? I'm pretty sure we scored on the same play on at least 2 of his blocks tonight if not 3.
Was more refs blowing the quick whistle to assist them than anything OKC did imo. Too many ticky tack calls.
At this point, OKC just has to hope the Spurs have a bad game. After tonight's game, I believe a good game from the Spurs beats the best the Thunder can offer. OKC got nearly 90 points from their big three, and Duncan had a poor offensive outing, yet the Spurs won. I don't really see anything they can do to stop the Spurs. When this team is clicking, there is simply no answer to them. They have to many diverse weapons. Their best hope is that the Spurs just don't play up to par. That is a strong possibility in one of the next two games. The team is human, and a letdown after 20 straight wins is to be expected.
i love how everyone's on his ass for not doing stuff he did to get them there. Derek Fisher brought them within 6 and manu hit a crazy shot to put them back.
Brooks getting nuked in the media:
So the Ibaka matter was resolved, but why Derek Fisher played the final 17 minutes of the game was mystifying, while Thabo Sefolosha played fewer than two of the final 18 minutes. Sometimes it’s too easy to critique a coach after the fact, but there was something dubious about Brooks’ decision to stay with Fisher. At critical moments, don't you have to ask yourself as a coach, “What are my goals?” and “Who among my personnel can help me achieve them?”
Who’s the better helper, Sefolosha or Fisher? Who gives you more flexibility defensively? Who’s twice as likely statistically to get you a rebound? Who can make the rotation more quickly? Who’s more likely to stay with Leonard as he curls around two screens to the hole on a baseline out-of-bounds play (Leonard's second-easiest bucket of the night as Fisher trailed)?
What was Brooks' return on that investment in Fisher? A 3-pointer that nipped a 12-point deficit to nine with a hair over two minutes remaining. Apart from that shot, Fisher was 1-for-10 from the field.
It's tempting to play a guy based on past performance or because he's been there before, but at a certain point you have to enumerate for yourself the attributes that can help your team win this basketball game -- athleticism, speed, length, better base defense. Even setting aside the fact that Sefolosha is a 43.7 percent 3-point shooter, while Fisher has shot below 32 percent this season, there's no good reason to stay with a pokey veteran when you're trying to double down on those other qualities.
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Well he may have played his hand too soon but he has no other choice. If he keeps doing what he has been doing all year he's not going to beat the Spurs, he has to shake things up.
If I was him I would go with Westbrook, Harden, Sefolosha, Durant and Ibaka to start the games and play small all the time.
Perkins is useless in this matchup, I wouldn't give him any minutes. Collison should be Ibaka's backup.
Play Westbrook, Harden and KD each 40+ minutes, make some changes (tricks) on the defense schemes and just hope for the best.
Oh, and Sefolosha or Cook are definitely better options than Fisher to end the games.
Last edited by DAF86; 05-30-2012 at 03:42 AM.
OKC ain't gettin' to the finals without a real coach. Ahem:
Brooks needed to do it.
You fight in the playoffs no matter what. Thunder were close.
And again - Brooks knows Pop knows. This coach gonna do some adjustments as well and figure all the small ball strategy from the beginning. The minutes who on who and hoew to rotate and on who switch and how etc.
Brooks is a good coach
I thought it was the right move. Brooks never folded it and gave the team chance until the turn. The river was just nasty for 'em cos our guys finish the that they are supposed to finish.
Notice that I said as long as Fisher is out there.
Brooks also needs to reign in his point guard. Westbrook gets crazy still.
Brooks found it, by mistake or not, he tried, he found and he pushed. Cant blame OKC for trying. They fought hard , but you cant play 11 min on such intensity at defense and then at offense. Brooks isnt Del Negro, OKC will adjust in whole new game 3.
Doesn't say much. Pretty much one level above him.
In game 1, Thunder outscored Spurs when their played big and were outscored playing small with Perkins at the C spot. In game, 2, they decided to stay big with a poor result. They then play small with Ibaka at the C spot, it worked for a half quarter before failing.
My conclusion of all that is coaches have little to do tactically in this series. Spurs and Thunder are just two teams playing a great sound basketball. There isn't some kind of miracle lineup that will give a big edge to one team.
I think Pop see this series like that too. When you listen at what he says during timeouts, it's more pep talks than technical coaching. There was the whole "Nasty" talk in game 1 and in game 2 he went after Parker and said things like "it's a big boy game"... . Pop main focus is to keep players motivated instead of doing adjustments. On the other hand, Brooks try to answer with tactical tricks like diverse small ball lineups, hack a splitter, switching on screens...
For game 3, Spurs should stick with their gameplan and put the focus and thing s as simple as matching Thunder energy and not letting them scored in transition. If Brooks comes with something that really bother Spurs, it will be time for Pop to make an adjustment.
During the broadcast, the question of Fisher vs Sefolosha was brought up, and the one point that was mentioned for Fisher was that you know he can hit a big shot (which he ended up doing a few minutes later).
I don't like Fisher, but if he's on the bench, then who's there to steady the team when it goes south on them? Fisher's best attribute is his leadership and if you doubt that, just look at LA without him. With no one to reign in Kobe, the Lakers offense (and big men) suffered.
But in the end, again, it's pick your poison with the Spurs.
This will now be a recurring nightmare for me throughout the summer. Thanks.OKC ain't gettin' to the finals without a real coach. Ahem:
That is a solid quarter, if he matched that for the entire game his numbers would have been 12 pts 12 rebounds 8 steals, I'd take that from Diaw, Splitter on any Spur not in the Big 3 and call that a very solid night
I couldn't agree more. Not only did the comeback test the Spurs' mettle in-game, but they have the ability to adjust to the new strategy between games. It seems the Thunder's sole advantage going forward is whatever momentum and energy the home crowd gives them. Not that it's a small factor, just that I don't think it will carry them in and of itself.
Last edited by AFBlue; 05-30-2012 at 01:30 PM.
Of they try to use that small lineup with ibaka at the 5 we'll be more than "just fine" if Duncan shows up offensively. He should be able to abuse ibaka in the post and neutralize him as a weakside shotblocker. Duncan-jax/Leonard-green-Manu-tp or something along those lines. I would still play Neal whenever fisher is on the court
I agree, however, TNT is supposedly not allowed to broadcast the technical parts of the time outs.
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