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think u answered ur own question
Or is it a little of both?
Let me get one thing out of the way: The Spurs D was bad. Period.
Not super bad, but still bad enough that they got backdoor swept. The Thunder carved them up on demand in the last 4 games of the series. Everything seemingly went in. Spurfan thought it was luck, mavfan + lakerfan + everyone else thought it was horrendous closeouts. But even then they were making all the ing long balls (Sefolosha through Collison).
Miami's rotation to open shooters has been stupendous. They're swarming the ball, packing the paint, and challenging every shot.
I think it's both. OKC sky-high percentages were bound to regress, and MIA's D has been damn near flawless.
Thoughts?
think u answered ur own question
Miami has good D but they are allowed to have it by the officiating crew. Good D is often disguised as fouling depending on the crew and the team.
it's amazing the effect defense has on shots going on or not
Miami's defense is way better than the Spurs defense this year, tbh...
Miami's D is just that good.
Miami playing really good D....making all the rotations, making their jump shooters hesitant to the point where they get psyched out when they're wide open.
Mostly Miami's D along with some Thunder choke.
Miami's perimeter D is superior to San Antonio's, but the Thunder are missing a lot of open shots they hit last series. They have also given up on team basketball. In game 4 they had a total of 13 assists. The last 3 games against the Spurs, OKC had 27, 22, and 18 assists. Combine that with James Harden's disappearing act, and you have the Thunder about to suffer the same fate they dealt to San Antonio.
That's what happens when you close out hard and keep the other team from establishing a rhythm.
this is a simple concept Spurfan refuses to accept
its always a little bit of both but it's mostly because of miami's defense
This is a series when OKC desperately needs a post scorer, heat's perimeter d is best in the nba
We accept it, we just cannot do it.
Yeah the Spurs are an old team. Hard to play great defense when you are a step slower.
NBA players shouldn't need to be in a rhythm to knock down a wide open jump shot. These are supposedly the best players in the world. The number of bricked wide open jumpshots Harden and various others have put up in this series is pretty astounding, actually
Miami's D is much better than San Antonio's for sure, but not so much better that half of OKC's bench should be rendered virtually useless as a result. At some point it comes down to not choking and actually making your wide open jumpshots, which OKC seems so far incapable of doing.
have you ever played basketball? basketball is ALL about rhythm.NBA players shouldn't need to be in a rhythm to knock down a wide open jump shot. These are supposedly the best players in the world. The number of bricked wide open jumpshots Harden and various others have put up in this series is pretty astounding, actually
Miami's D is much better than San Antonio's for sure, but not so much better that half of OKC's bench should be rendered virtually useless as a result. At some point it comes down to not choking and actually making your wide open jumpshots, which OKC seems so far incapable of doing.
I think it has more to do with Thunder cooling off. The team just looks tired tbh. They've depended on sprinting down the floor to get them quick points most of the playoffs, but those legs have finally worn down and their offense looks stagnant and stuck in the half-court.
LeClutch's D has cooled that made jump shooting team down tbh.
you accept it, however you were right about the Spurs moreso than the vast majority of other Spurs fans.
Miami;s D has been good through every series tbh. Sure they had games where you're like "what the....." but their D has been on point. I remember in the first round, they made Steve Novak a non factor.
Let's see:
Thunder faced an average (slightly above avg.) defensive ballclub with Dallas, average defensive team with Lakers, average team with spurs.
Now they are facing an elite Defensive team for the first time this postseason.
our D might be even better then mavs' of last season and that's one of the greatest things that battier delivers. upgraded our D to another level and the whole team is playing great D because of him, thought his stats like rebs/steals/blocks ain't that impressive at all. most underrated defensive player in NBA history imho
The answer to your question is that Kobe is still the measuring stick by which players judge themselves...them s went all out HAM on Kobe to fulfill some warped ed up childhood dream...but they don't give a while playing against Lebron and so they've slacked off...
Beating LA was their championship they built their team for eventually beating Kobe and they're now satisfied. Plain and Simple
Shows just how great Kobe is IMO...
I'm more in line to agree with this. Miami's perimeter D plays to OKC's strength. Since OKC has no post presence or interior game Miami is able to take a lot of chances on defense. Against the Spurs, OKC bigs had some career games, namely Ibaka and that was able to put OKC over the top. OKC has become the same team it was all season, a one on one perimeter team trying to be a great perimeter-oriented defensive team.
Lebron, Wade both easily 1st defensive team all nba
Battier is top 5 perimeter defender
Haslem is as crafty defender as Horry/Posey
the PG scrub is top 10 defensive PG
bosh is long
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