Not really.. I guess you didn't see my finals rant last year.
Interesting. Thanks, man. Guess we'll see what happens.
Not really.. I guess you didn't see my finals rant last year.
Can't wait for the foreign legion to show up full force tomorrow
Diaw really has disappointed, tbh. He's been nothing short of useless in this series... Tbh... Hope he turns it around.
Hey, it could be worse. At least we're not dealing with a bunch of young, inexperienced kids who have no idea how to handle themselves in the playoffs. These guys are ing seasoned veterans...Diaw and Belli will not continue to suck.
He is an upgrade over Neal. It's not really even debatable. He's at least as good a shooter, despite his slump, and his cuts to the basket and his passing are far superior to Neal. Both are horrible defenders, but I've not see Beli get schooled by a shoeless Mike Miller yet. Not saying it won't happen. Gary had two things: shooting ability and lack of memory.
Spurs led the league in assists, they are almost dead last in the playoffs in assists. You could take a 2 game sample from the RS and get poor numbers as well. Let's see what happens in the next couple games.
The whole team was obviously sloppy on Wednesday, but I think part of that falls on Pop and, to the Mav's credit, Rick Carlisle.
Start with the decision to cover Parker with Marion, leaving Ellis on Leonard. Not only does Marion present a well-known problem for Parker (length and athleticism, though the latter is fading), this also results in a mismatch with Leonard that is hard for the Spurs to resist.
Next, Dallas is switching everything, which is resulting in mismatches nearly every time down the floor. There is a reason this is happening. Switching everything allows Dallas to better boggle the Spurs picks, cuts, and passing. The resulting mismatches also entice the Spurs to do something that they don't do very well: play ISO basketball.
Believe it or not, Dallas is daring the Spurs to let Tony, Tim, and Manu beat them. They don't want to allow the same offense that won 62 games and swept them in the regular season to make an appearance. The sacrifice is to see if the Spurs stars can still put the team on its shoulders.
In Game 1, Parker came out hot because he was feasting on the defensive strategy. Once the Spurs went to the bench and tried to settle into their usual motion-based offense, however, everything stalled out. Fortunately, Tim and Tony found the crack in the door with enough time left in the fourth quarter to bust it open with individual plays.
In Game 2, I think Pop came out with the emphasis on moving the ball, and it backfired. The team tried to force the motion offense that has carried them through the season, which played right into the Mav's defense. The result was an offense that never looked comfortable, 24 turnovers, and a loss.
Last edited by Dex; 04-25-2014 at 04:06 PM.
Yep, Carlisle is making the Spurs do what they're not comfortable with - iso-ball. The strength of "Spurs basketball" - the motion offense, cutting, passing is neutralized and Carlisle is daring the big 3 to go one on one. It's thrown the whole team out of sorts.
Ayres/Bonner don't belong in any playoff game. What's up with TD and TP playing so little? They had 2 days' rest and 2 days' after game 2. Play them heavy minutes - that's why they were rested during the rs.
Danny Green. He set the tone with 2 TOs to begin the game with passes he should never even try.
Not for the Spurs when no one averages over 30 during the regular season. You don't suddenly start playing 35+ playoff minutes without an adjustment period.
That style of play works when you're playing the Sixers but it's harder to implement in the playoffs. The defense is going to force you to beat them 1-on-1 before they start rotating off the shooters.
The lackadaisical play is to blame. I remember when we played the Thunder, they played to the fact that the Spurs make those smooth passes and managed to steal the ball. What I saw in game 2 were the most careless passes, teammates not ready to receive passes and just guys tossing the ball casually, not expecting Dallas to steal. These are all problems the Spurs can easily fix. Take away those turnovers, Spurs would have had a very comfortable lead and would have cruised to a 2-0 lead. Game 3 should be very telling
It's because we don't have Blair.........................
Man this is excellent!! No joke.
This is the clearest most rational assessment of both games so far that anyone has come up with.
My question to you (quite seriously) is: what should/can the Spurs do? Do you think our big three can put the team on their shoulders for three more wins?
I would assume that everybody in the NBA is watching this series and figuring out exactly how to stop us. And I don't know what the answer is.should be, but I would honestly like to hear what you think should be done.
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