Remember Jazz also had Karl Malone in his twilight years (I honestly believe the difference between Malone and Duncan is much smaller than the number of championships indicates), played way better than his age, they lost to the Bulls in the finals because they did not have home court advantage, they fought back and gained home court advantage the following year. They were taken to the final game against veteran rival Rockets (Mavericks of this year), beat young Spurs 4-1 (Blazers of this year, Duncan's game was much more mid-range then, similar to Aldridge), and swept superstar Lakers (Thunder of this year, the team NBA wanted to see in the finals), they carried home court advantage into the finals, won game 1 and lost 4 of next 5 games.
I hope I am wrong, but too many similarities between the current pick-and-roll happy Spurs team and Utah Jazz in 1997-1998. The resilient veteran team that relied on passing over athleticism everyone respected, the ultimate test for every young team trying to take it to the next level.
It is fate, it is the ending of the GDP book. The league needs the story of LeBron topping Jordan and the three-peat is inevitable. Refs will make balancing calls to slow momentum on either side and keep the games close until final minutes, GDP will tire out and LeBron will dominate with individual star power. Spurs has more consistency than anyone else, but against a more talented team with an actual system instead of "free style", individual ISO power will prevail.
Spurs in GDP's twilight years is exactly like Utah Jazz, the perfect opponent for heroes to overcome, but will never be able to beat the main character of the story book because the writer won't allow it.
Last edited by hitmantb; 05-23-2014 at 02:49 PM.
So according to this story, we sweep the Thunder?
History doesn't matter so I don't really care about the comparison. I think a Heat-Spurs matchup this year is worlds different than it was last year.
In the 2014 playoffs, Tiago Splitter is averaging 8 points, 9 boards, and 2.4 assists.
In the 2013 finals, Tiago Splitter & Boris Diaw collectively averaged 9 points, 4 boards, and 2 assists.
People seem to forget that in the Finals Boris engaged in a level of passivity that we haven't seen from him all year, making him basically unplayable. This year (and especially during this series) he's turned into a small ball killer. He's shooting 30% of his shots from 0-3 feet and he's killing it from there, shooting better (.800) than anyone on the team that's taking those shots often. And these aren't transition layups. I don't think it's a stretch to say that at this point, Boris Diaw is our best back to the basket player. Miami's small ball caught us off guard last year, but this year Boris will eat Shane Battier for breakfast. Their only hope will be to put their best defender Lebron on a Spurs role player and tire him out down banging down low.
As for Tiago I think it's safe to say that if he was able to keep Dirk and LMA in check, he will have no trouble against Bosh. Last year he routinely got his pounded on offense, and his Euro layup was basically just beach volleyball for the Heat. This season he's made a change not in his shot selection or strength going to the hoop, but in the way he sees the court and helps his teammates succeed. His playoff PER is 19.6, his TO% is one of the lowest on the team, he's giving us career high numbers in assists, and his ORtg is a stunning 139 in the playoffs. Thats 32 points better than the 2013 playoffs. I'm as shocked as anyone, but on offense Tiago has turned into one of the smartest BBIQ guys we have. He would be the best passing big on basically any team that doesn't have Boris Diaw.
In short, Tiago and Boris each averaged a pathetic 15 minutes in last year's finals. We have every reason to believe this year will be completely different. Having these two in their current form makes the Spurs a stunningly versatile team. If the Heat go big we can put Splitter on Bosh and shut him down without help, giving TD a break on Haslem so that he can help at the rim, allowing Green and Leonard to play Wade & Lebron straight. If the Heat go small, Boris allows us to stay big and will punish whoever they put on him; it would be foolish of them to put LBJ on Boris for fatigue and fouls, but it will be their only recourse.
Chalmers, Wade, Allen, James, Bosh is the only lineup that the Heat could presumably throw at the Spurs for which SAS will not have an easy solution defensively. Any of their other players at the 2-5 spot will give the Spurs exploitable advantages.
This is the lineup that spaces the floor so that Lebron can do that thing where he bullrushes the rim and gets a layup or a foul call. I think our best bet would be to put Boris on LBJ and make him a jump shooter, play everyone else straight, switch screens for LBJ, and hope that TD/Boris can punish their bigs on offense. I like the Spurs' versatility in this series a lot.
Everything you said is only valid because Spurs have yet to play against a long, physical, athletic, defensive team that can disrupt the passing game. Same reason Jazz looked unstoppable against quadruple all-star Lakers, and their offense took a dive against the Bulls with Jordan/Pippen forcing turnovers like LeBron/Wade.
Miami's defense is a different league than any of Spurs's three opponents this year and I think a lot of the players you listed will not perform anywhere near what they did so far. You only need one good line-up in crunch time.
Like I said I really hope I am wrong, but I smell Utah Jazz 1998 ending here.
Last edited by hitmantb; 05-23-2014 at 03:39 PM.
Does that mean also that Lebron will retire as well?
you are dumb. bulls didn't beat jazz 2 years in a row. so by your own logic this year can't be like that year......end of comparison.
The only players I listed were Boris and Tiago. The Heat are not "athletic" outside of Lebron, Wade, and MAYBE Bosh. In fact, the Heat have one of the least "athletic" frontcourt rotations in the NBA. When I think of a " long, physical, athletic, defensive team", the names Haslem, Andersen, Battier, Allen, Chalmers don't exactly jump off of the page at me. The Heat are the NBA's oldest team. You don't get to play Allen, Battier, and Haslem heavy minutes and call yourself an athletic team. Lebron is athletic. Lebron has also not been very good on defense this season, nor have the Heat by their standards. Maybe the Spurs haven't played a great defense yet, but the Heat haven't even played a decent offense in these playoffs. Charlotte, Brooklyn, then Indiana is one of the most offensively inept finals paths you could ever possibly hope to face in the NBA playoffs. Yet the Spurs are still giving up less points per shot, still holding opponents to worse adjusted fg%, and still scoring 107 points per game to Miami's 98.
I'm not saying it will be easy to shut down Lebron & co, just saying that if we score 105 points per game, keeping the Heat under that will be a simple matter of execution on defense. We can match up with any lineup they throw out MUCH more effectively than last year. That's the only history that matters.
If you think there isn't a big difference between Duncan and Malone, I don't know what to tell you. You are on an island with a bunch of Jazz fans.
Great take. I remember at times Boris was checking James rather effectively through Game Six. It'll be exciting seeing them go nine deep against Miami. Tiago barely even played in Games 6 and 7, and instead of Gary Neal as the seventh man, we'll have a combo of Mills and Belinelli to supplant Neal's production.
Just looked at the boxscores and shows that Manu startied in the last 3 games...I know I sure don't even recall that fact.
this time Malone has more rings than Jordan right?
Its kinda different though, the Jazz never were in position to beat the Bulls. The Spurs were in a situation where they had a 5 point lead with 28 seconds left where previously 130 teams of 130 teams won in that situation in the playoffs.
This Heat team is not even as good as last year.
This is so stupid. I'm sorry man
Nah man, the Thunder are the Jazz. Ref protected all throughout the WC playoffs and then blitzed when they play the league's glamour team in the Finals and don't get that ridiculous whistle.
I hope OKC's crowd starts counting every time Duncan gets the ball at the FT line.
No but seriously, that was one of the stupidest things I've ever read.
the jazz never had the bulls beat in a game 6 and gave the game away in either of those series. so i'm not understanding. amd they were basically no comp really. utah in97 was probably the bulls easiest le. with 98 being the 3rd easiest.
STDalamon?
Benstanfield just went HAM
Wrong.
www.google.com
or it
www.wikipedia.org
or better yet
memory. 90's basketball was the , regardless of how good the Spurs were *
Great post
I will say Bosh has a tendency to come up small in the playoffs (i.e 0 points in the Finals Game 7) but he is an elite jump shooter who almost never shoots in the paint anymore. Splitter would spend most of his time at least 15 feet away from the rim.
If we get back there Diaw could be a massive factor. If Miami goes with the Wade-Allen-Lebron-Battier-Bosh matchup Diaw could either post Lebron or Battier and defend either as well, allowing Leonard to cover Wade. I could even see Pop going supper big with Duncan-Splitter and Diaw for stretches If Bosh-Anderson/Haslem-Lebron/Battier are on the court he did i in the blowout win in the RS.
Miami would also have a tougher time trapping on Parker and Ginobili with Diaw setting screens and spotting up from 3. They'd essentially be forcing the ball out of a guards hands and into an open high percentage 3pt shooter.
Time to end this ty comparison once and for all.
One simple fact debunks Malone's legacy. Did him playing in the Jordan era block him from getting 4-5 les like Duncan? NO! Malone could not even play Jordan until the Finals and he only got there twice. Duncan got there six times and won 4-5 times. And Duncan had to go through Shaq, Dirk, KG, Ming, etc. Pretty legit in bigs tbh, not to mention lesser but still good ones like Randolph, Gasol brothers, Amar'e, etc.
Malone can't even use the Jordan excuse. He was in the Finals against the oldest and slowest version of Bulls Jordan, and aside from that never got there.
Malone was a great player, but not a true champion. He did stuff well that's statistically measured well, but that doesn't always add up to a le. And btw the Jazz were the Thunder of that era too. Look how many more FTAs they got over the rest of the league. It's a joke.
I am sorry but a few flaws in there, Duncan got there six times but won 4-5 times? And went through Ming? He never met Ming in the playoffs! I know you must be tired and typing and made sense on alot but those two there were way off.
It was weird, six times... it wasnt a number typo, anyway this is a very stupid thread.
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