Stat Breakdown: What we Can Learn From the '13 Finals. Whats Changed Since?

[EVAY]

LeBron truly can take over a game more than anyone I have seen, and that includes Jordan.

As a couple of you have pointed out, he is physically the strongest and most immune-from-injury player I have seen in the last twenty years too.

Bo Jackson may have been better than James, but it would be close, imo.

[heyheymymy]

LeBron truly can take over a game more than anyone I have seen, and that includes Jordan.

As a couple of you have pointed out, he is physically the strongest and most immune-from-injury player I have seen in the last twenty years too.

Bo Jackson may have been better than James, but it would be close, imo.

remember when BO played for the Royals and the Raiders and they made that cartoon about him and a few other athletes?

[heyheymymy]

remember when BO played for the Royals and the Raiders and they made that cartoon about him and a few other athletes?

Found it:

[cd021]

You say Leonard's FT shooting is down by 9% but the stats you posted say he is up about 8% from last year's playoffs. Unless you mean it is down from the regular season?

from RS to PS. He shot 82% this RS but 73% so far in the PS. Its pretty weird for it to happen back 2 back years.

[cd021]

What athlete did they have before that they lost? They lost Mike Miller(not athletic)? and Wade is healthier. Lewis is Miller's replacement anyway, and has been playing very good for them. I don't see why they're considered so much worse than last year.

The last couple of games, yes. But he's actually hitting below 33% from 3 not to mention, he's garbage defensively.

[TD 21]

Only way Miami wins this series is if Lebron completely dominates IMO, which is entirely possible..they don't have the weapons to win if he doesn't have a legendary series IMO..

The Spurs benefited greatly from Lebron's jump shot being off for the entire Finals, last year, hopefully it occurs again..

It's funny, though, because ignorant fans only look at scoring(it's the Kobe effect), but ignore that Lebron + shooters killed the Spurs in the Finals(Lebron being the only playmaker on the floor), along with his dominant defensive performances in the last few games of the series..

He's capable of completely disrupting an entire team's game-plan without scoring at a high level..the difference this season IMO, is that the Spurs have too many weapons + they no longer rely on Tony as the only creator on the team(which really hurt the Spurs in games 6 and 7, once Lebron switched on to Parker)..

There's one other way: Despite what the on/off metrics convey and how poorly he's generally played throughout the playoffs, those numbers don't factor in the quality of the particular opponent they're up against nor the intensity these games will be played with. If all they get from Parker is the hobbled, mediocre version from the final four games of the WCF, they're not winning this series.

I don't know why you continue to conveniently leave out the fact that Parker had a messed up hamstring (which is kind of important, particularly for him, considering he's heavily reliant on quickness and it was/is his only physical advantage over James)? Also, despite the poor play, when the series was in the balance at the end of game six, he made an incredibly difficult step back three over James and went coast to coast, pump faked, spun and hit from close range.

[cd021]

great thread, damn thats a lot of data to peruse

Thanks, took more than 2 days in total to craft and post.

[cd021]

Bonner was a dunk champion in his day, so it doesn't surprise me that he could get up there.

By the way, thanks for the thread. This is the kind of stuff we need to see more of around here.

Leonard and Bonner actually have the same max verts. Leonard style of play show cases it a bit more.

I appreciate that, I consider you one of the best posters on ST.

[heyheymymy]

Thanks, took more than 2 days in total to craft and post.

Good lord, well i really appreciate the effort. the formatting was easy on the eyes and the breakdown was well thought out and well presented.

[BC3]

LeBron truly can take over a game more than anyone I have seen, and that includes Jordan.

As a couple of you have pointed out, he is physically the strongest and most immune-from-injury player I have seen in the last twenty years too.

HGH is a uva drug.

[heyheymymy]

HGH is a uva drug.

stem cell smoothie tbh

[BC3]

"the slurping"

[BillMc]

Bo Jackson says o

As does Wilt Chamberlain. NCAA sprinter and high jumper. He was faster than any guard in the NBA at the time. Later, pumped a lot of iron and had one the highest bench presses in the world. Made the volleyball HOF too.

[SpurAddict561]

If the most overpaid player in NBA history (Lewis) is the Heat's answer for losing one of the most clutch shooters of the past 15 years(Miller), have at it Miami.

Can't wait

[Fireball]

I already said it during the regular season, if Lebron and Wade just are confident in their mid range jump shot (which took 6 games in the last Finals), the Spurs will have a problem. We have to counter that with a better Kawhi and aggressive Diaw to make it a great Finals rematch ...

[jag]

Everybody in the league is obviously a great athlete compared to everybody on here

Danny's athleticism doesn't really jump out at me as much as his amazing timing/instincts tbh.....

I agree about his timing/instincts, but I think he's probably the best pure athlete on the team (speed/strength/quickness/leaping ability). Although being the best athlete on the Spurs isn't exactly saying a whole lot. IMO Danny's problem is that he's not as coordinated as some of the other great athletes in the league so he sometimes looks awkward trying to put everything together in a fluid motion.

I think Kawhi's athleticism is slightly overrated. He's fast and he's strong but he's not extraordinarily quick and he's not a great jumper. He's more of a physical freak, proportionally speaking, than anything else. He's also incredibly coordinated, which has allowed him to improve his shooting (especially his footwork) so much in such a short period of time. The good thing with Kawhi is that he's still developing physically, so I dont think we've seen top out on his athleticism.

[Mr. Body]

I already said it during the regular season, if Lebron and Wade just are confident in their mid range jump shot (which took 6 games in the last Finals), the Spurs will have a problem. We have to counter that with a better Kawhi and aggressive Diaw to make it a great Finals rematch ...

Agree, the midrange will be incredibly important. Someone will have to stay at home on Wade instead of floating.

But to me the key is pace. The Heat, for all the accolades they get as an exciting team, play the slowest pace of any team in the playoffs. They are thuddingly slow possession to possession.

If the Spurs can speed things up they'll run the Heat out of the building. The tonic to any midrange for Miami is the Spurs' own offense. If this becomes an offensive battle they can't keep up.

[Budkin]

The Spurs are better and the Heat are not as good. The Spurs have just gone through the gauntlet, and the Heat have not played a good team in the playoffs.

[wildchild]

Good read! Thanks cd021!

The last couple of games, yes. But he's actually hitting below 33% from 3 not to mention, he's garbage defensively.

I'm interested to see Miami defensive assignments when Pop goes small, the best thing about play Boris could be Lewis (Battier/Haslem) on Leonard and Lebron on Diaw.

[Skull-1]

AND YET THE OP HAS YET TO LEARN THAT MANU's EIGHT TURNOVERS IN SIX REALLY HURT US.

[florige]

The Spurs are better and the Heat are not as good. The Spurs have just gone through the gauntlet, and the Heat have not played a good team in the playoffs.

I am along the same line of thinking. They have yet to have to overcome ANY adversity in the playoffs. Outside of the Portland series we have run into all kinds of trouble but have managed to adjust everytime.

[Cherry]

This

[Malik Hairston]

Everybody knows I love Lebron and have supported the Heat for years(excluding last year's Finals), but this is easily the worst Heat team since Lebron joined them IMO..most of the Heat love, so far, is based on reputation..

Realistically, they don't have the athletes to play the swarming defense we have seen from them, and they have less shooting versatility(with Miller gone, and Allen/Battier being older)..also, Wade looks healthy, but to be fair, the Heat just went through the easiest run to the Finals since Magic's Lakers, so we don't know what Wade will offer..he was absolutely horrendous in last year's playoffs, and the Heat have played better against the Spurs when Wade is on the bench, too..

Yep..

[Malik Hairston]

Only way Miami wins this series is if Lebron completely dominates IMO, which is entirely possible..they don't have the weapons to win if he doesn't have a legendary series IMO..

He's capable of completely disrupting an entire team's game-plan without scoring at a high level..the difference this season IMO, is that the Spurs have too many weapons + they no longer rely on Tony as the only creator on the team(which really hurt the Spurs in games 6 and 7, once Lebron switched on to Parker)..

Yep..