Analysis of Spurs Defense against Miami (2014 Finals)

[skulls138]

I feel that one of the things that hurt the Heat in the last game and last year was Wades and Lebrons holding the ball and making a seemingly lazy jump shot that doesnt go in. It seems like laziness but is it good D? I expect them to go to the hole more.

[Chinook]

Big surprise is Splitter doing worse than Tim on Bosh, that's pretty damn bad... Bosh looked quick and didn't try to post thus Tiago had no answer...



The only reason it is a "surprise" is because 99% of Spurs fans fell for the "he's an elite defender" bull . Tiago is slow as , and anti-athletic. His rebounding is Roy-Hibbert-esque as well. The thing he does GREAT, better than any C in the game, is flop, take charges, and stand straight up in the block. He is getting smarter, and better every year, i think, but he still has a long way to go to be worth half the money paid for him.

I cant believe the Spurs pay their strength coach anything really. Bush league

[Chinook]

I feel that one of the things that hurt the Heat in the last game and last year was Wades and Lebrons holding the ball and making a seemingly lazy jump shot that doesnt go in. It seems like laziness but is it good D? I expect them to go to the hole more.

James went to the hole as much a he wanted to. Wade wasn't as effective off the dribble as he used to be.

[moisaenz]

Big surprise is Splitter doing worse than Tim on Bosh, that's pretty damn bad... Bosh looked quick and didn't try to post thus Tiago had no answer...



The only reason it is a "surprise" is because 99% of Spurs fans fell for the "he's an elite defender" bull . Tiago is slow as , and anti-athletic. His rebounding is Roy-Hibbert-esque as well. The thing he does GREAT, better than any C in the game, is flop, take charges, and stand straight up in the block. He is getting smarter, and better every year, i think, but he still has a long way to go to be worth half the money paid for him.

I cant believe the Spurs pay their strength coach anything really. Bush league

Much of him being bad against bosh, is him trying to help on Lebron, and much of Bosh's great shooting comes from the defense imploding on lebron.

[Uriel]

tl;dr: Charts are your friends. Also check the "general takeaways" section.

All right, guys. Here’s my breakdown for Game One of the Finals. For anyone who didn’t read my similar thread for the WCF, this is just a thread where I post stats charting covering individual defensive possessions of Spurs defenders on their opponents, essentially leading up to PPP (points per possession) allowed. These are home-grown stats, meaning I collected them from watching the games myself. I don’t use the same standards to assign credit/blame on possessions as many other people do; therefore, my numbers will almost certainly differ from other sources. Feel free to post alternative numbers, and to ask for clarification at any point.

My method for writing these breakdowns has changed since the last series. The biggest difference is that I am now charting EVERY Spurs defensive possession for each game, as opposed to the last series, where I just charted the possessions of the Thunder’s Big Four. I hope that my doing so will allow for us to see a more-complete picture of how each Spur impacts the game on that end. I am also incorporating a second set of stats for each of the Heat’s Big Three covering where they attacked from for each possession they ended. If that sounds confusing, it will hopefully make more sense after we get to the first example.

Total Defensive Stats:

Game 1	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP
Duncan	13	6	5	2	1	17	1.307692
Leonard	14	6	4	2	3	15	1.071429
Splitter	12	3	7	1	2	7	0.583333
Parker	8	4	3	1	1	9	1.125
Green	17	3	8	2	4	11	0.647059
Diaw	12	5	4	1	2	14	1.166667
Mills	1	1	0	0	0	3	3
Ginobili	16	5	8	2	3	10	0.625
Belinelli	6	4	2	0	0	9	1.5
Total	99	37	41	11	16	95	0.959596

I’ll talk about my general thoughts later in the post. But damn, Green and Manu did work defensively. Splitter was pretty amazing, too, despite lapsing a few times on Bosh.


Numbers Against Key Heat Players:

James	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP
Leonard	9	4	2	2	2	10	1.111111
Splitter	3	0	2	0	1	0	0
Green	3	0	1	1	1	2	0.666667
Diaw	7	4	2	1	0	11	1.571429
Belinelli	2	1	1	0	0	2	1
Total	24	9	8	4	4	25	1.041667
Defender	Spot	Result	Points		Continued from previous column...
Leonard	Break	M	2		Diaw	Break	M	2
Leonard	Block	M	2		Ginobili	Wing	F	N/A
Leonard	Block	TO	0		Leonard	Corner	F	N/A
Leonard	Wing	M	2		Green	S. Corner	TO	0
Leonard	Wing	F	1		Belinelli	Block	M	2
Green	Elbow	X	0		Diaw	Corner	T	3
Diaw	Wing	X	0		Leonard	Break	X	0
Splitter	Rim	X	0		Belinelli	Wing	X	0
Diaw	Wing	X	0		Green	Break	F	2
Leonard	Wing	TO	0		Leonard	Wing	T	3
Diaw	Wing	M	2		Leonard	Corner	X	0
Diaw	Wing	F	2		Diaw	Corner	X	0
Continued in the next column...					Diaw	Wing	M	2

Diaw struggled to defend James mainly because Lebron started attacking Diaw from outside the three-point line on each possession they were matched up. That meant that the help had to come sooner and that the helper had to move farther out. That was fine when Splitter was the center, as he was very much able to stay with James and waste two of his shots at the rim. But if Duncan is the last line of defense, James will be able to score on Diaw any time he wants to.

In general, James liked to attack from the wing/elbow area, so him starting away from the basket wasn’t exclusive to Diaw’s possessions at all. But he seemed more inclined to try to overpower Leonard and Green than he was Diaw. This didn’t work all that well for him, because, as I said, it’s much easier for the Spurs’ defense to collapse on James if his man can stay with him into the paint.

I’d suggest Pop only play Diaw on James if Splitter is in for Duncan. The relative lack of mobility of a Diaw/Duncan small-ball front court is a pretty big weakness.

Wade	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP
Duncan	2	1	1	0	0	2	1
Leonard	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Splitter	2	0	2	1	0	0	0
Parker	2	1	1	0	0	2	1
Green	4	1	1	1	1	4	1
Diaw	2	0	1	0	1	0	0
Ginobili	6	3	3	0	0	6	1
Belinelli	2	2	0	0	0	5	2.5
Total	21	8	10	2	2	19	0.904762
Defender	Spot	Result	Points
Green	Break	TO	0		Green	Top	X	0
Green	Block	X	0		Green	Rim	M	2
Splitter	Elbow	X	0		Belinelli	Wing	T	3
Ginobili	Corner	M	2		Parket	FT Line	X	0
Ginobili	Elbow	X	0		Diaw	S. Corner	TO	0
Ginobili	Block	M	2		Ginobili	Wing	X	0
Parker	Corner	M	2		Diaw	S. Corner	X	0
Green	Corner	F	2		Ginobili	FT Line	M	2
Green	Block	TO	0		Ginobili	Key	X	0
Belinelli	Elbow	M	2		Ginobili	FT Line	X	0
Ginobili	Elbow	M	2		Leonard	Corner	X	0

Obviously, it’s too early to tell which wing defender will be the best Wade stopper. Wade saw a variety of defenders and had mixed results against all but Beli. I like the way that he and Manu compete against each other, so I’m fine with Ginobili getting the nod when he’s out there. Green got off to a better start against Wade than he did in Game One last year. We’ll see if that continues. Also, Wade better be able to roast Diaw in subsequent games, or else the Heat have no chance to overcoming the Spurs.

Bosh	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP		Defender	Spot	Result	Points
Duncan	4	2	1	1	1	6	1.5		Splitter	Wing	M	2
Leonard	1	1	0	0	0	3	3		Leonard	Corner	T	3
Splitter	4	3	0	0	1	7	1.75		Splitter	Corner	T	3
Parker	1	0	1	0	0	0	0		Ginobili	FT Line	X	0
Green	1	1	0	0	0	2	2		Duncan	Wing	X	0
Diaw	1	0	1	0	0	0	0		Duncan	Wing	M	2
Ginobili	1	0	1	1	0	0	0		Diaw	Elbow	X	0
									Splitter	Corner	TO	0
Total	13	7	4	2	2	18	1.384615		Splitter	FT Line	M	2
									Ginobili	Elbow	F	N/A
									Duncan	Corner	TO	0
									Green	Block	M	2
									Duncan	Wing	T	4
									Parker	S. Corner	X	0

The Spurs need to go ahead and close hard on Bosh pretty much every time. Chris’ three makes came off soft-closes by Leonard, Splitter and Duncan, including a four-point play on Tim’s close. His only miss from three came on Tim’s hard-close. I don’t know why the Spurs took the ElNono approach in Game One, but let’s hope they don’t do it again.

Allen	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP
Duncan	2	0	1	1	0	1	0.5
Leonard	1	1	0	0	0	2	2
Parker	1	1	0	0	0	3	3
Green	2	1	1	0	0	3	1.5
Mills	1	1	0	0	0	3	3
Ginobili	4	1	3	0	0	2	0.5
Belinelli	2	1	1	0	0	2	1
Total	13	6	6	1	0	16	1.230769

The fact that the Spurs gave up 16 points to Allen isn’t as concerning as the fact that they gave him 13 possessions. Ginobili in particular benefitted from being the “defender” during three no-close misses. Belinelli got the benefit of a miss as well. Green himself didn’t really get lucky with Allen. Ray only took two shots in the second half when Danny was on him. The first was a drive where Ray beat him to the middle but missed after Tim pressured the shot. The second miss was the result of Green closing hard on Allen, forcing him to reset. Ray then tried to shoot the three again, but Danny had recovered from his fly-by and pestered Allen into the miss at preserved the Spurs’ 99-95 lead.

How the Spurs guard Allen going forward is a topic for discussion. The most important thing a defender needs to do in order to check Allen is stay with him and not allow clean shots. Ideally, this would be a match-up that’d work for Mills, but he got wasted on a screen the only time he got the assignment. I’d like a bigger sample size before judging that strategy. The Spurs had a level of success switching screens, but with Ray being much improved inside the arc, he can make a defender pay for closing out of control, which happened a couple of times.

Lewis	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP
Duncan	2	1	1	0	0	3	1.5
Splitter	2	0	2	0	0	0	0
Parker	1	1	0	0	0	2	2
Green	2	0	2	0	0	0	0
Diaw	1	1	0	0	0	3	3
Ginobili	2	1	1	0	0	2	1
Total	10	4	6	0	0	10	1

I probably won’t cover Lewis every game, but I thought he did enough to talk about in this breakdown. Splitter did fine on him, but everyone else has to make sure to get their closes right.

General Takeaways:

-Danny Green’s rotations were exceptional in Game One. He sank into the lane to force five misses (two on Chalmers, two on Lewis and his block on Andersen). He collected two steals by jumping passes in the paint, in addition to forcing an additional turnover after sinking to the baseline to help out Leonard on James. Lebron couldn’t complete the Hammer play because Danny took away the passing angle. From a team-defensive perspective, this was the best game I’d seen Green play.

-Manu was a pest on defense. He forced three turnovers by collecting drawing two offensive fouls and collecting a steal. (The box score credits him with two steals, but I gave his first one to Leonard since Kawhi blocked James’ view.) As I said above, his numbers are helped by Allen going cold for a stretch. But in a way that’s better, since I think Manu can repeat this level of defensive performance.

-Duncan may well struggle defensively in this series. He definitely didn’t start off on the right foot in Game One, if his PPP allowed is any indication. The reasons behind this are well established. Tim is elite when he can stay in the pain and protect the rim. He’s poor when he has to leave the paint to hedge on PnRs or close out on shooters. This wasn’t like some the previous games in the post-season where Duncan was consistently inadequate. The Heat allowed Tim to stay in his comfort zone quite a bit, and he rarely failed when he was there. But I think it’s just going to get tougher for him as the series goes on.

-Parker, Diaw and Leonard each put up an above-average PPP allowed (which is a negative thing). For the latter two, the reason for that is the best player who’s ever lived. They can get a break for that . In Parker’s case, it really wasn’t anything he did. He got scored on once each by four different players. I’d caution against assuming Tony got beaten or anything like that.

-It’s kind of worrisome that the Spurs actually had a pretty strong defensive performance against the Heat and still struggled to put the game away. I know about the Spurs’ turnovers, and I do think it could all end up being a wash. But the Heat missed shots they should have made, and they probably will make tomorrow or when the series shifts to Miami. There are a couple of tweaks Pop can make to improve the numbers, but they wouldn’t move the needle that much. This is going to be a high-scoring series.


All right. I know this was a REALLY long post. I hope some of you managed to stick with me for this long. Feedback is appreciated. If you have any questions/challenges, let me know.

Great read. Thanks, Chinook.

[wildchild]

Thanks Chinook!

I'd like to see more Leonard on Wade to prevent pick and roll and defending the passing lanes, but apparently Diaw -just by Pop design or whatever- isn't being effective on James like last playoffs, so maybe Pop'll want Leonard to match any Lebron minutes.

[therealtruth]

As much as people like to diss Splitter. The only time Lebron gets to the rim and dunks one is when he's out of the game. Having 2 bigs inside is a pretty strong deterrent.

[tholdren]

As much as people like to diss Splitter. The only time Lebron gets to the rim and dunks one is when he's out of the game. Having 2 bigs inside is a pretty strong deterrent.

Bosh whipped Splitters ass last game and continuing the trend.

[Chinook]

Game Two numbers with very little preamble or discussion given the lateness of this post:

Total	Game 2	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP		Series	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP
	Duncan	13.5	7	6	2	0	18	1.333333		Duncan	26.5	13	11	4	1	35	1.320755
	Leonard	19	6	7	6	3	18	0.947368		Leonard	33	12	11	8	6	33	1
	Splitter	8	4	2	3	1	12	1.5		Splitter	20	7	9	4	3	19	0.95
	Parker	11	4	4	1	2	9	0.818182		Parker	19	8	7	2	3	18	0.947368
	Green	10	2	3	3	2	8	0.8		Green	27	5	11	5	6	19	0.703704
	Diaw	9	6	2	0	1	14	1.555556		Diaw	21	11	6	1	3	28	1.333333
	Mills	5	0	3	1	2	0	0		Mills	6	1	3	1	2	3	0.5
	Ginobili	9	3	4	3	1	8	0.888889		Ginobili	25	8	12	5	4	18	0.72
	Belinelli	8	5	2	0	1	11	1.375		Belinelli	14	9	4	0	1	20	1.428571
	Bonner	0	0	0	1	0	0	N/A		Bonner	0	0	0	1	0	0	N/A
	Total	92.5	37	33	20	13	98	1.059459		Total	191.5	74	74	31	29	193	1.007833
James	Game 2	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP		Series	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP
	Duncan	4.5	1	3	1	0	3	0.666667		Duncan	4.5	1	3	1	0	3	0.666667
	Leonard	11	5	2	4	2	14	1.272727		Leonard	20	9	4	6	4	24	1.2
	Splitter	1	0	0	0	1	0	0		Splitter	4	0	2	0	2	0	0
	Parker	3	1	2	0	0	2	0.666667		Parker	3	1	2	0	0	2	0.666667
	Green	1	0	0	0	1	0	0		Green	4	0	1	1	2	2	0.5
	Diaw	6	5	1	0	0	12	2		Diaw	13	9	3	1	0	23	1.769231
	Ginobili	1	1	0	1	0	2	2		Ginobili	1	1	0	1	0	2	2
	Belinelli	1	1	0	0	0	2	2		Belinelli	3	2	1	0	0	4	1.333333
	Total	28.5	14	8	6	4	35	1.22807		Total	52.5	23	16	10	8	60	1.142857
Wade	Game 2	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP		Series	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP
	Duncan	1	1	0	0	0	2	2		Duncan	3	2	1	0	0	4	1.333333
	Leonard	2	0	1	0	1	0	0		Leonard	3	0	2	0	1	0	0
	Parker	1	0	0	0	1	0	0		Splitter	2	0	2	1	0	0	0
	Green	3	1	1	1	0	4	1.333333		Parker	3	1	1	0	1	2	0.666667
	Diaw	1	0	0	0	1	0	0		Green	7	2	2	2	1	8	1.142857
	Mills	1	0	1	0	0	0	0		Diaw	3	0	1	0	2	0	0
	Ginobili	3	0	1	1	1	2	0.666667		Mills	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
	Belinelli	3	3	0	0	0	6	2		Ginobili	9	3	4	1	1	8	0.888889
										Belinelli	5	5	0	0	0	11	2.2
	Total	15	5	4	2	4	14	0.933333
										Total	36	13	14	4	6	33	0.916667
Bosh	Game 2	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP		Series	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP
	Duncan	2	1	1	1	0	3	1.5		Duncan	6	3	2	2	1	9	1.5
	Leonard	1	1	0	0	0	3	3		Leonard	2	2	0	0	0	6	3
	Splitter	6	3	2	3	0	9	1.5		Splitter	10	6	2	3	1	16	1.6
	Green	2	0	1	1	0	1	0.5		Parker	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
	Diaw	1	1	0	0	0	2	2		Green	3	1	1	1	0	3	1
	Ginobili	1	0	1	0	0	0	0		Diaw	2	1	1	0	0	2	1
										Ginobili	2	0	2	1	0	0	0
	Total	13	6	5	5	0	18	1.384615
										Total	26	13	9	7	2	36	1.384615
Allen	Game 2	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP		Series	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP
	Duncan	1	1	0	0	0	2	2		Duncan	3	1	1	1	0	3	1
	Green	1	0	0	0	1	0	0		Leonard	1	1	0	0	0	2	2
	Ginobili	4	2	2	0	0	4	1		Parker	1	1	0	0	0	3	3
	Belinelli	2	1	1	0	0	3	1.5		Green	3	1	1	0	1	3	1
										Mills	1	1	0	0	0	3	3
	Total	8	4	3	0	1	9	1.125		Ginobili	8	3	5	0	0	6	0.75
										Belinelli	4	2	2	0	0	5	1.25
										Total	21	10	9	1	1	25	1.190476
Lewis	Game 2	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP		Series	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP
	Duncan	3	3	0	0	0	8	2.666667		Duncan	5	4	1	0	0	11	2.2
	Leonard	3	0	3	1	0	0	0		Leonard	3	0	3	1	0	0	0
	Splitter	1	1	0	0	0	3	3		Splitter	3	1	2	0	0	3	1
	Parker	1	0	1	0	0	0	0		Parker	2	1	1	0	0	2	1
	Green	2	1	0	1	0	3	1.5		Green	4	1	2	1	0	3	0.75
										Diaw	1	1	0	0	0	3	3
	Total	10	5	4	2	0	14	1.4		Ginobili	2	1	1	0	0	2	1
										Total	20	9	10	2	0	24	1.2

Note: In case anyone is missing it, I did do a spot-chart for Game Two just like I did for Game One. I decided to leave it out of this breakdown due to time constraints. If anyone wants to see it, leave a message in this thread, and I’ll post it. Or you can PM me, and I’ll send it your way.

General Takeaways:

-We all know James went into GOAT mode for a big chunk of the third quarter of Game Two. But I think simply chocking that quarter up to James being unguardable takes a lot of the onus off the individual defenders on those plays, especially Diaw. Boris was forced to give James a big cushion in the third because James kept driving past him in Game One and the first half of Game Two. While I don’t think James will continue to be red-hot on his jumpers, he’s probably going to shoot better than he did in the Finals last year, so it probably doesn’t make sense to lay off him as much.

-Outside of Wade, each of the Heat’s top-five scorers was efficient from the field. The idea that the Spurs played passable defense in Game Two is untrue. The Spurs simply have to defend better in future games.

-The bigs are having a hard time closing out on Bosh and Lewis. This includes Splitter, Duncan and Diaw. What’s funny is that the Spurs’ smalls are actually doing a good job protecting the paint, so that part of this Bizzarro defense is not the issue. Leonard was the only player who successfully closed out consistently.

-Qualitatively speaking, Beli’s always been a poor defensive player. But this was the first game that I’ve charted in which Marco’s shortcomings have been evident quan atively. I don’t see how Pop can justify playing him minutes going forward. It’s just not worth it.

-A poster asked me to keep track of second-chance points. While I haven’t posted about them, I have been charting them. The Spurs gave up nine points on seven second-chance attempts (all offensive rebounds) in Game One. In Game Two, the Spurs gave up seven points on eight attempts (five offensive boards, two loose-ball fouls, and one Beli special in which Marco made a great steal but tossed it to a Heat player so quickly the shot clock did not reset).

[Chinook]

Game Three numbers:

Total	Game 3	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP		Series	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP
	Duncan	8	4	2	1	1	11	1.375		Duncan	34.5	17	13	5	2	46	1.333333
	Leonard	19	5	9	4	4	14	0.736842		Leonard	52	17	20	12	10	47	0.903846
	Splitter	7	3	2	2	1	9	1.285714		Splitter	27	10	11	6	4	28	1.037037
	Parker	10	2	4	4	3	6	0.6		Parker	29	10	11	6	6	24	0.827586
	Green	20	5	4	3	9	16	0.8		Green	47	10	15	8	15	35	0.744681
	Diaw	11	5	4	4	1	14	1.272727		Diaw	32	16	10	5	4	42	1.3125
	Mills	6	3	2	0	1	7	1.166667		Mills	12	4	5	1	3	10	0.833333
	Ginobili	5	3	0	4	0	10	2		Ginobili	30	11	12	9	4	28	0.933333
	Belinelli	2	1	0	1	0	3	1.5		Belinelli	16	10	4	1	1	23	1.4375
	Bonner	1	1	0	0	0	2	2		Bonner	1	1	0	1	0	2	2
	Ayres	1	0	1	0	0	0	0		Ayres	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
	Joseph	1	0	1	0	0	0	0		Joseph	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
	Total	91	32	29	23	20	92	1.010989		Total	282.5	106	103	54	49	285	1.00885
James	Game 3	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP		Series	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP
	Duncan	4	2	1	0	1	4	1		Duncan	8.5	3	4	1	1	7	0.823529
	Leonard	10	4	3	3	3	10	1		Leonard	30	13	7	9	7	34	1.133333
	Parker	1	0	1	1	0	0	0		Splitter	4	0	2	0	2	0	0
	Green	4	1	0	1	2	4	1		Parker	4	1	3	1	0	2	0.5
	Diaw	2	1	0	1	1	2	1		Green	8	1	1	2	4	6	0.75
	Ginobili	0	0	0	1	0	0	N/A		Diaw	15	10	3	2	1	25	1.666667
	Bonner	1	1	0	0	0	2	2		Ginobili	1	1	0	2	0	2	2
										Belinelli	3	2	1	0	0	4	1.333333
	Total	22	9	5	7	7	22	1		Bonner	1	1	0	0	0	2	2
										Total	74.5	32	21	17	15	82	1.100671
Wade	Game 3	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP		Series	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP
	Duncan	1	0	0	1	0	2	2		Duncan	4	2	1	1	0	6	1.5
	Leonard	1	0	0	1	0	1	1		Leonard	4	0	2	1	1	1	0.25
	Green	10	2	2	2	5	7	0.7		Splitter	2	0	2	1	0	0	0
	Diaw	4	2	2	1	0	4	1		Parker	3	1	1	0	1	2	0.666667
	Ginobili	3	3	0	1	0	6	2		Green	17	4	4	4	6	15	0.882353
	Belinelli	1	1	0	0	0	2	2		Diaw	7	2	3	1	2	4	0.571429
										Mills	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
	Total	20	8	4	6	5	22	1.1		Ginobili	12	6	4	2	1	14	1.166667
										Belinelli	6	6	0	0	0	13	2.166667
										Total	56	21	18	10	11	55	0.982143
Bosh	Game 3	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP		Bosh	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP
	Duncan	1	1	0	0	0	3	3		Duncan	7	4	2	2	1	12	1.714286
	Parker	1	1	0	0	0	2	2		Leonard	2	2	0	0	0	6	3
	Green	1	1	0	0	0	2	2		Splitter	10	6	2	3	1	16	1.6
	Mills	1	1	0	0	0	2	2		Parker	2	1	1	0	0	2	1
										Green	4	2	1	1	0	5	1.25
	Total	4	4	0	0	0	9	2.25		Diaw	2	1	1	0	0	2	1
										Mills	1	1	0	0	0	2	2
										Ginobili	2	0	2	1	0	0	0
										Total	30	17	9	7	2	45	1.5
Allen	Game 3	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP		Series	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP
	Leonard	2	0	2	0	0	0	0		Duncan	3	1	1	1	0	3	1
	Splitter	2	1	1	1	0	3	1.5		Leonard	3	1	2	0	0	2	0.666667
	Parker	3	1	0	1	2	3	1		Splitter	2	1	1	1	0	3	1.5
	Green	2	1	0	0	1	3	1.5		Parker	4	2	0	1	2	6	1.5
	Diaw	1	0	1	0	0	0	0		Green	5	2	1	0	2	6	1.2
	Mills	1	0	1	0	0	0	0		Diaw	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
	Ginobili	1	0	0	1	0	2	2		Mills	2	1	1	0	0	3	1.5
										Ginobili	9	3	5	1	0	8	0.888889
	Total	12	3	5	3	3	11	0.916667		Belinelli	4	2	2	0	0	5	1.25
										Total	33	13	14	4	4	36	1.090909
Lewis	Game 3	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP		Series	Poss.	Makes	Misses	Fouls	TOs	Points	PPP
	Duncan	1	1	0	0	0	2	2		Duncan	6	5	1	0	0	13	2.166667
	Leonard	2	1	1	0	0	3	1.5		Leonard	5	1	4	1	0	3	0.6
	Splitter	1	1	0	0	0	3	3		Splitter	4	2	2	0	0	6	1.5
	Parker	1	0	1	0	0	0	0		Parker	3	1	2	0	0	2	0.666667
	Diaw	2	2	0	0	0	6	3		Green	4	1	2	1	0	3	0.75
										Diaw	3	3	0	0	0	9	3
	Total	7	5	2	0	0	14	2		Ginobili	2	1	1	0	0	2	1
										Total	27	14	12	2	0	38	1.407407

General Takeaways:

-Lock n Lock were forces of nature defensively in Game Three. They combined for 13 forced turnovers, and each won their individual battles with James (more on that later). Green actually collected seven steals, but two were credited to
other players for reasons I can’t understand. (The same is true for two steals by Kawhi.) He also drew a travelling violation on James and forced Wade to throw an entry pass out of bounds due to a strong effort fronting Bosh. For Leonard, the biggest stat that jumps out to me is the 10 possessions allowed against James. For the GOAT to only go at you 10 times when you’re matched up against him for most of your 39 minutes means you’re doing something right. He held everyone else to four points on nine possessions, which is insane.

-The biggest story at tip-off was Diaw starting in place of Splitter. It’s hard to argue with the result from an offensive perspective. But defensively, Diaw did a great job limiting Bosh’s looks. It’s pretty telling that Diaw did not let Bosh use a possession against him, even though Boris was Chris’ primary guard.

-The three-point defense is sort of disappointing. I guess the Spurs are just going to have to live with Lewis scoring double-figures every game on efficient shooting, since the Spurs’ bigs seem powerless to stop him. The Spurs were far more successful using a small to run Rashard off the line, so it might make more sense to play small against any lineup with Lewis at the four than it does to stay big. The Spurs did decide to change up their defense on Ray Allen, and I’m not too happy with the result. Mainly, I’m not happy because the Spurs didn’t know when switch and when to go. The “always switch” mentality is simple, but it creates problems when Allen’s man is chasing him at a full sprint and makes it by the screen. That led to too many open looks for the screener. Hopefully, that gets cleaned up going forward.


Making James Work on Defense

Quarter	Time	Spur	Spot	Result	Points
1	8:46	Leonard	Break	M	2
1	7:22	Leonard	Break	T	3
1	5:34	Leonard	Wing	T	3
1	0:34	Leonard	Corner	T	3
2	9:08	Green	Wing	T	3
2	8:34	Leonard	Elbow	TO	0
2	8:09	Leonard	S. Corner	M	2
2	0:05	Parker	HC	F	2
3	9:27	Parker	Wing	F	2
3	0:03	Green	Wing	X	0
4	11:39	Green	Wing	M	2
4	11:03	Duncan	Rim	TO	0
4	8:14	Green	FC	F	N/A
4	3:35	Leonard	Wing	F	1

In total, James gave up 23 points off 13 possessions, leading to a PPP of 1.77. That’s obviously horrible, but there are some mitigating factors, such as the fact that players hit some lucky shots against him and that he was often trying to cover for other players. But still, James made some costly mistakes that led to points (picking up Green at half-court in the first and leaving Leonard open for the three, fouling Parker on pump-fakes). He would have had an even worse showing had the officials called his swipe-downs on Duncan’s wrist.

The fact that Green and especially Leonard won their match-ups with James is not all that important. That may never happen again. But the fact that each was able to make Lebron pay for trying to rest while guarding them is important. Lebron has to be Miami’s best defender for the Heat to win this series, so he can’t have too many lapses. It’s also important that Miami be able to get away with putting Wade, Lewis, Cole and Chalmers on Green and Leonard while James guards Parker. If Lock n Lock score well enough to draw James’ guard, Tony should be able to make some noise going forward.

As always, feedback is appreciated.

[will_spurs]

Thanks for the great work. This confirms that Green has been Wade's kryptonite in Game 3. Hopefully he can keep disrupting Wade's offense going forward. It's pretty telling that all of Wade's TOs were generated by Green.

[Baam]

Bosh is shooting incredible so far... If I'm Spoelstra I'm forcing the offense through him a lot more going forward...

[ducks]

solid takes to bring great stuff to this board

[SpurPadre]

Great stuff Chinook but in regards to the 3 point defense, I was hoping Diaw in the starting role would've diminished Lewis' perimeter play but it didn't make a difference and I'm not sure we can afford to keep letting Lewis play that efficiently in 3 point shooting. In a close game with Lebron having a special game that overrides most of our positive factors, a Lewis 3 point shot can be a deciding outcome in a game. I still think Diaw can make a difference defensively as well as offensively but the perimeter D is a major concern for me.

[Brazil]

Parker looking very good in this game 3 and on the series tbh

[therealtruth]

I think Pop needs to match the Heat players with their Kryptonite more. Can't allow them to get some confidence of a guy like Beli.

[Chinook]

Great stuff Chinook but in regards to the 3 point defense, I was hoping Diaw in the starting role would've diminished Lewis' perimeter play but it didn't make a difference and I'm not sure we can afford to keep letting Lewis play that efficiently in 3 point shooting. In a close game with Lebron having a special game that overrides most of our positive factors, a Lewis 3 point shot can be a deciding outcome in a game. I still think Diaw can make a difference defensively as well as offensively but the perimeter D is a major concern for me.

Diaw is guarding Bosh. Duncan's on Lewis. Tim won't ever really improve in that match-up. Lewis is going to keep getting shots.

[spurraider21]

looking forward to see the game 4 update, though tbh i'm expecting chinook to show that Leonard was just so-so

[ElNono]

I'll pretend Pop didn't go HAM on Danny telling him to just run to Ray's chest instead of jumping at him... that's how much I appreciate these breakdowns, tbh...

[spurraider21]

I'll pretend Pop didn't go HAM on Danny telling him to just run to Ray's chest instead of jumping at him... that's how much I appreciate these breakdowns, tbh...

tbh i actually thought of the impending breakdown when i heard that comment during the game

[MI21]

I'll pretend Pop didn't go HAM on Danny telling him to just run to Ray's chest instead of jumping at him... that's how much I appreciate these breakdowns, tbh...

I immediately thought of the SpursTalk discussion when that moment happened... actually laughed.

[MI21]

Chinook loving this btw. Not adding anything because I don't have anything to add, but really enjoying the breakdowns

[spurraider21]

^yeah, i think he knows we're jabbing at him... Chinook's write-ups have probably been the best reads on the Spurs Forum during the postseason

[MI21]

Definitely.

I actually agree with the contention of the super hard close on shooters, but Ray Allen could be the exception - he doesn't seem to have much of an issue letting the defender fly by patiently and nailing the shot.

[spurraider21]

Definitely.

I actually agree with the contention of the super hard close on shooters, but Ray Allen could be the exception - he doesn't seem to have much of an issue letting the defender fly by patiently and nailing the shot.

its funny because Ray made the same mistake on the other end, Green pumped and knocked in a 3 pointer. both sharpshooters ed up on a closeout against the other