Reply With Quote
The thunder made zero adjustment on the pick and pop/roll.
It's amazing. A good team would have the proper adjustment after the first quarter. Donovan was terrible but they have a set of low iq defenders in that team.
But we'll take it...
Score was 101-65, and the Spurs shot 60% for the game. That's obviously a fluke. But there were elements that weren't flukey - especially on defense. That's the good news - their defense continues to hold in the second round of the playoffs.
It remains to be seen if Danny's shooting was a fluke, but his stroke looked TOTALLY different. It looked like maybe Chip fixed his confidence in the break. If he keeps that up, I like the Spurs' chance to win it all.
The thunder made zero adjustment on the pick and pop/roll.
It's amazing. A good team would have the proper adjustment after the first quarter. Donovan was terrible but they have a set of low iq defenders in that team.
I actually thought this is the one Spurs would lose if they lost at home. Thought rust could be a factor. Guess not
The defense was not a fluke.
The flow of the offense i won't say was a fluke.
The open jumpshots were not a fluke
Only the fact that we made most of them was a fluke.
But expect to see a lot more open jumpers. Expect to see great defense. Expect to see Kawhi attack the rim like he did today. Maybe we won't blow them out by 30 every game but we are the better team and will win this series in 5 or 6 games.
Well said. The rate at which the ball went in was a fluke, but the process was not fluky. OKC will adjust. They will probably start a more offensive player (IMO). They will probably clean up their own transition defense and not get so caught off guard with mis-matches in transition.
They will probably change their PnR coverage by hedging hard at the ball handler and changing the angles that SA gets out of the PnR (or they will try doubling LMA/Kawhi in the post).
However, everything else looked sustainable as long as SA focuses on rebounding, keeping them off the line & takes care of the ball. They have to do those 3 things if they want to win. Can they do it consistently? Great start tonight but that is the question.
Strange that OKC's defense has never seen a pick and roll before.
Strange that OKC's defense has never seen a pick and roll before.
Agree.But we'll take it...
They would have won by 40 if they weren't so damn rusty. But at least it gives Pop something to be pissed about.
I wouldn't have been surprised by a 20 point win. If the Spurs shooters are hot that's usually a blowout. Of course I would have never expected them to be beating OKC by 43 at one point. Still just one game and OKC is more than capable of winning the series I think.
Nah maing
The shooting %'s may be a fluke but it's nice to see the Spurs finally locked in for a whole playoff game. Gives me hope that this team can compete with the Warriors.
Gotta agree with Nono. I thought when we blew out the Clips by 30 last season, it was a sign of things to come. Well, we know what happened.
2014 aside, the Spurs are historically great at following up big blowouts with poor performances.
One down, three to go.
Good fluke I guess.
Brooks >>>>Donovan. Yikes!
I was shocked at how much space defenders were giving our 3pt shooters. Patty's eyes were like saucers but he couldn't hit anything.
What I saw mostly tonight though was great spacing on offense and great rotations and recovery on defense. I saw hustle even when the game was well in hand, midway through the 2nd. I thought I caught a glimpse of the beautiful game, but I'll have to see it a couple more times to be sure.
I'd rather be up 1-0 than down 0-1.
Strange that OKC's defense has never seen a pick and roll before.
I didn't think about it till just now, but there was a discussion earlier in the week about how the Spurs ran a lot more post-up and ISO plays this season. Did the Spurs come out running more PnR at the Thunder? Or did they just keep running it because it was working? Just wondering how much, if any of that was a shift in game plan by Pop to start the series.
Not really. Brooks was a cheerleader only. The team was shaken up by the tragic loss of Monty's wife and by their coach being fired. If Billy was fired and Brooks brought in, they'd struggle in the same way. The Thunder had a rough season, and with KD's departure likely in the off season, the team isn't as cohesive as it should be, and that was evident by the way guys were way out of position, how they threw the ball away, how they mishandled rotations and basically played uninspired ball.
I expect them to recover next game.
Other than the Spurs and Warriors, I've yet to see NBA level basketball in the playoffs this season. The LA/Portland series was a goat rope of sloppy and iso/hero ball and a compendium of broken plays. It's about time some order is restored.
KL looks like he's ready to eat RW's heart. This is the KL we needed to see, fearless, pissed off, aggressive.
I'm guessing, but I think they just kept running the PnR because the Thunder seemed unable to stop it. I doubt they game planned to do it so often, but you stick with what's working.
Those games weren't anything like that. And in 2014 they didn't have Ibaka.
Are they acquiring players that can A make a three and B play defense any time soon?
The Spurs watched the Mavericks absolutely pick and rolling OKC to death and damn near make it a 7 game series because of it.
OKC is a pathetic defensive team, and don't have many defensive adjustments to make.
They miss the likes of Reggie Jackson and others.
Thunder have no system after all these years. They're gone. Durant is leaving the conference if he doesn't sign with GS or SAS.
We will know a lot more after game 2. Again, not expecting the shots to fall like tonight, but if SA goes up 2-0 and OKC makes adjustments and SA can still get good looks? I feel great.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions