Sifting Through the Wreckage on South Beach

[ducks]

hopefully spurs get a practice and pop can go over what to do when they trapping tp and duncan

[GSH]

Watch every other time the Spurs defended a LeBron pick-and-roll and tell me which way they were forcing him. And regarding TP, I had his same reaction in thinking it was just another blown coverage by Blair. But this time Blair was actually right.

I thought it was a zone defense too when I watched it live. But on replay, what looked like a zone was a weakside defending coming over and zoning the passing lane of the trapped player. I'd post a YouTube if the next game wasn't starting in less than an hour.

I respect the out of your basketball knowledge, but when you try to analyze and prove a point at the same time, objectivity goes out the window. You said that Pop shouldn't have played the "soft" card, and that Danny Green blew two plays at the end of the half that caused LeBron to come out of the locker room on fire. Then you went to the film to prove it. The outcome of that is pretty much unavoidable. (I notice you didn't talk about LeBron's pass, and Anthony's "bad hands" this time. You couldn't even create any gray area out of that one.)

I'm not going to argue with you - this is your house. But I will say this. I looked at the last several plays before the one you dissected. If you really believe that the Spurs were TRYING to send LeBron to the left every time, then I guess we have an answer to why their defense is such inutterable . The Spurs got exactly what they wanted, and they got absolutely torched. And remember - that was before Danny Green allowed him to catch fire.

If you go back and watch that play objectively, you'll see that Bosh tried to set up to ALLOW LeBron to go left, and when Green got over it, Bosh FOUGHT to try and set up on the same side. (After two tries, THEN Bosh curls around to set up on the other side of Green.) That play was always supposed to be LeBron rolls left and then feeds it to Bosh off the PnR. And with no help, Blair was going on Bosh's poster. They were killing the Spurs on the inside, and that play was no different. If you see it differently - well that's what makes the world such an interesting place.

[TJastal]

that's pretty much what a lot of us have said for the past few years in lieu of bonner. What bonner benefits the spurs in spreading the floor can easily be trumped by the hole filled by a competent defensive big. Hopefully, thomas can help (optimisim for a rookie) but still another role player big is paramount for getting the spurs on track to being an excellent defensive team again (leonard and green help too).

Blair is fun to watch, plays hard and is very athletic but he's too small for what the spurs need. Send him to a team that can use his talents and get some value back even if it's a pick, but the spurs have to find a true big (not an all star - just a role player) that can help fill the hole on defense. This isn't a knee jerk reaction - just common sense given the status and ability of the spurs front line. Splitter needs to play with duncan - can't do that with bonner & blair as the only reserves.

qft