Ibaka is the best player in this series and it isn't remotely close

[Agloco]

"We just need to shoot/execute better. Just not our night." = Vacuous takes that foreshadow doom.
An admission that the Spurs don't have any adjustments they can make.

The Spurs have plenty of adjustments that they CAN make. Question is.....will they?

I think people also need to be a little more honest with themselves about how many wide open looks the Spurs missed tonight. There were more than a handful. Those usually go in.

[therealtruth]

The Spurs have plenty of adjustments that they CAN make. Question is.....will they?

I think people also need to be a little more honest with themselves about how many wide open looks the Spurs missed tonight. There were more than a handful. Those usually go in.

It's easy to miss layups when you're trying to avoid the shotblocker.

[-21-]

Ibaka is a bad match-up for the Spurs. It's the truth. He covers a lot of space defensively and intimidates the Spurs' players like Parker from taking shots inside. On offense he spaces the floor giving Durant, Westbrook, and Jackson more room to operate. Seemed like he was gonna go 11 for 11 again. When he got going, the entire Thunder team started to play with a lot of energy.

[spurraider21]

meh, if boris was capable of hitting a wide open shot this game changes

[Skull-1]

I'll always be the first to jump on the NBA = rigged bandwagon, but Ibaka's presence alone turned the Spurs from hunter to hunted. We were weak, soft, useless pussies and it has everything to do with the shrinkage of TP in this game. You can't expect an even amount of FTA when your offense is basically missed threes and blocked euro lay ups. There were maybe three or four missed calls in the third, but IBaka is more to blame for the FTA disparity than the refs.

Boom.

[TampaDude]

Ibaka is a force, no doubt, but...

OKC +15 on FTAs, win by 9.

Yup, yup, yup...

[Agloco]

It's easy to miss layups when you're trying to avoid the shotblocker.

How about the open threes?

[therealtruth]

How about the open threes?

The offense doesn't have any rhythm. It's completely out of sorts.

[Hoops Czar]

Ibaka is a force, no doubt, but...

OKC +15 on FTAs, win by 9.

Yup, yup, yup...

Thev Spurs got blasted two nights in a row and you're trying to find a silver lining in the point spread? The games weren't that close.

[Agloco]

The offense doesn't have any rhythm. It's completely out of sorts.

If its an open shot, they need to bury it. You can help yourself and your confidence a lot by making open looks and keeping yourself in the game, just like Ginobili did in the first half of Game 3.

[benstanfield]

bump.

just one of those nights
refs giving them calls
each team doing what they had to at home
points in the paint will be back
TP will start scoring back at home & not be useless

[slick'81]

bump.

just one of those nights
refs giving them calls
each team doing what they had to at home
points in the paint will be back
TP will start scoring back at home & not be useless

dont forget @home Danny and splitter need to show up

[Hoops Czar]

Ibaka played in the Thunder series and the Clippers were pretty much scoring at will.

[benstanfield]

Ibaka played in the Thunder series and the Clippers were pretty much scoring at will.

Clippers weren't predicated on one player driving to the hoop and everyone else hitting threes or euro layups. Ibaka eats TP for breakfast and that's where the story ends.

[Hoops Czar]

Clippers weren't predicated on one player driving to the hoop and everyone else hitting threes or euro layups. Ibaka eats TP for breakfast and that's where the story ends.

The crisp ball movement present in games 1 and 2 hasn't been present in 3 and 4. You can't lay full blame on TP.

[DMC]

I talked a lot of about Ibakas injury pregame so I figured I should make this thread...

Ibaka's mere presence:

a) Exposed Parker's baby

b) Negated any points in the paint that the Spurs had counted on

c) Allowed Perk/Adams to play TD straight up

d) Pussified our entire lineup on the defensive glass

e) Gave OKC's perimeter defenders leeway to play more aggressively in passing lanes

f) Gave KD/WB the lift on offense that allowed them to share the load and not score half of OKC's points

g) Completely changed Pop's gameplay as evinced in the last timeout sound bite

KD/WB can make all the highlight plays they want, you will never convince me that Ibaka isn't their MVP. The entire balance of this series was changed tonight, You can say "the spurs just played badly" all you want, the bottom line is that if Ibaka gets healthier as the series goes on this thing is probably going to OKC in 6 or 7 games.

People are also ignoring the fact that Brooks stopped playing Encephalosha and Collison after game 2.

[Darius McCrary]

talks about ibaka at 1:45

[scramby eggs]

I talked a lot of about Ibakas injury pregame so I figured I should make this thread...

Ibaka's mere presence:

a) Exposed Parker's baby

b) Negated any points in the paint that the Spurs had counted on

c) Allowed Perk/Adams to play TD straight up

d) Pussified our entire lineup on the defensive glass

e) Gave OKC's perimeter defenders leeway to play more aggressively in passing lanes

f) Gave KD/WB the lift on offense that allowed them to share the load and not score half of OKC's points

g) Completely changed Pop's gameplay as evinced in the last timeout sound bite

KD/WB can make all the highlight plays they want, you will never convince me that Ibaka isn't their MVP. The entire balance of this series was changed tonight, You can say "the spurs just played badly" all you want, the bottom line is that if Ibaka gets healthier as the series goes on this thing is probably going to OKC in 6 or 7 games.

I missed the last sound bite. What exactly did Pop say?

[cd98]

The Spurs have faced better shot blockers and defensive disrupters over the years. The difference this year, unlike years past, is that Duncan can't destroy Ibaka on the block. Duncan used to kill quality defenders on the block. He'd get them in foul trouble. He'd get a basket against them when we needed it. But the prime Duncan isn't on this team. The 2014 Duncan is a jump shooter, who occasionally strolls to the block, but usually just passes it back out and takes maybe a shot or two a game from the block. 2005 Duncan would eviscerate Ibaka.

[heyheymymy]

Duncan looks lost with Ibaka in the paint.

[Oh, Gee!!]

2005 Duncan would eviscerate Ibaka.

Not a fair matchup. Ibaka was only like 16 years old in 2005 tbh

[kobexxx]

better for spurs to exit now than get dragged by Heat

[therealtruth]

The Spurs have faced better shot blockers and defensive disrupters over the years. The difference this year, unlike years past, is that Duncan can't destroy Ibaka on the block. Duncan used to kill quality defenders on the block. He'd get them in foul trouble. He'd get a basket against them when we needed it. But the prime Duncan isn't on this team. The 2014 Duncan is a jump shooter, who occasionally strolls to the block, but usually just passes it back out and takes maybe a shot or two a game from the block. 2005 Duncan would eviscerate Ibaka.

The best way to neutralize a shot blocker is to get him off the court by getting him into foul trouble.