Random Thoughts Amid the Sadness After Game 4 of the 2013 NBA Finals

[baseline bum]

their big 3= 85 pts
our big 3= 40 pts

???

Parker 15 points
Duncan 20 points
Green 10 points

[Stabula]

If Parker can't be MVParker for 4 quarters the Spurs have less than a 0% chance especially since Ginobili hardly looks like an NBA player. The entirety of the Spurs offense revolves around Parker and Ginobili to penetrate and drive for the layup or collapse the defense to find a shooter and if neither one can do that for even one quarter the game gets ugly really fast. The entirety of this series revolves around Parker's health and with Miami getting any call they want the odds are stacked against the good guys.

[Stabula]

Also Splitter certainly wasn't good, not by a long shot, but he wasn't as bad as it looked. Splitter got fouled, and fouled, and fouled again with absolutely no calls. I can't believe officiating like this is allowed on such a big stage with such a large audience. If you look at the exact same play with the Spurs on defense then it's a foul but if Miami is on defense it's a totally 100% legit squeaky clean block.

[slayermin]

I thought the Spurs played soft, to bring back a Spurs cliche. Heat were swiping, being aggressive, physical. Spurs did not match the physicality.

That's pretty much what I saw tonight. Step it up Spurs. It's going 7.

[spurraider21]

the Spurs were outplayed, but they weren't outmatched. a lot of our guys simply didn't play well, but it wasn't due to some miracle defensive ploy by the Heat. neither the Spurs nor the Heat have lost consecutive games in these playoffs, and the Heat haven't won consecutive games since the Bulls series. I fully expect the Spurs to bounce back with a win in game 5. A key to that will be to have Tim impose his will on the block. If it means more Diaw and less Splitter to make the high-low more effective, so be it. We have no room for soft Splitter. He's averaged less than 3 rebounds per game in these finals, and if he's not going to play big, I'd rather have Boris anyway. Green/Neal/Leonard played fine. Parker disappeared in the 2nd half. Whether or not it was because of the injury is another story, but the fact of the matter is we were competing so much better early on because Parker was playing as well as he was. Hopefully the time off between now and Sunday will enable Parker to maintain his play over the course of the game.

[ShoogarBear]

-Tiago Splitter, wtf? Gets his first two shots blocked by Wade and Battier. Added three turnovers. Began the game really weak on the glass. All in all, just a shockingly soft performance.

I've never seen a big get his manhood so completely taken away by smaller players as Tiago Splitter this series. By the second half, the crowd was literally cringing every time he had the ball in his hands, expecting the worse.

Another thought: championships are really hard to win, especially against teams that win 66 games with two first ballot Hall of Famers and an elite defense. But with two days rest they have a great shot to be up 3-2 going to Miami, which is what I have been hoping for this entire series.

Spurs fans find themselves an underdog for the first time in the Finals. Its hard to swallow. I don't think the Spurs played a good game, though. The most important thing to manage is turn overs and the Spurs messed up on those. Thats where it ends and begins.

Agreed, the Heat clearly are the better team when they're at their best. And I don't think the Spurs have ever had a truly bona-fide playoff upset in the Duncan era (mostly because they've been so uniformly excellent). That's why a victory this year would be the cherry on top.

[Budkin]

With how bad we played and how good they played we actually didn't lose by that much if you take into account they ran up the score.

[TheGreatYacht]

-Manu Ginobili. I don’t even have to type much more. The Spurs needed a big game from him with Parker dealing with his hamstring injury … but instead got possibly the worst game he’s ever played. All we can do is hope for a bounce back in Game 5.



I'm sorry, this is tolerable from a gnsf, you disapoint me greatly timvp. I counted at least 4 excellent passes from Manu that left Splitter (3) and Duncan (1) under the basket with a great chance to score. Would they have done it and you would have changed to something like "he didn't shoot, but excellent passing, etc", just like we are used to see lately from him. Now this players were blocked and this was the worst game in his career. Shame on you timvp.

The heat played very good defense I think, also, so props to them for that (judges were a bit permissive too, and that sucks), and many of our guys shrinked against their tenacity (not manu, who didn't shoot much because he dimmed that was the best for the team), IMHO.

LOL his worst game was Game 2. That was the drunk or drugged Manu.

[Arcadian]

With two days off, I expect good things in game 5.

[dbreiden83080]

There is no way to judge this series IMO.. Win a close game 1 lose a blowout game 2, win a blowout game 3 basically get blown out in game 4 it is up and down and nutty.. Game 5 is a toss up and a must win if the Spurs expect to be champs..

[Spurminator]

At this point I'd honestly rather Tiago take that pussy 5-foot hook shot than try to take it aggressively to the basket. I still like him on the floor for his picking and passing ability, but until he learns to keep the ball high and hold onto it like a bog boy, I'd really rather he just didn't touch it.

[TheGreatYacht]

Play Wade exactly the same tbh. Make him prove it over a couple of games.

Tighten up on a LeBron a little bit but don't overreact to this game. The blueprint is still solid.

We'll make adjustments and we will respond in Game 5 just like Miami did tonight.

This. Keep daring Lebron and Wade to shoot long jumpers. They are both streaky shooters. Unfortunately they were able to get into the paint early on which got their confidence going to hit them jumpers.

[SouthTexasRancher]

Tiago needs to be moved to street clothes and sit behind the players. Enough of Tiago, Blair and Bonner. Seeing how tired and unable to do much from Tim and Manu it is time the Spurs start looking for a good big man who can defend the paint. Tim can't do it all. Tiago just flat out sucks. You never know when he, Bonner and/or Blair will show up. They seem to disappear when we need them to give us something.

[Budkin]

We've got all the %s on our side. Win first game 77% winners. Finals tied 1-1 win game 3 92% winners. I know that doesn't guarantee anything but we're still in a great position to win the le as long as we take care of the ball.

[TheGreatYacht]

Also Splitter certainly wasn't good, not by a long shot, but he wasn't as bad as it looked. Splitter got fouled, and fouled, and fouled again with absolutely no calls. I can't believe officiating like this is allowed on such a big stage with such a large audience. If you look at the exact same play with the Spurs on defense then it's a foul but if Miami is on defense it's a totally 100% legit squeaky clean block.

[BatManu20]

RIP Emanuel David Ginobili.


You'll be missed..

[baseline bum]

We've got all the %s on our side. Win first game 77% winners. Finals tied 1-1 win game 3 92% winners. I know that doesn't guarantee anything but we're still in a great position to win the le as long as we take care of the ball.

Clearly a team who wins game 1 or wins game 3 of a 1-1 series has a huge advantage, since they're up 1 win in the series in those two cases. But since the series is 2-2 now, none of that means anything whatsoever. It's now a three game series and Miami has homecourt.

[weeks]

if miami's big three continue to shoot like that, then we're in big trouble

[Budkin]

Clearly a team who wins game 1 or wins game 3 of a 1-1 series has a huge advantage, since they're up 1 win in the series in those two cases. But since the series is 2-2 now, none of that means anything whatsoever. It's now a three game series and Miami has homecourt.

If we alternate wins I like our chances... EVEN in a Game 7.

[baseline bum]

If we alternate wins I like our chances... EVEN in a Game 7.

I don't really like the Spurs chances in any given game in Miami, which is why Game 5 is such a must-win. The Spurs are really going to need two shots to get a win in Miami. If they win Game 5 I feel like the Spurs will have a 50/50 shot at the series. But lose Game 5 and it's 10% maybe.

[GSH]

Parker had 10 in the first, 5 in the second, and nothing after that. The Spurs don't have a backup PG that can withstand the Heat's ball pressure. And when you turn the ball over against Miami, they score.

Up until now, I wasn't worried about this series - not once. But with Tony not being healthy, I don't think we can win it. If Manu was still able to penetrate, and pick up 6-7 assists off the bench (and all that goes with that) then I would still like the Spurs' chances. But it's pretty obvious that when Tony leaves the floor, we're in trouble. The Heat are like sharks with blood in the water. A few years ago, I might hope that T-Mac could come in and handle the ball. But not from what I've seen from him in garbage time.

If Tony can't play 36+ minutes - effective minutes - I don't see how the Spurs are going to pull this thing out.

[Darius McCrary]

I don't really like the Spurs chances in any given game in Miami, which is why Game 5 is such a must-win. The Spurs are really going to need two shots to get a win in Miami. If they win Game 5 I feel like the Spurs will have a 50/50 shot at the series. But lose Game 5 and it's 10% maybe.

rofl
our chances are barely above 10% now, if we lose game 5, this thing is at 3% at best

[m33p0]

that early 10 point lead wasn't good. i think it was that that lit a fire under the heat.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Pop panicked early. He subbed Neal for splitter at the first dead ball out of fear for miller. Our rotations and fives were off the rest of first half.

If he wanted to contribute Poo should have gotten a T when heat were getting away with everything in first half.

Manu is sicking. Glad the team called him out but holy crap he needs to step up.

[SnakeBoy]

I don't really like the Spurs chances in any given game in Miami, which is why Game 5 is such a must-win. The Spurs are really going to need two shots to get a win in Miami. If they win Game 5 I feel like the Spurs will have a 50/50 shot at the series. But lose Game 5 and it's 0% absolutely.

FIFY