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I doubt Spoelstra can come up with a third game plan to negate the Spurs. Spurs are taking game six.
... and SpursTalk called a lot of it
-Starting Ginobili was great. Pop could have been gunshy after how the same move backfired last season -- but it was absolutely the right move for multiple reasons. The most important reasons: 1) Ginobili needed a spark to get going. 2) It made the defensive matchups most natural 3) The Spurs needed more ballhandling and playmaking from the beginning 4) The bench unit wasn't working anyways so the change actually helped.
-Going to isolation plays on the perimeter. A lot of us called for this but give credit to Pop for actually following through with it and then the players successfully following the gameplan. If you take the ability to the trap away from the Heat, you accomplish a lot: 1) You are able to play less in a crowd, but most importantly 2) When isolated, the lane is pretty damn open since there isn't much beef in the Heat's small lineup.
-Keeping the same defensive strategy and hope the Heat's stars just don't play as well. There was no overreaction to Game 4. The Spurs still sagged into the paint and still shaded to LeBron. The only slight difference was to switch a lot more on perimeter screens, which is another advantage of going small.
I have no idea what is going to happen in Game 6 and Game 7 but these adjustments should serve the Spurs well going forward. The isolation plays on the perimeter for Parker and Ginobili are REALLY encouraging.
Last edited by timvp; 06-16-2013 at 10:43 PM.
I doubt Spoelstra can come up with a third game plan to negate the Spurs. Spurs are taking game six.
ESPN talking heads saying Miami should diss the small ball and play Birdman again after two straight DNP-CDs. The Spurs should welcome that. Gives Timmy the opportunity to abuse Birdie and Bosh and bring home #5.
if Dwhistle doesnt turn back the clock twice the Spurs can win
the only adjustment the Spurs havent figured out is when Duncan goes to the bench
Splitter/Diaw step up to contest the shot and Bosh is getting all these tip ins since the next tallest guy who can even try to box out Bosh is like 6'7
he had 5 offensive rebounds
thats probably how many he had the entire playoffs combined minus this game
i think Pop has to match Duncan minutes with Bosh and go all out
40+ mins minimum
If you told me Diaw's relatively quick feet would be enough to make life tough on Lebron then I would have said you're crazy. It's a good thing it happened and hopefully it'll keep working.
Pop did pretty much everything I said (not that it was rocket science; I saw all of it as no brainer moves). The whole "how would it affect the bench unit?" question never made any sense to me, since it was obvious Ginobili would double as the de facto backup PG. This was about matching up better, trying to spark him and flat out playing the best players more minutes together and overall.
As far as the isolation's, it's about time. I thought that was obvious from the beginning, but I guess he was just saving it for when it was needed most.
One adjustment he made that you didn't mention was Diaw on James and shockingly, it worked out about as well as can be hoped for. Granted, James missed a bunch of shots around the rim he'd normally make, but still.
It looked like Manu smelled blood each time he saw Cole defending him.
A lot of us discussed that pre-series. Diaw was on Lebron some this year and had pretty positive results. The bigger shock to me is Danny/Kawhi's success (although Tim/Tiago have really helped that).
Heat will start Allen next game. That will make the heat more challenging. I just want bosh and Wade to the bed again.
Yeah but regular season when the big 4 weren't playing is a much different animal from the finals game 5. I just want to see if it'll keep working because that allows Kawhi to harass wade and make it more difficult for them offensively.
Manu had the most isolations ive seen in the last 4 years tbh great calls ...that Manu iso on LeBron 0_____o Omg
ESPN just said LeBron was 1-8 with Diaw guarding him.
there was one other welcomed adjustment made in the game tonight. Pop normally rests Parker and Duncan at the start of the 4th, in order to give them fresh legs in case of overtime games. We've seen Pop do this all season, regardless of the score (blowout games are the exception here)....but Pop finally realized winning the first half of the 4th quarter was going to be key. Had Pop continued to rest Parker and Duncan...Miami could have erased all of the lead.
It's good to see that Pop is even making moves to win after a few seasons of what looked from my perspective, like he was giving up and not giving it his all.
game 6 ain't gonna be about adjustments anymore. we're done with that. it's gonna be who will want it the most.
Deep in the 4th quarter I was thinking that this is the main change the Heat might make to start game 6. What do you guys think? Spurs are going to have to cover him, but it won't be easy with both Lebron and Wade on the court. Spurs are just going to have to give it everything they got and defend their asses off.
To be honest, I always thought Diaw has the foot speed and mass to handle Lebron James. The only reason POP isn't playing Diaw more is his tendency to be overly passive.
The last time Pop started Manu in Game 5 with the series tied 2-2 and Ray Allen on the opposing team? 2005.
diaw made bronbron into a jumpshooter.
damn, we have 3 guys to put on bron bron. he's phucked and he knows he's phucked.
Diaw on Lebron was huge. Took away Lebron's post up game, and forced him to become a jump shooter again. This could have huge implications for the rest of the series.
I don't think outscoring the Heat will work in Miami. I think the defense is going to have to be much better. It worked this game because it was at home.
If the Heat start Allen then Parker or Ginobili are going to have easy lanes to the basket because there is no way Allen can guard either one of them on the perimeter. Especially if they run isolations.
Putting Diaw on LeBron is a HUGE move. LeBron can't bully and post Diaw up, which takes out alot of what the Heat want to do on offense.
This. If you noticed in the 4th qtr whoever Mike Miller was guarding immediately went at him off the dribble. Even if they start Allen, they can apply the same strategy...
Exactly. This is the Finals many people expected. The Spurs need to play with intensity (they didn't in Games 2 and 4) and close this thing out.
As I've been saying, Diaw getting locked in is dangerous for Miami. He's one of the hardest guards in the NBA when he wants to be. He's also a very sound defender. Him, Neal and Splitter should be the only subs for the next two games.
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