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I agree with our players getting better, but can't say these fools got "old" in less than a year. Same they say about San Antonio. Assuming the Spurs/Heat make it, I still think it goes 7 games.
Lebron is one of my favorite players in the league and last year he showed the world why he deserves to be a top 5 player of all time, that being said, everything had to go their way to win in seven games against SA 2013 which IMO is inferior the current 2014 spurs..I also think the Heat has regressed as a team..They're still the best team in the east by far but they're not good enough to beat SA this year.
- Haslem, Battier are almost non factors now tbh..They look old.
- Ray is their only sharpshooter right now that is worth playing
...
- Tiago is miles better as a player
- Kawhi
I think the spurs can punish the heat in so many ways..They can repeatey post up Duncan, Diaw, Leonard..Ball movement.
Think of the spurs as a team like Indiana but not limited to punishing the heat inside and with better ball handlers and shooters..
I agree with our players getting better, but can't say these fools got "old" in less than a year. Same they say about San Antonio. Assuming the Spurs/Heat make it, I still think it goes 7 games.
Have we won the West ?
Sure, but I haven't seen anything from Battier and Haslem the whole year...
I don't remember them being huge factors last year either tbh
Battier made some shots and had his fair share against Tony..
The haslem comment comes from the fact that the heat are so thin with their frontcourt right now...2013 spurs was better than 2013 heat...The spurs got better the heat regressed.
no miller. spurs have operation post up. kawhi, green and tiago have improved their game since last season. true heat have regressed and spurs have improved. I've read comments on the heat forums. they mention numerous times this. also saying that spurs look really scary this year.
I'm not so sure our team is THAT much better than the previous season. Parker was playing at an MVP level and Duncan was 1st team All-NBA...that certainly hasn't been the case this year. Tim's been great but he's not where he was last season, imo
It will come down to whether we can respond to Chalmers-Wade-Allen-James-Bosh. Looking at their lineup data, this is their best 5 man combination. Even more scary, Ray Allen is in all of their best 2 and 3 man combinations while only averaging 9 points. What are you supposed to do about that? Post up Kawhi against him I suppose and hope he tires out.
Make sure the gots down stairs don't see this, might ruin your rep and knock you off the poster of the month list
MIA's MO - keep it close and play lock down perimeter defense in the 4th. If SAS gets there, Manu better be careful. Why doesn't IND have a big go down the court with the ball handler and screen for him. Hope Pop has them practise beating the pressure - no Beno this time around. Afraid with that lineup that Splitter wouldnt play much in a MIA series - only when TD is resting.
THIS FFS
Can we get there first?
I'm worried about tonight..
They were awful against the Spurs when Wade was on the floor last year, tbh..
Miami was much better in last year's playoffs when Wade sat, it helps space the floor, I don't think it'll be any different against the Spurs, this year, despite Wade looking better..
Ray Allen's defense looks worse than ever, too..Pop made it a priority in the gameplan to attack Dirk/Blair and Lillard, so far, I think he'll do the same to Allen if they meet in the Finals..
I have no doubt Leonard will bring it but I'm worried about Splitter. He is key to winning, all he's gotta do is punish his smaller defender, that's it.
Splitter's inability to take advantage of mismatches on offense absolutely kills SA, last year they were able to hide Battier/Miller on him while not being punished for it.
Not to my knowledge, we've only played two games.
You need to ask?
The Heat won't make the same mistake they made with Danny Green last year. They'll blanket him as much as possible.
Tiago is going to have to make an impact this time around, not the liability he was last season and Manu can't play like he's on Miami's payroll again.
Here is the issue. If OKC beats the Spurs then the Heat take em. If Spurs win its a mmuch better series and Spurs to me are fav after watching parts of that Heat Pacers Series. It is an awful display of basketball. I said in another post if you make sure Ray cannot get those looks like game three then its over. Let Wade and LBJ score 25 each and shut down everyone else. Pacers transition d was awful. Pure stupidity....
If they blanket Green then that will leave other Spurs open.
They have to pick their poison.
Ya, I don't know why so many Spurs fans don't understand that when Miami commits to Green, it opens up for Parker/Duncan/Leonard, etc..
I think Pop learned from last year's series, too..we won't be seeing Parker heroball vs. Lebron like last year, the Spurs have been much more team-oriented this season and they have better options to exploit if Lebron decides to blanket TP again..
Obviously, they'll have to continue taking what the defense has given them and I think they've done a tremendous job of that since late in the Dallas series when the Mavs were intent on preventing open looks behind the arc.
Miami is very capable of disrupting the Spurs ball movement, defensively. They did that in the final two games of the finals and the Spurs really had to work hard to score points.
If the Spurs resort to iso/hero basketball, they're toast.
not his fault they didn't run post ups for him
I agree, and a lot of that hero basketball/dribbling around forever rests on TPs shoulders, he like many other PGs tends to do that.
There is no denying that the Heat play defense, hence why they won last years finals, but I think the Spurs are better this year than last, defensively and offensively, if they continue to share the basketball looking for the easy open shots, while the Heat are not as good as last year on either side of the court IMHO.
If they get past the Thunder, which they should, I think they have a better chance of winning it all this year than they did last year.
We will abuse every little silly defensive "matchup" offered this time around. That's after we dispatch OKC in 4 though. Let's not get ahead of ourselves and forget to savor every moment of crushing the life out of OKC.
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