Official 2012-2013 NBA Playoffs Thread

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preslove

Lifer
Sep 10, 2003
16,754
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Spurs will take 2 of 3 at home, mark my words. They will at least win the next game then it's all a matter of if the Heat can adjust. You don't just mosey into SA and win because you have LeBron, Spurs thrive in that environment more so than any other home team thrives at home.

Spurs will take at least one, sure, but so should miami. Miami was the best road team in the NBA this season.
 
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007ELmO

Platinum Member
Dec 29, 2005
2,046
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No, no team could have withstood that Heat outburst (1). Secondly, the Heat cannot repeat that game after game, they are able to blow teams out, but not consistently.

When the game was still a "game", Ginobli was horrible. Should have been benched early on, fumbling all over the place like his early days. Parker/Duncan's +/- numbers went down quick when heat went nuts, but when the game was still functioning, Ginobli was minus 15, with the rest of the Spurs in positives.
 

tboo

Diamond Member
Jun 25, 2000
7,626
1
81
ESPNs on air masturbation to the Heat knows no end. The first 35min of Sportscenter this morning was on the Heat/Spurs game. 20min was on Lebron's block, 13min was on other Heat players/material & 2 mins covered the Spurs. I thought this biased reporting would end when the Lakers were eliminated & Tim Tebow was let go but I was wrong.
 

dougp

Diamond Member
May 3, 2002
7,909
4
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ESPNs on air masturbation to the Heat knows no end. The first 35min of Sportscenter this morning was on the Heat/Spurs game. 20min was on Lebron's block, 13min was on other Heat players/material & 2 mins covered the Spurs. I thought this biased reporting would end when the Lakers were eliminated & Tim Tebow was let go but I was wrong.

They've been all over the Heat's junk since the "decision."

The Heat are the only team that gets their blog and "Heat Rank" published on the site.
 

lupi

Lifer
Apr 8, 2001
32,539
260
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The way miami was playing first game looked like it could have been a similar result except instead of getting net the guys no names james were getting intimate nailing the rim. Game three could very well be do or die for the spurs.
 

HendrixFan

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 2001
4,646
0
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The way miami was playing first game looked like it could have been a similar result except instead of getting net the guys no names james were getting intimate nailing the rim. Game three could very well be do or die for the spurs.

The game three winner in the 2-3-2 series after coming in 1-1 is 12-1 overall in the Finals. The only team to lose in that situation was the Heat in 2011.

As for the comment earlier about the Heat not being able to play at that level again, you haven't watched the Heat much this year. The only thing that was a little bit of an outlier was their lack of turnovers, but it wasn't a crazy outlier like SA's lack of turnovers in game one.

Duncan has put up great per 36 minute numbers, equal to his career averages, this year. But his playing time has been way down all season due to his age. They are trying to ramp up his PT in the playoffs and especially the Finals. Can he really go for 40 minutes a night? Was game two just a bad night or indicative of the problem of having him try to run the floor with the pace and space Heat? Most likely a little of both, but the Spurs can't do well unless he is the second best player on the court each night.

Ginobili has also been extremely on/off this season. He spent most of the regular season playing like Wade is playing now.

Parker seems most likely to be the guy SA leans on to carry them, as he has all season. The problem is/has always been that Parker can't defend. The difference between him and MVP vintage Steve Nash is pretty small. He can get to where he wants on the floor, is never rushed, can get shots up in traffic and nail the open shot. Also, he is a defensive liability.

The Chalmers/Lebron pick and roll that eviscerated the Spurs did so because Parker sucks as a defender. Chalmers is a competent starting PG and unless he is having an off night can exploit Parker on that end of the floor. The low screen and roll was used so SA wouldn't have time to send wing help defenders like they would on a high screen. If they were already packing the paint from the wing then the closeout to the wing would be late, and it was for those open Miller and Allen threes.

What does SA do about it? Pressure the ball before it gets to the painted area. Rely on the SA bigs to be much more aggressive about rolling over to stop the basket attack and hope Bosh or Haslem aren't nailed the wide open 18 footers that will come out of that. (Just read somewhere that the Heat have won the last 30something games where Bosh shoots better than 50% - this is why). The wing defenders don't have to stay home necessarily, but they can't cheat in as far as they have and what cheating they do has to stay in passing lanes. Maybe they can get away with moving Parker to guard a Heat wing shooter but transition matchups can create a problem.

So if the Spurs defend the play perfectly, given their personnel, we will see tons of midrange jumpers for the Miami big. With the wing defenders at home the Spurs will continue to give up the rebounding edge to Miami. But if they are proactive instead of reactive they will have to start pressing and trapping the ball. They need to run a deeper bench and throw bodies who will press the ball the length of the court, slow possessions and wear down the Heat as much as possible and hope for turnovers. SA hasn't been know for being a tough defensive team in years but they will have to do something to slow the Heat attack.

On offense the Spurs have sputtered both games. In game one they struggled to score despite a record low number of turnovers. In game two they struggled to score despite an incredible three point shooting barrage. If they revert to the norm on turnovers and threes in the same game it will be uglier than the last game. They need to be in the paint more and get more out of the "mismatch" of having Duncan and Splitter. If they are gonna play big they are going to have to exploit it on the offensive end of the floor. If not, roll out small ball and get everyone driving into the paint. Especially at home!
 

dbk

Lifer
Apr 23, 2004
17,685
10
81
Spurs still have the home court advantage.. i dont think they care about how badly they lost game 2..
 

dougp

Diamond Member
May 3, 2002
7,909
4
0
Spurs still have the home court advantage.. i dont think they care about how badly they lost game 2..

The Spurs have a tendency to bounce back after a loss, much like the Heat ... they looked rather defeated - hell, I just quite watching during the 3rd quarter.

The ball movement looked horrible, turnovers abound (Gary Neal in the half court is a bad idea, he's much more of a liability than Parker is ... and sorry, I don't see Parker as a defensive liability like Nash was. Nash's DRTG is 4-8 points over Parker's) and not being aggressive ... all things that can be worked on and adjusted for the next game.
 

HendrixFan

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 2001
4,646
0
71
Pop will make adjustments. It was clear after two games that when one team is playing near their ceiling (though not at it) it is a blowout, and when the other team does it is a game going down the wire. The Heat have most of the advantages and should win.

But that is why they play the games, blah blah blah.

It is a best of five now but the Spurs will have to play closer to 100% than the Heat to win.
 

BrokenVisage

Lifer
Jan 29, 2005
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that is a pretty dumb thing to guarantee after they just got their asses handed to them.

not really, it was close in the first half and into the 3rd, plus they were on the road facing a team that lost the first game. This sets up nicely for the Spurs to re-group and take the next game at home, then with 2 more at home I like them to take 1 of 2 depending on circumstances and health. Hey, we'll see.
 
May 13, 2009
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Pop will make adjustments. It was clear after two games that when one team is playing near their ceiling (though not at it) it is a blowout, and when the other team does it is a game going down the wire. The Heat have most of the advantages and should win.

But that is why they play the games, blah blah blah.

It is a best of five now but the Spurs will have to play closer to 100% than the Heat to win.

Over react much? I don't put any faith in blowouts in the playoffs after watching nba ball for so long. It's like declaring the series was over after game 1.
 

007ELmO

Platinum Member
Dec 29, 2005
2,046
36
101
The Heat do not have most of the advantages, Hendrix fan is a little LBJ or heat leaning, I don't see him going objective.

By most of the advantages if you mean Lebron james, OK. Take LBJ off and the heat miss the playoffs pretty bad. It is easy for Ray Allen and Mike Miller to can open 3s because of the superior LBJ.
 

QueBert

Lifer
Jan 6, 2002
23,051
1,221
126
The Heat do not have most of the advantages, Hendrix fan is a little LBJ or heat leaning, I don't see him going objective.

By most of the advantages if you mean Lebron james, OK. Take LBJ off and the heat miss the playoffs pretty bad. It is easy for Ray Allen and Mike Miller to can open 3s because of the superior LBJ.

So you're saying the Heat wouldn't be as good if they didn't have the best player in the league? Stop the presses!

Just for the record, even minus James they would have easily made the playoffs, they have 2 other HOF'ers and one of the most solid benches in the eastern conference. I don't think they'd have made the finals without him. But playoffs? definitely.
 
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dbk

Lifer
Apr 23, 2004
17,685
10
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TY Gary Neal for salvaging an infuriating letdown in the final 2 minutes of the half..