NBA Finals IGT Game 7: Miami Heat 3, San Antonio Spurs 3

[Gustavus Adolphus]

I will totally admit when I'm trolling, and I'm trolling hard here... But I follow sports enough to be as educated on football as a typical CBMB transfer, so I figure my opinion can be shared. Hell, at this time of the year, since ESPN only follows the NFL and NBA, I'm probably pretty damn informed.

That said, the NBA has zero parity. If Westbrook didn't go down, this might be an interesting series. Heat in 6, since the NBA has the wost refs in the league and wants to keep being a headline. The better TEAM is actually the Spurs, but the Heat have Lebron and they can't keep having ESPN discussions about who is better, MJ/Kobe/Lebron, if he doesn't start racking up more championships.

I hope that I'm completely wrong and the Spurs pull a Maverick's. The odds of that happening are just stacked against them considering the refs and Stern do have an effect on the series.

Niklas Hjalmarsson wants to speak with you.

 

[nwfisch]

Scott Foster says hi

http://www.truthaboutit.net/2010/03/nba-referee-scott-foster-still-in-the-game.html

 

[czman]

Danny Green and Kawhi are pretty athletic...at this point Danny Green might have more athletic ability than Wade.

I don't think either is in the realm of Paul George. Stevenson is a better athlete than Green, as far as I can tell.

We can agree to disagree.

 

[clonetrooper264]

Additionally the Spurs are not nearly as good a rebounding team as the Pacers.

But they still have Duncan and Splitter up front as well as Diaw and Blair off the bench. The important thing is that they have better rebounding than the Heat. The real x-factor to this series will be the play of Wade. If he sucked like he has against the Pacers, the Spurs are in a very good position to win. Tony Parker will likely draw the attention of Wade defensively at some point during the series because I don't think Chalmers will be able to keep him from scoring 30 every night. If Parker tires out Wade by making him play defense, that helps even more.

 

[85Bears4life]

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

But they still have Duncan and Splitter up front as well as Diaw and Blair off the bench. The important thing is that they have better rebounding than the Heat. The real x-factor to this series will be the play of Wade. If he sucked like he has against the Pacers, the Spurs are in a very good position to win. Tony Parker will likely draw the attention of Wade defensively at some point during the series because I don't think Chalmers will be able to keep him from scoring 30 every night. If Parker tires out Wade by making him play defense, that helps even more.

Blair has no knees anymore. His shelf life as a decent player might be done. He can rebound but he cannot guard LeBron at the 4 because he is too slow. The Red Rocket is too slow and would get outworked by LeBron on the glass (the only way I see Bonner being effective is against line-ups where Miami has 2 true bigs on the floor to keep Miami's defense stretched). Splitter can rebound but LeBron would pull him too far away from the rim if he tried to guard him out there. His only choice would be too give LeBron wide open 18-footers all day which are pretty much money for LeBron at this point. Plus, Splitter is also slow-footed guarding LeBron. Diaw is not as slow-footed but still too slow to guard LeBron. He doesn't really stretch the floor with his jump-shot either and would not have a discernible rebounding advantage head-to-head against LeBron provided that the Heat go small. Duncan, needless to say, cannot guard LeBron one-on-one because he is needed near the basket to provide shot-blocking and rebounding.

Tony Parker is a monster offensively but he is no George Hill on defense. The match-up between Chalmers and Parker isn't as lop-sided as it would have been just a year ago or so. Chalmers has really improved as an all-around player. But who wouldn't playing with James and Wade? The X-factor is bench play and what adjustments each coach makes. If San Antonio forces Miami to play big then that would take a lot out of what Miami has going for them to give them an offensive advantage. But if you put in a lot of Andersen/Haslem, then that really negates the advantage San Antonio would have on the glass and on D.

This series might come down to what Manu and Ray can produce off of the bench for their respective teams.

 

[RoseMVP1]

Dejuan Blair has no cartilage in his knees...dudes pretty much already shot at this point. Bonner will help spread the floor and knock down some 3s...he just helps open it up for tony parker.

 

[clonetrooper264]

Blair has no knees anymore. His shelf life as a decent player might be done. He can rebound but he cannot guard LeBron at the 4 because he is too slow. The Red Rocket is too slow and would get outworked by LeBron on the glass (the only way I see Bonner being effective is against line-ups where Miami has 2 true bigs on the floor to keep Miami's defense stretched). Splitter can rebound but LeBron would pull him too far away from the rim if he tried to guard him out there. His only choice would be too give LeBron wide open 18-footers all day which are pretty much money for LeBron at this point. Plus, Splitter is also slow-footed guarding LeBron. Diaw is not as slow-footed but still too slow to guard LeBron. He doesn't really stretch the floor with his jump-shot either and would not have a discernible rebounding advantage head-to-head against LeBron provided that the Heat go small. Duncan, needless to say, cannot guard LeBron one-on-one because he is needed near the basket to provide shot-blocking and rebounding.

Tony Parker is a monster offensively but he is no George Hill on defense. The match-up between Chalmers and Parker isn't as lop-sided as it would have been just a year ago or so. Chalmers has really improved as an all-around player. But who wouldn't playing with James and Wade? The X-factor is bench play and what adjustments each coach makes. If San Antonio forces Miami to play big then that would take a lot out of what Miami has going for them to give them an offensive advantage. But if you put in a lot of Andersen/Haslem, then that really negates the advantage San Antonio would have on the glass and on D.

This series might come down to what Manu and Ray can produce off of the bench for their respective teams.

Guess I missed the memo on Blair's knees finally catching up to him. Fair enough.

The thing about assuming Miami goes small is that Indiana was able to force them to play big by completely dominating them inside. It's not hard to imagine Duncan simply overpowering Bosh down low, especially if he's the only big on the floor. If they have Splitter on the floor as well, they should be able to dominate the glass, and I would think that Splitter could score on Battier in the paint despite not being quite as good a post player as West or Hibbert. If the Spurs force Miami to go big, then that plays into their favor. If Indiana can force Miami to 7 games by playing big, I don't see why San Antonio, who basically have everything the Pacers don't (knock down 3pt shooter, good bench play, consistent backcourt production), can't do the same.

That being said, I think San Antonio can pull off a small ball lineup. Perhaps Parker, Ginobili, Green, Leonard, and Duncan would be able to go up against Wade, Allen, Battier, Lebron, and Bosh without losing too much ground, but that clearly favors Miami. At the end of the day, forcing Miami to go big is what SA wants to do, and is what they should try to do. I trust SA's bench far more than Indiana's bench, and I think that they'd do fine against any lineup without Lebron in it.

I also disagree with Birdman and Haslem negating SA's advantage on the boards. They played against Hibbert and West all series and didn't get a rebounding advantage ever. I can't see that changing. They could end up getting some key baskets and rebounds (like Haslem's ridiculous game 3, or Birdman not missing a shot for almost the whole series), but they don't by any means negate the Spurs rebounding advantage.

 

[CODE_BLUE56]

Game 7 in miami. 5 seconds left in OT. Game tied at 101. Miami ball. Off-ball screen by Lebron gets Ray Allen open from behind the arc. Wait..no..WHAT!? That's not Ray Allen. He looks a bit older and bit more rugged, but screams experience. It's Robert fucking Horry. He sets his feet and releases the ball in quick and fluid motion, lifting himself high above the ground for someone who is 42. Of course, he makes the shot with about 1.1 seconds left. After the shot, SA takes a timeout while Tim Duncan is looking wide eyed at the refs asking how the **** Robert Horry got in the game when he's retired. Everyone is in absolute shock, so when the spurs try to draw some sort of play with 1.1 seconds left, it is to no avail. Lebron wins his second championship. But more importantly, Robert fucking Horry wins his 8th. I mean, that's how i see it playing out.

Heat in 7.

 

[CODE_BLUE56]

Dejuan Blair has no cartilage in his knees...dudes pretty much already shot at this point. Bonner will help spread the floor and knock down some 3s...he just helps open it up for tony parker.

No ACLs

 

[Crystallas]

Pregame in action:

 

[RoseMVP1]

Let's go Spurs!

 

[clonetrooper264]

If the Spurs can get Splitter involved on offense, Miami will be forced to go big. Hope to see more of him.

 

[RoseMVP1]

I kind of find it funny that Chris Bosh seems to think he's Reggie Miller. Speaking of that here we go with the start of the bullshit calls....first it was a charge and secondly he wasn't even shooting it he was passing it. Sigh

 

[clonetrooper264]

Well looks like we'll be seeing the normal Wade this series. That puts a lot of pressure on San Antonio. Hopefully Green/Ginobili can at least match his production.

 

[Mr. Cub]

Hopefully Spurs will come out of the locker room tougher. Need to quit letting the Heat get those easy drives to the rim. Knock somebody on their ass.

 

[Les Grossman]

Somebody needs to make a gif of Battier getting kicked in the face by Parker, haha

 

[clonetrooper264]

Hopefully Spurs will come out of the locker room tougher. Need to quit letting the Heat get those easy drives to the rim. Knock somebody on their ass.

Not entirely their fault. Miami is much quicker and more athletic than the Spurs. Plus the 2 fouls for Duncan probably made him a little less aggressive than he would've liked.

Still, they do need to tighten up inside. I'm more concerned with how many shots they've missed near the basket. Duncan definitely got hot near the end of the half though. Hopefully he can ride that the rest of the night.

 

[Mr. Cub]

Not entirely their fault. Miami is much quicker and more athletic than the Spurs. Plus the 2 fouls for Duncan probably made him a little less aggressive than he would've liked.

Still, they do need to tighten up inside. I'm more concerned with how many shots they've missed near the basket. Duncan definitely got hot near the end of the half though. Hopefully he can ride that the rest of the night.

Yeah, Miami being the younger quicker team worries me a little for this series. But if Duncan can stay out of foul trouble and be on the floor that should help a lot.

But I feel very weird cheering for the Spurs haha

 

[RoseMVP1]

Guess I'm the only person on the board that thinks Kawhi and Danny are athletic