Spurned by the Spurs

The Western Conference Finals

Game 1: Thunder 0-1 Spurs

Introduction: 

   One word that sums up how the Spurs played their game 1 of the Western Conference Finals:  EFFICIENT.  The Spurs made over half of the shot attempts they made at 57.5% against the Thunder's 46.2%.

Worries coming in, and out:

   Tony Parker exited the last game against Portland after only playing one quarter. He complained about a tight hamstring.  His game play didn't seem to be affected by this but he played a full 35 mins-game one and worries me that this may aggravate this condition (if there is really any). So far, he hasn't shown any signs of slowing down. But then again, this is still a long series and with a Conference as top-heavy as the West, it is always possible for this to be extended up to the deciding game 7.

The missing "D", definitely not Duncan.

   OKC only had 3 blocks total. This is about half of what Serge Ibaka got against the Spurs during the regular season (5 blks).

Pounding it inside:

   With Serge Ibaka possibly out for the rest of the postseason, the Spurs have capitalized on inside scoring. Quoting Tim Duncan, "We were taking what we were given. We knew we would be able to get into the middle and attack more than we have, and we were able to make some shots tonight."  And that was exactly what they did which can easily be seen by how much the Spurs have outscored OKC in the paint, 66-32. 

Master of Mismatches:

   Coach Pop is always one to capitalize on what is obvious and then some.  There were a few instances where a switch resulted in a Forward being matched up with a Guard in the post (Duncan/Fisher, Diaw/Jackson).  These mismatches do not happen by accident but rather through a well orchestrated and painstakingly practiced ball movement. Oh, and I still don't understand why Scott Brooks would put Durant on defense against Timmy.  It is just wrong whichever way you look at it.

It ain't that bad:

   You can't really say that the OKC superstars had a bad night.  Kevin Durant scored 28 pts, 9 rebs and 5 asts which isn't very far from his Playoff average of 31.4p/9.5r/4.3a. Westbrook scored 25 pts 5 rebs and 7 asts.  But apparently, KD and RW scoring close to their averages is not enough to secure a win from the ever efficient San Antonio Spurs.

It will come:

   A team as talented as the Thunders will definitely bounce back.  Both KD and RW are capable of dropping 30-40 points in one game.  The likelihood of this happening within this series is very high and that is one way of  getting a "W" from the defending WCF Champions. Either that or everybody starts to contribute Offensively and Defensively. Quoting Durang,  "Look, Serge (Ibaka) is not going to be here. He's injured for the rest of the postseason, so we've got to move past that and just keep playing as a team."  The sooner the whole team realizes this, the sooner they will be able to get that win.

Unhating on the Heat

The Eastern Conference Finals

Game 1: Pacers 1-0 Heat  

Introduction: 

   It's funny how some so-called basketball analysts blame specific players for not stepping up when the game mattered the most.  In the case of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Chris Bosh. 

   9 points, 2 rebounds & 4 assists accumulated during 32 mins. of game play.  Bosh being Bosh, he definitely needs to step it up. I'm not saying that it is okay for him to play a game as dismal as game 1 but the point is, players will have Off-Nights. It's not like he's averaging less than 10 pts per game.  He will eventually pick it up and bounce back with a stronger game during the course of the best-of-seven series.

Off Nights:

   Fact: every player, no matter how good/great, will have a few/lot during the course of their career. They cannot control when this will happen. It may happen during the regular season or even during the play-offs. 

Adjustments:

   What we are forgetting is the fact that the coaches are there to eliminate the "Off night" factor that may cause the team to lose a game, or worse, the series.  The question is, "Is coach Erik Spoelstra making the necessary in-game adustments?"  

• Miami opted to start the game playing their usual "small-ball". This is not a big deal since most of the time, they either play run-and-gun basketball or starts shooting the lights out from the rainbow area (Allen rings a bell?)
• Indiana also started with their usual starters with the big middle casting in Hibbert and West.
• Roy Hibbert outweighs Bosh by at least 50 lbs. and towers over him at least 3 inches. This being said, Pacers biggies pounded the paint like there's no tomorrow. 
• Bosh is only one big man. Where is his support inside the paint? He defended fairly well against Hibbert limiting him to only 5-of-13 of his shots but there is no weak-side help defense that was eventually capitalized on by West.
• Michael Beasley (6'10") is being under-utilized. He's been with the Heat for quite some time now but doesn't seem to actual role within the Miami Heat system. He doesn't need to be that monster shot blocker or that physical enforcer in the paint but at least he can play supporting cast for Bosh.
• Finally, whatever happened to Greg Oden (7'0")?  The first time the Heat signed him up, I immediately realized that he was being saved for the playoffs (being the fragile big man that he is). I realized that he's not being given a lot of playing minutes so that he will be healthy come playoff time. Again, Where's Greg Oden?

Conclusion:

   Picking up from the very first paragraph of this article, Basketball is a Team Game. Coach Spo relies to much on the individual talents of his players who will eventually hit an off-night game. Giving your players that vaunted trust that he will eventually pick it up during the game is not a bad thing, but you have to decide what will give you that "W" simply because this is the Playoffs.  If your players who you expect to show this so-called Brilliance is not delivering then you have to make that game-winning decision to either sit him down or give the ball to someone else. Bosh's ability to sink in 3-pointers is something that they really want to capitalize on since the Pacers would rather have Hibbert guard the paint instead of running after a 3-point shooter.  The problem is, he shot 0-of-5 from beyond the arc which means adjustments need to be made.   Coach Spo is not making, not for game 1 at least, the necesarry in-game adjustments and is lacking that dynamism in team play that will make Indiana work hard on both ends of the court.

Additional Comments:

   I have been a Spurs fan for as long as I can remember.  I am a firm believer of team basketball. A good coach should always be able to continue winning games with the players available at his disposal. If Spoelstra can inject a system that will utilize each and every member of the team and not only relying on 2 or 3 players to win it for him then I might even be a fan of him. (referring to the coach and not the team).