NBA 2012-2013

[clackamascoug]

I've only seen shooting like that a handful of times in watching the NBA now for 43 years.

[MarkGrace]

I've only seen shooting like that a handful of times in watching the NBA now for 43 years.

It was absolutely amazing to watch. I just kept thinking at some point it would stop, but it went on and on.

[FN Phat]

I had DVR'd the game because we had softball/baseball all night long. I didn't get home until 11:00 last night so I thought that it would be a good idea to quickly go through the game to make sure that I didn't miss anything. I am glad that I did. The shooting was absolutely retarded. It got to the point that I just started laughing. Neal and Green was unreal. Miller has been lights out throughout the series. Un-effin'-believable!

[UtahJazzFan88]

I've only seen shooting like that a handful of times in watching the NBA now for 43 years.

I haven't seen it since the Game 4 sweep of the Dallas/Lakers series in 2011. Maybe the last Finals game last year.

[Pelado]

Manu, Duncan and Ginobili have one more point combined than Gary Neal.

Why double count Manu?

Was I the only one for whom the broadcast had issues - frames freezing and missing lots of plays? I was watching it delayed on the DirecTV DVR. Other things I recorded at the same time didn't have any problems.

[MarkGrace]

Why double count Manu?

One for his nose, one for the rest of him.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

Great stuff from Haberstroh again this morning. His tweet said "The Heat have a Wade problem, and the Spurs are exploiting it."

Much of that has to do with Wade’s limited state. You can see it on film and in the numbers. According to NBA.com’s stats, just 37.8 percent of James’ field goal attempts occur in the restricted area when he’s playing next to Wade. But when Wade leaves the court, that portion soars to 44.9 percent. Want more evidence? James’ free throw attempts almost double from 5.5 per 36 minutes when Wade’s on the floor to 8.9 per 36 minutes when Wade’s on the bench. Prefer to use player efficiency rating? James has a 31.2 PER with Wade on the bench this postseason, but it plummets to 25.1 when he’s alongside Wade. James regular-season PER? 31.6, or just about the same as when Wade’s out of the picture. In other words, James shifts into attack mode when Wade is gone.

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/true...de-not-working

Where does Miami go from here? So much was made (mostly by Wade, but to some degree by Spo) that James needed to involve Wade and Bosh in the Indiana series, that Miami wasn't going to be their best w/o those two getting more touches. But Wade is a liability right now, and not just in the fact that he's not producing. Against a smart defense, he's clogging everything up for the whole team. And yet the team continues to try to get him looks, to get him in a rhythm, instead of going more often to what is actually working.

A lot of the issues Miami is having against SA would go away if James could just shoot jumpers near the rate he did in the regular season. He's had good looks on jumpers that he's just missed. But at this point it is pretty clear that Wade needs to see his minutes cut, and then the team can let him try to get his while James is on the bench.

[MarkGrace]

I was just reading that article.

Sure, the Spurs are playing off James when he has the ball, but if you watch the tape, something else becomes obvious:

The Spurs are completely ignoring Wade. And it’s killing the Heat’s spacing.

More often than not, when James controlled the ball on the perimeter, the man guarding Wade (usually Danny Green) would camp out in the paint and throw one more body in James’ way. Initially, the Heat were able to take advantage of the Spurs’ cheating by having Wade cut to the basket. But that synergy disappeared quickly.

What’s become painfully obvious the past few weeks is that the James-Wade partnership is not working. That doesn’t mean it can’t turn itself around in Game 4. But Wade’s compromised state has made him a liability on offense.

Wade is not a threat whatsoever from downtown, which was always the case, but he used to make his defender pay by blowing by him with a devastating first step. With a bruised right knee, that explosiveness has been defused, and it’s signaling to the Spurs that they can play off Wade without consequence.

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/true...de-not-working

Makes me wonder what the Heat will do this offseason. Do they hope Wade can regain his form some if he heals? Or do they start coming up with a plan to move on?

[The_Douger]

I wonder if they should bring Wade off the bench and start Allen.

I don't think it will happen, but I think it would help them.

[MarkGrace]

I wonder if they should bring Wade off the bench and start Allen.

I don't think it will happen, but I think it would help them.

That's what the article proposes (and an article yesterday). Give him the Manu role. But that's hard to do right now.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Great stuff from Haberstroh again this morning. His tweet said "The Heat have a Wade problem, and the Spurs are exploiting it."



http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/true...de-not-working

Where does Miami go from here? So much was made (mostly by Wade, but to some degree by Spo) that James needed to involve Wade and Bosh in the Indiana series, that Miami wasn't going to be their best w/o those two getting more touches. But Wade is a liability right now, and not just in the fact that he's not producing. Against a smart defense, he's clogging everything up for the whole team. And yet the team continues to try to get him looks, to get him in a rhythm, instead of going more often to what is actually working.

A lot of the issues Miami is having against SA would go away if James could just shoot jumpers near the rate he did in the regular season. He's had good looks on jumpers that he's just missed. But at this point it is pretty clear that Wade needs to see his minutes cut, and then the team can let him try to get his while James is on the bench.

I already had a post similar to what I'm writing now.

Miami could still win this series, I doubt it, but they could still pull it off.

If they don't (and they probably won't), then there's a serious possibility that this team only wins that one championship. It's easy to say this now after Game 3 of the Finals, but going into the postseason the only teams I thought could realistically beat Miami was San Antonio or Memphis. Turns out that Indiana also came somewhat close.

The 2010-2011 season was a debacle for the Heat. Sure, they came close but the way Dallas came back and won the Finals should have been caused some concern in Pat Riley. The Eastern Conference was weak that year -- Boston was old and crippled, Chicago was acting like they were the early 2000s Sixers and letting Derrick Rose hog the ball. It should have been a no-brainer that they were going to make the Finals. After the 2011 Finals was the time to trade Dwyane Wade even if it meant they got 60 cents on the dollar. Sure, they won the 2012 Finals, but that's all they're getting. Congrats, they're on the same level with the 2004 Pistons. If Wade's salary was given to a player like Tyson Chandler, they would be in a substantially better situation.

[The_Douger]

That's what the article proposes (and an article yesterday). Give him the Manu role. But that's hard to do right now.

Making sweeping changes at this point reeks of desperation. Their defense on James has been really good too. I just think the Heat are too worn down right now to beat the Spurs. I thought the Heat would win 2 games in SA, but unless we see some 35 point nights from James and guys start hitting the open looks he gets them, it's over in five.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Making sweeping changes at this point reeks of desperation. Their defense on James has been really good too. I just think the Heat are too worn down right now to beat the Spurs. I thought the Heat would win 2 games in SA, but unless we see some 35 point nights from James and guys start hitting the open looks he gets them, it's over in five.

Like the article mentions -- the combo of Kawhi Leonard, who's turned into one of the elite defenders in the league, combined with Danny Green providing help defense on LeBron has been devastating. Unless Mike Miller and Ray Allen can both nail their threes on multiple nights, Miami is done. Miller played well last night too but it wasn't even close to being enough.

[MarkGrace]

Like the article mentions -- the combo of Kawhi Leonard, who's turned into one of the elite defenders in the league, combined with Danny Green providing help defense on LeBron has been devastating.

It's not even a combo, it's a trio and quadruple. They pinch the lane with either wing depending on what side he's moving toward, and Duncan is basically always spying him to step up. That's why I continue to be puzzled as to why they keep giving him the ball in the same spots at the top of the key. Leonard is doing a good job, but it's a lot bigger than him. When Lebron looks up it's not that he sees Kawhi, it's that he sees nowhere to go on the floor behind him.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

It's not even a combo, it's a trio and quadruple. They pinch the lane with either wing depending on what side he's moving toward, and Duncan is basically always spying him to step up. That's why I continue to be puzzled as to why they keep giving him the ball in the same spots at the top of the key. Leonard is doing a good job, but it's a lot bigger than him. When Lebron looks up it's not that he sees Kawhi, it's that he sees nowhere to go on the floor behind him.

I had to laugh at one of the tweets from some ESPN NBA guy during the game last night that said, "The triple teams are keeping James out of the lane, but he's got to get aggressive." Yeah, that is the best plan. Plow into the lane against that triple team, just to be more aggressive.