NBA 2012-2013

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

Bosh, Wade, and Allen were all celebrating. Bosh was preening as he was walking backwards across halfcourt, hardly getting set defensively. Bron was the only one who seemed to know what was going on and he was only where he was because he was still calling for the ball at the top of the key after Bosh got the board. Allen chased after Kawhi after Bron yelled at him. Wade too jumped on Green when he realized that Diaw wanted to inbound the ball. Chalmers was just standing there not paying Manu much attention and as you noted Parker the one guy who could get up the court in 5.2 seconds was wide open. Regardless, they were in no defensive set and there were guys wide open and mismatches that the Spurs could have exploited.

Such a nonsense debate, but oh well...

Bosh was preening and hardly set defensively? He was standing at halfcourt before the ball would've ever been thrown in. Should he be in a defensive stance at that point? He was exactly where Miami would've had him if they'd drawn it up, not at the baseline standing by Parker so he'd be out of the play after one dribble. James was totally keyed in on the play, also at halfcourt, and in a perfect spot to pick up a dashing Parker along with Bosh to force a very difficult shot. If a replay hadn't been coming, the ball wasn't going to be thrown in until Wade, Chalmers, and Allen all snapped to attention and again were all in good position: Chalmers right by Manu, Allen right by Leonard, and Wade under the hoop by two Spurs who were taking the ball in.

The only play was going to be getting Parker the ball 90 feet from the hoop with two defenders waiting for him at half court, whether they were in defensive stances at that moment or not. Miami was in about as good of a defensive situation as they possibly could've been given the scenario. The only change would've had Wade right on Parker instead of by Green and Diaw. But the only point being made is that the Heat weren't anywhere near the described version of celebrating and walking toward their bench.

[The_Douger]

I rewatched those last segments a few times. Duncan was trailing on Parker's drive and was open on the other side of the lane. Had he not pushed so far down low or pulled one of his stop on a dime moves he could have hit him wide open for a short jumper/runner. Kind of frustrating that there at the end both he and Manu got tunnel vision. Manu was definitely fouled BTW. But he also definitely traveled so it's a wash. I thought Green was fouled too. Bosh took him out with the lower body. Tough one to call but it was a foul and Green should have shot 3 FTs.

And Junkie was right. Pop was irate on the sidelines that the refs stopped to verify Ray-Ray's three pointer. He wanted the Spurs to inbound the ball and push it up as fast as they could like Parker did the other night in going coast to coast. That stoppage for instant replay benefited the Heat way more than it did the Spurs as it allowed them to set up their defense. They were celebrating the three pointer and a couple of guys were walking towards their bench anticipating a timeout but neither team had any left. I have no clue why it was reviewed, it was clearly a three pointer and the official at the top in the one replay had a clear view and signaled three as Ray was elevating.

Speaking of review, how many times in this series have the refs missed a call on a ball going out of bounds off a player? I swear it has happened every game this series. Fortunately last night, the review helped overturn the obvious missed call on the one Bron knocked out of bounds.

The Spurs also made an illegal substitution in that case, as they were allowed to put Duncan in and it wasn't a real stoppage.

[smokymountainrain]

Such a nonsense debate, but oh well...

Bosh was preening and hardly set defensively? He was standing at halfcourt before the ball would've ever been thrown in. Should he be in a defensive stance at that point? He was exactly where Miami would've had him if they'd drawn it up, not at the baseline standing by Parker so he'd be out of the play after one dribble. James was totally keyed in on the play, also at halfcourt, and in a perfect spot to pick up a dashing Parker along with Bosh to force a very difficult shot. If a replay hadn't been coming, the ball wasn't going to be thrown in until Wade, Chalmers, and Allen all snapped to attention and again were all in good position: Chalmers right by Manu, Allen right by Leonard, and Wade under the hoop by two Spurs who were taking the ball in.

The only play was going to be getting Parker the ball 90 feet from the hoop with two defenders waiting for him at half court, whether they were in defensive stances at that moment or not. Miami was in about as good of a defensive situation as they possibly could've been given the scenario. The only change would've had Wade right on Parker instead of by Green and Diaw. But the only point being made is that the Heat weren't anywhere near the described version of celebrating and walking toward their bench.

This shows it as well as anything.

[smokymountainrain]

Looks mostly as it was described by BGR. Surfah is right that Wade and Bosh both celebrated, however, in spite of the celebration, they were in position - exactly where they needed to be. Parker was the only Spur who was open on the play and he was LeBron's guy.

Bottom line, it's obvious in that video the Heat were in great position to defend a full court attempt to score with 5 seconds remaining. LeBron recognized that fact and didn't seem pleased with the stop in play.

All that said, it's hard to say who benefited most by the break. While I think the video makes it clear the Heat were in excellent position, I'm not sure timeouts in those situations help the offense much either.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

This is why the Spurs have been so good for so long. Their roster has been full of players that get it. Well, that and an all-time anchor, great coach, great front office, two very good players like Parker and Ginobili, and always a solid supporting cast.

@tomhaberstroh now
Spurs went out to dinner after the loss and shared stories about brutal defeats. Parker said it was therapeutic, needed.

Imagine the media getting to run with that story if the Spurs win Game 7. That dinner will become legendary.

[smokymountainrain]

This is why the Spurs have been so good for so long. Their roster has been full of players that get it. Well, that and an all-time anchor, great coach, great front office, two very good players like Parker and Ginobili, and always a solid supporting cast.



Imagine the media getting to run with that story if the Spurs win Game 7. That dinner will become legendary.

The Spurs are awesome. Hard not to root for that team.

[MarkGrace]

The peerless historians at ESPN Stats & Information inform us that, over the previous 15 seasons -- including the playoffs -- teams that held five-point leads with between 20 and 30 seconds left on the clock went a tidy 1,850-27.

Crazy.

[FN Phat]

The Spurs are awesome. Hard not to root for that team.

agreed but I can't stand help but root for LBJ...especially when others are so quick to criticize and jump on the Spurs bandwagon. I should love this team. Mr. Fundamental, an unorthodox slasher that is, at the very least, entertaining and a solid point guard that has the sweetest floater in the game. Role player after role player making plays or a series of shots that defy their previous career and Pops (nuff said). I should love this team but I just can't (and never have EXCEPT 0.4 against the Lakers) cheer for them. I think most of it is due to the incessant crying by Timmy.

[MarkGrace]

Stein says the O'Brien trophy was in the tunnel being wheeled out to the floor with under 30 secs to go.

[The_Douger]

agreed but I can't stand help but root for LBJ...especially when others are so quick to criticize and jump on the Spurs bandwagon. I should love this team. Mr. Fundamental, an unorthodox slasher that is, at the very least, entertaining and a solid point guard that has the sweetest floater in the game. Role player after role player making plays or a series of shots that defy their previous career and Pops (nuff said). I should love this team but I just can't (and never have EXCEPT 0.4 against the Lakers) cheer for them. I think most of it is due to the incessant crying by Timmy.

I'm the same way. I don't love the Heat, but I pull for them against the Spurs. I should love the Spurs for the same reasons you list. I wish my team would be like them, but for some reason I just can't get behind them.

Lebron and Duncan were true greatness last night. It was fun to watch.

[Surfah]

agreed but I can't stand help but root for LBJ...especially when others are so quick to criticize and jump on the Spurs bandwagon. I should love this team. Mr. Fundamental, an unorthodox slasher that is, at the very least, entertaining and a solid point guard that has the sweetest floater in the game. Role player after role player making plays or a series of shots that defy their previous career and Pops (nuff said). I should love this team but I just can't (and never have EXCEPT 0.4 against the Lakers) cheer for them. I think most of it is due to the incessant crying by Timmy.

I like Bron but there isn't anyone else on that team I like. In fact their entire roster is pretty unlikeable. Bron got a ring. I'd rather see him lose and decide Miami isn't enough and come to LA where he belongs. The greatest deserve to play for the greatest franchise in sports.

[MarkGrace]

More cracking on Wade. What does Spo do with him?

For the series, the Heat have scored 131.7 points per 100 possessions when James is on the floor without Wade, and just 100.8 when the two have shared the floor, per NBA.com. The Heat are minus-12 for the series, but the James–Mike Miller–Ray Allen super-shooting trio is a crazy plus-50 in just 68 minutes, per NBA.com. The James-Miller-Chalmers trio is plus-43 in just 80 minutes, and the combination of those four players is a stunning plus-49 in just 29 total minutes together, per NBA.com.

Those four have only played 15 minutes total with Bosh. The other 14 have come with Chris Andersen in Bosh’s place, and that group has been so successful in those 14 minutes — plus-26 — they nearly break NBA.com’s stats database and replace it with that Home Alone image of Macaulay Culkin screaming.

Which is to say, depending on the flow of Game 7, Erik Spoelstra’s hook on Wade has to be quicker. This is the entire season on the line. He cannot just roll with Wade like it’s 2006 or 2008, trusting Wade’s “warrior” nature and big-game reputation. And he certainly cannot reserve precious late-game out-of-timeout possessions for Wade plays, as he did in calling for a Wade post-up with 2:40 left and the Heat up 87-84. Wade is 6-of-27 on post-ups during the playoffs, per Synergy Sports. He has drawn exactly zero fouls on those 27 shots. He has turned the ball over on 16 percent of his post-up possessions. His post-up game is dead. It might return at any moment — Wade is a crazy shot-maker, as Games 4 and 5 reminded us — but Spoelstra has to operate under the assumption that it is dead until next season.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...-game-in-years

[MartyFunkhouser]

agreed but I can't stand help but root for LBJ...especially when others are so quick to criticize and jump on the Spurs bandwagon. I should love this team. Mr. Fundamental, an unorthodox slasher that is, at the very least, entertaining and a solid point guard that has the sweetest floater in the game. Role player after role player making plays or a series of shots that defy their previous career and Pops (nuff said). I should love this team but I just can't (and never have EXCEPT 0.4 against the Lakers) cheer for them. I think most of it is due to the incessant crying by Timmy.

So if you have a problem with incessant crying, how are you a fan of Bron Bron?

[smokymountainrain]

agreed but I can't stand help but root for LBJ...especially when others are so quick to criticize and jump on the Spurs bandwagon. I should love this team. Mr. Fundamental, an unorthodox slasher that is, at the very least, entertaining and a solid point guard that has the sweetest floater in the game. Role player after role player making plays or a series of shots that defy their previous career and Pops (nuff said). I should love this team but I just can't (and never have EXCEPT 0.4 against the Lakers) cheer for them. I think most of it is due to the incessant crying by Timmy.

I tend to root for LBJ as well. In fact, I've wondered sometimes why I'm such a fan of his. The best I can come up with is that it annoys me that so many basketball fans don't seem to appreciate what they have in him. I can sort of understand why the Funks of the world don't like him as a personality, but from a strictly basketball perspective, if we could create a basketball player, most of us would create something close to the following:

LeBron James

1) an athletic freak of nature
2) big and strong
3) excellent work ethic
4) high basketball IQ
5) a student of the game
6) an prolific scorer
7) an efficient scorer - (57% FGs)
8) a guy who is accurate from long range (41% 3pt)
9) a guy who rebounds
10) a willing and skilled passer who sets teammates up for easy shots
11) a guy who plays hard on both ends of the court
12) a guy who is a great defensive player
13) defends multiple positions
14) is unselfish
15) stays out of trouble off the court
16) a great FT shooter (19 out of 20 isn't bad)
17) a leader
18) clutch (leading scorer in NBA history in elimination games and game 7s)
19) consistent in his production and effort
20) can effectively play every position on the floor on offense and defense

Essentially, LeBron is as perfect a player as we've ever seen and there is a fairly significant portion of basketball fans who simply don't recognize it.

The only major flaw in his game I can think of is that he could be a better FT shooter.

[FN Phat]

I tend to root for LBJ as well. In fact, I've wondered sometimes why I'm such a fan of his. The best I can come up with is that it annoys me that so many basketball fans don't seem to appreciate what they have in him. I can sort of understand why the Funks of the world don't like him as a personality, but from a strictly basketball perspective, if we could create a basketball player, most of us would create something close to the following:

LeBron James

1) an athletic freak of nature
2) big and strong
3) excellent work ethic
4) high basketball IQ
5) a student of the game
6) an prolific scorer
7) an efficient scorer - (57% FGs)
8) a guy who is accurate from long range (41% 3pt)
9) a guy who rebounds
10) a willing and skilled passer who sets teammates up for easy shots
11) a guy who plays hard on both ends of the court
12) a guy who is a great defensive player
13) defends multiple positions
14) is unselfish
15) stays out of trouble off the court
16) a great FT shooter (19 out of 20 isn't bad)
17) a leader
18) clutch (leading scorer in NBA history in elimination games and game 7s)
19) consistent in his production and effort
20) can effectively play every position on the floor on offense and defense

Essentially, LeBron is as perfect a player as we've ever seen and there is a fairly significant portion of basketball fans who simply don't recognize it.

The only major flaw in his game I can think of is that he could be a better FT shooter.

I would say the most major flaw is that he is unselfish to a fault