2013 NBA Championship Finals - San Antonio Spurs vs. Miami Heat

[MrBill]

That must be a first in NBA Finals history...one team's best player being collectively defended by the opposing team's players and having the opposing team's coach game planning against him.

Popovich is a savant.

 

[FirstTimer]

Pretty good summation from Lowe on the James vs Spurs defense thing

And oh, hey, LeBron did not look like himself. He attempted zero foul shots in a game for just the 10th time in his career, and the first since 2009. He was strangely passive for much of the game, settling for jumpers and looking unnerved — to the point that on one third-quarter possession, with San Antonio treating him as if he were Rajon Rondo on the pick-and-roll, James took a step inside the 3-point arc to splash a 20-footer. James is smart. He knows that’s a bad play. He did it anyway, and he looked uncomfortable through the “Should I do it?” process.

The passivity was strange in part because LeBron had a beastly two-minute stretch of post-ups in the first quarter — a bullying jump hook over Leonard, a drawn foul, and then a back-down of Green that led to a Chris Andersen dunk. The circumstances were favorable for some of that “aggressive LeBron” stretch. Leonard sat for part of it, and James is clearly more comfortable posting Green. And both Miller and Ray Allen were in the game, giving Miami maximum spacing around LeBron on the block. But it’s not as if LeBron doesn’t know how to do this under imperfect circumstances, or even through the very aggressive help San Antonio was sending.

Spoelstra knows this, too. LeBron post-ups have been among his go-to after-timeout plays, and he went there again with 4:50 left in the third quarter and the game slipping away. LeBron caught the ball one-on-one against Leonard, turned to face the basket, and saw Ginobili playing far off Wade. This has also been a theme all series, and Wade in the first half found ways to punish the Spurs for this calculated disrespect by cutting off the ball while his defender's eyes were elsewhere. Wade, as was the case in Game 2, could not carry that over into the second half. He needs to ditch all jumpers and floaters that come with 10 or more seconds left on the shot clock. They aren't going in.

The Spurs are making James see bodies. And as fantastic as he is, LeBron can become a passive player when good defenses throw those bodies at him and the ball stops moving. This is what happened during his meltdown two years ago against Dallas — the Mavs blocked his path in every direction, and the Heat offense, in its infant stage then, just bogged down. LeBron didn’t know what to do.

He didn’t have to jack a jumper on this possession; he could have driven to his left, or backed Leonard down on the block. But Leonard has played James well, with quick feet, giant arms, and a quiet tenacity. He has earned James's respect, and the bit of caution that comes with that. So have the Spurs. James has to be better than he was tonight, though.

The Heat this season tried to short-circuit this bad habit by creating a whirring offensive system with constant movement, rapid-fire passing, unpredictable screening, and ace long-range shooting. That offense doesn't exist anymore on a full-time basis. Playing three of the league's top six defenses will do that; great defenses are great because they take away your best stuff.

But there are other factors at work. Wade is hobbled, unable to make all the cuts, passes, and finishes that keep the system flowing. Bosh hasn't been himself since tweaking his ankle midway through the Indiana series. And though Miller has shot well in effectively replacing Battier, he doesn't offer quite the same level of solid screening — an important ingredient in a lot of Miami's best stuff, even if the Battier screens are just decoys.

 

[Argath]

Pretty good summation from Lowe on the James vs Spurs defense thing

The article credits Lebrons passiveness and caution to the Spurs defensive gameplan...

 

[ralaw]

Dumb fans are going to revert back to 2 years ago and blame Lebron for not "being aggressive" or "wanting it enough" and forget that there are 5 guys collectively defending him and one of the best coaches all time game planning against him.

James has 6 free throw attempts in 3 games. I don't care what a defense is doing to him. This is basketball and at no times in basketball is a defense good enough to totally remove a player like James like this. I will give it to you that the defense is doing some things to James and the Heat, but due to his passiveness he is falling into the hands of the defense. If James plays aggressive he is taking more than 6 free throw attempts in 3 games.

James has a total of 56 points on 48 shots and 6 free throw attempts in this series.

 

[FirstTimer]

The article credits Lebrons passiveness and caution to the Spurs defensive gameplan...

Read more:

The passivity was strange in part because LeBron had a beastly two-minute stretch of post-ups in the first quarter — a bullying jump hook over Leonard, a drawn foul, and then a back-down of Green that led to a Chris Andersen dunk. The circumstances were favorable for some of that “aggressive LeBron” stretch. Leonard sat for part of it, and James is clearly more comfortable posting Green. And both Miller and Ray Allen were in the game, giving Miami maximum spacing around LeBron on the block. But it’s not as if LeBron doesn’t know how to do this under imperfect circumstances, or even through the very aggressive help San Antonio was sending.

LeBron caught the ball one-on-one against Leonard, turned to face the basket, and saw Ginobili playing far off Wade. This has also been a theme all series, and Wade in the first half found ways to punish the Spurs for this calculated disrespect by cutting off the ball while his defender's eyes were elsewhere. Wade, as was the case in Game 2, could not carry that over into the second half. He needs to ditch all jumpers and floaters that come with 10 or more seconds left on the shot clock. They aren't going in.

The Spurs are making James see bodies. And as fantastic as he is, LeBron can become a passive player when good defenses throw those bodies at him and the ball stops moving. This is what happened during his meltdown two years ago against Dallas — the Mavs blocked his path in every direction, and the Heat offense, in its infant stage then, just bogged down. LeBron didn’t know what to do.

He didn’t have to jack a jumper on this possession; he could have driven to his left, or backed Leonard down on the block. But Leonard has played James well, with quick feet, giant arms, and a quiet tenacity. He has earned James's respect, and the bit of caution that comes with that. So have the Spurs. James has to be better than he was tonight, though.

The only part of the gameplan they credit is making James "see bodies".

The overall tone is Lebron isn't challenging the gameplan by posting Leonard even though it might be tougher than doing so with Green. it also doesn't cover him not going at and attacking Duncan and Splitter when they rotate to him. Hell, some possessions last night with Green on him Lebron was settling for standing jumpers. I'm sure the Spurs have a nice gameplan but James isn't attacking the defense and making it work. It's bad lazy basketball

 

[Kuzzy Powers]

LeBron done thinks hes turned into Kevin Durant. Ol boy be trippin.

 

[Xixak]

I love LeBron but people need to stop making excuses for him. Even if the other team's defense is keying in on you, as a star player you should still be able to exert your will on the game. That's what all the all-time greats did, and it's what LeBron did last year (although OKC's wasn't quite this good).

I really don't understand why he isn't in the post on almost every possession. Leonard is a great defender like George, but look what happened when LBJ took Paul into the post. Bucket after bucket.

He needs to realize that there isn't a defensive scheme capable of stopping him if he's being aggressive.

 

[FirstTimer]

I love LeBron but people need to stop making excuses for him. Even if the other team's defense is keying in on you, as a star player you should still be able to exert your will on the game. That's what all the all-time greats did, and it's what LeBron did last year (although OKC's wasn't quite this good).

I really don't understand why he isn't in the post on almost every possession. Leonard is a great defender like George, but look what happened when LBJ took Paul into the post. Bucket after bucket.

He needs to realize that there isn't a defensive scheme capable of stopping him if he's being aggressive.

And I'm not even arguing I want see James start scoring 40ppg, but him going to the post dictating rotations, matchups., and help helps get other guys better looks and might even open James up long term in the possession and gets him into rhythm shots. Same thing with him attacking favorable matchups off the dribble. He doesn't need to go bull in a china shop but even attacking the defense a little bit off the dribble makes the defense move and work. I'm not arguing the Spurs defense will crumble if this happens because they are a really really good defensive team but you have to make the defense move, work, and adjust. That's not happening.

 

[Kuzzy Powers]

Im having trouble thinking of any superstar, ever, who has basically been left open and dared to hit jumpers and has well, just not done so. They're even giving LeBron space to take the ball off the dribble and ATTEMPT to get to the rim, draw a foul, kick it out, anything.. something hes completely abandoned this series. LeBron has been aggressive for very small stretches this series and when he has hes scored the ball well (last 3 minutes of 3rd quarter last night when he ripped off 9 points in a row), so giving all the credit to the Spurs D is simply false. This is on the guy with the ball in his hands. If hes letting the talks of the below average Dwayne Wade cloud him then thats also on him, too. Ive never seen a star player go to shit in the fashion that Wade has during these playoffs, he is god awful right now.

 

[Xixak]

Im having trouble thinking of any superstar, ever, who has basically been left open and dared to hit jumpers and has well, just not done so. They're even giving LeBron space to take the ball off the dribble and ATTEMPT to get to the rim, draw a foul, kick it out, anything.. something hes completely abandoned this series. LeBron has been aggressive for very small stretches this series and when he has hes scored the ball well (last 3 minutes of 3rd quarter last night when he ripped off 9 points in a row), so giving all the credit to the Spurs D is simply false. This is on the guy with the ball in his hands. If hes letting the talks of the below average Dwayne Wade cloud him then thats also on him, too. Ive never seen a star player go to shit in the fashion that Wade has during these playoffs, he is god awful right now.

The thing is LeBron isn't a pure scorer and never has been. If he thinks he can win this series by being baited into jumpers, he is going to be 1-3 in the finals by the end of the week.

The guy just needs to attack the rim and post up WAY more. Like seriously... he has 50 pounds on Leonard. Just overpower him. LBJ doesn't even necessarily need to score but he needs to make the defense converge on him, and get guys out of position. He's going back to the bad habits that cost him the 2011 finals.

 

[FirstTimer]

The thing is LeBron isn't a pure scorer and never has been. If he thinks he can win this series by being baited into jumpers, he is going to be 1-3 in the finals by the end of the week.

The guy just needs to attack the rim and post up WAY more. Like seriously... he has 50 pounds on Leonard. Just overpower him. LBJ doesn't even necessarily need to score but he needs to make the defense converge on him, and get guys out of position. He's going back to the bad habits that cost him the 2011 finals.

This

 

[Xixak]

On a non-LeBron note. Miami's ball movement has been HORRIBLE. Idk what happened, but hardly anyone is getting open looks, and guys are taking way too many contested MID-RANGE jumpers.

Role players shooting contested mid-range Js = losses. It's so inefficient it scares me.

 

[FirstTimer]

On a non-LeBron note. Miami's ball movement has been HORRIBLE. Idk what happened, but hardly anyone is getting open looks, and guys are taking way too many contested MID-RANGE jumpers.

Role players shooting contested mid-range Js = losses. It's so inefficient it scares me.

I'd tie a lot of that back to Lebron

 

[Kuzzy Powers]

His unwillingness to post up A LOT more despite having a ton of success doing it is rather confusing. I know it can be very tough on the body to play that kind of game, but its much tougher on the body of your defender, and the results are there.

I will say this in terms of the Spurs D, Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green are the best defensive wing tandem in the league right now.

 

[FedEx227]

It's also the lack of fear with Wade, James and Bosh's drives. They aren't going to collapse if they know you aren't going to cut and drive. Wade isn't a threat anymore and James doesn't seem to want to drive despite the Spurs giving him the space and Bosh, c'mon. It's Bosh.

There's no reason for the Spurs to collapse or leave their men if the Heat aren't going to attack. They are back to playing like they did in 2011.

 

[FedEx227]

Also much has been made about how great it is that Mike Miller is getting playing time and hitting shots and how he's a secret weapon.

Here are all the Spurs threes. Watch Mike Miller. He's a fucking miserable defender.

 

[Xixak]

Also much has been made about how great it is that Mike Miller is getting playing time and hitting shots and how he's a secret weapon.

Here are all the Spurs threes. Watch Mike Miller. He's a fucking miserable defender.

And there lies the catch. He's a much better shooter than Battier but his lateral quickness and recovery defense is horrible thanks to his injuries (and he was mediocre defensively before them too).

I think Spo has to suck it up and put Battier in at this point.

 

[FedEx227]

Here's an awesome article via Mike Prada (SB Nation):

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2013/6/12/4421720/lebron-james-spurs-vs-heat-nba-finals-2013

DARING HIM TO SHOOT

 

[Xixak]

Here's an awesome article via Mike Prada (SB Nation):

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2013/6/12/4421720/lebron-james-spurs-vs-heat-nba-finals-2013

DARING HIM TO SHOOT

But even in that picture, wtf is LeBron doing? The entire left side of the court is open... attack the open space.

Even if you don't score, Splitter and Duncan are gonna rotate over and Cole/Chalmers (whoever's in the corner) is gonna be wide open. Btw why are Miller and Allen standing right next to each other? Horrible spacing.

 

[FedEx227]

THE SWARM!