Spurs vs. Thunder - 2012 Western Conference Finals

That lean is going to turn into a fall flat on your face to Spurs in less than 5 haha.

 

How longer can Duncan play.... into his forties if Pops let him...

 

Yes, b/c he's still an elite interior defender. That's where he's more key, rather than on the offensive end. Duncan was a NON-FACTOR in the post last night. But defensively, the Spurs big men as a whole were huge defensively throughout the whole playoffs. CP3 couldn't get to the rim in the pick and roll. And you saw what happened to WB when he got to the rim yesterday. Either bricks or charges or poor passes. HE went away from his midrange game yesterday.

However, Ibaka was all about blocks, and Perkins isn't fully a 100%. The Spurs shredded them in the 4th with great passing off of the pick and roll.

 

What you seem to be missing is the fact that defenses are geared to stop Duncan from catching back-to-the-basket one-on-one. If OKC gave up that, they wouldn't have a chance.

It's not necessarily how many times you run a post-up. It's the threat of it that makes the difference. San Antonio, with their defensive scheme, is begging the big 3 to give up the ball to Perk or Serge in the post. They would absolutely love it. Know why? Because they know that is the lesser efficient offensive option than the big 3 dribbling with the face-up game. And that is because Perk and Ibaka do not have a post-up game.

On the other hand, the reason Ibaka is on the floor is to help defend on bigs and protect the paint. They will double Timmy in the post...because they have to. And just watch. When OKC figures out that they're gonna have to drop one of those bigs on the bench to compete with San Antonio's ball movement, watch the Spurs go in to Duncan and Duncan just chew them up.

You saw that at the end last night. RB, Harden, Sefalosha, Durant, and Perk trying to spread out defensively and defend the Spurs. But it won't work because the Spurs are too good in the low post.

OKC's bigs are one-way players. You can get by with that in the regular season. And they are the most athletic team in the league. You can win a lot of regular season games that way too....a lot...as they have proven. But now it's the playoffs. You gotta be able to do everything well to win a championship.

Barring a major injury, the Spurs are going to the Finals. They are very, very good in every facet of the game.

 

Who voted for OKC in 4 or 5 paha? Should've made this poll public.

 

My only concern for spurs is that Duncan sits out too much/long and isn't being aggressive enough on the offense. That's i think why okc has a good chance. Spurs are stupid to run and gun with them.

Durant has a nice post game. He should use it more to make up for his bigs invisible offense.

 

OKC beat Memphis last year, a team that heavily relied on its post game.
OKC beat the Lakers this year, whose has the 2nd best C and one of the better PFs in the game.

If OKC loses to the Spurs, it's b/c the Spurs are simply deep and better. Period. The lack of a post game isn't a reason why OKC will lose this series. They'll lose b/c the Spurs have superior 3pt shooting to space the floor for the guards to attack the rim, while OKC usually puts in a scrub or 2 for rebounding/defensive purposes (Perkins/Thabo/Dfish-Fisher was an exception last night). They'll lose b/c the Spurs are simply more stacked as none of their players are offensive scrubs.

You seem to forget OKC basically has control of the entire game outside of some parts of the first and the entire 4th. And that was ON THE ROAD.

 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/M5xM8Z618zI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

In another universe Ron Jeremy becomes a legendary basketball coach :grin:

 

I would even venture to say that the inside out approach Rudy used with Dream wouldn't be as effective today. Ever since the illegal defense rule was changed, and coaches have caught on (albeit slowly), it has become increasingly difficult to post consistently against good, aggressive, lengthy defenses. Teams can double the strong side and zone up the weak-side while pressuring the ball hard, making it difficult to consistently get both good post feeds and clean kick-outs. Also, good aggressive fronting with intelligent defenders playing help-side (something that Yao struggled with a ton) has hindered the post game. LAL, Memphis, and Indy struggled mightily getting their dominant bigs consistent looks for these reasons. This is mainly why the NBA has become a pg/wing league. I think the "dearth of posts in today's game vs those of the 90's" argument, while somewhat valid, is greatly exaggerated. Of course there are no Olajuwons or Ewings now, but there are plenty of very good back-to-the-basket guys in the league today.

OKC actually has the perfect team to deal with teams with dominant bigs. Not only do they have an elite defensive front court, they have quickness and length everywhere else, allowing them to double and recover the rare times an opposing big gets it going. That's why I was so perplexed when Scotty Brooks went with Perk (a banged up Perk, to boot) over Ibaka. OKC is much better off doubling hard and forcing Duncan to make tough, pressured kick-outs than getting spaced out considerably by the relentless pick and rolls Parker and Ginobili throw at them. And even if the Spurs do get open lanes to the rim, Ibaka is lurking.

With that said, I don't think Brooks is savvy enough to adjust, and even if he does, Pop will probably counter with something ingenious. That coaching match-up is by far the biggest mismatch in this series, and that's why the Spurs should prevail somewhat easily.

 

I still say OKC in 7. I'm fine with OKC losing on the road, that's why it's called home court advantage. The Thunder were dominating coming down to the 4th, when Westbrook and Harden couldn't deliver.

 

ibaka cant and i repeat... CANT guard duncan. He dosent even have a fair chance... ibaka is only good at help defense, but his man defense is terrible. Thats why perkins was on the game, he have the strengh to take TD out of the paint and not let him post up. Still i will take ibaka and double duncan in the post than watch the spurs do layup after layup... perkins is just the opposite of ibaka, great man defense, terrible help defense. Specially on a night where spurs didnt shoot the 3 well... but with this team u have to pick your poison.

 

How did you find this? And what airport is Rubio in?

 

This is all true.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-b...playoffs-while-spinning-around-145614582.html

 

This years Spurs team is last years Mavs team but better. It is just that perfect verteran team that is fully healthy and knows what to do and how to do it to win it all.

The same way that I felt the Spurs benifited from the Clips eliminating the Grizz because they match up so much better with the Clips is the way I feel about there matchup with the Thunder. The Lakers would have given the Spurs a battle and it would not have been a sweep, that's for sure. But the Thunder are not ready to take out a team like the Spurs like they weren't ready to take out the Mavs last season.

In the same sense, the Spurs will benifit from playing the Heat in the Finals instead of the Celtics. With the way the playoffs have been playing out, I would not be shocked if the Spurs keep this undefeated thing up and sweep the Thunder and then the Heat in the Finals. They are just too complete of a team right now with there main guys healthy and playing like they did back in 2007. Really health is the main factor here. Since 2007 they have had injuries all across their big 3 that have prevented them from reaching the Finals.

 

the thunder know they have kevin durant on their roster, right?

 

come on thunder! wake up!!!!!!!!!

 

The thunder have nothing but ball stoppers on their team, particularly Westbrook. There is no movement and cutting. Lots of jumpshots. So much potential but bad coaching.

 

Really don't understand the fascination with passing the ball to Perkins :/