Great point about Lebron in the post -- he just could *not* dominate from that position in years past. Even last year, he would look a little lost and uncomfortable down there. Now he looks like he owns it (well, especially when guarded by Harden, LOL.) In the fourth quarter, I was worried he was relying too much on jumpers, but he hit enough of them. But Harden in this series... wow. It's like Lewis Lloyd level disappearance, and I say that from deep, deep Rockets wounds. Ibaka too has been basically a no show. In fact, if you told me those two guys had money on the Heat, I would believe you.
Durant has shown himself to be big time, but there is no denying he is only a scorer. This season he averaged 8rpg, but in the finals? 4.8 in more minutes. That is big when you consider the team with the rebounding edge is 4-0 in these finals. Also only 2apg. On defense, he has also struggled. Against LBJ, he has no chance, but he's been slow on rotations & committing fouls outside of guarding LBJ. Durant has really just proven to be what everyone thought he was. The best do more for their team. He needs to man up.
He got 14 rebs in game 1 and 8 in game 2. Since then, he's been defending floating perimeter players far away from the basket to avoid fouls. Rebounding is definitely not one of KD's weaknesses. On defense, he's reached and bit on more pump-fakes the last 3 games than he has in the last month.
14 rebounds was against the Spurs. Rebounding in the Finals is a weakness. You can't be 6'9, with the biggest reach on the court, playing over 40 minutes, and grabbing fewer than 5 rebounds every game. Don't tell me what he did during the regular season. Don't tell me what he did last round.
I thought the Thunder would do it last night, but that 10-0 run in the 2nd by the Heat really broke them. It's almost as if the Thunder used all that energy to get a 17-point lead, then in less than 2 minutes it was gone. That's got to wear on you psychologically. Hats off to LeBron. I've viewed him differently since the end of the Boston series. Perhaps we are witnessing a great player grow and mature right before our very eyes. It will be interesting to see how he reacts when the Heat close it out on Thursday. I was originally pulling for OKC, but the more I read about how that whole move from Seattle went down, the less I want them to win a championship. Their fans haven't exactly paid their dues yet.
Did you take it as a slight that the Thunder put Durant on you, to protect him from foul trouble? “Yeah, I took that as a little sign of disrespect. For me, I worked too hard to be in the position I'm in now. Even though my offense wasn't clicking three games in the series, I wanted to step up for my team, and I was able to do that.” Read more: http://newsok.com/miami-heat-qa-mar...n-of-disrespect/article/3686071#ixzz1yLQKxjxp
I remember how the series was in complete and total dominance for the Spurs...like the Thunder were getting blown out the building...then they won four straight on the Spurs who sports around halloffamers, allstars, and HOF coaching...The Spurs lacked the athleticism to stop OKC...4-2 Now with Miami, that is no longer in play...and seemingly the only difference between the two teams is last years experience...Miami is doing what they didn't last year...making gritty plays...for the title...OKC is making too many mistakes down the stretch... With all that being said...Chalmers was probably the most reserved after the win yesterday...he knows its not done...not done till the 4th win is in the bank... from ESPN..{After the game, Chalmers was asked why he wasn’t smiling after he led the Heat to victory. Chalmers gave the answer of someone who has won on every level but his current one. “We’ve got one more win and we want to take care of business,” Chalmers said. “After we get that last win, I can be all smiles.” } That should be OKC's MO its not done till they win 4...play your hearts out and in the end...accept the result...
No one in particular is to blame. People watched okc out athlete the spurs and talked about them wiping out the heat. I never bought into that concept because of lebron. Its not an accident that every small forward who has tried to guard him has been in foul trouble. Carmello,granger,pierce,durant. All of them and its because he's either too fast or too strong. In this series, wade has only played like garbage part of games. Battier was great the 1st 2 games, bosh has been good, and tonight it was chalmers. In the end, lbj is showing why he's the best player on the planet. He's the only guy who can get 30 and thats not his best basketball trait.
The play I still can't get over this morning is Thabo Sefalosha's defense on the LeBron three. It's just incomprehensible. You're guarding a guy that can barely walk. There's zero burst. So with the shot clock winding down, and the ball in his hands, your solution is to play several feet off, with your hands down, thereby surrendering a wide open set 3 - the only play in basketball where his legs aren't needed? I think leebigez hit the nail on the head - OKC's comeback over the Spurs (and prior dominance over LA) had more to do with athleticism than anything else. They could always find that extra gear when they need it and get enough easy points in transition to cover up their mistakes. Against Miami, OKC is still the faster team, but the Heat are close enough to make them execute in the half-court, especially late. And OKC just isn't mentally there. It's unbelievable the amount of boneheaded errors, just in the fourth quarter alone. The Sefalosha play on defense (see above). Fisher's one-man fast break with both Westbrook and Durant running with him. Harden missing a layup/dunk. Durant shooting only once in the last four minutes. Westbrook dribbling it off his foot with a chance to take a two-possession lead, followed by all his idiocy in the last 15 seconds. I know they're young, but this is their third straight year in the postseason - second to go deep into it. This shouldn't still be happening. I like Scott Brooks, but at some point, the repeated mental errors (and underachieving, relative to physical talent) have to be a concern. PS: All this said... it still wouldn't shock me if OKC wins this series. I do think they're the more physically talented team. But they're not good enough to blow Miami out, which means they have to execute mentally in close/late situations. Hard to see them doing that 3 out of 3.
Good point but it seems like most of KD's fouls have not been on LeBron. So many of them were reach fouls against others and multiple charging calls.
I thought the exact same thing on Thabo's defense. That was a huge mental error. I disagree with you on Brooks. I'm more than "concerned". Also disagree about OKC coming back to win the series. I knew they were toast last night when they gave up the 17 point lead so easily. Miami used expended very little energy closing the gap and it happened so fast. They are toast tomorrow because as resilient as they are, Miami has their number right now. I expect Brooks to finally try something radical but it will be too little, too late and probably won't work. WB will have a letdown after playing so hard and they need him to produce at a high level. It will be a fluke if OKC wins game 5.
Really, it wouldn't shock you to see OKC win 3 straight being down 1-3? A comeback that has never happened before in a Finals.
Thabo's D on Lebron was inexcusable. You should be crowding him as much as you can and if he blows by you, you got a ton of help. OKC is the more "talented" team, but not necessarily the better team. Miami is the better defensive team, and they have the best all-around player in the league. You're bringing up OKC's errors, but Miami has made a ton of their own. Miami had a whopping 9 turnovers in the 4th quarter of game 3 alone. OKC was clutch in the first 2 games at home, Miami has been a "little bit" better in the clutch in their 2 games at home. This is 2 competitive teams going at it right now, and they're just making a few more plays b/c Miami's best players don't rely on the jumper as much. 3 years is nothing. You don't expect a team to win a championship, this young, right away. OKC lost in the WCF last year, they won this year. This Finals experience will make them much stronger, and likely will force Durant to be a better overall player and WB to be a better "playmaker." These guys are 23. OKC won't come back from this deficit. Miami's defense is much better, and everyone rebounds on that team. The ONLY way OKC can win this is getting 25+ points on the fastbreak. That's how they won game 1, and that's how they got out to a big lead in game 4 (11-13 points in the fastbreak in the first quarter ALONE in game 4; only 4-6 points from quarters 2-4). That's the ONLY way they can beat Miami. If Miami is disciplined offensively, OKC won't beat them. The Spurs don't play great defense. If they did, OKC would never come back on them in that series. Defense is the best equalizer to stunting momentum and things like that. I think that was attributed to him having to guard the PG position and thus putting him out of position to get rebounds. And plus, OKC wants to run, and their perimeter players haven't been helping out on the boards b/c they just want to run so bad. I think OKC have been outrebounded in 3 of the 4 games, and one of the reasons why they're trailing.
When you grab 2 rebounds in 46 minutes, and being the 3rd straight game your team has lost the rebounding battle in a close loss, I'd start worrying about it. Tied for his season low, and that was in 28 min. Norris Freaking Cole had 2 rebounds in 8 minutes. Thunder are 2-4 against the Heat this year. Durant has 17 boards in the 2 wins. 15 rebounds in the 4 losses. His team desperately needs him to grab some rebounds, and he did until the finals. I'm not saying he needs to go work on his rebounding in the offseason. I'm saying he needs to start rebounding in this series if he wants his team to make history.
