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So the matchups are set. I'll make the thread look pretty later.

Predictions?

I say us in 5, we lose G2.

why is this board so dead??

such a great franchise and team and this is without a doubt the emptiest board on real gm.

There's an IQ minimum requirement to post on the Spurs board. I passed by excelling in the swimsuit and congeniality component.

Altered_Beast wrote:why is this board so dead??

such a great franchise and team and this is without a doubt the emptiest board on real gm.

´
Spurstalk

That was a pretty pathetic effort by the Pacers for a Game 7. I didn't care who won, but that was embarrassing. I remember when game 7's had supreme effort and guys left everything out on the court, doing anything it took to win. That game reminded me of a regular season game in February.

Anyway, I think Spurs in 7. I think we get one of the first 2 on the road but we are far from dominant at home and lose one of those 3. I think the formula is the same as always, if we can control scoring and not let them get crazy offensively, we win. I think we will be able to contain LeBron James somewhat but it can't come at the cost of letting others go off.

Also, I have a feeling Tim Duncan will show Miami why he is Tim Duncan and not Roy Hibbert. No diss on Hibbert, he played well but I think Timmy might have a good series.

Heat in 7

Spurs in 6. We take our crown back.

I'm worried.

The one lineup I've hated right now is our "small ball" lineup. And when the opponent's small ball PF is named Lebron James, you have to adjust. I personally can't see Pop sticking with Splitter-Duncan rotation and have Splitter guard LeBron. Pop's gonna throw out that small ball lineup we have. We'll be seeing a lot of Kawhi at PF.

That's my biggest worry. My second one is our lack of depth behind Kawhi. If there was going to be a series where we miss Stephen Jackson, then this is it. Kawhi must always be on the floor whenever Lebron is. And he must not be in foul trouble. Don't think that's an easy task at all.

Also, I really wanna see if Lebron can shut down Parker. That's gonna be the story in this series. We've seen LeBron bother guys like Derrick Rose. Parker is the engine of this team. If Parker gets shut down, we're doomed.

And PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let Manu show up.

Anyways, game 1 is always the game to steal. Focus is to steal one game in Miami.

spurs need to win 1 of the first 2 otherwise this series is donezo. If they steal one, i think they will be in good shape.

Also agree this is where stephen jackson would have been tremendously useful. Leonard has to stay out of foul trouble.

oh and yes, manu better be his old self.

Most important are the away games...
We have to win at least one of two (if two then i'm more than happy)...
But we have to remember last year Conference Finals against OKC... It still hurts.
2-3-3 fotmat is good... If it come to game win and lose then we have top be first to win 3 games. If it will be 3-2 for us then we will win... As for the 3-3 situation... Most probably MIA will get angry just like against IND...
We have to get this Finals!!!

co_laper wrote:I'm worried.

The one lineup I've hated right now is our "small ball" lineup. And when the opponent's small ball PF is named Lebron James, you have to adjust. I personally can't see Pop sticking with Splitter-Duncan rotation and have Splitter guard LeBron. Pop's gonna throw out that small ball lineup we have. We'll be seeing a lot of Kawhi at PF.

That's my biggest worry. My second one is our lack of depth behind Kawhi. If there was going to be a series where we miss Stephen Jackson, then this is it. Kawhi must always be on the floor whenever Lebron is. And he must not be in foul trouble. Don't think that's an easy task at all.

Also, I really wanna see if Lebron can shut down Parker. That's gonna be the story in this series. We've seen LeBron bother guys like Derrick Rose. Parker is the engine of this team. If Parker gets shut down, we're doomed.

And PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let Manu show up.

Anyways, game 1 is always the game to steal. Focus is to steal one game in Miami.

Why are you worried? We're going in as underdogs, all the pressure is on Miami. They have homecourt and are defending their crown. Anything less than a title every year is a disappointment for them. That's the expectations that they've set themselves. We just need to steal one of the first two and we'll be fine.

Plus we can counter their smallball lineups and force them to play big like the Pacers did. The problem they ran into was whenever they had to play their bench. As soon as Hibbert/West/George went to the bench, Miami would go on a run. We go 8 or 9 players deep.

Donald Kaufman wrote:
Why are you worried? We're going in as underdogs, all the pressure is on Miami. They have homecourt and are defending their crown. Anything less than a title every year is a disappointment for them. That's the expectations that they've set themselves. We just need to steal one of the first two and we'll be fine.

Plus we can counter their smallball lineups and force them to play big like the Pacers did. The problem they ran into was whenever they had to play their bench. As soon as Hibbert/West/George went to the bench, Miami would go on a run. We go 8 or 9 players deep.

Worried because even if the pressure is in Miami and they have all the advantages, I still want us to win. It's not like any of us is satisfied with just a Finals appearance.

As for small ball, I'm not so sure. Againts Indiana, Miami was forced to stay big because of the presence of David West. Bosh and Anderson always guard the Center (Hibbert). But they didn't want Lebron to be banging all game long with West.

Againts San Antonio, Obviously they'll defend Duncan with Bosh/Anderson. And they'll leave LeBron on Splitter. Now, if we are to suddenly change our offense into a whole lot of post ups for Splitter, than that's playing into the Heat's hands. We're not a post up team. And Splitter is the 5th option on the floor. That basically screams more small ball for us. When we had Stephen, our small ball was alright. We would have Stephen at SF, and Kawhi at PF.

Of course, we all want to win it again, especially since it's taken us 6 years just to get the chance at another one. How do you think we guard Bron and Wade? Kawhi and Green respectively, or switch it up like in the GS series?

Kawhi on LeBron. Danny/Manu on Wade.

I think for Miami, we'll see a lot of Bosh, James, Wade, Allen, Chalmers lineup. We'll counter that with Duncan, Kawhi, Green, Manu, Parker.

I don't think our small ball plays a good defense, so that's gonna be the problem. We probably won't be stopping the Heat much. But this is our best offensive group. If Miami can stop our small ball offense, I think we're doomed. If not, I think we have a good chance on taking the series.

We'll see LeBron on Parker for stretches but not too much I imagine. James will get worn down chasing TP around screens so the task will be left to Chalmers and Cole. Obviously at these times we exploit this weakness. I hope Parker's jumper is going down like it was against Memphis.

And I mentioned it on the GB, but I'm guessing either Miller/Allen/Battier has a game where they go nuts from 3, in honor of Derek Fisher's corpse.

Goodluck and congratulations. On behalf of all the Bulls fans around the world: BEAT THE HEAT!

I wish you and your team the best of luck, and let the finals commence!....tomorrow..

I think the Spurs can beat the Heat. The Heat persevered because of their talent, overcoming the Pacers because they couldn't execute on offence. The Spurs have elite D and also one of the most efficient attacks in the league, plus a chamillion like way of adapting to others teams' style of play. Hopefully you guys can beat them. Key matchups: Kawhi on 'Bron, TP exploiting the Heat D and/or wearing down 'Bron on D if they decide to go that way and Tim Duncan being able to keep that reverse clock ticking.

Donald Kaufman wrote:We'll see LeBron on Parker for stretches but not too much I imagine. James will get worn down chasing TP around screens so the task will be left to Chalmers and Cole. Obviously at these times we exploit this weakness. I hope Parker's jumper is going down like it was against Memphis.

And I mentioned it on the GB, but I'm guessing either Miller/Allen/Battier has a game where they go nuts from 3, in honor of Derek Fisher's corpse.

Right. It really doesn't look like the Heat presents much of a problem for our offense. At the same time, it doesn't look like we present much of a problem to their offense either. I don't believe Kawhi is gonna be able to even limit Lebron James. It's Lebron James for godsakes. Our best chance is to limit the injured Wade and Bosh.

My biggest worry is that this will be a matchup of small ball. And Miami has a better small ball team than ours.

I have nothing but the utmost respect for Tim, Tony and Manu. I wish you all the best of luck and even if the Heat do not win (which I still hope not) I will be happy that a guy like Tim Duncan got his 5th ring.

All the best!

If McGrady was starting, Spurs in 5.