NBA Games Discussion Thread - Part 2

[Induveca]

Feel good for the spurs.

Feel bad for Wade. What happened to him? Was he bitten by a zombie?

Wade was solid against Indiana, the Spurs coaching staff has done a great job of game planning for him. Also, he's obviously out of shape and his flopping just doesn't have the same impact as 4 years ago when he was hyper-athletic and dominant.

I suspect his decline next year will be drastic. Obviously, a HOF player however. Never liked the guy, but respect his accomplishments.

[Induveca]

Feel good for the spurs.

Feel bad for Wade. What happened to him? Was he bitten by a zombie?

He picked a bad time to stop juicing.

I actually always suspected he was on some type of anabolics, then searched for photos of him at Marquette. The guy just had great genetics.

The Wade on the court today, he's simply out of shape and his knees are the culprit. Can't run? Requires a drastic change in diet regardless of weight lifting.

[Zonkerbl]

Huh. I've always liked Wade.

[tontoz]

[verbal8]

Miami has some OLD players on their team.

Battier is certainly retiring. Ray Allen may as well. They are relying on Bird Man, who is 35. That team needs to get upper-echelon role players, but where will they come from?

It wouldn't surprise me to see Lebron leave, but I think he stays and trusts Riley.

In some ways they have a mirror image. Miami's big 3 are in their primes(Wade in terms of production rate if not minutes), but their role players are aging. The Spurs have an aging big 3, but their supporting players are near their primes and are able to pick up the slack.

[JWizmentality]

Just look at Pop coach! He's blowing the Heat out the building and the slightest momentum change he immediately calls the TO. Gaaawwd!! It's beautiful to watch. This is why I hate watching the Spurs, it makes me loathe my team soooo much.

[mhd]

OKC-SA was the real finals. I think if Ibaka is fully healthy, OKC could have won that series. They are much more of a matchup problem for SAS than Miami turned out to be.

[Illuminaire]

Kawhi Leonard, youngest finals MVP ever. I love watching him play, and I'm getting a drink.

That game was amazing. The Spurs are amazing. I am going to be so sad when the Tim/Manu/Parker trio finally hangs it up.

[stevemcqueen1]

OKC-SA was the real finals. I think if Ibaka is fully healthy, OKC could have won that series. They are much more of a matchup problem for SAS than Miami turned out to be.

OKC isn't ready to beat SA now that Harden is gone and Leonard is a beast. I think the story might change when Duncan and Ginobli retire and Parker isn't that good any more, and Adams gets good and trustworthy. That guy showed us something this postseason. He's got a chance to be a very good two way player with game changing size. But he's years away from being legit good. I think we don't see that player until his fourth year.

We've been predicting San Antonio's demise for a while now, but it will really get hard for them when Duncan retires. And I think it could happen at the end of next season. He's irreplaceable. Splitter is good, but SA will have to find someone outside the current team to take Duncan's minutes and that'll be hard.

SA isn't OKC's biggest long term threat IMO. New Orleans, the Clippers, Portland, and Houston are IMO. But OKC's roster is flimsy, just like Miami's ended up being. You can't go only 4 or 5 deep. You need to go 8 to 10 deep. And OKC is currently spending too much on Durant/Westbrook/Ibaka to do that. They need to be willing to pay tax for starters. And they might have to make a brutal choice between Westbrook and Durant one day.

[nate33]

Kawhi Leonard, youngest finals MVP ever. I love watching him play, and I'm getting a drink.

That game was amazing. The Spurs are amazing. I am going to be so sad when the Tim/Manu/Parker trio finally hangs it up.

I'm pretty sure they said he was the youngest Finals mvp since Duncan (in 1999). Magic was also younger.

[FAH1223]

What a team. They can play any style, move the ball, play great defense. Very happy for them.

[verbal8]

What a team. They can play any style, move the ball, play great defense. Very happy for them.

It was great to see the Spurs win. It was great they could close it out at home.

Of course the big 3 are very important to the Spurs, but with Mills/Leonard the cupboard isn't exactly bare in terms of youth.

[fishercob]

I've never enjoyed or rooted for a team that wasn't "mine" as much as these Spurs. They are just awesome.

[dobrojim]

I've never enjoyed or rooted for a team that wasn't "mine" as much as these Spurs. They are just awesome.

Exactly. Got to be happy for TImmy and the gang as well as relieved to not have to deal
with another MIA chip.

The Spurs were truly awesome. The turnaround after that blazing MIA start was a thing
of beauty.

I may catch some flack for this so I'll first say that we obviously have a very long way to go
before we're even close to the level the Spurs consistently play at but we're somewhat
similar in terms of balance and relying on the ball not sticking to create efficient offense.

If only we hadn't gone 1-4 at home in the playoffs. It might have been interesting against
MIA if we could have gotten by IND. We arguably should have won that (2nd rnd) series.

[NbdyBeatsTheWiz]

Leonard lost his father to senseless violence 6 years ago, then wins his first championship on Father's Day. On a night with a lot of feel good stories that was especially touching.

And with all the talk of 3x Champs over the past weeks, the real three time champ in the building at the end of the night was Stuart Scott. Has battled cancer three separate times and keeps on ticking. Get THAT man a trophy.

[fishercob]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BXhWvA_vHg&src_vid=aPaH44ISY20&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_3329806503[/youtube]

[Illuminaire]

I may catch some flack for this so I'll first say that we obviously have a very long way to go
before we're even close to the level the Spurs consistently play at but we're somewhat
similar in terms of balance and relying on the ball not sticking to create efficient offense.

If only we hadn't gone 1-4 at home in the playoffs. It might have been interesting against
MIA if we could have gotten by IND. We arguably should have won that (2nd rnd) series.

I don't see it... not as long as the Wizard's offense is designed to generate long 2s for several players. The Wizards aren't as deep either, and they lack any credible stretch-4 to go small with for any length of time. In both coaching and roster, the Wizards are no closer to being the Spurs than half of the other teams in the league...

...and as San Antonio just proved, that gap is a canyon even the Super Friends couldn't cross.

[Kanyewest]

OKC-SA was the real finals. I think if Ibaka is fully healthy, OKC could have won that series. They are much more of a matchup problem for SAS than Miami turned out to be.

Dallas vs San Antonio may have been the real finals. Maybe the Mavs take out the Spurs if Blair doesn't make that kick which got him ejected from 1 game and suspended from another.

[Kanyewest]

I've never enjoyed or rooted for a team that wasn't "mine" as much as these Spurs. They are just awesome.

Exactly. Got to be happy for TImmy and the gang as well as relieved to not have to deal
with another MIA chip.

The Spurs were truly awesome. The turnaround after that blazing MIA start was a thing
of beauty.

I may catch some flack for this so I'll first say that we obviously have a very long way to go
before we're even close to the level the Spurs consistently play at but we're somewhat
similar in terms of balance and relying on the ball not sticking to create efficient offense.

If only we hadn't gone 1-4 at home in the playoffs. It might have been interesting against
MIA if we could have gotten by IND. We arguably should have won that (2nd rnd) series.

The Wizards top 5 players aren't that far behind the Spurs IMO. The Wizards bench has a ways to go though- Buford has out done Grunfeld consistently on this front.

Still in terms of scheme and coaching the Wizards are behind. It seems at times the Wizards are over-reliant on Wall to create offense whereas the Spurs can use multiple guys and quick passing to create offense. The Wizards have guys that can create offense for others like the Spurs- like Beal and Nene.

For the Wizards to take the next step-
- Wall has to become better at not holding the ball so long and trusting his teammates.
- Wall has to have the ability to become a consistent stand still shooter from 3 point range
- Guys like Beal/Nene have to be more consistent

I agree though that if the Wizards were better at home then they could have potentially gone to the conference finals. IIRC, the Wizards were 5-1 in the playoffs on the road. Hopefully this experience helps them going forward.

[Kanyewest]

Kawhi Leonard, youngest finals MVP ever. I love watching him play, and I'm getting a drink.

That game was amazing. The Spurs are amazing. I am going to be so sad when the Tim/Manu/Parker trio finally hangs it up.

I'm pretty sure they said he was the youngest Finals mvp since Duncan (in 1999). Magic was also younger.

Leonard is the youngest finals MVP since Magic(he won it twice when he was 20 and 22). Duncan was older when he won it (he was 23).