When I was growing up, there
were only 3 channels. In the summer, if you wanted to watch TV, you
watched reruns. And not reruns of great shows like Hill Street Blues,
West Wing, Cheers, or the Sopranos. Reruns of Gilligan’s Island. We
didn’t know any better.
Last night, I felt like I was
watching a rerun of Game Three. A twenty point halftime lead. The
Spurs consistently getting, and taking, good shots. (A very under-rated
skill: Not taking bad shots.). Miami looking a step slow. “Daddy,
why are they letting that one team beat the other team so badly?” “Isn’t
there a mercy rule in basketball?” So Game Four did look like a rerun of
Game Three. I almost called this fake blog “Game ThreeFour”.
But there were differences in
the two games. Most obviously, the Spurs’ shooting. In Game Three,
the Spurs third miss was half-way through the second quarter.
They started 19 for 21. In Game Four, the Spurs missed their first three
shots.
More importantly, though, was
the total absence of drama for much of Game Four. In Game Three, the
Spurs first half was thrilling to watch. And for much of the game, I was
chanting Go Clock Go. It always felt that the Heat were about to make a
run. Hell, they cut it to 7 in the third quarter and the Spurs were
hanging on for dear life, with an energized crowd urging them on. I used
the word “nerve-wracking” to describe the last two and a half quarters of Game
Three.
Game Four – no such fear.
There was never a point where the Heat appeared to have the will, the energy,
the spirit, the desire, or the talent to seriously challenge the Spurs.
The Heat had one little run to cut the lead to 13 in the third. But Pop
took a time out, the Spurs scored on the play designed in the huddle (a pass
from Boris Diaw, of course, to Duncan), the Heat missed a couple of shots, the
Spurs scored a couple times in a row. The lead was back to 64 – 48, and then
back to twenty at 68 – 48 halfway through the third.
Look at that second
number. 48. 48 points, halfway through the third quarter,
playing at home, in a must-win game in the NBA Finals. (Game Four is almost
always a “must-win” game for one team or the other.) One reason the game
had so little drama after halftime is that I never had the feeling the Spurs
would allow the Heat to score enough points to make it interesting. It
would be like being behind 4 – 1 in the second half of a World Cup game.
(Obligatory soccer reference.)
That low score was not only the
result of the Heat playing badly on offense. After Game Three, all the
Spurs commented on the need to tighten up their defense. They knew
that the Heat had scored fairly easily in the first half of Game Three, and
absent the other-worldly (and unrepeatable) first half shooting, the game could
have been much different. (And was in the third quarter of Game Three
when the Spurs scored only 15.) So in Game Four, the Spurs’ focus was on
defense – and Miami scored only 17, 19, and 21 in the first three
quarters. So while much of the commentary after the game was about the
Spurs beautiful game on offense in Games Three and Four, the Spurs old-school
defense made it a blow-out. And I hate to say it, a fairly boring
blow-out for the second half.
Not as bad as watching a rerun
of Gilligan’s Island, but I did wonder whether the Heat would ever get off that
damn island.
=======================
Other thoughts and random stolen
stats:
1.
The Spurs really run
two types of offenses. Both involve movement of players and the ball. Both
also emphasize the ball moving from one side of the court to the other, and
back again. They differ in one key way. In the “pass” offense,
there is very little dribbling, other than the point guard (normally Parker) in
pick and rolls. The rest of the players catch and immediately either
pass, shoot or pump fake for a pull up jumper. This is the offense
that will occasionally create 5 passes in 5 seconds. The second
offense is what I would call “attack”. While the ball still moves
quickly, and from side to side, the players catching the ball will often attack
the rim with the dribble. They attack, force the defense to attack, pass
the ball, and while the defense recovers to the receiver, that player will
re-attack, and pass again. This is the offense that was followed in the
wondrous first half of Game Three and much of last night.
Lebron: "Man, they move the ball extremely well.
They put you in positions that no other team in this league does, and it's
tough because you have to cover the ball first, but also those guys on the weak
side can do multiple things."
Stolen stat: “The Spurs shot 10-of-14 (71 percent) on shots that came off
possessions in which they made at least five passes.” And unlike many offenses where the point guard gets
most of the assists, only one Spur had more than three assists -- power/point
forward Boris Diaw with nine.
2.
In Game Three,
LeBron totaled 8 points, 7 turnovers and zero free throw attempts in the
second, third and fourth quarters. In Game Four, he scored 28 points on 10-for-17
shooting. 19 of those points came in the third quarter, after the Heat
were already down by as much as 22. And he had only two assists.
3.
Who had the better
game last night between Lebron and Kawhi? Lebron had 28 points (including
4 for 8 from three), 8 boards, 2 assists, 0 blocks, 0 steals, 3
turnovers. Kawhi had 20 points (1 three), 14 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals,
3 blocks and 1 turnover. Oh, and Kawhi’s team won. You decide.
4.
Random fact I stole: Aussie Patty Mills averaged 18.9 minutes per
game off the bench for the Spurs. He made more 3-pointers than any Spurs
player this season. According to SportVU cameras, no NBA player runs faster on
average than Mills, at an average speed of 4.9 miles per hour this season.
5.
I mentioned in
an earlier edition the Spurs’ percentage of assisted baskets. Last night
was again high: 25 assists on 40 baskets (60%). And it would have been
higher if Patty Mills was given an assist on this play for missing a 3
pointer. His miss led to this play, which effectively ended Game Four:
By the way, just like rock beats
scissors, youth and energy defeats age and lethargy – double click on picture for GIF:
6.
Once
again, the commentators talked about the Spurs rebounding edge using the raw,
and less meaningful, number: 44 – 27 advantage in total rebounds. The
Spurs should have had more rebounds – the Heat missed 9 more shots.
The more meaningful number: (Long time readers can repeat after
me.) Offensive rebound percentage. The Spurs had 12 offensive
boards on their 30 misses – 40%. That is a huge percentage, and must have
drove the Heat crazy. They would finally get a stop, the Spurs
would crash the boards and get the ball back – and put the Heat defense back
into the blender. Chris Bosh, the Heat’s center for most of the game, had
only 4 defensive rebounds (and zero offensive) in 39 minutes. Boris Diaw,
who is shorter and slower than Bosh – and frankly a bit pudgy – had 9 boards in
36 minutes, including 3 offensive. The Heat had only 6 offensive boards
on 39 shots – a very crummy 15%. Defense is not complete until the
defense gets the rebound – and the Spurs did that on 85% of the Heat’s
misses. (They also committed 6 less fouls – see below about Danny Green.)
6.
Speaking
of Bosh, everyone is talking about Boris Diaw’s pass to Splitter for a rare dunk.
(Splitter is a good player who can’t jump. At all.) But look at
Bosh’s feeble attempt to double team by running up directly behind DWade, who
is covering Diaw.
http://www.hoopmixtape.com/boris-diaw-sick-look-pass-splitter-dunk/
7.
Every
member of the Spurs roster scored. All 13 of them. In an NBA Finals
game. On the road.
8.
Of the
Spurs 106 points, the Big Three scored only 36. Before the series, I
talked about the different ways the teams put together their non-stars.
The Heat have a bunch of former top draft picks. The Spurs have a bunch
of guys off the scrap heap (including two of the Big Three). Scrap heap
won: The Spurs non-Big Three scored 70. The Heat “stars” not
named Lebron (All-Stars
DWade and Voldemort) and bench players scored 58.
9.
This is
an outstanding piece on Danny Green defending breakaways. I used to tell
my players that defense is not necessarily completely stopping the offensive
player. Instead, it is reducing his shooting percentage. If the
defender can reduce the offensive player’s shooting percentage by 10% by
putting a hand up and contesting a shot, we will win. That could be
reducing a three point shooter’s percentage from 45% to 35% by running at him,
or in the attached piece, Danny Green turning a 90% chance of scoring on a
breakaway to 80%.
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/danny-green-spurs-transition-defense/
10.
I taped
last night’s game, so I could play in my own game from 7:30 – 9:30. On
the way to the gym, I stopped in a store to pick something up. Also in
the store was Rudy Tomjanovich, former Houston Rocket and Laker coach (and
great player). I said “hi, Coach!” (Ex-coaches are still called “Coach”
just like heavyweight champions are always called “Champ”.) As I walked
out, not knowing the score of the game (I was taping it and in a media blackout),
I wondered why Rudy T, a basketball lifer, was not watching the game.
Today I figured it out. He had probably watched the first quarter and
could tell who was going to win -- and decided to go to the store for something
to eat for when he went back home to watch Gilligan Island reruns.
Here is Rudy T. Is he talking about the Miami Heat?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-1jgNhopNo
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