I think we've just witnessed the formula to stopping the Miami Heat. The San Antonio Spurs have found a way to exploit Lebron and the Heat's weaknesses. "But Jason, Lebron doesn't have a weakness...HE'S DA BEST PLAYER EVAHHHHH!!!" Yes, Lebron is by far the best player in the NBA. But there are a few weak spots in his game. Its OK, even Jordan had areas of improvement. The Death Star had that thermal exhaust port thingy. The chink in Lebron's armor is his jumpshot. It's streaky. I've said this many times in the past and I always get harsh backlash. Usually hordes of Heat fans screaming, "WHAT??? LEBRON CAN SCORE FROM ANYWHERE. UR JUST A HATER!!!" wildly tossing their heads back and forth in the air while frothing at the mouth. I'll say this, when Lebron's shot is falling, there is no man or beast that can slow him down. The problem is that it isn't consistent enough to make teams fully respect it. Most players will sag off him in anticipation of the drive. Not saying Lebron is like Rajon Rondo where defenders just look at him standing outside the paint and start laughing. He can shoot obviously. But you'd rather give him a few feet because you know he wants to drive and kick or drive and score. As a defender you'd never do that with a Kobe or a Durant for example.

Normally if Lebron's jumper isn't clicking it isn't a big deal because he'll drive to the lane for the much higher percentage shot. (This is exactly what he should be doing.) The problem now is that the Spurs have packed the paint and aren't letting him get to the rim. So far through three games Lebron has averaged 16.6 points per game on 38% shooting. That’s pretty far off from his regular season average of 26.8 points on 55% shooting or 26.2 points on 51% shooting for the first three rounds of the playoffs. Lebron isn't even getting to the free throw line anymore. Just two attempts per game vs. a bazillion against any other team. The most glaring stat is the fact that Lebron is 7 of 30 on shots from outside the paint. It’s a very small sample size. But I don't think it's an anomaly. The Spurs are starting off playing man to man, and whoever is covering James is forcing him into a double team after a few dribbles which is making him pass it out to a teammate. I can't give Popovich all of the credit however. Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green are really smart defenders. They're making James run into the double team, they know when to sag off on the perimeter, and when he does get to the rim, they jump straight up to contest the shot without fouling. Those things are hard to coach and take instincts that a lot of players lack.

So, the first step in extinguishing the Heat is turning Lebron into a jumpshooter. The second step is to close out on the perimeter shooters. If Lebron runs into a high double team, his first instinct is to pass. The problem for most defenses is that Lebron is able flick a laser beam of a pass to a teammate so fast that no defender could possibly recover. There really isn't much you can do about that other than make sure a guy like Birdman isn't sliding along the baseline for an easy dunk. (This really hurt the Pacers.) Last night Matt Bonner left Mike Miller wide open for a three. Gregg Popovich called timeout on the next possession and ripped Bonner's head off for missing his assignment. That’s because if you can't close out on the Heat's role players or they just happen to be on fire like Mike Miller has been, then you'll have a hard time beating them. In game one Miami shot 30% from beyond the arc. In game two, they shot 52% and blew the doors off of San Antonio. Last night they shot 50% but thats because Mike Miller went 5 of 5. Other than that, Lebron made one, Cole made one, and James Jones made one in garbage time.

The next step is to use size to your advantage. Miami doesn’t have a center so it shouldn’t have been a surprise to see Roy Hibbert and the Pacers dominate inside. Battier pretends to be a power forward, Bosh and Birdman pretend to be centers, and Joel Anthony pretends to be an NBA player. Tim Duncan averaged a little over 9 boards a game for the first three series. Now, against Miami he’s snatching down 13 per contest. Kawhi Leonard was a modest rebounder prior to this series. 5.9 a game for the playoffs. Have you checked the box scores lately? Miami is allowing him to get 12 rebounds per game. He’s like the Klumps at an all you can eat buffet. Didn’t catch that reference? He’s like Eddy Curry at an all you can eat buffet. James, a small forward, is the Heat’s leading rebounder. I don’t care how great a player is, it’s never good thing when one player is forced to be the best scorer, rebounder, passer, and defender.

The last key step is something very few teams are able to pull off. Even when not playing Miami, they seem to struggle with it. Passing the ball. San Antonio knows how to swing the ball around the perimeter until they find an open man. When they do this, not even an athletic team like Miami can keep up. One of the first lessons you learn when playing organized basketball as a youngster is “The ball will always move faster than the man.” The Spurs unselfishly shares the ball at the tune of a league’s best 25 assist per game during the regular season. Ball rotation is simply a must against the Heat defense. They’re lethal at pick n roll defense and it shows. Parker had a good game one, but failed to make an imprint during the next two. The picks would leave him still outside the lane. And his drives would result in wild flails at the rim. Passing is one of the key weapons Dallas used to take down Miami in the 2011 NBA Finals. Danny Green and Gary Neal feasted on open three pointers yesterday. Those shots will be there as long as San Antonio stays the course.

Other than the standard things that teams need to do in order to win games, (Cut down on turnovers, don’t allow second chance points, and make open threes) the Spurs have found a solid four step process to beat the Heat. This isn’t a prediction that San Antonio will win the next two games and actually beat Miami. In fact Lebron could (and probably should) channel his inner Kobe and shoot himself into a good rhythm despite how many mid range shots he misses. It’s the only way he’ll be able to consistently score 25 or more against this team. With Tony Parker apparently questionable for game 4, the series could be knotted up 2-2 after tomorrow. I still can’t tell which way this tree will fall. But if San Antonio wins the championship, I hope the narrative will be about what the Spurs were able to do rather than what the Heat weren’t able to do.

LBJ found a view he likes

We all knew vengeance was on its way, yet the Spurs were still nursing a lead with 4 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter. A Danny Green floater put them up 62-61. It was his 6th make in 6 attempts, and his first from within the arc, giving him 17 points on the evening. Unfortunately for the Spurs, Green's hot shooting night had come to a close, and their fortunes were sealed up with him. Green's 17 led the team, and the next highest scorer was Parker, who needed 14 shots for 13 points. Duncan stopped at 9 points, and Ginobili only made it as far as 5.

When the 3rd quarter ended, the Heat were up by 10. LeBron James was having a terrible night by his standards, and remained stalled at 8 points. That wouldn't last long.

Only a couple minutes into the 4th, LeBron had one of those signature stretches where he does a bit of everything. From 9:18 to 7:13 he got free for a layup, blocked Splitter emphatically, assisted on a Ray Allen 3, dunked, grabbed a board, and hit a three of his own. After his three, the Heat had a 27 point lead and the Spurs had emptied their bench.

Spoelstra let his starters play with their food a little longer, and then Rashard Lewis was subbed in at the 5 minute mark, officially signifying the end of competition.

The Spurs have some serious concerns facing them, but even in the face of adversity, Tim Duncan showed why you can't spell Big Fundamental without Fun.

You have a bee on your face! Just kidding.

Bosh for his part was not terrible in this contest. Sure his 12 points paled in comparison to the output of Mario Chalmers, but he shot well and grabbed 10 boards. Actually, horrifyingly enough, all Heat players were left looking up at Chalmers, who led the team with 19 points. It seems that the Onion article, Mario Chalmers Under Impression Heat Need Him to Step up in Playoffs was more accurate than they ever intended.

Even more alarming for the Spurs than making Chalmers look good, as much as that's possible, is the rapid deterioration of Ginobili. Once an essential catalyst for their playoff fortunes, Manu is looking less integral with every possession lately. Since the Western Conference Finals, he's scored in single digits more often than double, and the only time he's reached 20 points in these playoffs the Spurs lost by 10 to Golden State. Simply put, the Spurs appear able to succeed more or less without him, but they can't really succeed with him sucking it up, which was precisely what happened in Game 2.

According to the box-score, he only turned the ball over 3 times, but this seemed to be a much more common occurrence while watching the game. Maybe this was accentuated by most of the turnovers coming right after his signature behind the back dribble, which used to mean trouble for the opposition, but last night mostly meant that several Spurs would be diving to the floor, trying to keep the Heat from turning a loose ball into a fast break.

Even so, it could be worse for the Argentine. Tracy McGrady, who's a year younger than Manu, still hasn't scored in the playoffs (or for that matter in a Spurs uniform). Not surprisingly, last night marked the longest time he's spent on the court for his new team, so I suppose this could become a silver lining if the Heat continue to dominate.

My favorite part was obliterating the opponent

This was the Spurs worst loss in the Finals since their Game 4 shellacking at the hands of the Pistons, which isn't all that surprising considering that they swept the Cavs. Game 3 is tomorrow in San Antonio, and should go a long way in determining what kind of series this will be...

Enjoy your view, LeBron?

Seemingly every media outlet that didn't just post a video of exploding heads had the Heat winning this series. That probably has a lot more to do with them and a lot less to do with the teams involved. However, those outlets have forgotten one thing: these are the fucking Spurs we're talking about.

The Spurs demonstrated just that by winning Game 1. Since this series is played in a 2-3-2 format, that gives them home court advantage and an excellent chance at having the Heat on the ropes by Game 5. Still, this thing is far from over; you might remember that the Thunder won Game 1 last year, and across the nation eulogies were being written for the Heat, just as they are now.

The truth is, the Spurs won this one narrowly, and overcame Heat advantages in shooting percentage, rebounding, and total assists. Strangely enough, one of the few areas the Spurs had an advantage at was the free throw line (which really messes with my belief in Stern conspiracy theories *). The Spurs also forced more turnovers, showing again their uncanny ability to beat teams at their own game.

* Stern's probably just luring us into a false sense of serenity before rigging a more important game.

Then there was this:


I know you've probably already seen it, several times at that, but with a shot like that, you can probably stand to see it several times more. It was such an incredible shot that most of what I've read this morning focused entirely on it, seemingly forgetting that 48 minutes had been played leading up to it, or that the Spurs already had a lead.

It was one hell of a shot, but the name of this site is Basketbawful, so let's focus on some of the Bawful from last night, shall we...

Chris Bosh: Oh yeah. You knew it was coming. How long can a power forward jack up threes, even if he hits a few, before he has a game like this. All of a sudden, he's knocking on the doors of exile, as editorials across the nation are clamoring for him to be expelled from South Beach. 5 rebounds (13 less than LeBron) and shooting 6-16 for 13 points is not good, but it's the 0-4 from downtown that really stands out. None of the ones I saw were corner threes either (you know, the kind he occasionally hits). For the record, Bosh actually attempted the same number of threes as Ray Allen. The only difference was that Ray hit 3 of his.

Boris Diaw: Parker's bosom buddy spent about 9 minutes on court and made his only shot. So why is he here? It's because he spent most of that time guarding LeBron James, which invariably resulted in a surge for the Heat. Normally, when something like this happens, it's the coach's fault, and if it had been, I dunno, Scottie Brooks's decision, it'd probably be his name at the beginning of the entry; but it wasn't Scottie Brooks's decision, it was Gregg Popovich's. Therefore, I'm pretty much assuming that it was some sort of brilliant mind game.

The Heat: They lost a game where, even if only for a couple of minutes, LeBron James was being guarded by Boris Diaw. I'm at a loss for words.

LeBron's ankles:

How could I resist? This play was so pretty, it almost feels like the reason gifs were invented.


Thanks for the link Raza.

Lacktion:

Cory Joseph: Joseph missed his lone field goal attempt in 2 minutes and 14 seconds, christening the Finals lacktion section on behalf of the Spurs.

It's official. The 2013 NBA Finals have their finalists. I could attempt to write something intelligent, analyzing the participants, or perhaps predicting the results. Somehow, that doesn't feel right for this situation. So instead, I'm just going to post this 5 minute long video of peoples' heads exploding.

Enjoy.


Feel free to comment with your own predictions, or just joyfully experience the sight of human heads violently bursting open over and over...

Who has two thumbs, is extremely jealous, and kind of bitter, yet also amazed, while thoroughly intrigued? This guy. Right here. I'll admit a tiny part of me is jealous to see the San Antonio Spurs advance to the NBA Finals for a fifth time since 1999. Oh, how I wish that my favorite team were able to achieve even half the glory as the Spurs. Oh how I yearn for a front office who's shown the ability to "get it right" far more often than not. I long for the day when my team has a coach who is not afraid to go to the drawing board, trash almost every method that’s gotten him to where he is today, and start over.

Question for you. At any point since 1998, have you looked at the Spurs and thought going into a playoff series, "Man, those guys don't have a chance."? Most likely your thoughts on the matter ranged somewhere in between, "They're going to dominate" or "Popovich will figure something out". I think Coach Pop has etched his name into the Mount Rushmore of coaching greats with this latest achievement. As great as Tim Duncan is and has been, the Spurs success in my opinion starts with Popovich. It would be easy to dismiss his career with the typical cynicism we have towards coaches who are blessed with the privilege of having Hall of Fame Players. But then you have to account for the players whose games have elevated while playing with the Spurs. (For the sake of this article pretend that Richard Jefferson thing never happened.) Then you have to consider how the Spurs used to be a slow grind it out team centered around Tim Duncan. Now, they play a much faster pace, they shoot more three's, and Tony Parker has become the focal point of the offense. Most coaches cling to their "methods"; scoffing at the idea of change. History has shown that way of thinking only gets you canned.

Another question for you. How many times have you, amongst friends, made a list of top players in a certain position? More than a few I bet. It often starts with Chris Paul, then some combination of Rajon Rondo, Derek Rose, Deron Williams, or Russell Westbrook. But we always seem to forget Tony Parker. Perhaps I'm still in awe over his 37 point close out game against one of the best defenses in the NBA. But I'm just gonna call it now. Tony Parker is the most underrated player in the NBA. Maybe he's overshadowed by Duncan, and Popovich. Maybe European players get overlooked. I'm not sure what it us, but in terms of most unappreciated stars, Parker is right at the top. Even when he won Finals MVP in 2007 it didn't seem like he was viewed as the team’s best player at the time. He didn't get that distinction until 2010 at least. Tony Parker has the superstar game with none of the superstar baggage. Well, expect for that time he got beat up while hanging out with Chris Brown. Oh and this...


                          

Popovich has mastered the art of getting guys to buy into the system. San Antonio has got to be one of the most selfless teams in the NBA. Anyone who comes in with an ego is quickly removed before being allowed to fester in the locker room. (Hey Stephan Jackson, keep your head up man.) Every guy on that team only cares about winning. Take Dejaun Blair for instance. At one point he was a starter. During the regular season he got a decent amount of time in the rotation. But during the playoffs he's barely sniffed the court. Most players would have bitched their way onto another team. Instead he waives his towel and cheers from the sideline. How about Danny Green? When he was drafted, one of the guys on the ESPN set, I don't remember who, but the first thing he says is, "Danny Green out of North Carolina......He's a really good dancer." He did nothing in Cleveland. The kid was practically out of the league when he suddenly pops up on the Spurs roster. Now he's playing a major role on a potential championship franchise. Gary Neal, Boris Diaw, Patty Mills; the Spurs take these guys off the garbage heap and resurrect their careers. If we could somehow get Gregg Popovich and RC Buford to run for president I think this country would be in great shape.

I must confess, there wasn't a single part of me that predicted the Spurs winning in a sweep (although my spleen came close). In order for the Grizzlies to go down that badly, a lot had to go wrong.

Zach Randolph led the way to the fishing docks. Over the series, he averaged 11 points per game on 13 shot attempts. As if that wasn't bad enough, he never reached 40% in a single game this series. About the only thing he had going for him was that he didn't do this again:


Yeah, I just needed an excuse to revisit that video. Truth be told, he did do at least one good thing in this series, grabbing 12 rebounds a game. Even more impressive, was his 6 offensive rebound per game average, but don't get too excited about those numbers because he probably missed over half of those putbacks.

The rest of the Grizzlies frontcourt didn't exactly pick up the slack. Tay also had less points than field goal attempts per game, but nobody really expects him to bring much offense. Marc Gasol, on the other hand, is expected to average more points than attempts, which he didn't. Nor did Mike Conley, or Jerryd Bayless... In fact, it's fairly hard to find a single player on the Grizzlies who actually had more points than shot attempts.

That, and the subsequent fact that the Grizzlies only shot above 40% once in this series, go a long way toward explaining why they got swept. Yet, there is a fact that should be far more disturbing for Memphis fans, that I think really puts things in perspective.

Quincy Pondexter was their leading scorer in this series.

Need I say more? Checkmate, Gregg Popovich. Checkmate.

The Pacers had this one. They had gotten a 30 foot three pointer, three free throws on a questionable foul, and a Ray Allen miss at the line. All they needed was 2.2 seconds of defense.


They didn't get those 2.2 seconds. What can I say about this play that hasn't already been drunkenly suggested at a bus station? About everything that could go wrong went wrong. West's defense on the inbounds pass was terrible (watch him literally turn his body away so Battier can get a passing angle to LeBron). Paul George, a typically great defender, made a terrible choice to assumably go for a steal, letting LeBron get right by him with his miscalculation. Absolutely nobody rotated or protected the basket.

Then there's the whole Roy Hibbert controversy. Why wasn't he in the game? Who can say. I've heard it theorized that they wanted a smaller, more agile defender on Chris Bosh. LeBron had just gotten to the hoop on a play where he was guarded by George Hill, with Hibbert watching from the bench. Still, this wasn't taken as a sign to have the team's best (and possibly the NBA's best) rim protector in the game.

What do you think of the decision, Roy Hibbert?



Frank Vogel had this to say afterwards:

I know everybody's saying I screwed the pooch on this one, but you gotta understand it from my perspective. Yeah, my defense might've let the greatest player in the world waltz to the front of the rim for a layup, but I personally succeeded in my ambition not to let Chris Bosh beat us. I really hate that guy. I dunno, maybe it's his face or something. Anyway, the point is, it's not whether you win or lose, it's just whether or not you thwart Chris Bosh's attempts to feel good about himself or look good, and I did that. I stand by my choices 100 percent.

The real question I have is for Roy Hibbert: which hurt more, watching that game winner from the bench, or Battier kneeing you in the nuts?


The people demand to know, Roy. The people demand to know.

I'm back to doing the live blogging. As before, keep tapping that refresh button. It's been too long since I've done this, so without further ado:

3 and a half minutes left in the 1st half. The score is a woeful 38-30. Kawhi Leonard just hit a 3 to make it 41-30 in the Spurs favor. One of these teams might actually reach 80 points tonight. I'll let you guess which one.

Zach Randolph is 1-6 so far, making him 2-14 for the series.

Make that 2-15. Duncan is everywhere on defense right now. Meanwhile, Jerryd Bayless is trying to put the Grizzlies on his back. Not a great sign for Memphis. Neither is the fact that they just missed 7 shots in 1 possession before pointlessly fouling Tim Duncan underneath their own hoop. Watching him now, I can't believe Tim Duncan is 37. Randolph is now 1-9 for the night, and 2-17 this series.

As the buzzer sounds for the half, the Spurs prove that the Grizzlies don't have a monopoly on stupid mistakes. Splitter fouls Bayless on a runner that would've never gone down with .5 seconds left. Bayless hits 1 of 2 from the line.

Did Popovich just call time to draw up a play with half a second left? Of course he did. Jeff Van Gundy says he, "prolongs this agonizing half". The time-out play is poorly executed, but the Spurs lead by 15, so Pop will probably only chew them out for the first 10 minutes of halftime.

Halfway through the 3rd quarter, Memphis has 10 assists and Tony Parker has 13. No wonder the Spurs are still up by 15 as Z-Bo steps to the line. He misses his first free throw. He misses his 2nd as well.

Tony Parker and his mid-range jumper are giving me flashbacks to all those times they knocked the Suns out of the playoffs. If I half close my eyes, I can almost picture the Big Cactus standing out there dejectedly.

Boris Diaw may not be able to one hand a rebound, but he can use that hand to smack Mike Conley in the face and delay the game. If Conley hits both free throws, the Griz are actually within a dozen. The Griz are within a dozen. It feels like it should be 30.

Bayless does it again, getting fouled with 2 tenths of a second left in the quarter. Popovich bites off a small piece of his tongue, momentarily refraining from assaulting Gary Neal. The Spurs lead by a dirty dozen going into the 4th.

The camera is fascinated by T-Mac in the 3rd Round