how do you defend the spurs?

[rmt]

Spot on!

I don't understand why the heat hasn't tried to adjust

because it is hard to go against your whole defensive philosophy and the way you have defended all year.

like the poster abve ill save my comment for after should sas win

[masonanddixon]

If this Spurs team is garbage, what does that say about the Heat?

The Heat weren't good this season and likely would've lost in the first round out West.

A healthy OKC would've crushed the Spurs.

It's a transition period right now in the NBA where all the great players are old and retiring and the level of competition is weak. It's basically now overrun by swing players and point guards with serious deficiencies (e.g. Chris Paul, Durant) due to the rules changes.

[JellyBean]

I would change up my defensive looks. I would show a 2-3 zone on a few trips, toss in a 2-2-1 full court press a few times, throw in a 1-3-1 zone trap on a few trips, throw in a 3-2 zone, put in a 2-1-2 half court trapping defense, I would deny the point guard entry pass, anything to slow the Spurs down. I would also mix up my lineups, go big for a possession or two and go small for a possession or two. I am looking to clog the lane, contest the Spurs three point shooting, and get them out of their rhythm.

[fpliii]

Play tight man D, don't help or switch. Don't bite on jumpers, keep your hands up.

You're going to give up a ton on drives, and your transition D might not great with guys getting to their assignments, but as long as they're making every shot, you can't give up any space. At all.

[GimmeThat]

the Pacers may have beaten the Spurs 1-2 games out of the whole series depending on Vogel/Home court.

[Jasper]

I agree. In order to beat the Spurs, you must play straight up man defense. You also must press Parker 90ft. Try to take time off the clock. Make it hard for them to get into their offense. If the defense is playing the Spurs straight up, they'd probably go into Duncan. The man is 38. If he has a big game, so be it. But im sure over the course of a series, he'd wear down. You cant let the rest of them go off. All this trapping has done nothing but give the Spurs wid open looks.

point on-

I am not asking the Heat to play 48 minutes of man up defense , but if you beat the players to their spot as well as be in their grill , it is hard to pass the ball to someone that you can bearly see !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Transition ball will happen for the Heat , but so many times in this series I saw the Heat push to quickly and their transition game works against them.

Sure Duncan will get touchs , but as an old man , he will eventually fail , BECAUSE he is playing a young mans game.

I would rather have Duncan beat every big man Heat has , then have Patty Mill type players dethrone the two time champions.

I still believe it is a 50% chance this could go to a 7 game series , if the champs aren't tired.

IMO the Spurs are banking on the fatigue factor.
If the Spurs win , you will hear Pop say "we ran them down"

[Jasper]

Play tight man D, don't help or switch. Don't bite on jumpers, keep your hands up.

You're going to give up a ton on drives, and your transition D might not great with guys getting to their assignments, but as long as they're making every shot, you can't give up any space. At all.

you got it !

[Trollsmasher]

Your players are not old as **** with tons of mileage and more than one of them gives a shit

[Cone]

They got outplayed because Carlisle ran all their 3 pt guys off the line (a strategy he never used in the regular season) and it caught them completely off guard. keep in mind Dallas was injured and tired heading into the series whereas the Spurs were perfectly well-rested.

Dallas was a tough out because it has Dirk, a brilliant head coach, and incredible offense. Spurs got several lucky calls and help from the refs and league office to make it through. But give them credit for barely making it past a team that relied heavily on dudes over age 35.

good post. but dont bother responding to that kidd. he is literally retarded.

and dont forget monta ellis going ham

[brantonli]

Play tight man D, don't help or switch. Don't bite on jumpers, keep your hands up.

You're going to give up a ton on drives, and your transition D might not great with guys getting to their assignments, but as long as they're making every shot, you can't give up any space. At all.

Pretty much. Watch any highlight of the Spurs offence against the Heat, and you'll always see the passing display arises because the defense collapses on whoever is driving in, and with a great passing big man and players who know exactly where they should be on the court, that's devastating.

[GimmeThat]

time of possession

because you know, f&ck FG%

[Rubio2Gasol]

Be agressive on offence, put them on the back foot.

[Dresta]

miami's defense just isn't getting it. it's a horrible match-up for them because the passing keeps their rotations in a constant state of flux and the ball moves faster than they can rotate. so one little misstep and it's all over. so they end up expending more energy on the defensive end while still giving up more points while the spurs pick their spots and have plenty of juice to spare on the defensive end.

it's just a bad matchup for miami.

the spurs's weakness come with athletic wings in combiniation with a shot blocker so that they can't run their inside-out game. the mavericks with blair, ellis, harris, wright, and marion and okc with westbrook, durant, and ibaka are athletic enough to always make the spurs uncomfortable.

the heat literally have no defenders who can stop anyone's dribble penetration consistently. not one body. and it's why their defense breaks down before the play even begins.

This. SA exploit Miami's age better than any other team, and Miami have no rim protector to cover for the constant defensive breakdowns.

[97 bulls]

point on-

I am not asking the Heat to play 48 minutes of man up defense , but if you beat the players to their spot as well as be in their grill , it is hard to pass the ball to someone that you can bearly see !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Transition ball will happen for the Heat , but so many times in this series I saw the Heat push to quickly and their transition game works against them.

Sure Duncan will get touchs , but as an old man , he will eventually fail , BECAUSE he is playing a young mans game.

I would rather have Duncan beat every big man Heat has , then have Patty Mill type players dethrone the two time champions.

Istill believe it is a 50% chance this could go to a 7 game series , if the champs aren't tired.

IMO the Spurs are banking on the fatigue factor.
If the Spurs win , you will hear Pop say "we ran them down"

Wow Jas. Who would've known that you actually know your basketball. I just had you pegged as nothing more than a Jordan stan.

Again, I agree. All the Heat have to do is get this thing back to Miami. Then there gonna be enormous pressure on the Spurs as well as the Heat.

The only reason people have counted the Heat out is because no team has ever come back from a 1-3 deficit. But that doesn't mean it CAN'T HAPPEN. At some point, a team will accomplish this feat. Just like the 1 vs 8 seed. I don't care either way, but I'm just not counting the Heat out until they've actually lost.

[97 bulls]

Pretty much. Watch any highlight of the Spurs offence against the Heat, and you'll always see the passing display arises because the defense collapses on whoever is driving in, and with a great passing big man and players who know exactly where they should be on the court, that's devastating.

Yep. I'm seeing a lot of standing around by the Heat. They just dont seem determined enough to get this done.