2013 NBA Finals thread: San Antonio Spurs vs. Miami Heat

Lebron was so disappointing in this game. I don't care if he shoots poorly...but he needs to take open shots if they are sagging off him. If Bosh can't hit an open jumper...then James needs to tell his team-mates to f**k themselves and take 10 shots in the first quarter. Missing 10 over 3 quarters and then hitting some when the game is practically over is pointless. Go out and shoot 2-13 in the first quarter. When driving to the basket, run over someone. Force someone to take a charge. Get hit or hit someone! Do something...get angry.

Wade and Bosh can eat a dick. They don't deserve to be called big 3. If one of the big 3 is struggling, you expect other two to make up. Lebron has made up for 'em several times in this post-season (and last)...but they can't do it even once. Not only they can't contribute on offense, they are just as bad on defense. Wade, wake up from your fukin' Gatorade commercial. Stop helping off Danny Green. If you can't do the math, ask someone what his 3pt shooting % is.

Bosh is the highest paid athlete on this team. Got 4 open jumpers in the first 4 minutes of the game and wasn't close on one of them. Stop yelling, screaming, and spitting all over the court pointlessly after making A shot. STFU and play above average basketball for consecutive minutes. I hope you fukin' get traded to Charlotte so Jordan can out-rebound you in practice and make you tell the press.

What's worse - Miami looks more lethal when these two b***hes are on the bench and Lebron is playing with Ray Allen, Mike Miller, and Birdman.

I hope they realize that if they lose game 4, they are done. They ain't beating Spurs 3 straight. Hell, they will be done in 5. Maybe, Lebron can talk about how relieved he is after the game because Spurs aren't celebrating on his court.

Win or lose the Finals:

1. LeBron - hooks up with Kyrie Irving and the sky is the limit.
2. DWade - Max days are over, hope he saved.
3. Bosh - Someone will give him another max.
4. Ray Allen - Actor, model, businessman, class, can do whatever he wants.
5. Erik Spoelstra - Will never be without work.

Spols: We got what we deserved tonight

Originally posted by RishikeshA:
Win or lose the Finals:

1. LeBron - hooks up with Kyrie Irving and the sky is the limit.
2. DWade - Max days are over, hope he saved.
3. Bosh - Someone will give him another max.
4. Ray Allen - Actor, model, businessman, class, can do whatever he wants.
5. Erik Spoelstra - Will never be without work.

If Pat Riley stays put...I don't see Lebron leaving Miami. Cavs FO is amateur hour. Unless they bring in ppl with credibility, Lebron will be an idiot to go back there.

I would love to hear what Mr. Generalization-Front-Runner-Rich-are-best Colin Cowherd has to say about this. All dude was stressing prior to tonight was that Heat never get beat big and SA has to play a perfect game just to keep it close. Of course, he will talk about the record night and completely ignore the defensive strategy.

Can't keep that same strategy for Game 4. I can see the Heat using Lebron as the screener again to get some penetration. In that case, I think SA should switch to keep Lebron in front and force more jumpers. I will take Lebron shooting 30 17-21 footers all day long vs him penetrating and getting others wide open shots.

Hate this 2-3-2 format. Don't think the Spurs win 3 straight which is why Game 4 is HUUUUGE for SA. If they win G4, then MIA must win 3 straight and with how strong both of these teams are, I don't think either wins 3 straight. If SA doesn't win G4, then this goes 7 and SA does not want to be in a situation to be the road team in a G7.

I have a man crush on Leonard. Dude is a silent assassin. Dude is averaging 12 rebounds per game and is playing Lebron very well. I can easily see him as a lock down defender in his 3rd year next year and producing nearly 20ppg if he works on his dribble drive and stop and pop. He's already developed a nice 12 footer and semi post turn-around shot.

I was wrong about Leonard being able to guard Lebron (even though it's been the whole teams defense that has slowed him down) but I still lol at Joecool saying he's the next Manu.

Originally posted by marshniners24:

I was wrong about Leonard being able to guard Lebron (even though it's been the whole teams defense that has slowed him down) but I still lol at Joecool saying he's the next Manu.

In terms of production and affectiveness, hes already outplaying Manu. Manu was playing pro ball long befor he was a Spurs. Leonard is only in his 2nd year in pro ball. Im sure SA coaching staff will have him working in his game to be a more versatile scorer. He has too much talent not to try that with him.

Originally posted by Joecool:

Originally posted by marshniners24:

I was wrong about Leonard being able to guard Lebron (even though it's been the whole teams defense that has slowed him down) but I still lol at Joecool saying he's the next Manu.

In terms of production and affectiveness, hes already outplaying Manu. Manu was playing pro ball long befor he was a Spurs. Leonard is only in his 2nd year in pro ball. Im sure SA coaching staff will have him working in his game to be a more versatile scorer. He has too much talent not to try that with him.

lol

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by Leathaface:
Wade needs to start getting called out A LOT more for his inability to play basketball in the playoffs.

Through 3 games, the best basketball player in the world is putting up 16.7ppg/7.3apg/38.9 FG%/23.1 three point %/2 FTAPG against (most importantly) a defense that is daring him to shoot WIDE open jumpers, and his inability to do that is making it very difficult for his team to score. He's done a fantastic job on the boards, but he absolutely has to step his game up more than anyone.

Lebron had an off game 3 from a scoring standpoint, yes. But the Heat are asking Lebron to be the best scorer, rebounder, defender, and distributor for them every night. He's the best player in the world but he needs help from someone not named Mike Miller.

Wade is terribly out of rhythm. He just dribbles himself into a mess every time he has the ball. I don't understand why he gets such a free pass in all of this. The guy has absolutely no flow to his game and is actually being dared more to take jumpers than Lebron is.

Anyway, I expect the Heat to come out strong and focused in G4, setting up the pivotal G5.

Originally posted by Leathaface:
Lebron had an off game 3 from a scoring standpoint, yes. But the Heat are asking Lebron to be the best scorer, rebounder, defender, and distributor for them every night. He's the best player in the world but he needs help from someone not named Mike Miller.

Wade is terribly out of rhythm. He just dribbles himself into a mess every time he has the ball. I don't understand why he gets such a free pass in all of this. The guy has absolutely no flow to his game and is actually being dared more to take jumpers than Lebron is.

Anyway, I expect the Heat to come out strong and focused in G4, setting up the pivotal G5.

To give you the most simple answer: No one cares about Wade. This is Lebron's world and we're living in it.

Originally posted by pdizo916:

Originally posted by Leathaface:
Lebron had an off game 3 from a scoring standpoint, yes. But the Heat are asking Lebron to be the best scorer, rebounder, defender, and distributor for them every night. He's the best player in the world but he needs help from someone not named Mike Miller.

Wade is terribly out of rhythm. He just dribbles himself into a mess every time he has the ball. I don't understand why he gets such a free pass in all of this. The guy has absolutely no flow to his game and is actually being dared more to take jumpers than Lebron is.

Anyway, I expect the Heat to come out strong and focused in G4, setting up the pivotal G5.

To give you the most simple answer: No one cares about Wade. This is Lebron's world and we're living in it.

Well I guess it was a stupid question on my part. He is the best player so yes I understand why he will get the brunt of the blame. I'm just saying it's not fair from purely a basketball standpoint when the other two "stars" on your team are being outplayed by Mike Miller and Birdman.

Originally posted by Leathaface:

Originally posted by pdizo916:

Originally posted by Leathaface:

Lebron had an off game 3 from a scoring standpoint, yes. But the Heat are asking Lebron to be the best scorer, rebounder, defender, and distributor for them every night. He's the best player in the world but he needs help from someone not named Mike Miller.

Wade is terribly out of rhythm. He just dribbles himself into a mess every time he has the ball. I don't understand why he gets such a free pass in all of this. The guy has absolutely no flow to his game and is actually being dared more to take jumpers than Lebron is.

Anyway, I expect the Heat to come out strong and focused in G4, setting up the pivotal G5.

To give you the most simple answer: No one cares about Wade. This is Lebron's world and we're living in it.

Well I guess it was a stupid question on my part. He is the best player so yes I understand why he will get the brunt of the blame. I'm just saying it's not fair from purely a basketball standpoint when the other two "stars" on your team are being outplayed by Mike Miller and Birdman.

One is being defended by Duncan and the other is getting a combo of the Spurs best defenders. Could it be that SA matches up better vs MIA at all but one position, which was what I said before the series began. Green and Leonard make this Spurs team faar different than the ones two to five years ago.

Originally posted by Leathaface:
Lebron had an off game 3 from a scoring standpoint, yes. But the Heat are asking Lebron to be the best scorer, rebounder, defender, and distributor for them every night. He's the best player in the world but he needs help from someone not named Mike Miller.

Wade is terribly out of rhythm. He just dribbles himself into a mess every time he has the ball. I don't understand why he gets such a free pass in all of this. The guy has absolutely no flow to his game and is actually being dared more to take jumpers than Lebron is.

Anyway, I expect the Heat to come out strong and focused in G4, setting up the pivotal G5.

It's not just today, LeBron hasn't cracked 20 points once in this series.

With the exception of a phenomenal run that was largely triggered by the defensive end in Game 2, Miami has had a terribly difficult time putting the ball in the bucket. Yes, Wade has struggled mightily, and LeBron has still scored only 7 more points than Wade in this series on considerably more touches. I wouldn't normally put so much stock in individual scoring, but San Antonio's defense right now is daring LeBron to shoot the ball. Wade too, but the offense doesn't run through him nearly as much, and yes...I admit that I'm holding the guy who's being compared to the greatest players in NBA history to a higher standard than Wade. His inability to pick a defense apart that's daring him to shoot the ball is killing passing lanes and thusly the entire offense in general. I commend him for his rebounding, I think his defense has been below par (except for Game 2), but offensively he's not getting the job done.

I also expect Miami to bounce back, but that's because I have tremendous faith in their defensive ability.

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by Leathaface:
Lebron had an off game 3 from a scoring standpoint, yes. But the Heat are asking Lebron to be the best scorer, rebounder, defender, and distributor for them every night. He's the best player in the world but he needs help from someone not named Mike Miller.

Wade is terribly out of rhythm. He just dribbles himself into a mess every time he has the ball. I don't understand why he gets such a free pass in all of this. The guy has absolutely no flow to his game and is actually being dared more to take jumpers than Lebron is.

Anyway, I expect the Heat to come out strong and focused in G4, setting up the pivotal G5.

It's not just today, LeBron hasn't cracked 20 points once in this series.

With the exception of a phenomenal run that was largely triggered by the defensive end in Game 2, Miami has had a terribly difficult time putting the ball in the bucket. Yes, Wade has struggled mightily, and LeBron has still scored only 7 more points than Wade in this series on considerably more touches. I wouldn't normally put so much stock in individual scoring, but San Antonio's defense right now is daring LeBron to shoot the ball. Wade too, but the offense doesn't run through him nearly as much, and yes...I admit that I'm holding the guy who's being compared to the greatest players in NBA history to a higher standard than Wade. His inability to pick a defense apart that's daring him to shoot the ball is killing passing lanes and thusly the entire offense in general. I commend him for his rebounding, I think his defense has been below par (except for Game 2), but offensively he's not getting the job done.

I also expect Miami to bounce back, but that's because I have tremendous faith in their defensive ability.

I would really like to believe they will bounce back. But man that team looks really shaky out there. The Big 3 went down to a Big 1. And Lebron the 1 is back to his shaky self in the finals. They look pretty horrible overall in the finals so far. I'm not sure I have much faith.

I didn't think Wade would fade this dramatically and this fast. They just put this thing together 3 years ago. I thought he would hold up longer than that. Bosh has been soft and inconsistent. Lebron needs to step up scoring but he has played pretty well in other categories.

Well it was a close game