The Spurs can beat the Heat in a 7 game series

Loose

Loose

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VictorVonDoom said:
Eh, I think we have a much better chance of beating OKC than Miami honestly. I know we match up well with the Heat on paper, but I think they would probably win because of :troll: I don't think anyone's beating them. think it's just his time right now like Jordan in the 90's.

OKC, I think we'll handle them. That was a weird series last year. They just played lights out for 4 games and couldn't miss any jumpshots. I think we definitely have eclipsed them with our improved defense, the development of Green, Leonard, and Splitter, and their loss of Harden.

Ibaka going NBA Jam on fire hitting jumpers isn't going to happen again...Perkins either. Danny Green went ice cold last year and had to be pulled. I don't think that will happen again. He's been clutch so far this season. Leonard has improved his all around game...Splitter too. The hack-a-Splitter really changed the momentum last year, but that won't happen this time because he's improved his FT shooting to like 74%.

And Harden killed us in the 4th last year. He's a great closer because of his ability to facilitate, penetrate, and shoot outside. He gave you so much to guard against. He kinda meshed their offense together in the 4th. Without him, it's just going to be Durant and :youngsabo: going one-on-one down the stretch, and I'll take that.
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#1 offense in the league and #5 defense keep dreaming brother, not saying y'all cant beat us but we have improved as well specifically with assisting. Ibaka is at least 3xs the player he was offensively last season. the lack of a true superstar is where y'all will always be at an disadvantage, role players some time roll in the offs.
 
feelosofer

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I'll say this low key the Spurs are a better team this year than last year.Kawhi Leonard low key is becoming the next Bruce Bowen but with a better offense. I don't think they are better than the Thunder, but they can compete. The depth will get them in but the starting 5 is pretty damn good too and the Spurs are a bad matchup for the Heat. Kawhi can defend a player like Bron, and they no have one to really match Tony Parker.
 
Brief Keef

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what if pop tries to mind fukk us again and sits the starters out when we meet at the end of the month
 
FAH1223

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The Spurs New Chance - RealGM

he Spurs' defensive collapse last year shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Despite their reputation as a defensive juggernaut, they had quietly remade themselves into a finesse, offensive-minded team. With Robert Horry long gone and Tim Duncan aging, they no longer had the long and athletic big men necessary to field an elite defense. After consistently finishing in the top-3 for most of the last decade, their defense had slipped to No. 10 by 2012. As a result, defeating the Thunder was always going to be an uphill battle. By Game 6 of the WCF, with Boris Diaw starting and only Stephen Jackson and Gary Neal getting minutes off the bench, the Spurs had abandoned any hope of stopping Oklahoma City.

The Spurs' frontcourt is much younger and more athletic this season. Tiago Splitter has emerged as a second 7’0 to play next to Tim Duncan while Kawhi Leonard has taken the sophomore leap and become an excellent two-way SF. As a result, their defense has skyrocketed back into the top-3. Neither Splitter nor Leonard can anchor a defense by himself, but playing them in tandem greatly increases the Spurs team speed and athleticism. Their starting five (Parker-Green-Leonard-Splitter-Duncan) has an eye-popping net defensive rating of 84 points allowed per 100 possessions. Both Splitter and Leonard rate highly on an individual level as well, with nearly identical defensive ratings of 95.8 and 95.6 respectively.

Splitter, a 28-year old center from Brazil, came to the NBA in 2010 after a distinguished career in Europe. An athletic 6’11 240 big man with a 7’2 wingspan, he has above-average quickness for a player his size as well as a good feel for the game. He was expected to be a high-level contributor immediately, but he’s needed two seasons to adjust to the speed of the NBA as well as the demands of the Spurs system. Previously, his minutes were capped because Gregg Popovich did not think he could play with Duncan, given that neither is an elite outside shooter. This season, as Duncan and Splitter have become more comfortable together, they’ve developed the ability to play off of each other, allowing San Antonio to maintain their floor spacing without needing to give heavy minutes to defensive liabilities like Matt Bonner and Diaw.

Leonard, an athletic 6’7 225 combo forward with a 7’2 wingspan, is the most athletic perimeter defender the Spurs have had since Bruce Bowen. A 21-year old from San Diego State, he’s taken a dramatic leap forward in his second season, particularly on the defensive end. His defensive rating has gone from 102 as a rookie to 95.8 this year, an impressive jump which indicates his mind is starting to catch up with his body. Combine that with the ability to space the floor and a high overall skill level and he’s the rare young frontcourt player capable of contributing on both sides of the ball. Most importantly, his combination of size, speed and length gives San Antonio someone who can physically match up with elite combo forwards.

The Big Three and Popovich get most of the headlines for San Antonio, but the play of Splitter and Leonard will ultimately determine their season. The Spurs offense has been a championship-level unit for years; their lack of speed and athleticism upfront has been their Achilles heel since 2007. They had no answer for Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom in 2008, Dirk Nowitzki in 2009, Amar’e Stoudemire in 2010, Zach Randolph in 2011 and Durant in 2012. This season, all roads to a championship go through Oklahoma City and Miami, who are built around the two best players in the NBA, uber-athletic 6’9+ combo forwards capable of playing inside and out and almost uniquely designed to punish weak front-court defenses.

In playing Splitter and Duncan together, the Spurs have bucked the recent trend in the NBA. Floor spacing has become the name of the game, to the point where the Lakers benched Gasol in order to play Earl Clark. The Heat don’t have a single 7’0 who receives playing time, while the Thunder have been most effective when they bench Kendrick Perkins and play Serge Ibaka at the 5. Both Miami and Oklahoma City benefit from going small because it increases the amount of space for Durant and LeBron James to operate, but that’s not an issue for San Antonio, as the machine-like execution of their offense allows them to thrive despite playing two big men who can’t shoot 3’s.

The $64,000 question for the Spurs is whether Splitter’s presence on the floor can dictate matchups in a close playoff game. Last season, when Scott Brooks played Durant at the 4, Popovich blinked first, taking his second big man out of the game and going small with Leonard and Jackson upfront. He might be able to con Brooks into keeping Perkins on the floor by sticking with Splitter, but Erik Spoelstra will almost certainly force Splitter to defend Shane Battier 25+ feet from the basket if San Antonio makes the NBA Finals. That type of matchup swung the 2012 Finals, as Perkins could not punish the Heat when they had Battier guarding him in the low post while Oklahoma City’s conventional lineup could not defend the spread-out Miami attack.

Splitter is much more skilled than Perkins, but he’s hardly a primary offensive option either. However, if his off-ball cuts in the paint and offensive rebounding can force Spoelstra to keep Chris Anderson or Udonis Haslem on the floor, Miami suddenly becomes mortal. In the 2012 WCF, the Spurs tried to beat the Thunder at their own game, with predictably disastrous results. This season, San Antonio has returned to their roots, sacrificing a bit of their offensive efficiency in order to play more defensively-sound lineups that feature two conventional big men. It may not be enough to get them a fifth championship, but it at least gives them a fighting chance, something they haven’t really had in the last few years.
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