Haha the house flip ****** king making an appearance.

Chuck's bit is funny and I certainly see his point...but the majority of men in SA leave a LOT to be desired too.


And hoooray Timmay!

Stats of the game:
SA had 9 turnovers and shot 58% from the field. Not many opportunities for OKC fast breaks.

Duncan had 27 and 7 in 29 minutes. See next note.

Perkins, Collison, and Adams combined for 9 points, 14 rebounds, 4 turnovers, 2 blocks, and went 4-9 from the field while ceding the paint to the Spurs slashers. Early results say Ibaka is indeed a huge loss.

Danny Green had a hot night, scoring 16 points on 6-7 shooting. Consistent shooting from the non-ball handlers is big for the Spurs.

Durant and Westbrook combined for 10 turnovers and just under 50% from the field.

Derrick Fisher kept them in this game with his 4-6 performance from behind the arc.

Tonight Diaw landed the title role in a reboot of Rocky.

As I read the breakdowns and digest the stats, I'm seeing some serious issues for the Thunder.

1) their paint problems are catastrophic. On defense, they gave up 40 points in the paint in the 1st half and 26 in the 2nd for a grand total of 66 (ouch). Another figure: the Spurs scored 122 points, yet they only made 9 3 pointers and 13 FTs. On offense, the Thunder have almost no scoring ability in their front court. I mean Perkins, Collison, and Adams are nice situational players, but they can't score; Duncan, Diaw, and Splitter are orders of magnitude better in that regard. Just to put it in perspective, this postseason, those 3 Thunder players are averaging a combined 9.1ppg. The Spurs' 3 big men are averaging 34 and if game 1 is a harbinger of things to come, they're going to exceed that average by quite a bit this series.

2) Yes the Thunder closed the gap in q3, but a) Durant and Westbrook had to do everything (seriously. they scored 21 of the Thunder's 23 3rd quarter points. Fisher chipped in 2 FTs) and b) the Spurs played very poorly. They missed a lot of decent looks and had some uncharacteristically bad passes and TOs. If the Spurs had made just a few of their easy buckets in that quarter, there wouldn't have been a Thunder run and the Spurs would have scored 130 and won by 30. I guess this way is better, though, because we ran Durant and Westbrook ragged.

3) The Thunder don't have enough weapons. As far as scoring, it's Westbrook and Durant at the top and then everyone else far, far below. Those two are used to playing heavy minutes, but the Spurs' depth + offensive execution runs teams into the ground. Playing 40+ minutes against them is suicide as we saw tonight (Durant was clutching his side from cramps halfway through the 4th). As I read on ESPN, a coach can't give one of his players a break by having him defend the Spurs' worst offensive player because even option 5 is running all over the damn court. With Ibaka, they had the defense to take the offensive hit and give them some breaks. Without Ibaka, they no longer have that level of D. The Thunder need to score 110+ to beat the Spurs, and they aren't scoring 110+ unless their big 2 play 40+. If they're playing those minutes, the Spurs are going to have a big advantage in close games.

I know it's just one game and who knows? Maybe the Thunder just had an off night. But when you look at how the Spurs scored 122, it doesn't look like a fluke. In other words, this wasn't a red hot shooting night by SA, they just got great looks close to the basket all friggin night, and they took advantage of them. And I don't see those opportunities disappearing. Adams and Perkins and Collison aren't going to morph into a monster, paint-stuffing frontcourt before Wednesday. Also, the Thunder's bench can't play any better (they scored a whopping 47 on 16/30 shooting in Game 1).

If the Thunder are going to win this series, they need to do a few things:
1) cut down on their TOs and try to force a few more. If the Spurs are going to get easy looks while the Thunder's offense is more outside-focused, they need to swing the possession numbers
2) Get more FTs (in addition to the other obvious benefits, these slow the game down and give Durant and Westbrook some rest).
3) Try to "Russell Westbrook" Manu Ginobili. In other words, since Manu's a no conscience shooter that will keep pulling the trigger no matter how cold he is, purposefully give him some mediocre looks. This is a two edged sword obviously because if he's on, Manu will shoot 50% and score 20. But in his older age, it's no longer automatic. Still, it's a better defensive strategy than whatever the hell they were doing tonight!

[This message has been edited by Deputy Travis Junior (edited 5/20/2014 4:20a).]

Tweet from JA Adande:

So that they can explain it to their kids
RT @mdotbrown: If I ever have kids, I hope I can explain to them why the Spurs won't go away.

Has this been posted yet? If so, apologies. If not, this here is a great video on why we should all appreciate watching the Spurs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6NbJMq-QfU&feature=youtu.be

one of my personal favorites

It will be interesting to see if the Thunder defend better in future games or if there is literally nothing they can do. As stated by a previous poster it isn't like the Spurs were amazingly hot last night. Most those shots were in the paint over a lesser defender or wide open perimter shots. If the best offensive team in the league is given those shots every game then they will have a similar output.

Still, I think OKC will get more comfortable playing small ball without Ibaka. They really haven't ever had to play small ball without him, so they will likely figure things out a bit and improve slightly.

We had some problems staying in front of Westbrook and Jackson, especially when they were on the court together. If they are able to spread the court and relentlessly attack the basket while getting a ton of ticky tack fouls and Durant keeps going off for 30+ a game then the Thunder have a punchers chance to steal a game or two, especially in Oklahoma City. I just don't see an option for the Thunder to slow down Duncan and I think Manu and Leonard will be able to score at will if OKC stays small.

Brooks has to find that perfect balance of offense and defense with a lineup that has never played together. After watching game one I just don't think Brooks has the horses or coaching talent to do it consistently.

I'm thinking Wednesday OKC comes out with their big lineup that had defensive success. They'll put Sefalosha on Parker. Hopefully we'll game plan for that lineup. Manu and Tim seem to be the only two that can consistently draw fouls, so we'll need them to get those bigs in foul trouble.

I am not so sure that Brooks is going to go big. Sure they had a nice run in the 3rd with that lineup, but a ton of it was due to the Spurs missing good shots. That lineup definitely didn't work to start the game. Duncan missed five straight in that 3rd Qtr stretch I think. Even Brooks lost faith in that lineups sustainability and went back to small ball for pretty much the whole fourth.

You are basically hoping that Durant and Westbrook can outscore the entire Spurs Roster if you go with a defensive lineup that has Sefolosha, Perkins and Collison all on the floor at the same time. Plus Perkins and Collison are going to be worn out late in the game after chasing pick and rolls with that lineup most the game. Meanwhile the Spurs will rotate through their bigs and can even go small if they want to tire out Perkins and Collison even more if Brooks insists on keeping them on the floor for defense.

In the end the Spurs just have too many options they can throw at OKC. They can go small and wear down the bigs trying to chase them or they can go big with guys like Baynes who can just go full out for 10 minutes and out physical them.

Without Ibaka I just don't see how OKC wins more than 1 game and it may be a sweep. The Spurs really didn't play that well last night and they were rarely threatened.

It really is telling how lopsided the game felt last night. OKC has proven time and time again how dangerous they are... they did so at times last night... but take away 1 key guy and it all falls apart on them. Not sure if Ibaka's contract is up anytime soon (I'm thinking he recently signed a good deal), but this will be big time leverage for him after the Spurs dismantle OKC w/out him.

Anybody have a gif of that laughable call on Westbrook where he simply came up short on that layup... nobody touched him... but the ref gave a sympathy foul call anyway. I swear, Fisher and BS foul calls were the only thing preventing the Spurs from going in at halftime up 20+.

I don't have one but I'm sure I can make one tonight when I get home.

Btw, I was at the game cheering the whole way and anyone else who was there needs to pick up their game. That first quarter was dead in terms of cheering. We didn't even do refs you suck until I tried starting it several times. C'mon guys!!!

[This message has been edited by Mrnegative (edited 5/20/2014 8:50a).]

That video is greatness! Thanks for posting!

Last nights win was a great game. If you dont enjoy watching this brand of basketball, its a shame!

1.) I think its obvious why we were so successful and its been said already on the board. Ill make this note though. How does a team score 66 points in the paint, and come away only shooting 17FT????

2.) I know you try and win every game, but I'm not so sure the Thunder werent trying every lineup rotation they had to see what worked best. They 9 players play atleast 16minutes. Spurs played 8. Their bench also outscored ours 47-43. Thats pretty interesting.

They had lineups that did work against us, and I think we will see a much better game from them Wed. This is the first time theyve played without Ibaka in a long long time. They now have a full game of film to see how they played and what rotations provide what advantages. With that being said, their bench played great... they had people step up (fisher and Jackson both played very well), and Im not sure you can expect much more. Its also not like KD and RW played poorly. KD certainly needs to find a way to get to the foul line more though.

3.) Parker is incredible at getting those sneaky underneath layups with the defender trailing. It would be nice to see him slam on the brakes once in a while and force that defender to run into him.

4.)The Spurs shot lights out, and while a lot of them were layups, you just cant expect to hit 57.5% a night. I would expect the big men from OKC to come out and play a lot more physical. If they cant contribute on the offensive end, then they need to be enforcers on the defensive end.


I dont see the spurs losing this series obviously, but I think that OKC can certainly make some adjustments after getting settled with their rotation and win a few to make this a series.

I agree that OKC will make adjustments, the problem is that so will Pop and I will bet on Pop's adjustments over Brooks' any day.

Can someone please find/post a gif of that late game steal and lay in by Kawhi? He snagged the ball in front of Durant's face at the top of the arc with his palm and ran it 1 on 3 basically, with Durant trailing on D.

TMAggie I agree with you. But what you see as Brooks testing out his rotation for future games, I see as Brooks panicking since he has no answers.

OKC is still a young jump shooting team, without one of their best players so I don't think his plan going in was to concede game one to test out his rotations. He played Durant and Westbrook a ton, so I don't think he had a grand plan to try a bunch of lineups it was done out of necessity as they were getting destroyed.

Plus it is bad sign when your bench outscores the best bench in the league, you shoot more free throws, Durant and Westbrook get about their averages and you still get blown out.

I am not saying the Spurs will shoot 58% for the entire series, but which individual player do you expect to miss those same type shots they were getting? Green might cool a bit, but besides him nobody did anything outside of a normal performance. If you give NBA players wide open shots or post them against undersized players, they will score 58% of the time. What defensive changes can OKC honestly make, other than simply saying defend better as a whole? I am not seeing any real solutions for them. They need to go off offensively and have the Spurs miss wide open shots and sustain that recipe for a series. Otherwise this thing doesn't go past 5 games. That's why I think Brooks goes with Jackson, Westbrook, Durant, Butler and one rotating players as his only hope of outscoring the Spurs.

Also, how big is it that Harden isn't on this team anymore? He was an assassin when the Spurs lost to OKC a few years ago. Once again, props to the Spurs fron office for dealing with attrition and salary cap better than most teams can.

[This message has been edited by GatorAg03 (edited 5/20/2014 9:10a).]

This isn't going to be a sweep. The thunder are not finished. This is a good team the spurs are up against. They've still got punches to throw. Manu could go "bad Manu" again. That could cost us. We could have one of those games where we settle for jumpers and don't hit any of them. We could have a game or 2 where KD can't miss and gets every call. This thing is going 6 at least.

quote:

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Look Out Below is a great username for you because of how high you are right now.

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The only thing that might be wrong with my Spurs in 5 prediction may be that I might have underestimated the Spurs -- for the exact reason I mentioned before you posted this tripe.

Perhaps you should elevate your mind.

Would everybody agree that Ibaka is more valuable to this team than Westbrook? Seems obvious to me that he is.

I agree jr. It's easier to build a complete team around an athletic, defensive minded big man than around a jump shooting wing player. Dude's that can stroke the open 3 are a dime a dozen, but its really hard to find solid big men these days.

Ibaka is definitely more valuable. You can plug in Jackson for Westbrook and you might lose 5pts a game. You can plug in Collison for Ibaka and you give up 60+ points in the paint.

I am just amazed at how terrible the OKC bigs are. How can you go into a season expecting to contend for a title with this group of scrubs outside of Ibaka down low? I guess they were counting on Ibaka's health to cotinue since he only missed a handful of games in his career. And I guess when you have so much cash tied up into three players you can't sign good bigs I suppose. I think I would take Baynes over anyone OKC has down low right now.

I made this comment in a post yesterday... but ESPN was really reaching before the game yesterday, saying that we should fear the combination of Durant and Collison. I mean, come on guys, really!? I don't watch OKC regularly, but to my knowledge Collison made like 1 clutch shot against LA, but other than that he's just another guy.

OKC will probably play bigger more often but they will still play small quite a bit. Not sure how much Durant at the 5 we will continue to see... probably not much as that lineup was a disaster for OKC.

Even against OKCs bigger lineup the Spurs still overmatch them. That lineup gave the Spurs some problems in the third but some of that was a result of the Spurs lackluster 3rd quarters regardless.

quote:

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Can someone please find/post a gif of that late game steal and lay in by Kawhi? He snagged the ball in front of Durant's face at the top of the arc with his palm and ran it 1 on 3 basically, with Durant trailing on D.

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The one where Durant hurt himself hipchecking Leonard, then half-heartedly tries to draw a foul?
http://www.nba.com/video/channels/top_plays/2014/05/19/20140519-steal-of-the-night.nba//

Bonus link and bonus gif
http://hardwoodparoxysm.com/2014/05/19/accolade-belong-gregg-popovich/

On NBA.com, Leonard got the play of the day (spin move), steal of the day (just posted), and dunk of the day (blocked Durant then transition eurostep over Jackson).

To be fair there was only one game to choose from.

Just saying, he's been cranking out an inordinate number of highlights lately.

Gator,

Totally agree with what you said for the most part. Especially,

quote:

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Plus it is bad sign when your bench outscores the best bench in the league, you shoot more free throws, Durant and Westbrook get about their averages and you still get blown out.

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quote:

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On NBA.com, Leonard got the play of the day (spin move), steal of the day (just posted), and dunk of the day (blocked Durant then transition eurostep over Jackson).

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To be fair, werent they the only team playing that day?

JK, they were all great plays

San Antonio Spurs - A beautiful game tribute video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6NbJMq-QfU&feature=youtu.be



[This message has been edited by Sher Thing (edited 5/20/2014 11:23a).]

That is a "must watch" video right there. Wow! It's been a privilege watching these guys for over a decade. I'm not a very big basketball fan, and will probably not watch very much once Pop & crew hang it up... but I've watched countless games over the years simply because I love this team. It's nothing to do with the Spurs brand and everything to do with the guys that wear the uniform and the man that leads them.

They are a one of a kind team and that video only deepens my desire to see these guys win at least one more. This year. Get it done boys!

[This message has been edited by jr15aggie (edited 5/20/2014 11:29a).]

That video is greatness. The Spurs are special. In this year of high turnover, lack of loyalty, and self focused society the Spurs stand out.

They are owned by a combat veteran who was awarded the silver star and multiple bronze stars. Their GM is an Aggie. Pop himself is an air force vet. What is funny is despite a ton of international players I relate to them more as an American and a Texan than any other professional franchise by a huge margin. I feel that I identify with them, almost like I do A&M. No other sports franchise is even close to this level of caring for me.

I love that the players take less money to win. I love that they are loyal to each other and that they focus on the team first. I love how involved they are in the community.

And all of that doesn't even mention what they do on the court. Their ball movement style of play in an isolation league is extremely special to watch. It helps that they have three hall of famers including the best power forward to have ever played the game, but I love that any of about 8 players could be the teams leading scorer any given night. I love that nobodys and role players come into the culture, work hard, buy in and become major contributers.

I agree that once Pop, Duncan, Manu and Parker hang it up, it is going to be dang hard to keep watching the NBA. Leonard gives me hope, that I might be able to hold out a bit longer.

Well said. Lets get Timmy #5.