More B-Ball with Coach Blasco

Here's BC basketball version of John Madden breaking down the Spurs and Heat. That's meant to be a complement Erick.

San Antonio came into Sunday’s Game at Miami as the 3 seed out West. Miami entered clinging to the 8 seed in the East. San Antonio believes they can knock off Phoenix and Dallas and return to the NBA Finals to win a championship. Miami believes now that Shaq and D-Wade are healthy, they can vault up the standings in the Eastern Conference and make a return trip to Finals land. So which of these beliefs’ can resonate true, and which is simply a fairytale? Well, after watching Miami’s convincing 100-85 victory over San Antonio, you’d be a little confused believing which team was the 3, and which was the 8.

When Miami had the ball: On the very first play of the game, Shaq went right at Duncan with a right hook that was able to drop in. That play set the tone early that Miami wasn’t afraid to play a physical game with San Antonio. San Antonio was afraid to double team Shaq with all the 3-pt firepower on the Heat roster (Kapono, Walker, Posey), so Shaq (7-11 FG, 7 REB, 1 STL, 1 BLK, 16 PTS) was able to have his way in the post whether guarded by Tim Duncan, Fabricio Oberto, or Francisco Elson. Whenever the offense stalled over the first three quarters, Shaq was able to get a pass down low in good position, or collect an offensive rebound for more scoring chances.

San Antonio did a great job limiting Wade early in the game. Bruce Bowen was determined not to let Wade get to the hoop, and Wade was determined to get all his teammates involved in the offense. Wade didn’t hit his first FG until very late in the first half.

Wade’s lack of punch in the first half didn’t doom Miami though. Wade racked up 7 assists for the game, and allowed the rest of the Heat to contribute on offense. Udonis Haslem (5-10 FG 8 REB 10 PTS) hit 4 of his first 5 jumpers, all in the first quarter.

Jason Kapono (4-8 FG 1-2 3-FG 11 REB 13 PTS) forced a few shots, but hit his open jumpers, and also made a nice play dribbling past Manu Ginobli into the paint, then hitting a fall away jumper over Robert Horry. More impressively was the fact that Kapono was much more aggressive attacking the glass than Bruce Bowen, Manu Ginobli, or Brent Barry. In fact, Miami gathered in 46 total rebounds (a championship number) compared to San Antonio’s 31 ( a lottery number).

Gary Payton (3-6 FG 0-1 3FG 1 REB 1 AST 2 TO) got into the lane a few times against Tony Parker’s non-existent defense during a 17-1 first quarter Heat run.. For the most part though, Payton was slow on offense, and made a few bad passes, including a drive and kick to nobody midway through the first half.

The stars for the game for Miami, though, were Alonzo Mourning, Antoine Walker, James Posey, and the recently acquired Eddie Jones. Together with Gary Payton in the first half, they put together a 17-1 run. Together with Dwayne Wade in the 4th, they blew the game out of San Antonio’s reach. Eddie Jones played 10 years younger than his age, hitting All 4 of his shots, both his 3’s, and all 4 of his free throws. Antoine Walker didn’t force a single perimeter shot, and on one 4th quarter possession, drove to the hoop so hard, Robert Horry could only helplessly fall to the floor. Walker went 4-8 from the floor, 2-5 from behind the arc, and gathered in 4 rebounds.

And though Wade was limited to one bucket in the 1st half, he exploded in the 4th, blowing past Bowen to the rim, stepping back hitting perimeter jumpers, spinning into the middle of the floor and hitting his patented mid-range jump shot. Wade was remarkable in the clutch, going 7-10 from the field for 18 points. Wade has clearly emerged as the best player in the game in crunch time situations as he has time and again been able to put the Heat on his back and carry them to victory, as he did on Sunday afternoon.

When San Antonio had the ball: On San Antonio’s first possession, Tim Duncan went hard at Udonis Haslem for a bucket and a foul. Unfortunately for the Spurs, that was one of the few times Duncan was aggressive in the game. Whether it was Shaq’s bulk, Haslem’s technique, Mourning’s athleticism, or even Antoine Walker’s quick hands, Timmy D wasn’t able to get into any offensive rhythm at all. Whenever Duncan was aggressive and earned himself free throw attempts, he didn’t help his cause at all, missing 6 of 11 freebies. Overall Duncan tallied 4-10 shooting, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, and numerous crisp passes that led to open shots.

While Duncan was unable to get going, San Antonio benefited from having Manu Ginobli step up off the bench (10-16 FG 4-8 3FG 3 REB 1 AST 1 STL 1 BLK 26 PTS) with 17 points in the first half, and Tony Parker (8-19 FG 2 REB 5 AST 2 TO 1 STL 20 PTS) step up with 12 points in the second half. When guarded by Gary Payton, Parker and Ginobli were able to drive by Payton’s ancient legs off the dribble, or lose Payton on whatever screens or curls were called for them. Even I was getting dizzy watching Ginobli repeatedly spin left in the lane and make difficult shots look effortless.

Despite Ginobli and Parker’s valiant efforts, nobody else on San Antonio was able to provide a spark on offense. Bruce Bowen (0-5 FG 3 REB 1 AST O PTS) was scared to take any open shot he encountered.

Michael Finley (2-9 FG 1-7 3FG) wasn’t hesitant…he just couldn’t drop the ball in the basket.

Brent Barry (4-7 FG 3-6 3FG) was the only role player who found a shooting groove, but he also turned the ball over 4 times, including 2 careless traveling calls (this guy used to be a point guard back in the day?), and played no defense except breaking up a lazy entry pass. What Barry gives in his shooting, he takes away in every other aspect of his game.

Robert Horry also provided little on offense. 0 points, and 2 missed 3’s.

Francisco Elson (2-2 FG 4 REB 4 PTS) was active on defense and around the basket, outquicking Shaq to a few rebounds and layups.

Fabricio Oberto (2-4 FG 6 REB 2 AST 3 TO 1 STL 4 PTS) showed incredible energy gathering in rebounds, including 3 on the offensive end, and scoring spinning layups down low. If he had cut down on the turnovers, I might have joined Bill Walton in calling him “Fabulous Fabricio!”

Jacque Vaughn missed an open jumper but was able to drive by Payton for a layup and foul in his limited playing time.

Late in the game for San Antonio, when Wade was in the game and Payton was out, San Antonio went over 6 minutes without a field goal. Wade shut down Parker, while Jones and Posey locked down Ginobli and Finley. The defensive stat line for Jones, Walker, Posey, and Mourning reads this: 15 REB 3 STL 2 BLK. It doesn’t tell you the numerous proper defensive rotations, textbook closeouts, and hands up on defense. Dwayne Wade even imitated Bill Russell swatting away back to back layups by Tony Parker down the stretch in the 4th. The defensive unit for Miami, combined with Wade’s incredible 4th quarter display is the reason why Miami won the game, and should be playing when the calendar hits June.

With Wade becoming more and more unguardable in the clutch, and Shaq starting to round into shape, Miami will be the team nobody wants to play in the postseason. With Jason Kapono’s outside shooting, Udonis Haslem’s rebounding, James Posey’s defense and outside shooting , Antoine Walker’s versatility (so long as he’s not chucking up 3’s), Alonzo Mourning’s defense in the post, and Eddie Jones providing hunger, intensity, and a silky smooth game on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor (what a shrewd pickup for the Heat!), then Miami will join the front runners out West as elite teams. If they had a dependable backup point guard to Jason Williams, they might even be the favorite. As it stands, they are the class of the East, and should return to the finals to defend their crown.

As for San Antonio, they are alarmingly soft compared to past Spurs teams. The Spurs may be able to out finesse Phoenix, but they wont knock off Utah, Dallas, or even possibly Houston until Tim Duncan starts taking over games as he has in the past. And unless Robert Horry, Bruce Bowen, and Michael Finley find the same fountain of youth that Eddie Jones has, this will be another disappointing year by the Rio Grande. As it is, the Spurs are a proven, veteran team, and veteran teams usually peak come playoff time. Expect the Spurs to be standing tall come the Western Conference Finals, before the best team in Texas knocks them out.