You see, as long as the Thunder aren’t playing “hack-a-Splitter,” the Spurs offense seems impossible to stop right now…which is infuriating on some levels because their offense seems incredibly simple most of the time. I have to concede that Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are both great, but it doesn’t seem like they should be this good. They both get into the lane at will, either creating easy shots for themselves or for teammates. San Antonio’s role players don’t do anything special, but they are so well coached that they are seemingly always in the right position, and when they receive the ball they are ready to shoot or make the extra pass as soon as they touch it. There are no wasted dribbles, jab steps, or other ball-stopping maneuvers in their offense…which is beautiful basketball, but it’s all predicated on Parker and Manu getting to their spots. The fact that teams can’t devise ways to stay in front of either is befuddling to me, but it’s actually gotten to the point that if the Spurs have an offensive possession where they don’t score, I am shocked. Let me give you some stats, Hubie Brown style, here: San Antonio shot 55% from the floor for the game and 42% from 3; also, Parker was an absurd 16 for 21 from the field.
A common sight early in this series: Tony Parker in the paint.
OKC’s offensive numbers don’t look all that bad either. Their big 3 were all right around the 30 point mark for the game, and they only turned the ball over 10 times for the game (often 1 of their downfalls). However, they only shot 42% from the field as a team, as everyone not named Durant, Westbrook, and Harden clanged 27 of 34 shots. Usually role players play better at home though, and the Thunder will be counting on that as the series shifts to OKC. The Thunder are getting good shots for the most part, as San Antonio plays solid team defense with each player in the right spot at all times (much like the precision of their offense), but they don’t really have any great individual defenders or rim protectors (Duncan is still serviceable in that department, but he ain’t what he used to be). They just need a few more of those shots to go in…more makes will result in fewer easy opportunities for Manu and Parker at the other end too, thus making their defense look a little better.
Strategically, the changes for OKC seem obvious. They need to go small with KD at the 4 more often. The Spurs are playing lineups with finesse 4’s like Boris Diaw and Matt Bonner anyway, so there is no need for the Thunder to play 2 bigs at once really. (Maybe they could mix things up by trying a bigger defender like Sefolosha on Parker too.) I would also start trapping all pick-and-rolls hard…very hard. And if the ball is swung to Duncan or another Spur big off the pick-and-roll, make them score. OKC’s rotations off the pick-and-roll are playing right into the Spurs’ hands, as Duncan and Diaw’s 1st read is always to swing the ball to open 3 point shooters (not to look at the basket). This is essentially how the Spurs used to play the Phoenix Suns’ pick-and-roll in the “7 seconds or less” era. Amare Stoudemire would wind up with some ridiculous stat lines, but the Spurs seemed to always walk away with the W. Stoudemire’s sky-high point totals were by San Antonio’s design, as more shots for him resulted in less wide open 3’s for Phoenix’s perimeter players.
TD may get his, but OKC would be wise not to keep both Perk and Ibaka on the court at the same time for very long the rest of this series.
OKC may be down 0-2, and it seems like San Antonio hasn’t lost since the All-Star break, but I think this series is far from over. In 1 respect, the Spurs simply did what they were supposed to do: protect home court. Now, it’s the Thunder’s turn, as the best home court advantage in the league should await them in game 3.
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