NBA Playoffs...
- Thread starter Heim
- Start date
The Lakers half court defense is great. If Brick and Davis decide to run and get back on defense, the Lakers win. If not, the Nuggest win because they'll get too many transistion points.
kane
EOG master
kane
EOG master
Erik Spoelstra shining during Heat’s historic playoff run: ‘I don’t think he has a weakness’
Just minutes after the Miami Heat moved two wins away from becoming the second No. 8 seed in NBA history to make the NBA Finals, coach Erik Spoelstra was asked about an important tactical decision he made. After using zone on just 19 defensive possessions through the first seven quarters of the Eastern Conference finals, the Heat played 19 zone possessions in Friday’s game-deciding fourth quarter, according to Synergy Sports. The adjustment worked, as the Boston Celtics scored just 0.9 points per possession on the 19 fourth-quarter possessions the Heat turned to zone.
When asked about his strategic decision to rely on the Heat’s zone defense in Friday’s fourth quarter, Spoelstra was quick to downplay the move to deflect the credit away from himself. That’s the Spoelstra way.
“I don’t know,” Spoelstra said. “When you play against great teams, very good teams like we’re facing, Boston, you just have to do whatever is necessary. It’s not about the schematics or the Xs and Os. You can invent a new defense. But if you’re not committed to doing tough things — that’s what this is about, doing tough things.”
Spoelstra, 52, will never take credit for wins, instead giving that all to his players. Those around and inside the league, though, understand how important Spoelstra is to the Heat’s success. In his 15th season as the Heat’s head coach, Spoelstra has already established himself as the winningest coach in franchise history in both the regular season and playoffs while being voted as the league’s best head coach for the last three seasons in the NBA’s preseason survey of general managers. This marks the seventh time he has helped lead the Heat to the conference finals in the last 13 seasons and he’s just a few wins away from earning his sixth NBA Finals appearance during that same stretch
“I don’t think he has a weakness,” said Stan Van Gundy, who is currently working as a TNT analyst for the East finals but has a history with Spoelstra that dates back to their time as Heat assistant coaches in the late 1990s. “If you can break down coaching, he’s a great X and O guy, he’s a great teacher on the floor, he can do player development stuff, he’s an outstanding motivator. I think he’s got a great feel for players and they like him, his relationships are good. I just don’t think he has a weakness.” But what sets Spoelstra apart from other coaches is what was on display late in the Heat’s Game 2 win on Friday. It’s Spoelstra’s ability to shape-shift his system around the strengths and weaknesses of his players and opponent and/or the context of the moment.
“I think the thing he does, which I think all coaches strive to do but he’s just done a great job of is he will clearly play to the strengths of the players on his roster and it changes from year to year,” Van Gundy said. “It’s never about his ego or his system, it’s what will help this team win and he’ll go with that.” With the Celtics having success against the Heat’s man-to-man defense, Spoelstra was able to rely on the zone to slow their offense and complete Friday’s comeback. But even beyond that, Spoelstra has built a Heat defense that can switch pick-and-rolls, play drop coverage, pick ball-handlers up full court, trap teams’ best players and show and recover on screens to protect its weaker defenders. Whatever is required to put the Heat in the best position to win. “By the time you get to the playoffs, you better have some alternatives based on who you’re playing,” Van Gundy said. “Like can we switch, can we drop, can we blitz people, can we double team, can we zone? Erik builds that in. So when they get to these times of the year, you’re not trying to go into a walk through for one hour and put something in you haven’t done all year. They’ve done it throughout the year. He gets his team ready for this time of the year during the regular season.” Veteran Kevin Love has only been with the Heat for three months after signing with Miami during the mid-February All-Star break, but Spoelstra has already made a strong impression on him.
“We are, I think, the most well prepared team,” Love said. “And as far as execution goes, we execute at an extremely high level and that all starts with him. I think at the end of the day against any team, no matter who we’re playing, we’re going to give ourselves a shot to win.” How does Spoelstra consistently make sure that’s the case? “Just his attention to detail,” Love said. “It can be across the board. It can be matchups, it can be tendencies, it can be advanced analytics, it can be coaching styles on different teams and the way that they play, understanding where teams are at in their season. That stuff all matters and all those details matter in getting a victory.”
“He knows exactly who he is and knows exactly what he wants,” Love said of Spoelstra. “I mean, that calms us down. That allows a level of comfort for us, understanding that he’s battle tested, he’s been there before. Guys like Jimmy and Bam are an extension of him. So those two guys are going to lead us out there on the floor, but we know we have one of the best all time who’s sitting on the sideline who’s going to lead us and guide us through this.”
The Heat has won two championships with Spoelstra at the helm, but this one would represent his greatest achievement as a head coach. A No. 8 seed has never won an NBA title. But don’t tell Spoelstra that. There’s plenty of work to be done before that possibility even crosses his mind, plus he’ll never accept credit for it. “I think he doesn’t get caught up in getting too high or getting too low. He’s not into all that,” Van Gundy said. “He’s just about what’s next and what do we have to do to win. I think players have great respect for that. He’s not dwelling on the past or failures. It’s just all look ahead.”
Just minutes after the Miami Heat moved two wins away from becoming the second No. 8 seed in NBA history to make the NBA Finals, coach Erik Spoelstra was asked about an important tactical decision he made. After using zone on just 19 defensive possessions through the first seven quarters of the Eastern Conference finals, the Heat played 19 zone possessions in Friday’s game-deciding fourth quarter, according to Synergy Sports. The adjustment worked, as the Boston Celtics scored just 0.9 points per possession on the 19 fourth-quarter possessions the Heat turned to zone.
When asked about his strategic decision to rely on the Heat’s zone defense in Friday’s fourth quarter, Spoelstra was quick to downplay the move to deflect the credit away from himself. That’s the Spoelstra way.
“I don’t know,” Spoelstra said. “When you play against great teams, very good teams like we’re facing, Boston, you just have to do whatever is necessary. It’s not about the schematics or the Xs and Os. You can invent a new defense. But if you’re not committed to doing tough things — that’s what this is about, doing tough things.”
Spoelstra, 52, will never take credit for wins, instead giving that all to his players. Those around and inside the league, though, understand how important Spoelstra is to the Heat’s success. In his 15th season as the Heat’s head coach, Spoelstra has already established himself as the winningest coach in franchise history in both the regular season and playoffs while being voted as the league’s best head coach for the last three seasons in the NBA’s preseason survey of general managers. This marks the seventh time he has helped lead the Heat to the conference finals in the last 13 seasons and he’s just a few wins away from earning his sixth NBA Finals appearance during that same stretch
“I don’t think he has a weakness,” said Stan Van Gundy, who is currently working as a TNT analyst for the East finals but has a history with Spoelstra that dates back to their time as Heat assistant coaches in the late 1990s. “If you can break down coaching, he’s a great X and O guy, he’s a great teacher on the floor, he can do player development stuff, he’s an outstanding motivator. I think he’s got a great feel for players and they like him, his relationships are good. I just don’t think he has a weakness.” But what sets Spoelstra apart from other coaches is what was on display late in the Heat’s Game 2 win on Friday. It’s Spoelstra’s ability to shape-shift his system around the strengths and weaknesses of his players and opponent and/or the context of the moment.
“I think the thing he does, which I think all coaches strive to do but he’s just done a great job of is he will clearly play to the strengths of the players on his roster and it changes from year to year,” Van Gundy said. “It’s never about his ego or his system, it’s what will help this team win and he’ll go with that.” With the Celtics having success against the Heat’s man-to-man defense, Spoelstra was able to rely on the zone to slow their offense and complete Friday’s comeback. But even beyond that, Spoelstra has built a Heat defense that can switch pick-and-rolls, play drop coverage, pick ball-handlers up full court, trap teams’ best players and show and recover on screens to protect its weaker defenders. Whatever is required to put the Heat in the best position to win. “By the time you get to the playoffs, you better have some alternatives based on who you’re playing,” Van Gundy said. “Like can we switch, can we drop, can we blitz people, can we double team, can we zone? Erik builds that in. So when they get to these times of the year, you’re not trying to go into a walk through for one hour and put something in you haven’t done all year. They’ve done it throughout the year. He gets his team ready for this time of the year during the regular season.” Veteran Kevin Love has only been with the Heat for three months after signing with Miami during the mid-February All-Star break, but Spoelstra has already made a strong impression on him.
“We are, I think, the most well prepared team,” Love said. “And as far as execution goes, we execute at an extremely high level and that all starts with him. I think at the end of the day against any team, no matter who we’re playing, we’re going to give ourselves a shot to win.” How does Spoelstra consistently make sure that’s the case? “Just his attention to detail,” Love said. “It can be across the board. It can be matchups, it can be tendencies, it can be advanced analytics, it can be coaching styles on different teams and the way that they play, understanding where teams are at in their season. That stuff all matters and all those details matter in getting a victory.”
“He knows exactly who he is and knows exactly what he wants,” Love said of Spoelstra. “I mean, that calms us down. That allows a level of comfort for us, understanding that he’s battle tested, he’s been there before. Guys like Jimmy and Bam are an extension of him. So those two guys are going to lead us out there on the floor, but we know we have one of the best all time who’s sitting on the sideline who’s going to lead us and guide us through this.”
The Heat has won two championships with Spoelstra at the helm, but this one would represent his greatest achievement as a head coach. A No. 8 seed has never won an NBA title. But don’t tell Spoelstra that. There’s plenty of work to be done before that possibility even crosses his mind, plus he’ll never accept credit for it. “I think he doesn’t get caught up in getting too high or getting too low. He’s not into all that,” Van Gundy said. “He’s just about what’s next and what do we have to do to win. I think players have great respect for that. He’s not dwelling on the past or failures. It’s just all look ahead.”
kane
EOG master
The Heat is 6-2 when trailing by double-digits in this year’s playoffs. The rest of the NBA is 15-60 in those situations.
The Heat is an NBA-best 6-2 in clutch games (one that has a margin of five points or fewer inside the final five minutes of the fourth quarter) after recording the most clutch wins (32) in the league this regular season,
▪ The Heat has outscored opponents by an NBA-best 20.1 points per 100 possessions in the fourth quarter during this year’s playoffs.
The Heat is an NBA-best 6-2 in clutch games (one that has a margin of five points or fewer inside the final five minutes of the fourth quarter) after recording the most clutch wins (32) in the league this regular season,
▪ The Heat has outscored opponents by an NBA-best 20.1 points per 100 possessions in the fourth quarter during this year’s playoffs.
railbird
EOG Master
riley picked up james ennis too, another big west player like Gabe Vincent. nba has been sleeping on too many big west players
Ouch!
jimmythegreek
The opening odds start here
Reaves is having an unbelievable playoffs. Hitting some huge buckets and keeping the Lakers in it. Jokic and Brown each with 4 fouls but the latter still in there. Anthony Davis solid on both ends. Never know which one will show up.
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jimmythegreek
The opening odds start here
KCP burning his former team. Murray having a Tatum like 4th quarter 3rd. LBJ finally pops his 3 point cherry with b2b loads.
Jokic should return at the start of the 4th. This has 5 extra minutes written all over it.
Jokic should return at the start of the 4th. This has 5 extra minutes written all over it.
Dell Dude
EOG Master
Lebron 3rd be best on team in playoffs.
jimmythegreek
The opening odds start here
Hachie playing much more aggressively. Jokic just 5 of 17 from the floor with the 4 personals and looking sloppy. Brown answering what he can do for Denver.
jimmythegreek
The opening odds start here
Does have 10 assists and a good chance at a trip dub.
railbird
EOG Master
was over before gm 1 started
jimmythegreek
The opening odds start here
Cop out statement from a cop out capper.
jimmythegreek
The opening odds start here
Jokic's 4th stellar. Lakers defense piss poor. Great game for Porter Jr. I got my broom ready.
railbird
EOG Master
i said that last week
railbird
EOG Master
Bio: ERIC GLASS
www.nba.com
railbird
EOG Master
jimmythegreek
The opening odds start here
Reaves gets many accolades for his offense and decision making but his defense is swiss cheese. Critical point in the game he loses Brown who puts in a offensive rebound. What good is 23 when you give up over 30+ versus Pope & BrownSchroder and Russell aren't providing him much help. Plus the big guys don't get back on d and you don't expect Reaves to defend both and hold the edge.