Editor’s Note:
This is a
guest post from Ron
of FantasyBasketballMoneyLeagues.com.
For more NBA
news and updates, visit Fantasy Basketball Money
Leagues today.
Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs trolled LeBron James and the Miami Heat after winning “not one, not
two…” but five NBA Championships. And they have every reason to feel proud,
satisfied with themselves. So, what did the Spurs really do so well and managed
to beat the Heat? How could they close out the series after just five games?
Team vs Stars:
First of all, we are talking about two radically different teams. On the
one hand, the Miami Heat is a team which heavily relies on its Big Three and
especially on LeBron James. Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron are the three
players through which most offensive possessions run if not all of them. Only
if the Big Three don’t have an open shot or get stuck in traffic do they kick
outside to the role players for an attempt. On the contrary, the San Antonio Spurs
is a team which is characterized by plurality. They also have their own Big
Three, in Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili but almost any player can
make the difference on offense. Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green, Boris Diaw, Marco
Belinelli and Patrick Mills did have the green light to take as many shots as
they wanted as long as those shots were high – percentage ones. And of course
Gregg Popovich deserves much credit for turning almost any member in his roster
into a confident player, ready to give his 150 percent every time he hits the
floor.In short words, the San Antonio Spurs proved this year that a great team
can beat great individuals and in fact, in most cases that’s exactly what
happens.
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| Image from fansided.com |
Size and quality
inside:
The Miami Heat knew well that they had a hole in the middle. Chris Bosh
is a great player but he is not a center. And he didn’t play the center spot
much although he was listed as one. On the other hand, Tim Duncan is one of the
best big men the league has ever seen, arguably the best power forward. Duncan
exploited the Heat’s lack of size and quality inside. He was able to score easy
baskets, or to put it more correctly, baskets that he makes them look easy. No matter which defender the Heat threw on
Duncan, he couldn't be stopped. Tiago Splitter contributed, too, for the Spurs and he took advantage of his smaller match-ups.
Defensive system –
defensive intensity:
If we break down the Heat’s defensive system, it’s one that is proven to
work but it requires a constant effort from all five players on the court. It
also works best against teams which attack from close and mid-range but it’s a
bit risky against great three – point shooting teams. That’s no news about the
Heat. They have been using this same system ever since the Big Three came
together. Up to now, thanks to LeBron’s heroics and with a dose of luck the
Heat managed to win two championships over the last four years. Nonetheless,
the Spurs have such a quality as a team that they managed to take advantage of
the way the Heat play on defense. They found several great looks from beyond
the arc and they simply killed the Heat from downtown. At the same time, the
Spurs played with such an intensity and focus on their defensive end that apart
from LeBron, no other player managed to truly damage San Antonio.
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