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re: heat and thunder matchups
Posted on 6/10/12 at 1:11 pm to okietiger
Posted on 6/10/12 at 1:11 pm to okietiger
Just watched the highlights of their 2 matchups this year (which they split), I could see this going either way. It's gonna come down to who can win on the road. The Thunder have great size to protect the rim, and a ridiculous homecourt advantage (Has there ever been a finals where the NBA's best fans were up against the NBA's worst fans?). Anyway, imo it's a complete toss-up...basically Miami vs. Dallas part II.
This post was edited on 6/10/12 at 1:12 pm
2
Posted on 6/10/12 at 1:12 pm to tigerbait4444
Lebron is going to have to have another few beast mode games like the ones in the Pacers and Celtics series.
Posted on 6/10/12 at 1:20 pm to tigerbait4444
The key to this series is not Wade and James, it's Westbrook and Durant. Rondo abused chalmers, because of his threat to find the open man. Thats not so much of a threat with Westbrook. When the ball is in his hand he is looking to score. Chalmers has to stay in front of Westbrook and force hard shots. Durant on the other hand has to be more aggressive, not with his shot, but with his shot selection( he needs to get to the free throw line more)
Posted on 6/10/12 at 1:21 pm to TulaneTigerFan
Problem for Heat is so will Durant.
And Westbrook definitely can go off any given night as well.
And Westbrook definitely can go off any given night as well.
Posted on 6/10/12 at 1:30 pm to BIGDAB
quote:
The key to this series is not Wade and James, it's Westbrook and Durant. Rondo abused chalmers, because of his threat to find the open man. Thats not so much of a threat with Westbrook. When the ball is in his hand he is looking to score. Chalmers has to stay in front of Westbrook and force hard shots. Durant on the other hand has to be more aggressive, not with his shot, but with his shot selection( he needs to get to the free throw line more)
Westbrook is the deciding factor in this series. The front court of OKC is better than Miami's, but not so much that to make a difference in the series. If Westbrook keeps torching the Heat with his penetration, Spoelstra may be inclined to switch James onto Westbrook and bring in Battier to guard Durant, which would be a huge mistake. And, of course, no one can deny how much fatigue can factor here. Like I have said before, Lebron has averaged over 42 minutes for over an entire series. Battier and Miller must be gassed, especially Battier. If Miami wants to steal at least one game in OKC, Wade is going to have to get to the rim and force fouls and make his free throws. If Wade can do that, then Miami can steal a game.
Posted on 6/10/12 at 1:31 pm to SabiDojo
quote:
Like I have said before, Lebron has averaged over 42 minutes for over an entire series
Lebron averages 42.1
Durant average 41.7
Not that big of a difference
Posted on 6/10/12 at 1:33 pm to texastiger38
quote:
Not that big of a difference
Durant has had more days worth of rest than Lebron. That IS a difference.
Posted on 6/10/12 at 1:35 pm to SabiDojo
quote:
Durant has had more days worth of rest than Lebron. That IS a difference.
True, it would be a bigger deal for a team like the Celtics, I think the Heat will cope.
Posted on 6/10/12 at 1:40 pm to SabiDojo
quote:
If Westbrook keeps torching the Heat with his penetration, Spoelstra may be inclined to switch James onto Westbrook and bring in Battier to guard Durant, which would be a huge mistake
Believe it or not, but "letting" Westbrook have his way is how you beat OKC. When the thunder play a one on one offense, they are easy to beat(see games 1 and 2 of the SA series(because they don't have a low post scoring threat, its all perimeter scoring, except in the transition game.
Posted on 6/10/12 at 1:42 pm to BIGDAB
quote:
Believe it or not, but "letting" Westbrook have his way is how you beat OKC. When the thunder play a one on one offense, they are easy to beat(see games 1 and 2 of the SA series(because they don't have a low post scoring threat, its all perimeter scoring, except in the transition game.
That is exactly my point. Read the sentence in its entirety.
Posted on 6/10/12 at 4:17 pm to SabiDojo
The one factor people are ignoring is that LBJ can somewhat slow down Durant while the Thunder do not have anybody to slow LBJ down.
Posted on 6/10/12 at 4:35 pm to GeauxWarrior12
Holy hell there is some misinformation in this thread. First off, in the regular season, the Thunder had a much higher winning % when Westbrook took MORE shots than Durant as compared to the opposite. So that is completely backwards to what you guys are all claiming.
Meh. While he "can" do this as you mentioned in their entire careers head to head he's never done it going back to their first meeting (Seattle vs Cleveland).
Don't take my word for it see for yourself:
LINKY
quote:
The one factor people are ignoring is that LBJ can somewhat slow down Durant while the Thunder do not have anybody to slow LBJ down.
Meh. While he "can" do this as you mentioned in their entire careers head to head he's never done it going back to their first meeting (Seattle vs Cleveland).
Don't take my word for it see for yourself:
LINKY
Posted on 6/10/12 at 4:38 pm to okietiger
quote:
While he "can" do this as you mentioned in their entire careers head to head he's never done it going back to their first meeting (Seattle vs Cleveland).
Not over the course of a full game, but he's forced Durant into bad shots and turnovers in the final minutes of some of their games over the past two seasons
Posted on 6/10/12 at 5:05 pm to TulaneTigerFan
quote:
but he's forced Durant into bad shots and turnovers in the final minutes of some of their games over the past two seasons
April 4th 2012: Durant is 4 of 6 in the 4th quarter vs Heat
March 25, 2012: Durant is 1 of 5 in the 4th quarter vs Heat (game was already well in hand when he missed these shots if you look at the shot chart)
March 16, 2011: Durant is 2 of 4 in the 4th quarter vs the Heat
January 30, 2011: Durant is 2 of 5 in the 4th quarter vs the Heat
So in the last 4 games Durant is 9 of 20 in the 4th which is above is career average in FG %. Plus if you take out the game on March 25th when the Thunder won in a blow out, you looking now at 8 for 15 in close games. Not exactly getting shutdown in the 4th quarter I'd say.
Posted on 6/10/12 at 5:07 pm to okietiger
I never said anything about the entire 4th quarter. Your homerism is causing you to misinterpret posts.
eta: I never said that he "shutdown" Durant either...
eta: I never said that he "shutdown" Durant either...
This post was edited on 6/10/12 at 5:09 pm
Posted on 6/10/12 at 5:09 pm to TulaneTigerFan
I'll breakdown final 5 minutes of those games give me a second..
Posted on 6/10/12 at 5:09 pm to okietiger
quote:
First off, in the regular season
Virtually meaningless to the discussion at hand.
Battier will be on Durant as much as possible to let LeBron focus on offense, but as I've already said the Heat will switch so much on pnr's that primary defenders really won't mean much the majority of the game. I think you'll see a lot LeBron vs Ibaka/Thabo.
On the other end, the Heat will make sure Harden is guarding the player with the ball. Whoever Harden is guarding will immediately be involved in a pnr with Wade or LeBron. They'll stick Bosh in the corner 3 and dare Ibaka/Perkins to close down and help. That will either leave the most efficient shot in the game wide open or it'll put Harden in foul trouble.
Posted on 6/10/12 at 5:15 pm to okietiger
April 4th 2012: Durant is 2 of 4 in the final 5 mins of the 4th quarter vs Heat
March 25, 2012: Durant is 1 of 3 in the final 5 mins of the 4th quarter vs Heat
March 16, 2011: Durant is 1 of 2 in the final 5 mins of the 4th quarter vs the Heat
January 30, 2011: Durant is 2 of 4 in the final 5 mins of the 4th quarter vs the Heat
6 of 12 in the final 5 mins of the his last 4th quarters against the heat. Again, not exactly getting forced into that many bad shots when you look at the numbers.
March 25, 2012: Durant is 1 of 3 in the final 5 mins of the 4th quarter vs Heat
March 16, 2011: Durant is 1 of 2 in the final 5 mins of the 4th quarter vs the Heat
January 30, 2011: Durant is 2 of 4 in the final 5 mins of the 4th quarter vs the Heat
6 of 12 in the final 5 mins of the his last 4th quarters against the heat. Again, not exactly getting forced into that many bad shots when you look at the numbers.
Posted on 6/10/12 at 5:19 pm to okietiger
The only close game between the Thunder and the Heat I can remember specifics of was the one right before the end of the regular season. Durant was much more effective when Battier was guarding him which was most of the time. He could do some things when the Heat switched Lebron on him, obviously, but he struggled. It'll be the same this series I expect.
Posted on 6/10/12 at 5:20 pm to okietiger
You'd need to know how he scored on those baskets and who was on him for it to be meaningful. The Heat switch a lot on defense.
Lebron rejected him on a game tying attempt last season and locked him up long enough for the Heat to pull away in the 4th quarter of their last game. The game thread discussed it at length
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