There isn’t a team in the League thats going to wipe the floor with the Heat.

true, but the Heat definitely aren’t beating the Spurs 4 out of 7 games

i’d take my chances with Ibaka on the floor. put him on Captain jack, with one eye on the paint. if my choices are giving up 5-6 layups in the 4th or having StepheN Jackson taking those 3-pointers because Ibaka helped, forcing a kickout … good luck, Stephen Jackson.

In this scenario, what is Ibaka doing once Jackson gets the kickout? I hope he’s closing out, because Jackson is capable of hitting that flat footed wide open 3. Maybe Jackson penetrates while Ibaka is closing out. Now you’ve opened up a scoring/dish option for Jackson while OKC’s best shot blocker is out of the paint. Ibaka is a better help defender than man to man. Jackson would eat him up on the perimeter.

This is going to be a fantastic series. Quite confident that whoever comes out of it (likely the Spurs) is going to wipe the floor with the 2 man Heat team that is going to represent the Eastern conference.

There isn’t a team in the League thats going to wipe the floor with the Heat.

They really controlled the majority of this game and that was with Westbrook playing like dogshit and Harden taking a day off.

They got outscored in the 1st and and 4th, not sure how thats “controlled majority of this game”. and that was with Westbrook Non-Manu Spurs playing like dogshit.

I would have also gone Westbrook/Thabo/Durant/Ibaka/Perkins and forced the Spurs to adjust.

They had this lineup in the 1st quarter and couldn’t score. Also, no love for Fisher? He couldn’t miss in the 2nd and 3rd.

ut if he’s going against a guard, he can get deep in the paint and should be able to score easily.

I doubt Pop is going to change a thing if you are taking the ball out of Westbrook/Durant’s hands (and benching Hardin) in the 4th to run offense through Ibaka.

He pressed during long stretches last night, I can handle the missed shots but when he’s trying to rampage through 3 guys and gets hit with a charge and Thabo is wide open, it gets frustrating

This game is the beginning of the end for Scotty Brooks, right? There’s no way OKC management can watch him get out-coached that badly, and bring him back to waste another year of Durant and Westbrook, can they?

Really, really bad feeling about this series now, and not just for the obvious reasons. Pop is going to be a step ahead of Brooks the rest of this series…probably dust the mothballs off of Blair for Game 3 and have him go for 25.

losing isn’t always about being outcoached. 99% of the time its about matchups, and San Antonio matches up well against the Thunder. Also, complaining about Westbrook’s shot attempts only when they lose is becoming cliche. No one was complaining about his attempts when he was the main reason the Thunder beat the Lakers. OKC won’t win a thing if Westbrook doesn’t score.

/that guy
//have a fun and safe holiday fellow commenters

Ibaka cannot score easily on anyone. And if you put him on the block you take away your pick and roll option and there goes any chance for open jump shots because nobody will be helping on Ibaka. The Spurs would love to let Ibaka take as many shots as he wants just like they did with Blake Griffin.

not to mention at the other end Ibaka would have a mismatch. if Jackson stays on Durant, who guards Ibaka? I know he’s not polished offensively, but if he’s going against a guard, he can get deep in the paint and should be able to score easily.

then you push Pop to make a move.

Really, really bad feeling about this series now, and not just for the obvious reasons. Pop is going to be a step ahead of Brooks the rest of this series…probably dust the mothballs off of Blair for Game 3 and have him go for 25.

the Spurs are the better team and have been all year.

I dont know, the Thunder dominated a huge portion of the game. The Spurs just went off in the 4th, they couldn’t miss. Thunder are young, playing on the road, shit happens.