NBA Finals - Game 3

Hopefully I have something to say for this game, I might have let it all out there on Sunday. But, I'm not going to be watching Game 4 from my couch, so this might be my last chance to write about these Finals.


Too much is being made about San Antonio losing by a bunch to the Jazz in Game 3 of the Conference Finals. The big difference between these two series is that the Jazz were good. We'll be able to tell quickly whether the Spurs are on point or still playing a little loose away from home. I don't think Popovich lets them play like that, knowing they have to play three here.


8:08 Game starts, deliberate possession by the Spurs. I don't like the first play with Finley trying to post up. That should be Duncan.

8:10 Duncan is good. Another nice shot by him. There's no reason a Spurs player should take a tough shot without getting Duncan at least one touch. Same should go for Cleveland and LeBron, but it doesn't.

8:14 Well, I didn't think the fouls were going to play a big part in this one, but it seems they might at this pace. And now a make-up call for the Oberto foul.

8:16 Van Gundy (I think I called him Stan last time) is talking about players cutting themselves with razorblades instead of calling timeouts. Good point, but a little creepy at the same time.

8:30 Bowen should ask if he can shoot his free throws from behind the line in the corner. I'm pretty sure he'd shoot 80%. They'd have to look better than those two ducks he just put up there.

8:31 Duncan eats up carrot top (I can't spell his name). When he thinks he has somebody, he'll make a quick move to the basket, but he's also usually a lot closer than when Z is guarding him.

8:33 If you don't think these people read the stories about them, look at Duncan after the fouls called on him. Hand up after the first one, no bug eyes after the second, questionable, call.


SECOND QUARTER


Well, this is a closer game than the previous two games. I suppose that's a good thing. Mostly for the Cavaliers. The longer they can keep the crowd in this, the better off they'll be. I'm getting warmed up (read: more beers) so look for this to get better.


8:44 Probably the first time in the series that the Cavs have an advantage with their lineup. The Spurs should try to dictate the tempo a little bit with Duncan on the bench with two fouls. The uptempo game is going to play in the hands of the home team.

8:46 Henry Abott (and everybody else associated with ESPN) is sitting courtside blogging this game live. Where do I sign up for that job? This is as close as I can get to that. This one is probably closer to what I'd be qualified for.

8:53 Parker is getting involved, this is good for the Spurs. The Cavs have good ball movements sometimes, but once it gets to LeBron he just holds it.

8:55 Well, another make up call. LeBron gets his third on a questionable call, the Duncan gets called for his third. Neither were that bad of calls. Just seems suspect that Duncan gets his third right after LeBron gets his. Tim had a little bit of the bug eyes, but he didn't look as bad as James did after his foul.

9:02 This game kinda sucks. I either need the Spurs to dominate and put on a clinic or LeBron to do something special. With the star for each team sitting on the bench, not much chance of either of those happening.

9:09 Lead down to 3 after Cleveland's largest lead of 8 points. The Spurs generally make up ground quietly after a timeout. After the Cavs being up all first half, the Spurs could tie this ... Horry hits a three. Cavs take a time out. It won't surprise me if S.A. leads going into halftime. Or if I fall asleep during halftime, don't wake up until the game's over, and not really feel bad about it.

9:12 And the Spurs take the lead going into half! Hopefully everyone believes me when I say I write this as the game goes. That basket was set up by Parker attacking the lane even though there was 7 seconds left. The foul allowed the other Spurs to get down the court, call a play and spread the court for Parker.

HALFTIME

It's not good for the home team. Parker hasn't been anywhere near as effective as he as been in the first two games, Duncan had to sit, LeBron played most of the first half, and the role players for the Cavs are playing pretty well. They're still down by two.

Here's what I'd say if I were on the halftime commentary team. [showing highlights of first half] JMeeks: THIS IS WHY THEY CALL THE SPURS A BORING TEAM!

9:34 Second half starts, yawn. They show a shot of P.J. Carlesmo talking with Popovich. It seems the best teams in the NBA have a former head coach working as an assistant. Dallas has had Del Harris helping out Avery Johnson. And the Spurs have Carlesmo. I can't think of any other teams like this, but it seems to have helped these two.

9:42 I tried finding Drew Gooden's dunk against Iowa State, but it apparently hasn't found its way on to Youtube. I remember watching Kansas play and Gooden having a killer windmill-type jam from the side in the open court. It was not appreciated by the home crowd.

9:49 I'm about ready to split-screen this thing and start playing some Tiger Woods on the XBox. Seriously, this is a finals game? I respect the Spurs and enjoy watching them when they are playing well. Unfortunately for them, all anyone will remember is them being difficult to watch, when in fact, the Cavs on any given night are three times as painful to watch as the Spurs on their worst night.

9:53 Another call for the home team. Carrot top isn't anywhere near set and Ginobili gets called for the foul. Marc Jackson thinks it's a good call, Mike Breen backs him up and Van Gundy calls them out. No way that was a foul on Manu. He looks for contact, but it looked like the lane was his.

9:56 Gooden gets 3 fouls in 4 possessions - one Cavs possession and two Spurs possessions! To say he isn't very good at defense would be ... absolutely correct.

9:56 1/2 In case anyone forgot ...




I was looking for Brent Barry winning the Dunk contest and I got an added bonus of seeing Finley back when he could jump! In NBA Live 2003, Finley is on the All-90s team and he is a machine. He could dunk like whoa. Guess this is where they got it from.



10:14 Duncan is getting more active on the offensive end. He's passing up some shots to gallop across the lane for some running hooks. It seems to be working for him. What's a little scary is Duncan putting it on the floor in traffic. Not quite as graceful as some, but effective.



10:26 Carrot top needs to chill out. He's made some pretty bad plays in this game. He reminds me of Tommy Boy and the dinner roll. He's just so excited! Then he comes down and hacks the crap out of Duncan - you could hear it! - and no call.



10:36 This was almost a game. Carrot top takes an ill-advised shot. Go figure. LeBron will not have kind words for him during this timeout. If Mike Brown is half of a coach, he'll play Z for the rest of the game.



10:48 Maybe a foul on LeBron. Probably better for him in the long run that they didn't call it. If he makes the first two and misses the second, that's pretty rough. Tony Parker is using any excuse to show his "O-face".








That's my T.V, by the way.


END OF GAME



Well, this was exciting! I retract my previous statement about blogging this in person at the finals. I would have rather bought nude pics of Amanda Beard on my ESPN corporate credit card and called it research. I bet I'm more serious about playing darts than I am about watching the second half of the game on Thursday. Can't wait to blog about something more fun to watch ... like the Astros ... or the Texans.

NBA finals - Game 2

Alright - I thought about writing about things during Game 1, but didn't. Hopefully I'll find stuff tonight to write about. This will probably be disjointed, oh well. I'm including timestamps because that tends to be the standard. Let's see how long it takes before I get bored of this.


8:02 A quick word from our sponsors: This blog is being fueled by the last of Reggie Roby's Miller Lite. He's in Europe and I'm stuck here - he can deal with it.

8:06 Sick pass by Parker - right through Larry Hughes' legs! Easy bucket for Duncan and a foul, too! Hughes didn't even turn around! Why is he playing instead of Daniel Gibson? This might be why - Gibson is making just more than 400 grand this year. Hughes? $13.3M.

8:15 Everyone on the Spurs knows what they want to do with the ball before they get it. When Oberto got the ball under the basket, he went straight up with it. Mike Finley either takes a shot or passes immediately. No one on their team passes up an open shot, even if they aren't one of the 'big three.' You don't see that with Cleveland. It seems like they might be thinking they're taking shots away from LeBron when they take a shot. By taking a shot or getting the ball to someone else, you're not giving the defense a chance to rotate.

8:26 Gibson with another nice shot. I think this would be a good chance to point out that he's from Houston.

8:33 That makes me think that the Houston pro teams should be looking at talent originating in the Houston area. Gibson was picked with the 42nd overall. The Rockets had the 32nd overall. They apparently forgot about Hakeem and Clyde - players who brought championships to the Rockets after playing for the University of Houston. Championship teams are made through the draft - regardless of the sport. (See San Antonio Spurs, New England Patriots)

8:49 Break in the action. Check this out - I think I'm going to try to watch this girl play some time. She's 6'5 and has dunked a couple times in games.




9:05 Wow, San Antonio is up by like 28 points! I must not be paying attention. At least we don't have to hear about how Cleveland is "only" down by so much.

9:22 This has turned into quite the whooping. So much for Cleveland coming out a bunch stronger tonight.

9:45 I'm back. Oh gee, I'm getting tired of Tim Duncan's reactions to every foul. If he doesn't think he fouled somebody, he should scream obscenities at the refs and kick the ball and make a lot bigger deal about it. That whole bug-eyed thing should be really embarrassing for him. (Note: That was sarcasm. What I'm really tired of is everyone complaining about it. Seems like a relatively minor thing for people to jump on him about. None of his fouls are really that extreme and he deals with it in a civilized manor. Seems like a better way of handling it than laying down on the scorer's table.)

10:01 Not much to write about. Spurs are owning.

10:04 Horry with his fourth block! Once upon a time, he played for the Rockets, too. Won two championships with them. He's another player that the Spurs have had good success with. Horry is here to win a championship, he understands his role, and the coaches do a nice job of playing him effectively. It's tough to beat the experience that 6 rings brings you. I've got to believe that Horry is coming back next year. The Spurs aren't going to be changing much next year, would have to be considered favorites out of the West again, and Horry continues to get meaningful minutes and contribute. If I were the Spurs, I'd ask him back.

10:08 As I wrote the previous, Horry hits another three. Go figure.

10:15 So, Spurs up 27 starting the fourth quarter and Duncan and Parker are sitting on the bench. Is there even a chance this series makes it back to San Antonio. With the 2-3-2 (which I hate!) the next three are in Cleveland. Doesn't give the home team much of a chance for a celebration. Besides, why would you do it one way for the rest of the playoffs and then change it when it matters?

10:39 Don't look now, but this turned into a game for a little bit. This probably isn't a bad thing for either team. The Spurs will have some things to work on for next week. Well Mr. Marc Jackson just said the Cavaliers can feel good going into game three because they made a comeback against San Antonio's good players, but that was not the case and Stan Van Gundy agreed with me. Duncan and Parker sat long enough for Cleveland to get some momentum then came off the bench a little cold. It brought some competitiveness back into a game that was really done shortly after it started. The Spurs end on a nice note. Cleveland ends with a loss. Moral victories don't exist in the finals. The "boring" Spurs won a game that could be considered high scoring for these playoffs and scored 103 points on cruise control for most of the game.

Recap: Look for the Spurs to come out in game 3 in Cleveland focused and without the laughing and looseness they displayed in S.A. The crowd will be rowdy, but not enough. LeBron showed flashes towards the end of this one, but the Spurs' defense takes him out for large parts of the game. Duncan will assume his silent assassin demeanor and Parker continues his ways. Fouls tend to go the way of the home team, but they haven't been a factor in either of the first two, so I don't see them making the difference in Game 3. We'll see together.

Don't know if the blog is making a comeback for Game 3. I enjoyed it, included some stuff that I'd wanted to get onto the site, and it took some of my attention away from an otherwise uneventful whooping. After reading some other "analysis" I'll probably have more to say.