2014 NBA Finals: The (t5!) Cap Off
Last year, I wished for the NBA to award the San Antonio Spurs a championship as well, because they deserved it as much as the Miami Heat did. As a person rooting for the Heat to win the championship this year, I should be careful what I wish for.
This year, however, you couldn't say that the Heat deserved rings as much as the Spurs did. Not even close. The Spurs eviscerated the Miami Heat four games to one, extinguishing their hopes of getting their third championship in a row. In five games, the Spurs outscored the Heat, 528-458, posting a point differential of +70, which is the largest in NBA Finals history. They averaged 118.5 points per 100 possessions; that’s a tad over six points greater than the Clippers’ regular-season-leading offensive rating of 112.1 points per 100 possessions. They shot 52.8% in the Finals, an efficiency never been reached in the NBA Finals. There were quarters in these five games when the Spurs looked immortal. In the 4th quarter of Game 1—right after LeBron’s infamous Cramp Game—they went 14 for 16 from the field and 6 for 6 from three-point range. In the 1st quarter of Game 3, they went 13 for 15 from the field, 4 for 4 from three. When commentator's often say that a team or a player "can't miss", it is often used as hyperbole. Well, for the first ten minutes of Game 3, the Spurs literally didn't miss.
In able to achieve this euphoric state of basketball sublimity, it can't just be one or two players reaching their zeniths. All five Spurs were shooting the ball exquisitely. And the shots they took weren't just hopeless heaves thrown at the basket that miraculously went in, the Spurs shared the basketball endlessly until that Spalding brand hot potato found the player that had the highest probability of making a basket. The Spurs assisted on 66.5% of their made baskets versus the Heat’s 45.2%. They passed the ball 484 more times than the Heat (1770 to 1286). They had 27 more secondary assists (41 to 14). GIFS of their offensive possessions—like this, this, and this—are being framed and displayed in art galleries to be marveled at by basketball votarients. The Spurs' ball movement clinic overwhelmed the Heat’s hyper-athletic, blitz-and-scramble defense that disoriented offences since the start of the 2011-2012 season. They embodied the old basketball adage of “the ball moving faster than the man”. They epitomized the "team basketball" preached by basketball philosophers.1
All hail Gregg Popovich. When the Spurs won their first championship in 1999, they had a grind-it-out, post-it-up identity, justified by their two Hall-of-Fame seven-footers owning the paint at the time. Sure, they had to stomach being called "boring" and "unwatchable" because of this, a designation they had difficulty shaking off, but it was effective enough to get his team four championships in eight seasons. But then NBA changed its rules on him: hand-check fouls were being dispensed generously, making it easier for ball handlers to penetrate, and pseudo-zone defenses were encouraged, making it difficult for post-up isolation plays to prosper. He also saw his fundamentally sound meal ticket, Tim Duncan, being somewhat defeated by Father Time. Thus, Coach Pop had to evolve. He borrowed elements from ideologies such as the seven-seconds-or-less Phoenix Suns, the Euro basketball leagues, and Spain’s tiki-taka football. He rolled the ball out to Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili and instructed them to run with it. Now his evolution has been Top 10 in Pace for the last three years. Still, even though the Spurs have been disheartening teams so casually with this beautiful brand of basketball for some time now, it has never been as mellifluous as it was in this year’s Finals.
The Spurs have definitely been preparing themselves for the Heat since Game 7 painfully ended for them last year. They also understood that in order to beat the Heat in the sequel, their roster had to be deep. So Popovich went experimental with his lineups during the regular season. He used the 82 games to workshop different bench players in different roles and different lineups, figuring out who he can rely in key situations and what 5-man combination can he deploy to counter certain strategies. No one in the Spurs averaged more than 30 minutes per game during the regular season, which is another first in NBA history. Bench players were granted ample playing time to develop their skill set and gain confidence while Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili remained healthy and rested for the playoffs. That was the difference why they were this good compared to last year, even though they were a Ray Allen corner three away from winning it all last year. Everyone Popovich called upon can be depended on. The Spurs bench was +91 in these Finals and the Heat bench was -81. The Heat players said so themselves that they couldn't help off a scrub when they were on defense. They had to defend all five players on the court and they had to do so for the game's entirety. Everyone came out to play. Their 12th man Jeff Ayres didn't see much action on the court, but I’d like to assume that if Duncan and Tiaggo Splitter ever had to sit because of foul trouble, the drop off would be minimal.
When Popovich and GM R.C. Buford were acquiring players to surround their Big 3, the players they sought after had to possess two important qualifications: selflessness and high basketball IQ. Because they've identified their very specific needs, they have been able to find treasures in other franchises’ scrap heaps. Boris Diaw was released in 2012 by a Charlotte Bobcats team that was 7-59 that season, and he was assisting like he has a long-lost twin working for State Farm. Danny Green had been sent down the NBA Development League numerous times early in his career, and in the last couple of years, you couldn't leave him open for a millisecond. Before this season, Patty Mills was known more for the towel-waving techniques he perfected while warming the bench, and now he’s pulling up from deep in transition and outplaying both of his point guard counterparts in Miami. Coach Pop has identified the one or two skills that these role players were terrific at and told them to only do those things so that they're not engulfed with responsibilities on the court. He also made them repeat his motion offense endlessly as if he's a calculus teacher flooding his students with problems until they can differentiate and integrate in their sleep.
And then there’s the Spurs’ most crucial “role player”, Kawhi Leonard, this year’s NBA Finals MVP2. I use that phrase loosely because role players aren't supposed to go toe-to-toe with the Heat and the planet Earth’s best basketball player, LeBron James. Since Game 3, he averaged 23.7 points and 9.33 rebounds per game and shot a mind boggling 68.6% from the field. He guarded LeBron for most of the series, and while he didn't exactly shut him down, his relentlessness definitely made sure that LeBron had to work for every point he scored. When he got switched to guarding other Heat players, especially Dwyane Wade, he made them forget how to dribble. Also, he may be considered a role player now but he is definitely the Spurs’ future. At 22 years old, he is the third youngest NBA Finals MVP ever. Astonishingly, he is younger than five players currently projected to be selected in this year’s draft. The Spurs’ future remains bright as long as it's in the humongous hands of Kawhi. Tim Duncan was asked about Leonard and the outlook for the Spurs moving forward, and he said, "I'm honored to be on this team right now because he's going to be great for years to come. And I'm going to hold on as long as I can".
But for now this is undeniably Tim Duncan's team. Ginobili may be my favorite Spur, and Parker may be their best player, but I’m happiest for Duncan, mainly because of the devastating way he ended last season. With this fifth ring, Duncan, the original Quiet Storm, became the first player to start for a title team in three different decades. With his performance this year, he became the oldest player to average 15+ points and 10+ rebounds in the Finals (breaking his own record from last year). He is also the all-time leader in postseason minutes, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He is also now the NBA's career leader in playoff double-doubles with 126, passing Magic Johnson. He has been consistently terrific for so long that he is often forgotten when talking about NBA's pantheon. I have him at number 7, leaping over Kobe Bryant and inching closer to Kareem. He has solidified the "best power forward of all time" epithet for a while now, and this title run just further cements that fact.
A three-peat for LeBron would have put him third all-time between Bill Russell and Magic Johnson in the eyes of many. It'll happen eventually, but sadly, we're just going to have to wait for a bit. Obviously the reverse happened after this loss. The Spurs’ domination—along with the leg cramps he suffered in Game 1—gave the haters further ammunition to lambaste LeBron. But that noise is mostly coming from Facebook and Twitter now, and pretty much nowhere else. Andrew Sharp said it best in his article yesterday in Grantland that "On one hand, nobody who's serious about the NBA wonders about LeBron's greatness anymore. He has no credible critics. Save for one or two outliers, mainstream writers are as universally reverential of LeBron in defeat as they are of the Spurs in victory." His stats in the Finals supports that last statement: LeBron averaged 28.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 4.0 assists, and 2.0 steals a game. He shot a ridiculous 57.1% from the floor and 51.9% from three. LeBron was asked about the loss after Game 5 and he said "I didn't do enough". He scored nearly one-third of his team’s total points in the Finals, and he didn't do enough. If he gave more, the world would have stopped spinning on its axis. Social media loves to take pleasure on Heat's supposably embarrassing showing, but the Spurs' just executed flawlessly and put up insane numbers. People love to compare LeBron to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant? I sincerely doubt Jordan or Kobe, even with their best NBA lineup with them, could have beaten this Spurs team.
Additionally, I sincerely doubt that Jordan or Kobe could have won with this particular Heat team.3 Every Heat player except for LeBron, and maybe Chris Bosh for some stretches, were downright awful. Wade shot the ball poorly, turned the ball over frequently, and couldn't shake his defender. There's also a Youtube video devoted to his detestable defensive efforts in the Finals . On prior seasons, people have subscribed to the reasoning that Wade struggled because he wasn't totally healthy. However, this season, he took off regular games more than he used to fully recover for the Finals run. He also looked respectable against the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. I feel that the reason for his horrible outing was because the Spurs did an admirable job clogging the paint, helping off Miami’s least dangerous shooters so Wade had to go against two or three defenders whenever he drove to the basket. What I don't understand though is that this strategy was also implemented by the Spurs last year, and Wade performed better then when he was supposed to be more injured. You can charge some of his struggles to the fact that he was just unlucky with his floaters, but he's a concern for the Heat moving forward. And fucking Mario Chalmers; his play was a disaster of massive proportions. In the last 30 years, Super Nintendo Chalmers is the only Finals starter to total 10 or fewer points and shoot 25% or worse from the field after playing 50+ minutes. He was uncertain on offense, was confused on defense, and looked overall frustrated. His backup, Norris Cole fared a little bitter than Chalmers, but Tony Parker sucked out their souls on a regular basis off the dribble. Shane Battier couldn't shoot threes anymore, and pair that with them losing Mike Miller after he got amnestied and the Heat just lost the ability to stretch the floor for LeBron.
What's next for the Heat then? Well, they need to get players. The blueprint that they have to follow is what the team that kicked their ass for five games have been adhering to for more than a decade now4. Their Big 3 have Early Termination Options this offseason and everyone else is basically unrestricted free agents. James, Wade, and Bosh need to opt out of their contracts and take pay cuts so that they can surround themselves with quality pieces. Their most essential needs are an effective rim protector and a point guard that can relieve LeBron of his ball handling duties (someone better than Chalmers). Then they have to fill the bench with bargain bin players or ring chasing veterans, but obviously they have to be able to play Miami’s blitzkrieg defense and/or shoot from the perimeter. Then they have to be able to draft just as well as the Spurs have been drafting, finding young contributors in the second round or the end of the first round. There are rumors of adding Carmelo Anthony and making it a Fantastic 4, but that dream scenario for Heat fans happen only if all four are willing to heavily cut down their salary, like each signing up for 10 to 14 million yearly paychecks, for instance. I don’t know how a front office deal maker, even someone as savvy as Pat Riley, can convince Wade to walk away from $14 million guaranteed next year and Carmelo to turn his back from $62 million (that is, if he resigns with the Knicks for five years). If that very improbable sequence of events go down, they would be an offensive juggernaut, but there's still no assurance that they win a title every year, especially since Carmelo doesn't solve the Heat's defensive. But then again, they have been fine without a shot blocker for two years, so what the hell do I know.
Whoever they fill the roster spots with, everything is dependent on Wade. He is going to have to accept the fact that he's a shell of himself now and that he needs to evolve. Maybe that means improving his three-point shooting or point guard skills during the offseason. Maybe that means accepting his role as a super sixth-man. Maybe that means losing 10 to 15 pounds to gain some quickness back. Having said all that, he could just be traded away at any point this summer as well to make room for other salaries. And who knows. LeBron might just opt out of his contract and sign with a contender that has cap space, like the Bulls or the Rockets. Maybe he goes back to Cleveland. Maybe Brian Windhorst's proposal of sign-and-trading him to the Clippers for Blake Griffin happens. Maybe he joins the Spurs. Can you imagine LeBron under Popovich? One can only wish.
1 The Spurs played wonderful team basketball indeed. With that said, people were making out as if the Heat were playing exclusively iso ball out there, meaning they are an exemplar of what's wrong with the NBA. In reality, the Heat is one of the NBA's better ball moving team. But their ball movement relies heavily on spacing, and since the Heat perimeter shooters can't hit anything from the three-point line, the Spurs were comfortably sagging off and hindering the Heat's pick-and-rolls and drive-and-kicks. Therefore, they resorted to putting LeBron in a lot of pick-and-roll situation, hoping that a switch happened and LeBron gets a mismatch to take advantage in a one-on-one situation. Furthermore, I hate that people are watching these Finals and subscribing to the narratives of "good vs. evil" or "built vs. bought". It's basketball, you guys, stop being ridiculous. ↩
2 I love how the ESPN/ABC uses music accompaniment for player highlight packages to fortify Jalen Rose's hip-hop based nicknames, like when they used Mobb Deep's "Quiet Storm" for Kawhi Leonard. Earlier in the playoffs, they soundtracked the highlight package of Oakland's own, Damian Lillard with "93 Til Infinity" by Oakland's own, Souls Of Mischief. Also, if I had my choice for Kawhi Leonard's nickname, I would go with "Kawhi So Serious".↩
3 Although some would say Jordan, with Bugs Bunny and Tweety Bird on his team, were able to defeat the Monstars↩
4 This could have been a separate post in and of itself, but let's analyze the free agent class this offseason. Kyle Lowry fits perfectly for the Heat, giving LeBron a ball handling point guard that can push it up in transition. Luol Deng gives the Heat the best chance to retain their small-ball identity. Trevor Ariza is a more affordable, less reliable Luol Deng. Marcin Gortat can serve as a defensive stalwart in the paint. My favorite out of all of the higher tier free agents for the Heat is Pau Gasol. He gives them an inside presence on offense and gives them length on defense. It also gives him an opportunity to redeem himself and stick it to Kobe. If the Big 3 take pay cuts, I think they can afford two of these players. Imagine a starting lineup of LeBron-Wade-Deng-Bosh-Gasol. That seems very attainable. There are a handful of free agents that I hope the Heat signs to strengthen their nine-man lineup, like Josh McRoberts, Vince Carter, Jodie Meeks, and Shaun Livingston. For comedic purposes though, I hope Paul Pierce signs an MLE with the Heat.
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