LeBron, Battier on Duncan

Written by Quixem Ramirez on Jun 06, 2013 17:00.

Ask a couple casual fans about the best players in this generation -- the generation following Michael Jordan. You'll probably hear Kobe Bryant

quite a bit. Some Shaq, too. Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Garnett. Even Allen Iverson.

San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan's name won't come up often. Not because he isn't in the same tier of those players. But it just isn't fun to talk about a guy whose signature move will never make SportsCenter -- an innocuous bank shot from the elbow. His gigantic hands fling the ball, it hangs in the air briefly, and the basketball almost always takes a perfect carom off the backboard and into the net. It's effortless, and he can make this shot against any post player in the league.

Duncan's been doing this for 16 years.

no comments

Spurs-Heat Finals Preview: The X-Factors

Written by Rey Moralde on Jun 06, 2013 16:00.

During the NBA Finals, Rey Moralde of The No Look Pass will be contributing to Project Spurs during the San Antonio Spurs' chase for title number five.

The Finals between the San Antonio Spurs against the Miami Heat should be a real good one. It has that "old guard" against "new guard" feel, even

though this is the first time the Spurs have been in the championship round since 2007, this core has been winning titles since 2003 (since 1999 with just Tim Duncan). Miami, of course, is the defending champions.

But, really, who are the X-factors in this series for each team?

SPURS: Tiago Splitter

Splitter is no Roy Hibbert but he's still a big body that clogs up the lane, which Miami had trouble against Indiana. And with Duncan inside as well, Miami will probably attack the Spurs like they did the Pacers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

no comments

NBA Finals: Chris Bosh the biggest non-LeBron concern

Written by Trevor Zickgraf on Jun 06, 2013 15:00.

Chris Bosh Tim Duncan Aside from probably three-point shooting, any time we say "so and so is the biggest concern for the San Antonio Spurs" over the next couple of weeks, that "so and so" is going to be LeBron James. He is the Heat's best scorer, passer, rebounder, defender and even all-around shooter. Containing him is likely not going to happen, but containing the rest of the Heat players is going to be crucial to the Spurs winning the NBA Championship.

The biggest concern is Chris Bosh. Part of that has to do with Bosh himself and part has to do with the fact that Dwyane Wade hasn't looked right all playoffs long. If Danny Green's only job is to shadow a hobbled Wade, then he can be contained without much help from the other Spurs players on the court. Bosh, on the other hand, is trickier to defend. It's easy to say you just have to defend him the way Roy Hibbert did last round, but recent history tells us Bosh has been consistently healthy and really good against the Spurs.

no comments

'Pace' will play a big part for Spurs and Heat

Written by Philip Rossman-Reich on Jun 06, 2013 13:30.

During the NBA Finals, Philip Rossman-Reich of Orlando Magic Daily will be contributing to Project Spurs during the San Antonio Spurs' chase for title number five.

There was not a whole lot to glean from the San Antonio Spurs’ two regular season matchups with the Miami Heat.

After all, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili sat out the first game in Miami and then LeBron James and Dwyane Wade returned the favor in March in San Antonio. Quite honestly, the regular season means a whole lot less than it usually does when it comes to these two teams and the NBA Finals, which start tonight if you have not heard.

There are several patterns though that should give the Spurs pause in this series. It has everything to do with that series against the Warriors which gave the Spurs so much trouble – you know, the one where San Antonio suffered its only two losses of the postseason.

no comments

Free from Hibbert's shadow, the Heat unleashed

Written by Jesse Blanchard on Jun 06, 2013 12:00.

For six games in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Indiana Pacers made the Miami Heat—defending champions and winners of 27 consecutive victories in the regular season—appear oddly vulnerable, before the Heat reminded all of the advantages of having home court advantage and the game’s best player in Game 7.

Still, the manner in which the Pacers dragged the Heat through the mud, suffocating what had been the NBA’s best offense while bullying their interior defense on the other end, exposed some flaws in that Miami team.

The problem with carrying that train of thought into the NBA Finals is that particular Miami Heat team will not be the one the San Antonio Spurs face.

It took a few injuries and some glaring lack of depth in the front court in last year’s playoffs for the Heat to finally stumble upon a style that worked best for them, discarding size in favor of smaller lineups that injected additional speed into the Heat’s swarming defense and maximized the utilization of LeBron James’ unique abilities.

no comments

Chris Bosh

Dwyane Wade

Indiana Pacers

3 Keys To A San Antonio Championship

Written by Jose Grijalva on Jun 06, 2013 10:30.

The San Antonio Spurs will face off against the Miami Heat tonight in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. This will be the first time the Spurs make the Finals without homecourt advantage against the best team in the East, the Miami Heat.

The Spurs will have their work cut out for them in the final series to determine the NBA champion and there will be three factors that will determine if the Spurs can overcome the Heat this series.

1) Tony Parker playing like an MVP

Parker has been the best player with the silver and black this season and has carried the offense on his shoulders when he's been on the floor. His improved passing and aggressiveness is what has made the Spurs dangerous this postseason and has countered the opposing team's top offensive player. This series Parker might meet a new defender worthy of shutting him down: LeBron James. Parker will have to earn his points this series, especially if #6 is going to be guarding him.

no comments

Video: Jackson picks Spurs over Heat in Finals

Written by Jose Grijalva on Jun 05, 2013 16:30.

Phil Jackson's been a thorn in the San Antonio Spurs' side when he was the coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, but it seems this year he's picking the Spurs to win it all.

In a recent book signing, a fan asked Jackson who he thought was going to win the NBA championship in the Finals stage and Phil gave his quick pick.

Check out the video below.

no comments

Top storylines heading into NBA Finals

Written by Quixem Ramirez on Jun 05, 2013 15:00.

The San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat kick off the NBA Finals tomorrow and it is shaping up to a doozy. There are a bunch of relevant angles to

explore -- so many in fact that I scrapped a few just to save you, the precious reader, some time. Here are the seven story lines that made the cut:

Miami is mortal

Miami punctuated a physically exhausting seven-game series with a 99-76 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Monday. Indiana, specifically the duo of David West and Roy Hibbert, decimated the limited Heat frontline, grabbing more than a third of their own misses (34.3 percent), during the series per NBA.com. The Pacers played inspired, gritty basketball and nearly upended the defending champions. This, of course, is a team that only dropped four games since February 1 prior to the Eastern Conference finals. In a span of 12 days, they lost three games and were one LeBron James buzzer-beating layup from coughing up another. Yep, Miami is mortal.

Rest vs. rust

The good news for Miami? Regardless of how bad they looked in their Finals tune up -- and, for many stretches, the Pacers could have been mistaken for the favorite -- they have achieved their primary objective. Getting to the Finals.

no comments

Ginobili: Not impossible to beat the Heat

Written by Jeff Garcia on Jun 05, 2013 13:30.

The Miami Heat ran off 27 games in a row in the regular season, made short work of the Bucks and Bulls in their first two rounds in the postseason but against the Pacers, they looked mortal until Game 7 of the East Finals where they reminded the NBA they still are the defending champs.

And now the San Antonio Spurs will get their shot at dethroning the champs.

Heading into the Finals, the Spurs are not the favorites but if San Antonio wants to extinguish the Heat, they will have to play a perfect series and keep in mind, Miami is mortal according to Manu Ginobili.

In his column for Argentine site Canchellena.com Manu notes the Spurs are not the favorites but sees the Heat as beatable.

no comments

Spurscast #297: Spurs vs. Heat NBA Finals preview show

Written by Kyle Boenitz on Jun 05, 2013 12:00.

The NBA Finals are finally here!

This week's podcast is all about the San Antonio Spurs' matchup with the Miami Heat for the 2013 NBA title. Trevor Zickgraf (@yowhatupt) and Project Spurs' newest member Aaron Preine (@DukeOfBexar) join me for previews, analysis and predictions.

We also talk about the legacy of the "Big 3" and much more.

The Spurscast. The first and original Spurs podcast.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download

Music: Modest Mouse - Float On

Send me your Finals predictions or anything else you want us to talk about during the rest of the postseason on Twitter (@KyleBoenitz) or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

no comments