Willard made a big mistake not having Angel on the court to secure the game winning rebound against Butler last game – we can all agree on that.
But since we have a few days before our first game in the tournament, let’s take a look at another late game situation that forced one of the greatest coaches of all time to make a very similar ill-fated decision.
Miami, FL - Game 6 the 2013 NBA Finals.
The San Antonio Spurs were up 94-89 with 28.2 seconds remaining in the game. Miami had just called their final timeout after an 8-0 Spurs run in the last minute. The event staff had already roped off the perimeter of the court in anticipation of the Spurs’ next NBA championship victory. The Larry O’Brien Trophy was courtside and Miami Heat fans were exiting the building in droves.
During the Heat timeout, Popovich decides to bring in Boris Diaw to substitute for Tim Duncan on defense.
LeBron ends up missing a three point attempt out of the inbounds play and the ball is tipped off the fingertips of both Manu Ginobili and Boris Diaw. Ray Allen corrals the rebound and LeBron drills a three pointer off of a scoop pass from Mike Miller to bring the Heat to within 2 points of the Spurs with 20.1 second remaining.
San Antonio takes their final timeout.
On the next possession, Popvich inserts Tim Duncan into the game to inbound the ball near half court and the Heat foul Kawhi Leonard who was shooting only 69% from the free throw line during the playoffs. He misses the first, and makes the second free throw and the Spurs are now up only 3 points with 19.4 seconds remaining in Game 6.
Here is where it gets interesting – Spurs coach Greg Popovich made a substitution during Leonard’s sequence at the foul line, again choosing to keep Tim Duncan on the bench – trading Hall of Fame level rebounding for defensive fluidity.
Miami has zero timeouts remaining.
Popovich knows that the Heat have plenty of time to get the ball up the floor with 19.4 seconds remaining and does not want to give Heat coach Erik Spoelstra an opportunity to create a defensive mismatch by forcing Tim Duncan to switch onto LeBron. So he goes with the smaller lineup sans Duncan hoping that they can disrupt any pick and roll/pop opportunities by using the faster tandem of Kawhi Leonard guarding Lebron and Boris Diaw at center guarding Chris Bosh.
Heat point guard Mario Chalmers quickly brings the ball up the floor with full court pressure from his defender Tony Parker. After crossing half court, he dribbles towards the Heat bench, going hard left around a LeBron screen toward the sideline which causes Parker to switch on to LeBron and pulls the lengthy Kawhi Leonard away from the play. Parker then scrambles to recover onto LeBron but is met with another screen from Chris Bosh which puts him in limbo underneath the screen inside the arc.
This allows Chalmers to throw a one handed pass out to LeBron who attempts to bury the long ball with both Parker and Diaw closing out on the shot.
The first part of the plan works. LeBron misses the game tying three point shot as the ball clanks off the rim with 9 seconds remaining – but Chris Bosh is already sliding through the paint with his eyes on the ball as it rises off back the iron. Manu Ginobili is forced to try to out-jump him for the rebound, but Bosh comes down with the ball in heavy traffic and kicks it out to a backpedaling Ray Allen for an incredible corner three attempt and he nails it – tying the game with 5.2 seconds left.
After the officials reviewed the play to confirm that Allen’s feet were behind the line, the Spurs got off a quick play with Tony Parker rushing the ball up the court with no timeouts and missing a wild fall away jumper as time expired and the game headed into overtime.
One of the great rebounders of all time and future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan always had a knack for getting the perfect position on rebound attempts like those – but he never got the opportunity because of the defensive scheme that his coach chose to employ.
“We don’t question those,” Ginobili said, asked after the game about Popovich’s decision to sit Duncan on consecutive defensive possessions. “He’s got a great coaching staff. He’s a great coach. And if he did those things, I’m sure he thought about it and he had many great reasons to do it … When he subbed Timmy, it was probably to switch everything. Believe me, he had many more reasons to make that sub than for any of you to question to him.”
As we all know, Miami went on to take Game 6 in overtime and then won the NBA title in Game 7 – an NBA title that the Spurs were so close to winning at the end of Game 6.
“I don’t know,” Parker said when asked about Popovich’s substitutions of Duncan in regulation and him in overtime. “Me personally, I trust Pop, whatever decision he makes. I was cramping a little bit at the game, so… But I’ll go with whatever Pop decides.”
So Popovich definitely made a questionable move – but just like Willard, he chose to use the personnel that gave his team the best chance to defend the game winning shot rather than worrying about having his best rebounder in the game.
“It was a hell of a game. It was a hell of a game,”Popovich said. “It’s a game of mistakes and they ended up on the winning side.”
You better believe that Greg Popovich learned from these crucial late game mistakes. The San Antonio Spurs came back to win the 2014 NBA Finals 4 games to 1 over LeBron and the Miami Heat.
Your move Willard.
But since we have a few days before our first game in the tournament, let’s take a look at another late game situation that forced one of the greatest coaches of all time to make a very similar ill-fated decision.
Miami, FL - Game 6 the 2013 NBA Finals.
The San Antonio Spurs were up 94-89 with 28.2 seconds remaining in the game. Miami had just called their final timeout after an 8-0 Spurs run in the last minute. The event staff had already roped off the perimeter of the court in anticipation of the Spurs’ next NBA championship victory. The Larry O’Brien Trophy was courtside and Miami Heat fans were exiting the building in droves.
During the Heat timeout, Popovich decides to bring in Boris Diaw to substitute for Tim Duncan on defense.
LeBron ends up missing a three point attempt out of the inbounds play and the ball is tipped off the fingertips of both Manu Ginobili and Boris Diaw. Ray Allen corrals the rebound and LeBron drills a three pointer off of a scoop pass from Mike Miller to bring the Heat to within 2 points of the Spurs with 20.1 second remaining.
San Antonio takes their final timeout.
On the next possession, Popvich inserts Tim Duncan into the game to inbound the ball near half court and the Heat foul Kawhi Leonard who was shooting only 69% from the free throw line during the playoffs. He misses the first, and makes the second free throw and the Spurs are now up only 3 points with 19.4 seconds remaining in Game 6.
Here is where it gets interesting – Spurs coach Greg Popovich made a substitution during Leonard’s sequence at the foul line, again choosing to keep Tim Duncan on the bench – trading Hall of Fame level rebounding for defensive fluidity.
Miami has zero timeouts remaining.
Popovich knows that the Heat have plenty of time to get the ball up the floor with 19.4 seconds remaining and does not want to give Heat coach Erik Spoelstra an opportunity to create a defensive mismatch by forcing Tim Duncan to switch onto LeBron. So he goes with the smaller lineup sans Duncan hoping that they can disrupt any pick and roll/pop opportunities by using the faster tandem of Kawhi Leonard guarding Lebron and Boris Diaw at center guarding Chris Bosh.
Heat point guard Mario Chalmers quickly brings the ball up the floor with full court pressure from his defender Tony Parker. After crossing half court, he dribbles towards the Heat bench, going hard left around a LeBron screen toward the sideline which causes Parker to switch on to LeBron and pulls the lengthy Kawhi Leonard away from the play. Parker then scrambles to recover onto LeBron but is met with another screen from Chris Bosh which puts him in limbo underneath the screen inside the arc.
This allows Chalmers to throw a one handed pass out to LeBron who attempts to bury the long ball with both Parker and Diaw closing out on the shot.
The first part of the plan works. LeBron misses the game tying three point shot as the ball clanks off the rim with 9 seconds remaining – but Chris Bosh is already sliding through the paint with his eyes on the ball as it rises off back the iron. Manu Ginobili is forced to try to out-jump him for the rebound, but Bosh comes down with the ball in heavy traffic and kicks it out to a backpedaling Ray Allen for an incredible corner three attempt and he nails it – tying the game with 5.2 seconds left.
After the officials reviewed the play to confirm that Allen’s feet were behind the line, the Spurs got off a quick play with Tony Parker rushing the ball up the court with no timeouts and missing a wild fall away jumper as time expired and the game headed into overtime.
One of the great rebounders of all time and future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan always had a knack for getting the perfect position on rebound attempts like those – but he never got the opportunity because of the defensive scheme that his coach chose to employ.
“We don’t question those,” Ginobili said, asked after the game about Popovich’s decision to sit Duncan on consecutive defensive possessions. “He’s got a great coaching staff. He’s a great coach. And if he did those things, I’m sure he thought about it and he had many great reasons to do it … When he subbed Timmy, it was probably to switch everything. Believe me, he had many more reasons to make that sub than for any of you to question to him.”
As we all know, Miami went on to take Game 6 in overtime and then won the NBA title in Game 7 – an NBA title that the Spurs were so close to winning at the end of Game 6.
“I don’t know,” Parker said when asked about Popovich’s substitutions of Duncan in regulation and him in overtime. “Me personally, I trust Pop, whatever decision he makes. I was cramping a little bit at the game, so… But I’ll go with whatever Pop decides.”
So Popovich definitely made a questionable move – but just like Willard, he chose to use the personnel that gave his team the best chance to defend the game winning shot rather than worrying about having his best rebounder in the game.
“It was a hell of a game. It was a hell of a game,”Popovich said. “It’s a game of mistakes and they ended up on the winning side.”
You better believe that Greg Popovich learned from these crucial late game mistakes. The San Antonio Spurs came back to win the 2014 NBA Finals 4 games to 1 over LeBron and the Miami Heat.
Your move Willard.
