So there's no game tomorrow? Good for our team extra rest, they need that.
During our east playoff run ive read lots of posts, comments from fans of our vanquished foes (lol that feels good to say). And a common thing they kept pushing is that their team beat themselves. That it was their team's undoing and not necessarily because of Miami. Coz you know we're #8 and not enough talent. So let me use that reasoning here just once. That the Heat beat themselves this game one. They held Denver way below their playoff ave pts but failed to get shots to go down, several good looks. Also Jimmy, Max, and Caleb had a bad game. All 3 of them and that didn't happen before in these playoffs. I don't do this usually, I give credit to the winning team. Just tried it this time and imo this has merit to it.
Yeah, the fact that three of our starters (Jimmy, Caleb, and Strus) combined to go 7 for 31 was the story for me. As much as our defense got cooked early on, if that trio even combined to shoot 40%, we would have tied or won at the end of regulation.
I am not worried, especially if Jimmy proves his words and leads the Heat to drive and draw some fouls rather than settling for jumpers all night on Sunday.
I was not impressed by the Nuggets win last night. Largely, because they did what I had commented to expect them to do, i.e, Lean on mismatches (Gabe was heavily abused in the first half),driving to the paint to put Heat in foul trouble, fast transition offense and Jokic doing what he does in offense when it was time for him to do so(assists, rebounds and knocking down 3s). Nothing out of the ordinary.
What I did not expect:
Bam being the spark on Heat's offense and needing his guys to follow through which did not happen.Usually, it is the other way round.Kudos to Bam for stepping up his offense.His defense again was stellar.
Did not expect that the rim seemed smaller on our open 3s, there were plenty last night. If we had a made a few, it might had been a different ball game.
We hung in there on the boards 43 vs Denver's 45. I thought the difference was going to be huge in favor of Denver.
Did not expect the outrageous disparity on free throws. Heat 2 vs Denver's 20. Even though we had little or no drives to the paint. #14 seemed to have a far lower threshold to call it on the Heat and mentally temporarily left the building when the Heat was on Denver's backcourt only to return when Denver was in the Heat's backcourt. 2 FTs vs 20 FTs. Really, is the NBA not embarrassed?
Did not expect how much respect Denver had for the Heat. Murray and Jokic were left on the court till the end of the 4th quarter, when it was clear that victory was in the bag. This should give the Heat's players more confidence to know how much they are highly regarded and dare I say 'feared' by the Nuggets coaching crew.
The time out by Nuggets coaching crew whenever Heat made a little run apparently seemed so frequent to me, that I was surprised Nuggets did not run out of time outs. This alludes again to how much 'feared' the Nuggets coaching crew have for the Heat.
At one point, in the first half, Jokic seemed fatigued. He was puffing and panting, could it be the result of too much rest for the past 7 days?. Wished the Heat had attacked him more in the paint.
The body language of Pat and Zo was that of disgust, perhaps directed at the refs and those missed open 3s, who knows?
This was not one of those frustrating losses, that would get me scratching my head in frustration. I am fine with it, though a loss is never a good thing. It sets you back and pushes your goal further.
With some rest , Jimmy being Jimmy, the team making open 3s ( opportunities will always be there as Denver's perimeter defense was suspect last nigh)t and Bam remaining consistent, this series may go 4-2 or 4-3, in favor of the Heat inspite of disproportionate calls.
Go Heat,Go!
Food for thought:
In the off season the FO need to stop those half hearted moves to go for bigs. How many times will teams take advantage of Heat's small size before the lesson is learnt? Lakers, Bucks did it on their way to winning titles. Hoping that the Nuggets will not be the next team to do so.They say doing the same thing over and over and getting the same outcome is the definition of insanity. Otherwise, the Heat will soon earn the reputation of the most appearances at the finals with no rings to show for it.
The outcome, 2-20 fts, doesn't really affect the analysis to me (Miami took a ton of jump shots and when they did pressure the rim it was often for clean layups/funks off ball and player movement).
The thing that impressed me was just how smooth Denver looked offensively. It seemed that little we did flustered them. That Jokic-Murray PnR is a hell of a drug.
They did not appear flustered because we did not make our 3s. If we had made those 3s, there will be more sense of urgency on their part. Denvrr coaching knew that and kept both stars in the game even in presumably gabbage time for a reason, you do not underestimate the Heat . Believe it or not 5 or 4 made free throws for the Heat before the 4th qtrs would have meant 10 or fewer pts to narrow the gap and may be enough to generate some momentum going into the 4th qtr. Coaches have a reason why they work on refs to get calls for their team and noncalls for the other team. It can be a morale booster or deflator, not just the impact on the scores alone that FTs have.
i believe yurt should have been integrated with bam.the size diff is the biggest diff in the 2 teams besides joker and murray.the only way we have a chance if 3s start dropping 40% or higher will be needed.cant count on jim going off every game seems to pick and choose when to be superman
Doubt Y7 will play. I hope those 3s start dropping. That will open up the paint for Jimmy as Denver will be forced to react to the 3s, which they were not good at last night.
I agree. Yurt being sidelined most of the season hurt both his personal development and integration into the team. Inserting him into the mix now for any meaningful minutes is highly unlikely.
Too bad we can’t use Orlando and Cain. Their size and athleticism would help.
Denver didn't have the best night scoring the ball, but watching them it felt like if you opened the dictionary to offense it'd just be their picture. They were so smooth for like 8/10ths of the game.
Spo seems to have made the decision that this is gonna be two series in one-- Jokic on the court vs. Jokic off. It seemed to work alright, but I don't suspect KCP and Porter Jr to have such bad shooting nights, maybe.
This game didn't feel hurried, rushed, pressurized, hectic. It felt like two teams testing each other out. We didn't get the Miami Heat grinding like their lives were on the line for every possession. Maybe we'll be able to get our legs back under us. Relatedly, a lot of Jimmy's shots, it looked like he was compensating for not having any lift (please please basketball gods let us see if only for brief stretches the legs he had v. Milwaukee).
And while we only scored 93, I think we'd all agree the offense was creating so many great shots. Night and day between games 4-7 of the ECF and tonight. It was actually kind of stunning. That little Highsmith cut to the dunkers spot off of various actions at the top of the key and wings, gorgeous.
Last thing, we made a few entirely unforced errors we don't usually make. Duncan getting back cut, Bam flubbing the DHO with Duncan, Jimmy running out of bounds of the wing, Highsmith in transition, Zeller getting the rock snatched.
Well, this was the worst game of the season. Not because the Heat lost, I actually think that's not a big deal. They were tired and couldn't hit jump shots.
This was the worst game of the season because the NBA, after showing all of the playoffs on TNT and ESPN, are now showing the Finals on ABC, which has different streaming rules, so I can't watch the games. And because I've been recording everything and then watching later, i don't have time to watch live anyway.
Who runs a television show everyday for two months and then switches streaming providers for the finale?
Well, I'll try to catch what i can, and will chime in if I do. Otherwise I can only tell you what i saw in the box score. Looks like Bam had a nice game
Love would have been too slow as a help defender. He would have picked up fouls sooner than Gabe did and Heat will be in early foul trouble.Gordon is fast.
I find that any team, no matter how good, just occasionally has a game where they cant hit their threes. When several players have off nights you goingvto lose.
With Caleb, just an off nite as he played great under just as great of pressure in the last round. For Max, the importance of the games might be overwhelming him a little.
Perhaps playing Highsmith more is indicated. Highsmith appears to be blossoming before our eyes and that may be a real positive we can take from an otherwise pretty bad beatdown. Another positive was Bam's excellent effort.
Denver is really good, you could see why they swept the Lakers. But, the series is far from over and I expect it to be more competetive in game two.
Further, the threes we kept missing were decent looks, nothing forced. That doesnt usually keep happening. And, Denver couldn't miss for a lot of the game. That also doesnt usually keep happening.
The one major concern is Jokic. He may be just too good. He is the one who seems to be able to score when they need it most. Overcoming him is going to be hard.
Umm..Denver shot 4% worse from 3. Just saying Denver had a sub par offensive night in comparison to their other playoff games. In fact...this was one of the better defensive performances against them
Now we really have them where we want them. Steal game 2 then take 2 back in Miami (or at least split). Our guys hit their 3's it's a whole different game. Time for adjuistments.
Denver shot 29% from 3. If they shoot closer to their average and porter who is an excellent 3pt shooter doesn't go 2/11 from three and this thing is blown wide open.
something new for max and caleb? jimmy not himself. tired maybe? offense was the issue. Heat kept the Nuggs to just 104 pts way below their west conf playoff ave of 116. so that's something to build on. positive is Bam appeared. and HH!
Nuggets a monster team so Heat got their hands full, overflowing from the looks of it. but they can do this. i keep reminding myself they overcame that 3% chance to win ecf. rest, regroup, adjust. grind again. lets get game 2. Go Heat!!
Agree that they obviously need adjustments. I’d like Highsmith starting. I’d still start Martin as I don’t expect him to have 2 really bad games in a row. Gives you more defense and hh is shooting well and hustling.
So there's no game tomorrow? Good for our team extra rest, they need that.
During our east playoff run ive read lots of posts, comments from fans of our vanquished foes (lol that feels good to say). And a common thing they kept pushing is that their team beat themselves. That it was their team's undoing and not necessarily because of Miami. Coz you know we're #8 and not enough talent. So let me use that reasoning here just once. That the Heat beat themselves this game one. They held Denver way below their playoff ave pts but failed to get shots to go down, several good looks. Also Jimmy, Max, and Caleb had a bad game. All 3 of them and that didn't happen before in these playoffs. I don't do this usually, I give credit to the winning team. Just tried it this time and imo this has merit to it.
This is why I am optimistic. Denver did what they needed to do including getting gifted with bonus of 18 FTs, yet they scored below their average.
yes, and that also. fts. the refs maybe running out of breath to blow the whistle against the nuggs coz you know, its mile high denver
Yeah, the fact that three of our starters (Jimmy, Caleb, and Strus) combined to go 7 for 31 was the story for me. As much as our defense got cooked early on, if that trio even combined to shoot 40%, we would have tied or won at the end of regulation.
I am not worried, especially if Jimmy proves his words and leads the Heat to drive and draw some fouls rather than settling for jumpers all night on Sunday.
Just taking a 2nd look at last night's stats:
HH 18 pts in 23 minutes, impressive to me.
Very impressive
Very!
needs to play 40 mins.everything u want size athlete defense can score
U want Spo to go crazy on u.
the way hes playing hes 4th best player
I was not impressed by the Nuggets win last night. Largely, because they did what I had commented to expect them to do, i.e, Lean on mismatches (Gabe was heavily abused in the first half),driving to the paint to put Heat in foul trouble, fast transition offense and Jokic doing what he does in offense when it was time for him to do so(assists, rebounds and knocking down 3s). Nothing out of the ordinary.
What I did not expect:
Bam being the spark on Heat's offense and needing his guys to follow through which did not happen.Usually, it is the other way round.Kudos to Bam for stepping up his offense.His defense again was stellar.
Did not expect that the rim seemed smaller on our open 3s, there were plenty last night. If we had a made a few, it might had been a different ball game.
We hung in there on the boards 43 vs Denver's 45. I thought the difference was going to be huge in favor of Denver.
Did not expect the outrageous disparity on free throws. Heat 2 vs Denver's 20. Even though we had little or no drives to the paint. #14 seemed to have a far lower threshold to call it on the Heat and mentally temporarily left the building when the Heat was on Denver's backcourt only to return when Denver was in the Heat's backcourt. 2 FTs vs 20 FTs. Really, is the NBA not embarrassed?
Did not expect how much respect Denver had for the Heat. Murray and Jokic were left on the court till the end of the 4th quarter, when it was clear that victory was in the bag. This should give the Heat's players more confidence to know how much they are highly regarded and dare I say 'feared' by the Nuggets coaching crew.
The time out by Nuggets coaching crew whenever Heat made a little run apparently seemed so frequent to me, that I was surprised Nuggets did not run out of time outs. This alludes again to how much 'feared' the Nuggets coaching crew have for the Heat.
At one point, in the first half, Jokic seemed fatigued. He was puffing and panting, could it be the result of too much rest for the past 7 days?. Wished the Heat had attacked him more in the paint.
The body language of Pat and Zo was that of disgust, perhaps directed at the refs and those missed open 3s, who knows?
This was not one of those frustrating losses, that would get me scratching my head in frustration. I am fine with it, though a loss is never a good thing. It sets you back and pushes your goal further.
With some rest , Jimmy being Jimmy, the team making open 3s ( opportunities will always be there as Denver's perimeter defense was suspect last nigh)t and Bam remaining consistent, this series may go 4-2 or 4-3, in favor of the Heat inspite of disproportionate calls.
Go Heat,Go!
Food for thought:
In the off season the FO need to stop those half hearted moves to go for bigs. How many times will teams take advantage of Heat's small size before the lesson is learnt? Lakers, Bucks did it on their way to winning titles. Hoping that the Nuggets will not be the next team to do so.They say doing the same thing over and over and getting the same outcome is the definition of insanity. Otherwise, the Heat will soon earn the reputation of the most appearances at the finals with no rings to show for it.
The outcome, 2-20 fts, doesn't really affect the analysis to me (Miami took a ton of jump shots and when they did pressure the rim it was often for clean layups/funks off ball and player movement).
The thing that impressed me was just how smooth Denver looked offensively. It seemed that little we did flustered them. That Jokic-Murray PnR is a hell of a drug.
They did not appear flustered because we did not make our 3s. If we had made those 3s, there will be more sense of urgency on their part. Denvrr coaching knew that and kept both stars in the game even in presumably gabbage time for a reason, you do not underestimate the Heat . Believe it or not 5 or 4 made free throws for the Heat before the 4th qtrs would have meant 10 or fewer pts to narrow the gap and may be enough to generate some momentum going into the 4th qtr. Coaches have a reason why they work on refs to get calls for their team and noncalls for the other team. It can be a morale booster or deflator, not just the impact on the scores alone that FTs have.
That's a good point, there were so many cross match ups after missed Miami shots that Denver quickly took advantage of.
I'm not sure I'd say our defense would be better if we made those shots. The game certainly would have felt different.
i believe yurt should have been integrated with bam.the size diff is the biggest diff in the 2 teams besides joker and murray.the only way we have a chance if 3s start dropping 40% or higher will be needed.cant count on jim going off every game seems to pick and choose when to be superman
Doubt Y7 will play. I hope those 3s start dropping. That will open up the paint for Jimmy as Denver will be forced to react to the 3s, which they were not good at last night.
I agree. Yurt being sidelined most of the season hurt both his personal development and integration into the team. Inserting him into the mix now for any meaningful minutes is highly unlikely.
Too bad we can’t use Orlando and Cain. Their size and athleticism would help.
True
Does anyone know who Joerg Stadler is? He used to look a little like the best player in the NBA.
no craig stadler the big walrus golfer though
Hint, "Steamboat Willie, toot toot. Betty Grable, nice gams."
Denver didn't have the best night scoring the ball, but watching them it felt like if you opened the dictionary to offense it'd just be their picture. They were so smooth for like 8/10ths of the game.
Spo seems to have made the decision that this is gonna be two series in one-- Jokic on the court vs. Jokic off. It seemed to work alright, but I don't suspect KCP and Porter Jr to have such bad shooting nights, maybe.
This game didn't feel hurried, rushed, pressurized, hectic. It felt like two teams testing each other out. We didn't get the Miami Heat grinding like their lives were on the line for every possession. Maybe we'll be able to get our legs back under us. Relatedly, a lot of Jimmy's shots, it looked like he was compensating for not having any lift (please please basketball gods let us see if only for brief stretches the legs he had v. Milwaukee).
And while we only scored 93, I think we'd all agree the offense was creating so many great shots. Night and day between games 4-7 of the ECF and tonight. It was actually kind of stunning. That little Highsmith cut to the dunkers spot off of various actions at the top of the key and wings, gorgeous.
Last thing, we made a few entirely unforced errors we don't usually make. Duncan getting back cut, Bam flubbing the DHO with Duncan, Jimmy running out of bounds of the wing, Highsmith in transition, Zeller getting the rock snatched.
So this might be some useful stats about our recovering Boy Wonder:
Heat with Tyler Herro on court -
114pts, 48% fgs, 36% on 3s, opp pts 110
Heat w/out Ty -
107pts, 38% fgs, 32% on 3s, opp pts 113
Heat 7-8 reg season w/out Ty.
But we cnt know for sure if that surgically rapaired shooting hand can give those stats right away.
Well, this was the worst game of the season. Not because the Heat lost, I actually think that's not a big deal. They were tired and couldn't hit jump shots.
This was the worst game of the season because the NBA, after showing all of the playoffs on TNT and ESPN, are now showing the Finals on ABC, which has different streaming rules, so I can't watch the games. And because I've been recording everything and then watching later, i don't have time to watch live anyway.
Who runs a television show everyday for two months and then switches streaming providers for the finale?
Well, I'll try to catch what i can, and will chime in if I do. Otherwise I can only tell you what i saw in the box score. Looks like Bam had a nice game
My sympathy for being ✂️ off. It is the $$$$$$$ talking to NBA.
Hang in there. If they win watch full game. If not, do the 9 minute recap on youtube.
GO HEAT!
That wasnt the best game from Spo, at least in first qt. Gordon did a lot of damage.
Love could help there, I suppose.
Strus probably stayed late training his 3p after the game.
Love would have been too slow as a help defender. He would have picked up fouls sooner than Gabe did and Heat will be in early foul trouble.Gordon is fast.
I prefer let him shooting 3p then playing against gabe in the rim.
I find that any team, no matter how good, just occasionally has a game where they cant hit their threes. When several players have off nights you goingvto lose.
With Caleb, just an off nite as he played great under just as great of pressure in the last round. For Max, the importance of the games might be overwhelming him a little.
Perhaps playing Highsmith more is indicated. Highsmith appears to be blossoming before our eyes and that may be a real positive we can take from an otherwise pretty bad beatdown. Another positive was Bam's excellent effort.
Denver is really good, you could see why they swept the Lakers. But, the series is far from over and I expect it to be more competetive in game two.
Further, the threes we kept missing were decent looks, nothing forced. That doesnt usually keep happening. And, Denver couldn't miss for a lot of the game. That also doesnt usually keep happening.
The one major concern is Jokic. He may be just too good. He is the one who seems to be able to score when they need it most. Overcoming him is going to be hard.
Umm..Denver shot 4% worse from 3. Just saying Denver had a sub par offensive night in comparison to their other playoff games. In fact...this was one of the better defensive performances against them
I hear you and good point. Boy, it sure didnt seem like that. Murray seemed like he couldn't miss for the first half.
Benny, your team is excellent. But, we have been here before and figured things out. If we go down 2-0, then I will get concerned.
Now we really have them where we want them. Steal game 2 then take 2 back in Miami (or at least split). Our guys hit their 3's it's a whole different game. Time for adjuistments.
GO HEAT!!!
Denver shot 29% from 3. If they shoot closer to their average and porter who is an excellent 3pt shooter doesn't go 2/11 from three and this thing is blown wide open.
i mean, we did hit our 3's. we shot 13/39. i think what we missed are drives and foul shots. cannot rely too much on 3's
something new for max and caleb? jimmy not himself. tired maybe? offense was the issue. Heat kept the Nuggs to just 104 pts way below their west conf playoff ave of 116. so that's something to build on. positive is Bam appeared. and HH!
Nuggets a monster team so Heat got their hands full, overflowing from the looks of it. but they can do this. i keep reminding myself they overcame that 3% chance to win ecf. rest, regroup, adjust. grind again. lets get game 2. Go Heat!!
Agree that they obviously need adjustments. I’d like Highsmith starting. I’d still start Martin as I don’t expect him to have 2 really bad games in a row. Gives you more defense and hh is shooting well and hustling.
If Denver is gonna spam Aaron Gordon, I agree Highsmith (or even Love) has to be on the court.
leave martin in too athletic take strus out asap
jimmy in the finals mj wade kobe etc dont pass .its on u sir too much passing.put your head down get to foul line or shoot shoot and shoot
one game time to adjust.play hh for max.ty first man off bench need a spark.rough up joker with zeller maybe ud.shoot better might have a chance.