This is one weird series. Just when you thought LeBron and Wade had figured out how to circumvent the Spurs defensive trickery, they throw up another stink bomb and get beat by double-digits again (and that 10-point margin was flattering). To be fair, Game 5 was more about Tony and Manu than LeBron and Wade. The Spurs duo combined for 40 points on 18-28 shooting and 15 assists, and made countless big bucket after bucket when the Spurs needed it.

For Manu, this game came out of nowhere – his best of the playoffs at a time everyone was questioning his effort, and suggesting an early retirement. It was a potent reminder that the Spurs Big 3 are still a force to be reckoned with, and that on any given night you just don’t know who is going to step up in that Spurs uniform. Tonight it was Manu and Boris Diaw. That’s not a typo.

The Spurs supporting cast was again excellent. Danny Green continues to shoot like Dan Majerle in NBA Live 95 (he was 6-10 in this game), and now owns the record for most threes in a Finals series. Seriously, if someone had told you that before the series would you have believed them?

Read the rest…

Apparently, they’re flying off the rack……..for family members. That’s Aron’s brother, Callum, and cousin, Chris, over from Auzz.

It’s not out on YouTube yet, so here’s the link on NBA.com.

Never change, Pop.

A weekly wrap of the things you should know in basketball.

* Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski on Dwyane Wade’s Game 4 performance: “As much as Wade’s dominance was a validation of his greatness, it was too an indictment of the parade of pedestrian and poor performances that had come before it.” Well said.

* Diapered, moustachioed cowboy children celebrate in the streets after the Spurs’ Game 3 victory.

* Fair-weather Heat fans exposed on Jimmy Kimmel.

* Jason Kidd to coach the Brooklyn Nets. I think he’ll do alright, but he can’t turn water into wine.

* Dwyane Wade and Manu Ginobili are two guys who need to adapt their game if they want to survive and thrive over the coming years.

* Manu Ginobili’s Tim Duncan impersonation.

* Why the Boston Celtics should let Doc Rivers walk.

* Andre Drummond dunks on Chris Brown.

* Truehoop’s Henry Abbott chats to Jeff Van Gundy.

* An interesting interview with Stephen Jackson.

* Rob Mahoney at SI’s Point Forward believes Andrew Bogut could make a successful transition to NBA head coach after his playing days are over.

You’re a bit late to the party, Dwyane.

LeBron + NBA Finals questions resurface…

What the hell is up with LeBron James? In the NBA Finals Game 3 ESPN post-game discussion Magic Johnson summed it up best – “I don’t want to hear any excuses anymore.” Yes, the Spurs are playing great defence. Yes, Wade and Bosh aren’t playing at their usual level. LeBron is meant to be the best player in the game though, yet there are times where he looks passive. A word you rarely (if ever) hear in regards to all-world NBA players. With LeBron it’s now been used to describe three of the biggest playoff series of his career.

(Racking my brain, franchise-type guys in my NBA viewing lifetime who had the passive label stick to them – David Robinson, Vince Carter, Chris Webber. Hakeem – actually he was Akeem at the time – and Kobe had passive moments, but they were more road bumps than career-defining.)

The thing with LeBron is it seems like he needs bulletin board material to fire himself up. Jordan and Kobe used it to help fuel the fire, with LeBron it seems like it is the fire. When you look at the teams LeBron has destroyed, there’s been an actual reason behind it. The Chicago Bulls beat him up on the court, and Joakim Noah mocks him in the media. They routinely get crushed. The Celtics extinguished his playoff runs several times in Cleveland, flap their gums, then last year’s Game 6 happened. Paul George and the Pacers have a couple of chippy exchanges against the Heat for the last two years, then this year’s Game 7 happened. Even with last year’s NBA Finals, before the series started there was some talk of “is Kevin Durant better than LeBron?” LBJ turns “MVP mode” on, five games later he’s won his first championship.

Read the rest…

Seems like an interesting guy.

DraftExpress are projecting him to be a lottery pick in the upcoming draft.

Choice.

It’s not just us stopping him. He’s kind of stopping himself out there, and we’re getting a little lucky.”

- Spurs’ guard Danny Green on LeBron James.

Yep, we can’t believe it either, Danny.

Quote of the Year from Gregg Popovich?

Despite LeBron’s 18-point, 18-rebound, 10-assist effort in Game 1, the armchair critics are out in full force to nit-pick his game. Here’s Pop’s response to that:

He’s a grown man. He doesn’t need any of you [media] to tell him anything. He knows more than all of you put together. He understands the game. If he makes a pass and you all think he should have shot it, or he shoots it and you think he should have made a pass, your opinions mean nothing to him, as they should not mean anything to him.”

He’s right. We sit at a keyboard and make our snarky comments, and criticise the best player in the world. Pretty crazy when you think about it.

Bosh for Boogie Cousins?

If the Miami Heat lose to San Antonio in this series they probably need a shake-up; not just for their chances of future success but also to convince LeBron to stick around beyond 2014. So what do they need? Apart from shedding a bit of salary, it’s pretty clear they need to get younger and bigger (girth-wise).

Read the rest…