2013 NBA Finals Miami Heat versus San Antonio SpursOutlook

In Greek mythology, Zeus is known to have indulged in many erotic escapades leading to the birthing of a multitude of gods and goddesses that still have their stories told in: college classrooms, backyards, and cinematic theatres to this day. Two such offspring are Athena and Ares, Athena being the goddess of military strategy (intelligence, inspiration, arts and crafts, etc…) and Ares being the god of war. Athena is meant to be the brains, Ares-the brawn. Athena represents discipline; Ares symbolizes violence and tenacity towards man. The two will be meeting in the NBA Finals Thursday night as well, in the shape of the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat.

The Ares and Athena of the NBA will face of in the NBA finals

Let’s start with Athena. The Spurs are governed by the best coach they’ve had since the team’s inception in 1967. Gregg Popovich is a coaching demigod, who is now looking for his 5^th title in the last 14 years. Before him they didn’t have a conference title, now they have five. The reemergence of Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, and Manu Ginobili in the top tier of “big three” tandems in the NBA has reenergized and sparked San Antonio to its first Finals appearance since 2007. And has it been fun to watch. Tony Parker is playing like a man possessed right now: 23.0ppg, 7.2apg, and 48%fgp. This, combined with the leadership and authority of Tim Duncan, the “Big Fundamental,” who has shut down overtime games throughout the playoff with his notorious 20ft jumper and ability to bang in the low blocks with the likes of the leagues best at the age of 37, has truly been remarkable to witness. This team, for the most part, has been together for a while. Parker has been alongside Tim Duncan since 2001, Ginobili had been with them since 2005, –and all of them have bought into Popovich’s system. We’re even seeing Danny Green excel (43% from downtown) and Kawhi Leonard step into himself. The Spurs must believe in their coach’s strategy, the same way they have all year, with Parker and Ginobili looking to penetrate and get Duncan, Splitter, Leonard, Green, and even Bonner the looks they need to knock down shots. The glass will be crucial this series, I can’t reiterate that enough. Miami has been astoundingly good this year on the boards, a true testament to the accusation of Birdman and Haslem’s resurgence over the past series. Popovich deserves an incredible amount of respect for what he’s done this season all through discipline, San Antonio is the least foul-prone team in the NBA this postseason (average 2 fouls and turnovers less per game than Miami). If San Antonio can be the wiser team, if they can exploit Miami’s lacking experience in close 4^th quarter games, and if they can control the machine that is LeBron James, they have a chance.

Ares the god of war can represent the brawn and relentless brutality that is the Miami Heat. Miami isn’t playing games this post-season, you can feel how badly they want another title, to quiet the critics pestering them all season, to give Haslem a title to retire on, to set-up a potential three-peat next season. Consequently, it would also be interesting to consider what LeBron James would look like in a primitive setting, with a sword and shield, chances are he’d probably be the best warrior. LeBron took over the Indiana series, logging 32pts, 4asts, and 8rbs, in the onslaught of the Pacers in Game 7 on Monday night. Boy did it look easy. The rebounding performance of Dwayne Wade was critical for the Heat, as bickering over the 31-year-old’s health raged in the media beforehand. Wade did exactly what the Heat needs him to replicate Thursday night, to attack. There was a streak in Monday’s game where Wade either scored or assisted on 7 straight plays late in the third, Miami needs this to continue. I see the matchup of LeBron on Danny Green being an easily exploitable facet of the game so I’m going to focus on the big men. Chris Bosh needs to come back in a big way, only averaging 11.0ppg, 4.3rpg in the Conference Finals. This man is 6’11, and he’s being outrebounded right now by a man 7 inches shorter than him (Wade is averaging 4.9rbg throughout the playoffs)! I realize that a majority of Bosh’s game comes from his uncanny 20ft jumper, but Miami simply cannot rely on Haslem, Andersen, and James for rebounding support. I was truly impressed with the effort Mike Miller put in the minimal minutes played throughout the Conference Finals. Mike Miller is the man, it’s truly odd that nobody knows about him (Former Rookie of the Year, Former 6^th Man of the Year, etc..). I’d like to see Miller come in to guard Danny Green, yes he lacks defensively but he can still guard Green, freeing up LeBron to either play down in the post. Every single time Miami puts LeBron in the post, good things happen, take note Spoelstra. LeBron is now at a point where his physicality rivals anyone in the NBA, they could put him on Duncan and he could limit his production for god’s sakes. Norris Cole will be an important name in this series, faced with the horrifyingly daunting task of guarding Parker while running Miami’s offense, sort of.