(Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
Opponents score too many points in the paint. Thunder broke the Spurs with a 10-0 late run. The Spurs won championships on defense – it’s not there now. Beefing up the lane is a start and pulling guards inside the three point line will tighten the inside defense.
3) Better Player Coaching
Last night the Thunder won their first road game against a playoff team this season! Why? Poor Spurs coaching.
Tim Duncan played an excellent game for 36 minutes and hit 9-of-12 shots from the floor, but missed 4-of-7 shots from the free throw line, an old Spurs nemesis. This is Duncan foul shooting when he was exhausted. Why? Poor coaching!
Gooden and Thomas played well! Thomas hit 1-of-1 from the field and got three rebounds in seven minutes. Gooden had four points and two rebounds in nine minutes. They had 25 percent of Spurs offensive rebounds in 16 minutes combined time! Are these reasons to sit them out the rest of the game running Duncan’s bad knees into the ground with 36 minutes? Hey Coach: I’m talking to you!
4) Better Team Coaching for Second Half OMS – Old Man Syndrome
The Spurs have five regular players over 30 years old and have scoring droughts regularly in the second half. Every team knows about the Spurs OMS use it to beat them. How? They simply drive down the lane like the Hornets and Thunder.
From 10:17 to 5:37 remaining in the game, the Thunder scored six points off layups, and 10 total points before Popovich called a timeout – after four minutes and 17 seconds without a Spurs point!
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