Heat vs. Spurs: Game 1 Preview

Here’s everything you need to know for Game 1

In this game preview, I’m going to continue comparing the Heat and Spurs starters at each position. So far I’ve covered point guard, shooting guard, and small forward (links are above). So all that’s left is power forward and center.

Power forward: Tim Duncan vs. Udonis Haslem

Tim Duncan will probably go down as the best power forward of all time. Of all mother lovin’ time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZpRYBGBT_M

And he’s being guarded by Udonis Haslem, who is…uh….probably going to go down as….let me check this….the 357th best power forward of all time?!? Really? That high? (Just doesn’t have the same ring to it.) Remember, Udonis Haslem’s the guy that scored three points (25% FG%) and grabbed four rebounds in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

I mean, if I was about to be lowered into a fiery pit of doom (a la The Terminator) and my only salvation was correctly picking the winner of a pickup game between Tim Duncan and two Udonis Haslems, I’d pick Tim Duncan every single time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkdkAe0GgbA

That’s how good Tim Duncan is.

(Last time I checked the Bovada, it was 50-50 odds that “Udonis Haslem nervously sh

himself whenever he thinks of Tim Duncan.”)

Center: Tiago Splitter vs. Chris Bosh

Tiago Splitter and Chris Bosh play center in two very different ways. Splitter is utilized in high pick-and-roll situations, and is crafty at carving out open spaces in the paint for himself. That’s pretty much all he does in this highlight video (high pick-and-roll with Parker, or find gaps in the defense in the post areas).

Chris Bosh is one of the best pick-and-pop big men in the NBA and has probably one of the best mid-range jumpers in the game. And it’s not just his mid-range jumper that’s lethal — Bosh is shooting damn near 50% from the three point line. However, Bosh is allergic to the paint. Bosh averaged something like 3.6 rebounds per game during the Eastern Conference Finals. He probably still goes to bed with nightmares of Roy Hibbert grabbing rebound after rebound after rebound against him in the first six games of the Eastern Conference Finals (Roy Hibbert mysteriously disappeared in Game 7).

Chris Bosh is mobile enough to deal with the Parker-Splitter high pick-and-roll pretty effectively. If Bosh can take advantage of Splitter on the offensive end (if Bosh is a raptor, Splitter is a stegosaurus), and that’s a big “if” given how much Bosh has sucked throughout the playoffs, then I think Bosh has the advantage in this matchup.

So let’s recap:

PG — Spurs (Tony Parker)

SG — Heat (Dwyane Wade)

SF — Heat (LeBron James)

PF — Spurs (Tim Duncan)

C — Heat (Chris Bosh)