DRob on the Big Stage
Duncan had some ups and downs, but again led the Heat in +/- (+ 5), while scoring 17 points on 7 shots. Officiating definitely favored the Lakers, and was probably the difference IMO. Davis, James, and Caldwell-Pope all heated up, with Davis and James hitting multiple 3-pointers in the 2nd half. Herro is really good and may be the best offensive player in the league in another year or two.
Excellent game by both teams and officials.
October 7th, 2020 at 12:42 AM ^
Give him rings!!
October 7th, 2020 at 8:32 AM ^
When I first saw this, I thought it was about Denard Robinson.
October 7th, 2020 at 9:21 AM ^
So did I. Both two of my favorite players... So maybe we could dub Duncan DuRob? He deserves something of his own.
October 7th, 2020 at 12:52 AM ^
Lakers got a bunch of calls...to be expected.
Herro is a great young player, but best offensive player in the league in the near future is a stretch. Lots of young talent in the league like luka, Murray, and Mitchell all have more complete offensive games.
I do see Hero’s ceiling as that of Steve Nash, though, which is mvp level. But he’d need to hit his absolute ceiling while the others stop improving. If I were to bet on 1 of those horses right now it would be Luca since the passing, strength, IQ and shot making are already there. If Luca raises his 3 point % (very doable for a young player) he’ll be playing at Larry Bird level already.
October 7th, 2020 at 1:01 AM ^
I know nothing about Luka, Murray, or Mitchell, so you are probably right. Herro impresses me with his willingness to shoot whenever and wherever, and to make a high percentage of such shots at crunch time. In other words, he's got amazing confidence!
October 7th, 2020 at 9:14 AM ^
Steve Nash? What parts of his game are like Steve Nash outside of his complexion? A young Ray Allen is a much better comp for Herro.
October 7th, 2020 at 10:15 AM ^
The other thing is steve nash really shouldn't have been an MVP once, let alone twice. Shaq is still rightly upset about that travesty.
October 7th, 2020 at 12:58 AM ^
Actually the Lakers really weren’t getting calls, the Heat had more FTAs and the Lakers were in the penalty early and often, albeit not to the extent as in Game 3. Jimmy Butler was doing an excellent job of cutting to the rim and drawing fouls until Davis started shadowing him almost full time.
Duncan had some timely buckets (his bank shot late in the 4th was amazing), but on the minus side, he got roasted on a pick and roll by KCP that was probably the dagger basket
October 7th, 2020 at 1:07 AM ^
The Lakers were bombing away from 3 point land (39 3-point attempts to 32 by Miami), so it's not surprising that Miami was getting more free throw attempts. But Lebron and AD are good 3 point shooters. In combination with their athletic prowess, they are hard to beat.
October 7th, 2020 at 1:16 AM ^
Best offensive player in the league?! That's bold.
October 7th, 2020 at 1:25 AM ^
The dude is fearless, and seems to convert on a pretty good percentage of his heroic shots against defenders such as Anthony Davis and Lebron James.
October 7th, 2020 at 1:33 AM ^
*Herroic
October 7th, 2020 at 1:38 AM ^
Herro is still -13 compared to Duncan's +5, so the extreme confidence may be costly. Gotta love Herro though...
October 7th, 2020 at 8:27 AM ^
Who doesn't love a good herro....
October 7th, 2020 at 9:06 AM ^
Gyro my hero, Herro!
October 7th, 2020 at 9:57 AM ^
Oh mami. I should not have looked at that pic before having any food today.
Speaking of food, I remember Brian doing a foodie review of restaurants of AA. If anyone has the link handy let me know, I need to bookmark that page for a future trip.
October 7th, 2020 at 10:05 AM ^
That picture reminds me of one of my favorite Greek restaurants, Parthenon on Main Street in Ann Arbor? It closed a while back and I believe is now the Pretzel Bell, but it was a great spot for gyros, souvlaki and the like.
October 7th, 2020 at 1:19 PM ^
OMG, that place was EPIC! Best gyros that I have ever had to date. They made their own meat rack vs. buying it from other wholesalers like restaurants in Greek Town do. One of the saddest days ever was when they closed down.
October 7th, 2020 at 11:26 AM ^
There's a Herro, if you look inside your heart.
You don't have to be afraid, of what you are.
~Mariah Carey
October 7th, 2020 at 8:25 AM ^
Really, considering the league has James Harden, Dam Lillard, and Trae Young averaging 30 or close to it. They don't rely on others to set them up. He's having a great year, but let's not get ridiculous here.
October 7th, 2020 at 1:43 AM ^
Darn. I didn't expect the Heat to win the series, and even thought the Lakers had a good chance to sweep. Then when the Heat won despite being down two key players, I was hoping for 6-7 games. It may still happen. Not holding my breath.
October 7th, 2020 at 1:44 AM ^
Herro took a disproportionate amount of shots down the stretch, I thought. DROB has been more consistent over the course of the playoffs, and more efficient, and was certainly the better shooter tonight.
October 7th, 2020 at 12:19 PM ^
I'm not sure I'd argue DRob has been more consistent. More dangerous when he's on? You could have a good argment there. Robinson fills it up from deep like no other. But Herro has scored in double figures in every single playoff game this year.
In about +20% minutes played over the playoffs, Herro has double Duncan's rebounds and assists, and has scored >100 more points (+50%).
Love Duncan and his story ... but in the playoffs Herro is clearly contributing more, and more consistently.
October 7th, 2020 at 5:21 AM ^
Herro has 0% chance of ever being the best offensive player in the league. He won’t even be the best white offensive player in the league. It’s Doncic for the next 10 years
October 7th, 2020 at 7:01 AM ^
Why is that an important distinction to make?
October 7th, 2020 at 7:33 AM ^
I took that to mean a subset of players in the league and he won't even be best in that subset. He could have picked many attributes to define his subset (eg, players under 6' 6", players born in the midwest...) and he choose race.
October 7th, 2020 at 10:38 AM ^
Why is it plausible to compare Herro to Nash over a more recent, actually current, and (for the attributes provided) more similar Steph Curry?
October 7th, 2020 at 7:34 AM ^
Herro hit a couple of tough shots, but had a rough game offensively and was bad defensively - frequently overhelping himself out of position. They really need Dragic back for Game 6. Overall, the Heat played well defensively, but so did the Lakers and they hit a few more shots than the Heat.
Herro's going to be a very good player, but he's been up and down the last couple weeks.
I'm pulling for the Heat, and I thought the officiating was fair. They called a pretty good game.
October 7th, 2020 at 8:38 AM ^
I haven't watched a minute of the NBA Finals, but have checked the box scores after each game. I'm glad to see you argue the "Herro might be the best offensive player in the game..." comment, as I just don't see anything that suggests that in the stats. I'm not understanding everyone's infatuation with the guy.
October 7th, 2020 at 9:00 AM ^
Infatuation is the right word. Maybe it’s because he looks like he’s a middle-schooler.
October 7th, 2020 at 10:52 AM ^
I haven't watched a minute of the NBA Finals, but have checked the box scores after each game.
What you don't see in the box score is his age -- born in the 21st century and the youngest player ever to start an NBA Finals game.
October 7th, 2020 at 3:47 PM ^
Luka is a year older than him...
October 7th, 2020 at 7:37 AM ^
Great for him, but unfortunate for his team, hopefully they can put together a bit of a run in the next few game(s)
October 7th, 2020 at 7:41 AM ^
Im still baffled by the constant references to a +/- stat for basketball. I thought that was a hockey specific metric.
October 7th, 2020 at 7:59 AM ^
They use it all the time on the blog front page to define player roles and importance of players to the team
October 7th, 2020 at 7:42 AM ^
Espn radio all night said that the lakers eyes light up when they see d rob trying to defend
October 7th, 2020 at 7:54 AM ^
Who knew the best nba players could possibly be two white Boys.
October 7th, 2020 at 8:10 AM ^
I mean if Giannis, Lebron, AD, Kawhi, Jimmy Butler and KD all retired next year I guess it’s possible.
October 7th, 2020 at 11:31 AM ^
And Steph, Lillard, Harden...
October 7th, 2020 at 9:10 AM ^
Or possibly be three trick ponies..
October 7th, 2020 at 3:45 PM ^
Maybe one day, the Mavs will be sporting a line up of:
Luka Doncic
Tyler Herro
Gordon Hayward?
Kristap Porzingis
Nikola Jokic
with Duncan Robinson off the bench.
Might be one of the best offensively, worst defensively teams ever.
October 7th, 2020 at 8:08 AM ^
”Herro is really good and may be the best offensive player in the league in another year or two.”
Luka, Trae Young, Harden & KD might have something to say about that.
Herro is a player, but he must improve on the other end of the floor. The Lakers absolutely attack him and Duncan when they have the ball.
October 7th, 2020 at 8:38 AM ^
FYI generally when someone says DRob in UM context most folks think of Denard Robinson.
October 7th, 2020 at 8:42 AM ^
I thought Robinson played a phenomenal game until the final 6 minutes of the 4th quarter. He hit 3s coming off screens, finished over AD once, made solid passes and was adequate defensively.
But with the game tied at 83 with 6 minutes remaining, the Lakers absolutely hunted Duncan down the stretch, scored repeatedly and probably won the game because of that tactic. Robinson can be below average, but he can't be incompetent defensively, particularly when it matters most. Giving up drives to Lebron is one thing (not many people in the world can handle him when he's determined to get to the rim), but giving up straight line drives to KCP and Rondo when it matters most is simply unacceptable.
As for the whistle, it definitely favored Miami. Vogel had to use a challenge to overturn an out of bounds call that was clearly off Miami in real time. Miami pushed Caruso into AD blatantly, both players went down, Miami was off to the races and hit a 3 because of it. The foul discrepancy was very much in favor of the Heat until the 4th quarter, despite the Lakers outscoring Miami in the paint.
I'll say it again, Anthony Davis is making a push for best player in the world. His two-way ability is almost unreal. For a 6'11 guy to defend Jimmy Butler and absolutely shut him down is unfathomable.
October 7th, 2020 at 10:08 AM ^
Davis is an absolute difference maker under the rim. The Heat are clearly struggling at the rim due to his presence. It also allows Green and KCP to chase Duncan around the 3 point line with abandon. The Heat are usually able to punish teams at the rim if they overplay the 3, but not with Davis constantly looming under the rim.
October 7th, 2020 at 9:21 AM ^
"Officiating definitely favored the Lakers, and was probably the difference IMO." ... "Excellent game by both teams and officials."
So which one is it - biased officiating, or good officiating? I mean, even if you prefer the biased results, that doesn't make it 'good'.
October 7th, 2020 at 11:45 AM ^
Good question!
I thought the calls favored the Lakers (MattEM thought the opposite). But it seemed to me that the officials were calling them the way they saw 'em and it was more chance that caused the way they saw 'em to favor the Lakers. They seemed competent and impartial, but the majority of the questionable calls went to the Lakers as I saw it.
October 7th, 2020 at 9:29 AM ^
Man the Heat had so many chances in this game. They just could not hit timely shots because overall I think the Lakers played pretty uninspired on offense. They went cold a lot and Lebron decided to try and end the game with multiple step back 3 bricks. That shit drove me crazy when he was on the cavs. Dragic playing everyone one of Nunn’s 26 minutes would have made a huge difference as he went 2-11 and is an absolute ball stopper. None of the other Heat role players really made an impact but all had plenty of opportunities.
Duncan I thought played a really good game overall. He again attacked close outs for a nice assist and even finished at the rim once which was a beautiful layup high off the glass. The Lakers again did amazing on him as he only got up 6 3s and I don’t recall him ever passing up a shot. There were a couple key possessions down the stretch where he got picked on defensively. Both times were against smaller quicker guards and no help defense. It’s weird that the Lakers never really tried this until the very end. Duncan was really solid the rest of the game defensively.
I thought the officiating favored the Lakers but not really game altering because as I said, the Heat had their chances. Not one laker player had more than 2 fouls. That is batshit crazy for the type of aggressive defense they play.
October 7th, 2020 at 10:27 AM ^
Oh, I thought Denard got picked up by some NFL team.
October 7th, 2020 at 10:30 AM ^
That Duncan Robinson autograph I got purely by chance at the M-Den a few years ago is suddenly worth millions!