How a Chubby Frenchman Saved the Alamo

Boris Diaw, hero.  I never expected to write those words.  Obviously, Manu Ginobili was the story in game 5, but Boris Diaw was the difference in the game.  The same Boris Diaw who was cut by the Bobcats, aka the worst team in professional sports.  Michael Jordan, almost as terrible of a front office guy as he was great as a player, couldn't find a way to utilize a 6'9 guy who has point guard skills, rebounds, can guard most 3s and 4s (as well as some 2s and 5s), and who has a high basketball IQ. Gregg Popovich, who seems to always escape criticism when things go wrong and always receive praise when he gets it right, didn't play Diaw much until game 5.  Instead, he turned to the egregiously bad, but hard-working and tall Tiago Splitter (aka The Walking Turnover aka Mr. Blown Dunk aka Mr. Can't Finish).  Splitter so far in this series has bungled at least 10 layups and dunks; he can't catch or hold onto the ball or finish.  Just awful.  Regardless, Popovich finally got it right, albeit unintentionally.  Previous to Miami's choice to go small in game 5, Popovich was using the rail-thin Danny Green as the primary defender on LeBron when Kawhi Leonard was getting a rest.  LeBron used his 60 pound (conservative estimate) advantage to simply ragdoll Green into the post.  With LeBron playing the 4, Popovich (whose previous brilliant coaching moves in this series included putting Splitter on Wade on the perimeter), finally fed up with Splitter, gave Diaw a shot.  Boris CLACK CLACKED LeBron!  Sure, James still scored 25, but he shot 8-22, and didn't get anything easy against Diaw.  Boris was able to hold his ground in the post, and was able to smartly play angles on the perimeter, preventing LBJ from blowing by him. As an unabashed Ginobili fan (and thus, a Spurs fan), I can only hope that Popovich gives Diaw another extended run.  As game 6 approaches tonight, questions abound.  Will "genius" Popovich (why would such a "genius" wait so long to start Ginobili, knowing how much better Manu performs while in the starting lineup?) stay with Manu in the starting lineup?  Will Miami take the suddenly ineffectual Mike Miller out of the lineup?  Who would replace him--Battier or Haslem or the recently benched Birdman?  One thing is for sure about game 6: we will see maximum effort from both squads.  Just as game 5 was a true battle in which Miami never quit despite being down as many as 20 (and looked threatening until the last 2 minutes of the game), tonight will not come down to effort.  The Heat played quite well in game 5; Wade had 25 and 10 assists (albeit on 22 shots), Ray Allen had 21 on only 10 shots, LeBron put up 25-8-6-4, Bosh had 16 points and shot over 60%, the team sizzled from 3 point range (11-23), and Miami had 16 more shots than the Spurs.  In sum, they played their asses off.  The potential x-factor for Miami is Mario Chalmers, who has a penchant for big game performances (and for disappearances).  As for the Spurs, keeping Ginobili in the starting lineup seems to be a no-brainer.  Having 3 stars on the floor at the same time is too much for any defense to handle, even Miami's stellar and athletic squad.  The Spurs picked the Heat apart with Ginobili's passing and drives, Parker's alpha male drives on Norris Cole, the steady brilliance of Tim Duncan, and the insane outside shooting of Danny Green.  I expect the determining factor tonight to be the refereeing.  If Joey Crawford is on the floor, the fix is in.  He literally challenged Tim Duncan to fight; how can he be a neutral arbiter?  It is unreal.  If the referees call the game fairly, and Ginobili can stay in the time machine for 1 more game, the Spurs can win tonight.  Hopefully they will.  
Source:http://jews4ginobili.blogspot.com/2013/06/how-chubby-frenchman-saved-alamo.html

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