Thinking Basketball Classic Game Rewatch | The Beautiful Game 2014 Spurs in One Quarter

[@badaboum2]

Boris Diaw started out as an oversized point guard, his idol was Magic. I love how he was part of what opened the modern game for big men, definitely my favorite all-time French player.

[@Cynsham]

Diaw was great on that Spurs squad, quickly became one of my favorite players on the team at the time

[@constructionnetwork6858]

Boris Diaw was a beast... Super underrated

[@drzed6647]

Allow me to add my voice to these 2 comments. Everyone talks about the Spurs' Big Three, but Diaw was right at the heart of the Spurs in 2014. Do the Spurs win in the West without Diaw's play in Game 6 against the Thunder? Sweet, sweet player, did it all.

[@HCXWinchester]

He was also a non-shooter SG at his rookie year and was SUPER athletic guy :D Very unique player.

[@Desi365]

If you watch tape of Diaw with the Suns, it's shocking; he was a thin and high flying point forward/ wing, uber athletic and a mismatch for everyone.

[@Max-kw2hp]

Pure delight. Beautiful basketball and outstanding analysis. Ben is the man!

[@SuperLvdr]

The genius of the beautiful game spurs was not just that they were playing basketball in the future, but that they could morph from minute to minute as their personnel changed. You're getting high level playmaking and shooting from a small lineup, and then they sacrifice some shooting and they're crashing the offensive glass with two bigs. They elevated every style possible.

[@explosivehotdogs]

would love Ben Taylor's analysis of the most defensive finals game ever, 2005 Spurs v Pistons Game 7. People may decry that game as 'boring uh cause low score' but it was truly two titans of defense playing next level chess.

[@JahBanks-q6e]

Got to give Duncan credit for @20:15. Being a floor general and telling the PG where to go on the floor for a high percent shot.

[@shelloshello19]

Awesome video. Watching this since the Spurs are in some tough times right now. Man those bench lineups were so fun to watch. Manu and Patty flying all over the court nonstop, and everyone else reacting in turn. I looked it up and in 2013-14, when Manu and Patty shared the floor together, they had a +23.3 NetRtg (!!!!!) in 1297 possessions. Absolutely ridiculous.

[@MrWilson-zx9ix]

Awesome

[@flyangel6594]

The effort they put in was beautiful, never giving up on the play

[@lawbinson]

My favorite team of all time.

[@andreisevostianov9525]

My favorite team of all time. Spurs 13-14

[@ninocillin]

I love the 2014 Spurs, the best NBA season I followed, thank you for this analysis.

[@Convisis]

It’s funny how Parker’s shooting remained a knock on his game for basically the entirety of his career, but his midrange game had improved so vastly by this stage that his 8-16 footer was effectively a strength.

[@seansachs6105]

I'm not the most experienced watcher, but I've been pausing through some of these sequences, and I think the moment from 20:35 on illustrates really well why teams have switched to sidestepping or stepping back for 3's on closeouts. Kawhi is scrambling behind the play here (after cheating over to help in the paint) and jumps out to Batum; Manu (who's on Wesley Matthews at the moment, I think) immediately recognizes that. Batum attacks Kawhi's closeout, but if he faked and sidestepped to the wing, like guys do now, it would've been a longer, tougher closeout and it looks like he would've been able to get a clean 3. Instead, Manu's able to get there in time and force Batum to pass, and because that's off, the Spurs are able to recover and prevent any damage on the possession. It's a small thing, but I think it's part of the reason why offenses are so difficult to stop now. While I'm here, I should mention that I've been absolutely loving these videos. I can rarely take time out to watch old games (and I don't have LeaguePass or anything on DVD), so these are super-valuable for me as I continue to learn about the game. It's just a joy to watch the Spurs offense and the speed and sharpness of their actions, relative to the league, remind me a ton of the Kings.

[@Splackavellie85]

Those are some really clean shots the Spurs are creating for themselves there. Makes the game a lot more relatable for those of us that can’t rely on the insane athleticism that creates the plays you see on most highlight reels. This is why you should always watch the entire game before you form your opinion.

[@eduardobranco8349]

1:10 this is right out of the triangle offense. the big sets the screen to the entry pass to the corner, than plays a 2 game action with the guy on the corner. im amazed Ben didn't bring it up, its such a classic play!

[@pol44r]

Boris is so good

[@gypate74]

Such a great basketball IQ. He had the potential for being All Star, but he didn't really want this. Great career and great guy...

[@greatsisyphus7712]

4:19 Ginobili was a superstar. Although he was old at that time and a little out of his prime so yeah, I guess you could say that.

[@thatboylije7892]

I watched every game that season hoping we’d avenge 2013 that team was so much fun to watch

[@kaboomkp]

Getting Ben Taylor to make content here is the greatest decision the NBA social media team hs made. Dude is a legend and knows his stuff. Great analysis

[@JustAChillGamer-kw1rq]

Was looking for this comment🙌

[@pastgamingspielt]

Very cool Game to pick apart. To see the contrast between these two teams ist great. The constant motion by San Antonio and the stagnant movement by Portland with its isos.

[@LL_V238]

Quand sa parle de Parker je regarde la vidéo directement ! Merci

[@pipohemm8726]

Man I loved Diaw on the 2006 Suns and on this squad. Once he entered the starting lineup in game 3 of the finals, the Heat had no chance. He also killed Okc in game 6 on switches

[@HCXWinchester]

Also defended LeBron very good!

[@Desi365]

Very very special player. A mismatch for everyone and incredibly creative. And athletic ! Thin, fast, dynamic. I loved him too.

[@RyOt97]

watching this breakdown relit that love and fire i have for this child's game. simply beautiful.

[@jonathann2625]

My fav team of all time. Top 3 teams all time, IMO. Go Spurs!!

[@Splackavellie85]

Clayton Crowley has another great video on the 2014 Spurs and their playoff run. It’s called The 2014 Spurs and the best basketball ever played.

[@bby_plut0]

love these in depth videos, i know they don’t attract as many viewers but learning the game and the NBA preaching it is how our fans become better informed i love it !!!!

[@jonathanbolger6173]

The season that the most beautiful basketball ever witnessed was played.

[@cheflev9884]

What made the Finals for Miami even worse is that they played a blitz style defense where 2 players double the ball handler. It resulted in many easy transition baskets for the heat. Against this Spurs offense it was an absolute disaster and Spo never adjusted.

[@santiagokof]

Tony parker what a player, what a player... Godlike

[@drzed6647]

Admiration for this beautiful b-ball, and this splendid analysis. Thank you, Ben Taylor.

[@highdough2712]

More Ben Taylor content, please. I feel my basketball IQ increase whenever I watch one of his videos.

[@MrWilson-zx9ix]

2:48 Mills sprinting to the hoop before curling out to the wing occupies minds and creates confusion and he knows he isn’t getting the ball. It just works so well.

[@ramonew7815]

As someone who couldn't stand the Spurs, I still have nightmares about Tony Parker. He put so much pressure on defenses.

[@drzed6647]

Thank you, Ben Taylor, for a fantastic piece of commentary.

[@pipohemm8726]

If you really think about it, Diaw had it all besides his lack of effort staying in shape, especially on bad teams. He was so good in 2006 and on this team. There is a story about phoenix were he took off his flip flops and then proceeded to jump higher than Amare in a vertical jump test. His iq was elite, as was his passing. He could actually defend basically every position, watch him against Bron in 2013. He could shoot from mid range and later from three at a solid clip, he feasted after switches on the low block, he could bring the ball up the floor. With the Hawks he was a guard, in 06 he played full time center once kurt thomas went down. Man, if he had just cared more about being great...

[@HCXWinchester]

Diaw before coming to NBA was a high flyer, anyone can watch highlights from those years.

[@cuspcham]

1. After the Dallas series, this is the one that give me the confidence that we'd win that year. 2. This is lowkey one of the strongest team Dame has throughout his Blazers career. 3. Before the series, many give Blazers a reasonable chance of coming out on top, me included. But we were wrong. The level of execution is insane - I think this is one of the less mentioned aspect of this 13-14 Spurs. It's not just the team-oriented play style. It's that we almost execute to perfection. For once, the cliche 'well-oiled-machine' is actually apt.

[@jobimzapico44]

what stands out to me rewatching this as a giant Spurs fan who remembers this entire run is the effort defensively and just the know how when Spurs would get offensive rebounds or had to reset. Their know how against a young portland team was worth about 8 points alone

[@HCXWinchester]

Btw Marco Belinelli was a superstar coming to the NBA, he was like Anthony Edwards of Europe :D So he is a superstar soul in a role player that creates passing, fadeaway 3s, 3 point ft's.

[@thomasbikes]

I could watch the beautiful game Spurs all night

[@hoangbionundisputedfs1]

future in the NBA

[@IJudgeYou]

shout out to thinking basketball, great channel

[@MrBrandon731]

Boris giving Belly a heads up that Green is open 5:58 behind him. and what's even crazier is that if Danny Green passes he has a knock down shooter in Mills open in the corner! This team was so good!

[@jacobmoreno7706]

This video made my day. thank you and God bless Manu Ginobili

[@joachimmahoudeaux8619]

Important thing to notice: some people talk about the french busts, but here you have the french big three on the floor Parker Diaw and Batum for Portland, who were european champs the year before.

[@sidelineball1988]

quality movement and overall basketball principle awareness

[@THEMANCURTIS]

It was beautiful basketball..

[@jamalmcguire8062]

Love the channel Ben!

[@carbahia1]

Manu has the highest winning percentage in NBA history and the second one is way below him.

[@2ClutchCorey]

Most spurs players are at the top, Kawhi and Timmy too

[@jgok5580]

I love how this series led to lamarcus Aldridge deciding to sign with the spurs a season or two later

[@Kodreanu23]

Please make more 2014 Spurs videos

[@karu6111]

they went from being even to up by 20 in less than a 5 minutes of game time

[@vibeinparadise9821]

The offensive superstar was Pop

[@Lucy-yc4bc]

Literally

[@rossgoosen7269]

great analysis!

[@ICEYkiba]

This is an amazing video

[@justinle8787]

The thing about that team is that they had guys who understand how to play fundamental basketball and don't have any egos. There are nights where Duncan only scored like 10 points and he's ok with that. While most superstars will loose their mind if they don't get their 30 piece

[@JubioHDX]

i dont think duncan even took a single shot in that quarter that i remember... just amazing defense and hustle on fast breaks, crazy activity from a 38 year old who was a aging star who averaged 20pts for his career till that point

[@justinholland6132]

U can give credit without dickriding. Name these superstars who have had a mental breakdown or sum like that over scoring 10

[@JubioHDX]

@@justinholland6132 can you genuinely not think of a single aging star youve seen keep chucking shots despite being old and not on the same level instead of relegating the offense to the other guys???

[@justinholland6132]

@@JubioHDXthat’s not the same stop moving the goalpost. And my comment wasn’t even for you so go ahead somewhere. Plus he said star not superstar. I know u we’re implying Kobe but he wasn’t a superstar plus that team would have been trash anyway. So again gtf head somewhere

[@JubioHDX]

@@justinholland6132 i wasnt talkin about kobe at all but there you go i guess you figured one out all alone look at that😂 and i didnt move the goalpost, you clearly just didnt understand the og comment

[@BobBobson321]

Loved this!

[@weirdalpopovich]

more of these!!

[@nicholashansen7947]

this was fun! great breakdown

[@Lucy-yc4bc]

This is honestly a great example of the cliché of “one team playing chess while the other is playing checkers“. The Blazers were completely out classed and outsmarted

[@zepherscotty]

I may have missed something, but I don't think Timmy took a single shot towards the basket. If he did, it was only like 1 or 2 shots. Absolutely insane how stacked this team was.

[@oldthug2309]

yeaaaa thas my spurs yeaaaa boy tell em

[@michaelyiweihuang6298]

8:58 Pop's face made me wonder if the Spurs were the ones down by 15 lol.

[@karu6111]

danny green two 3s off the bench is crazy

[@briandtnguyen]

This year’s Cleveland cavaliers play a lot like the 2014 spurs. Just like the 2014 spurs, they run an equal opportunity offense full of cutting, passing, and screening.

[@clapgodnate4639]

The best basketball team ever

[@loicthiant7448]

Yep and it's not even CLOSE people will come at u with dynasty and bullshit ... But from a true perspective of playing ball it's the best ever . In all my years i've never seen basketball played like this like a music sheet a SYMPHONY .

[@justinholland6132]

2017 18 and 19 warriors? U can say it’s the best fundamentals-wise or best chemistry-wise but best in general? Hell no

[@justinholland6132]

⁠@@loicthiant7448what is the true perspective of playing ball? Your own perspective that you’re trying to make a fact, therefore making anyone else who’s disagrees with u automatically wrong??? Sounds a lil narcissistic

[@loicthiant7448]

@@justinholland6132 Totes narcissistic , u got me good !! Unmasked asf ....

[@Lucy-yc4bc]

@@justinholland6132 you’re overreacting lol

[@IRayyQu858]

Saludos desde españa❤

[@RdTrpBrgr]

that entire sequence from 21:10 onwards is a pleasure to watch.

[@dogAB]

10:08 “oh SHIT” LMAOOOOO poor man

[@kefkapalazzo1]

lol I never thought about what this guy looked like. great hair

[@purplej12]

Spurs almost beat the heat in the regular season with their bench that year.

[@edwells4769]

It doesnt even feel like its anything special until you look up and see its a 41 point quarter

[@otislamar8613]

Why is this video hidden

[@weeevan3078]

Coach Pop will rebuild the spurs, he already started with Wemby

[@kevinhugh5411]

Can you do a ton more of these?

[@ZechsGaming]

Dame was the only one tryna do something lol

[@atingsipnayin5518]

Thinking Basketball

[@Jerry8yomomma]

I know this about TP but man young Kawhi mid range was beautiful

[@SuperLvdr]

When he popped that transition midrange, I went I KNOW THAT SHOT!

[@itznikredezz1838]

what sofware do you use where you can rewind and stuff?

[@simonurrutia92]

Help the help helper... That's defense iq

[@fidelneto7566]

Splitter was the best fit for Duncan.

[@Lukey_Dukey599]

You nba wassup I’m hoping to join you league one day. Luke Richardson

[@aqualordclu361]

so beautiful

[@Anthony-nd6vk]

POR VIDA

[@blender_wiki]

This game was pure Art. Great analysis however is incredible how with Wemby everyone is jumping on the Spurs wagon, when untill last year they was saying San Antonio will lose the franchise. Pathetic sport media mentality.

[@EzyBeezy]

Bruh Robin Lopez was getting cooked.

[@giannistheoggod]

😭😭😭😭😭

[@rome8180]

I feel like Popovich's creativity has fallen off a cliff in recent years. I know we all get less flexible as thinkers as we age, but Pop was doing brilliant outside-the-box stuff as late as 2016 or so. But ever since Kawhi's injury, his teams have felt antiquated. Part of that's the talent. But most of his recent teams have had a bad shot profile and run ugly offense. As this video shows, you don't need to have top shelf talent out there to run creative stuff.

[@MasterResolve]

Lbj ram into so many players who had the best series of their careers against his teams in the playoffs.

[@Conmankolz69]

Do this often very very very very often olease

[@holymackenaw]

The beautiful game, interrupted by weak finishes by Splitter and Aldridge 😅.

[@ratcomedy]

Playing against these spurs would make me wanna quit basketball 😭

[@50CeNTTTTT]

I just love it when I get a notification saying "Someone liked your comment!" or "Someone has just subscribed!!!" That really makes my day!😍💭

[@Max-kw2hp]

Good day, sir!

[@Nathanramires]

+

[@salvell]

sometime they can over pass

[@kristianpomida8259]

I'd rather overpass then have a one and done play every day of the week

[@salvell]

@@kristianpomida8259 no the best shooters should shoot the shot over passing leads to turnovers and I rather one and done then a turnover

[@jeromedeleon1226]

Robin Lopez is really a bad player

[@collegepennsylvania837]

"God can't give us peace and happiness apart from Himself because there is no such thing.” - CS Lewis "If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” - CS Lewis Key To Eternal Life: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q4vHp2CKqc6Aock

[@BloomsArchitect]

I remember great basketball before Steph Curry ruined it in 2015 onwards

[@rossgoosen7269]

great analysis!!

[@Lukey_Dukey599]

You nba wassup I’m hoping to join you league one day. Luke Richardson

[@bigchicken3906]

Work on being able to speak before thinking about the NBA

[@justinholland6132]

@@bigchicken3906their are plenty nba players that speak in broken English. Get yo goofy hating ass on somewhere