I think Kurt Thomas is going to be a big factor in this series. He had a great game seven and hopefully makes Tim gaurd the perimeter. Furthermore, this should help keep Amare out of foul trouble if they ever decide to both play on the floor together. I hope the Spurs try to play big so maybe we can shift Marion on to Duncan and have Amare gaurd a slower Elson or Umberto. Barbosa should be great off the bench a big factor we did not have two years ago. What do you guys think our starting five should be?
This has all the makings of a great series. These are two of the better coached team's in the NBA, with completely contrasting styles. The first time these two teams met in the playoffs, the Spurs designed their offense to stop the Suns on the perimeter, which allowed Amare to have his way in the post. Greg Popovich felt the Suns efficiency from the the perimeter was a bigger factor in their success than Amare scoring from the post. The gameplane worked, and eventually the Spurs took the series. Last year the Spurs made a mistake when they played the Mavericks, by trying to matchup with Dallas small-ball instead of sticking with their original starting 5. Teams who try to make radical adjustments in the postseason usually end up losing, so I don't think Phoenix should change their starting 5 to match up with the Spurs size. Suns best chance of winning is to keep the game at a high pace and force the Spurs to keep up with them for 7 games. The Spurs defense isn't as effective when they can't setup and force you into executing your halfcourt sets.
I think the Suns should start who they had during the season, Nash, Bell, Diaw, Marion, Amare. If the Suns struggle offensively they should bring in Barbosa, if they struggle defensively they can bring in Junior. They started JJ against the Lakers, but it didn't do much for either him or Diaw, they both only averaged 7 PPG in that series. The key to the series for the Suns is Barbosa, he had a big game in their only win against the Spurs this season. He had 25 points in the win and averaged 14 in the 2 loses. The stat the Suns need to worry about is Free Throw Attempts, they need to keep the Spurs off the line and try to get there themselves. In their 2 loses the FTA combined favored the Spurs 58 to 33, in the win the Suns won it 27-19; it's not only the extra points that help, it's the foul trouble you can create for their players. Defensively the Suns will probably throw a bunch of different guys at Parker, including Marion. Duncan doesn't score 30+ points very often, especially against the Suns, so he can have his 20 and 10 and the Suns can still win as long as Parker doesn't go for 30-40 which he can do because the Suns either double off of him or leave him wide open for an outside shot (as they respect his driving ability far more than his shot). Besides Finley nobody on the Spurs had great numbers during the Nuggets series, they didn't have to, they kept the Nuggets at 86 PPG in the 4 wins. So the Suns HAVE to score, score, score... it's too difficult to beat the Spurs in a low scoring game as we found out on April 5th losing 92-85. Lastly I think the Suns just have to realize they have home court advantage, they are the higher seeded team, they can beat the Spurs. If they go in second-guessing they've already lost, I know myself and a lot of fans are very worried about this series... we feel this is the worst match-up the Suns could face. It's a lot like the Mavs/Warriors series, the Warriors are a tough match-up for the Mavs for whatever reason and that got into their heads and that's why they are fighting to stay alive. The Suns can't let that happen.
We always tweak our lineup a little Shapecity. It's different with this team because our entire team is fast. We play big and small with quick guys. I actually like Jones in the starting lineup though because he was able to find his shot in the first quarters to give us that extra surge we need to set the tempo. I also like his defense much better than Diaw who never seems to even attempt a block. However, I would not be unhappy if Diaw was back as a starter it would bode well for his confidence. The Spurs are not that same team they were two years ago. If you guys remember Nazr Muhammad had a monster series and our only other big man was Steven Hunter. We essentially split this years season record because we were in a funk that first game. This should be a great series and since Dallas is out we now have home court throughout the rest of the playoffs. Spurs in five huh Madness? No respect lol...
<div class="quote_poster">*Scotch Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">We always tweak our lineup a little Shapecity. It's different with this team because our entire team is fast. We play big and small with quick guys. I actually like Jones in the starting lineup though because he was able to find his shot in the first quarters to give us that extra surge we need to set the tempo. I also like his defense much better than Diaw who never seems to even attempt a block. However, I would not be unhappy if Diaw was back as a starter it would bode well for his confidence. The Spurs are not that same team they were two years ago. If you guys remember Nazr Muhammad had a monster series and our only other big man was Steven Hunter. We essentially split this years season record because we were in a funk that first game. This should be a great series and since Dallas is out we now have home court throughout the rest of the playoffs. Spurs in five huh Madness? No respect lol...</div> Great point about Nazr, I forgot about the impact he had in the series. Offtopic, what happened to his game in Detroit? sheesh IIRC the Suns acquired Kurt Thomas specifically to matchup with Tim Duncan if these teams were to meet again the playoffs. Statistically Kurt Thomas ranked as one of the top defenders against Duncan, and Thomas has the range to extend Timmy out a littler further from the hope than he's normally used to. With the Lakers out of the mix, I'm actually hoping for a Warriors and Suns WCF. I think those two teams would be highly entertaining to watch in a 7 game series. The Suns can't get ahead of themselves, but with the way the playoffs are shaping out, they have to like their chances of winning a championship this year. Shawn Marion received a lot of heat when the Suns lost to the Spurs. He disappeared in the series, I'm sure he's been waiting for the opportunity to redeem himself. Bruce Bowen is a step slower, and Marion has all the motivation he needs to have a monster series.
<div class="quote_poster">Detroit Madness Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Spurs in Five.</div> Two years ago it took a much better Spurs teams 6 games to beat a much worse Suns team. So if the Spurs win, this is a 6-7 game series easy, I can see the Suns pulling it out in 5 if they play their game and don't let the Spurs dictate tempo. Good insight by the way I'm looking forward to the challenge the Suns are going to face this series, but as for the entertainment value, I think its going to be rather boring. The Spurs are effective, but "entertaining" isn't an adjective I'd use for their style. As for the possible Golden State/Phoenix series, Phoenix won the season series 3-1 and even though some of the games final scores seem close, they really weren't. I agree the game itself is entertaining because both teams can light it up, but if the game isn't close it loses it's flavor. If that series were to occur you can't expect the Mavs series over again, Phoenix plays Golden State's style, plus the Suns do it better. Matt Barnes, Baron Davis, and Stephen Jackson are playing out of their minds, so that could close the gap if they keep it up.
Phoenix having homecourt advantage gives them an added edge in this series. They are tough to beat on their homecourt and if it goes to 7 games, which many expect it will, Phoenix has the odds in their favor. I don't think either team is going to be effected by momentum or panic if they fall behind 3-1 in the series or 2-0 in the series. These two teams have played at a high level consitently all season long, and both are capable of winning 8 games in a row. It's going to come down to which team executes down the stretch and can defend their lead.
I think we actually lost that series in 5 two years ago scorbutic, but Joe Johnson was also injured. We need to stay in front of Parker, he always gets into the lane against us. The other big key is to stay out of foul trouble. The Spurs go to the line a lot because Manu, Parker, and Duncan play tough around the rim.
<div class="quote_poster">*Scotch Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I think we actually lost that series in 5 two years ago scorbutic, but Joe Johnson was also injured.</div> You're right, I take back the for whatever reason I thought both years we were eliminated in 6. My point is still valid, the Spurs were better in '05 than now, and the Suns are much better now than in '05, so that series is no indication of how this one will play out. Yes Joe was injured, but more than that our bench in the playoffs was THIN, Jim Jackson was the 6th man, 'nuff said. Q and Marion simply didn't show up for that series, and like Dirk, if Q wasn't hitting his shots he was useless, at least Raja can play defense if he's having an off-game. Also LB only played 15 minutes of that series beacuse he wasn't the LB we have this year, he's going to be a huge factor this time around.
What shape you mean Manu, Duncan and Bowen actually complain about foul calls... I just can't believe that to be true... Ahh man that picture made me laugh so hard, it looks like somebody just accused him of murder lol.
<div class="quote_poster">NBA MAN Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">The winner of this series IMO will win the trophy this year.</div> I agree. It's funny that the NBA changed the playoff seeding to force the best teams to meet in the Conf. Finals, but again, the real NBA Finals are being decided in the second round.
Don't be so confident, i can see Detroit winning it all, they are really strong this year with Webber as addition.
Looks like Kurt Thomas will be in the starting lineup. Let's see how the two bigs do together in the paint. Hopefully he can provide some offense.
<div class="quote_poster">*Scotch Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Looks like Kurt Thomas will be in the starting lineup. Let's see how the two bigs do together in the paint. Hopefully he can provide some offense.</div> His defense on Duncan was about as good as you can get, Duncan had 29 but I'm sure the bulk of that wasn't on Thomas. Thomas did chip in 12 of his own plus his range may have pulled some of the Spurs defenders out of the lane which led Nash and the others to some easier baskets (though that's impossible to support with any stat). Kurt sure is starting to earn some of that $7.3 million -- *Scotch you couldn't have been any more right in your original post... everything you said was key in the Game 2 win. Though to toot my own horn, Phoenix won the FTA margin in Game 2 (19-16), which they lost in Game 1 (27-33). I still think that's the key stat in this series, the Suns don't need to win it every game, but they have to keep the Spurs below 20 FTA, because if its higher it means the Suns are in foul trouble (specifically Amare). A few observations: * Don't fall into the Duncan/referee mumbo-jumbo, he should've fouled out of both games but combined he's only received 6 fouls. Yet if he gets touched he goes to the line... if anything the refs are calling everything in Duncan's favor to show there is no backlash for the Crawford incident. * Parker only had 13 in Game 2, but I still think he's dangerous, even more so than Duncan. He is a very underrated scorer. * Ginobili is underrated defensively, he had some impressive steals in Game 2 and a number of deflections. You have to know Manu is going to light it up, he's had games of 48 and 32 points against Phoenix... hopefully Bell can keep him locked down. * Marion may end up playing for the Spurs simply so he doesn't have to face them Though I think his main problem in Game 2 was they moved him to SF, where he was further away from the basket and he couldn't really play his game, and of course they didn't run a single play for him. He did do a good defensive job, they said he held Parker to 2 of 8 shooting when he was the defender on Parker (I wish they'd have individual defensive stats like that online).
<div class="quote_poster">scorbutic Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Thomas did chip in 12 of his own plus his range may have pulled some of the Spurs defenders out of the lane which led Nash and the others to some easier baskets (though that's impossible to support with any stat).</div> Yes you can. The Suns didn't have any dunks in Game 1, and they had several in game 2. The Suns' style says you need a few dunks to establish the inside/outside game. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Yet if he gets touched he goes to the line... if anything the refs are calling everything in Duncan's favor to show there is no backlash for the Crawford incident.</div> I agree. I noticed every time Duncan put up a shot, he leaned into the contact and kinda jerked his upper body. He was flopping on the offensive side while putting up his normal shot. That's cheap of him, but after a while I'm glad the refs stopped calling it realizing what he was doing.
<div class="quote_poster">Downtown Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Yes you can. The Suns didn't have any dunks in Game 1, and they had several in game 2. The Suns' style says you need a few dunks to establish the inside/outside game. I agree. I noticed every time Duncan put up a shot, he leaned into the contact and kinda jerked his upper body. He was flopping on the offensive side while putting up his normal shot. That's cheap of him, but after a while I'm glad the refs stopped calling it realizing what he was doing.</div> What was cheap was the offensive foul Nash drew on Duncan last night. Nash should have been called for the blocking foul because he slid under Duncan, after Duncan was already in the air. According to the rules, the defensive player must be set, prior to the offensive player jumping. It's a dangerous play, because it's easy for the offensive player to come down on the defender's foot and either twist an ankle or knee. Kurt Thomas made a difference for Phoenix last night, and the Suns played with a lot more urgency than they did in Game 1. The Suns did a better job of keeping the Spurs off the free throw line, and put more defensive pressure on Tony Parker. I was really impressed with the Suns 2nd quarter outburst. The Suns offense was on fire and the Spurs couldn't answer on the other end. Expect the Spurs to make adjustments for Game 3. It's going to be interesting to see how the game is officiated. The Spurs get a lot of favorable calls on their homecourt and seem to be allowed to play a lot more physical than the opposition. Or maybe they're just that good on the defensive end? A 20 point spanking should carry over into the Suns next game. They'll play with a lot of confidence with the series heading to San Antonio.
The Suns had a great defensive effort in this game. Marion played amazing. I know his stats were not that impressive but all we need is his defense and finishing around the hoop. He played aggressive all game on Parker and really frustrated him. Kurt's experience was also impressive. Parker was corralled because Kurt was able to step into the lane and take up space. He also made Duncan work for every shot. It does not matter if Duncan makes every one jsut that he has to work extra hard on each play. Bell also stepped up his defense. If you watch a replay of the game it is crazy to see how ferocious he played against Manu and Finley. Furthermore Boris played the type of game that we need. His numbers were not gawdy but they don't have to be. All he needs to accomplish is to continue the offensive flow when Nash is out. He did this last game. He also would have had a lot more points if his shot would have fallen, he is still rusty. I agree shape, that the charge should have been a blocking foul. However, I don't think you can fault Nash for diving in there, it wasn't malicious, moreover it was probably just instinctual. Anyways I think in game 3 we are going to see a lot of double screens to free up Parker and Manu when he comes off the bench. I also expect Barry's shot to start falling. He had so many open threes but they just fell out. The biggest key to victory for the suns is to continue that defensive pressure, and rotate on these double picks. It will be a much closer game, San Antonio is not going to turn the ball over 20+ times again.
