Right then..the Spurs title defence begins tomorrow.....The night where the Spurs championship rings are handed out to the players.....Suns are a very good team..who give the Spurs problems in all areas.....Also the fact Tony Parker will not be playing because of an ankle injury...Which means Anthony Carter will get the start at point guard...Very tough start for him having to match-up with Marbury... The starting line-ups Spurs PG-Anthony Carter SG-Manu Ginobili SF-Bruce Bowen PF-Tim Duncan C-Rasho Nesterovic Suns PG-Stephon Marbury SG-Joe Johnson SF-Shawn Marion PF-Amare Stoudemire C-Jake Voskuhl Those are the likely starting 5's for both teams I mentioned in the NBA predictions game that I thought the Spurs would win...but now I feel the Suns will win this one..they will be out for revenge after the Spurs knocked them out of the playoffs....Along with Parker missing it will be very tough to beat a team like the Suns...and with it being ring night as well...That itself will get the Suns players charged up....Along the fact the Spurs have some new faces and the chemistry might not be completly there yet... So don't be surprised to see a Suns win.. Should be a good game though I will be there so hopfully I will give you all a match report afterwards Your thoughts?
Finally someone at least replied to the topic.....Need more disussion in this forum.No point me starting game threads if no one replies The key will be if the Spurs support players hit the open shots...As you know the Suns will double and triple team Duncan as much as possible
Games pretty close going into the halftime 42 suns with spurs trailing by 4 marbury already has 20 points but he might have more if parker was in there
Spurs 83 Suns 82 A very good and close game in the game....Tim Duncan was simply brillant as ever...Ron Mercer impressed me alot last night....The Suns started off really well going up 16-4 early on..and up by as many as 15 points taking advantage of the Spurs ring night which was a speical moment for the people of San Antonio....Spurs kept closing the gap in the 3rd quarter thanks to great play by Ron Mercer...He was a real spark in the 2nd quarter off the bench...Malik played hard and went after everything..The Suns played a much better game in the first half and deserved to go into the half up 42-38..again like in the 1st quarter the Suns started off strong in the 3rd and led by 10..before the Spurs yet again make the run...Duncan could not be stopped..Mercer attacked well and Rose got to the line well and the lead was gone....Spurs cut the gap to 1 going into the final quarter. The 4th quarter was close as ever...With Suns leading for nearly all of the game til the Spurs showed how good the team is by taking the lead in the final minute...through Anthony Carter who shot poorly..but had a very good all-round getting 5 rebounds and 6 assists....Stephon Marbury who always kills the Spurs and had done in this game..couldn't hit the shot the Suns needed to re-take the lead and win the game.Spurs had stolen it....Without starting PG Tony Parker...things still need to be worked on..Players like Rasho is not there yet...he still needs time to improve..Hedo as well needs time but didn't do badly in limited time.Duncan was great as ever...Mr MVP... For the Suns..Marbury was very good as ever...til the 4th quarter Joe Johnson...was simple HORRIBLE...1-11 he bricked everything last night....He was given a chance to start but failed at it the first game of the season.. Next game for the Spurs @ Nuggets tonight 1-0
You think that Manu will be bore aggressive? I think he should drive a lot more. He did hit the boards well though. Voskuhl did play well yes, which is why I picked him up as a bench player in my fantasy league. I could have picked up Carter, but his FG% scares me.
Manu is just coming off an injury from pre-season...so I don't think his speed is all there yet which will make his driving alot better.He says he is 100% but It didn't seem that way to me...
I have Manu in my fantasy league (Parker too) and I saw he was much more effective after Pop pulled him out for a minute for throwing a bad pass, he then started to drive. Lets see if he keeps it up, I know we can see very special things from him this year.
I agree,the good thing about the Spurs... if Manu's game is off Pop can just bring in Hedo or Mercer...If Parker is out or off his game..Carter can come in and do the job...Same with Rasho with Rose and when Duncan needs a break..in comes Horry The depth is key...
