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Key to the game IMO won't be much different than our series againts the Mavs.

Offensively, we need to keep the turnovers down. Personally, I don't think we'll have as much trouble scoring againts the Suns than we do againts the Mavs. Unlike the Mavs, the Suns have no shotblockers inside and aren't exactly big at Centers.

Defensively, also the same thing. Secure the rebound. Giving up offensive rebounds and turnovers leads to points from them. Dallas couldn't run againts us other than game 5. We've been able to turn Phoenix into a halfcourt team in the past. I see no reason why we suddenly can't do that in the 2nd round.

A lot will also depend on who gets the most help. The 1st round shows who ever gets help, wins the game. Amare and Nash will get theirs just like Dirk and... well.. Butler is doing a good job getting his points in 4 of his 6 games. The "Others" have to show up if we want to win.

Honestly, I think the Mavs is a tougher team than Phoenix. So I really don't feel as worried as I was when we open up the series againts the Mavs. Losing to Dallas was acceptable for me considering how we end the regular season. But now that we get past Dallas, losing to Phoenix will be a disappointment. We should only fall to LA in WCF if we're going to get knocked out of the playoffs.

Suns win this one. Sorry sterns, the nba can't fix this series when you lose by 20 plus in your defeats.

I don't think Stern will let us lose by 20. Most likely, he'll make us win by 100. Final Score SA 105 - Suns 5.

Spurs in six games - and in five isn't unreasonable, IMO

F the Spurs. This is our city, our town, our team and most importantly our championship. We are!!!!!!

Championship? I just can't see that at all.

Your coach, Alvin Gentry, borrows someone else's offense (D'antoni) and tweaks it a little and teach the Suns to play some defense. Championship caliber coach? Doesn't sound like it.

Your offense? How many more proofs do you need that halfcourt game is huge in the playoffs. Even thou Phoenix is better than before in halfcourt, please don't mistake them as a great halfcourt team. Transition/running/uptempo basketball is still your style and your game.

Your defense? Oh come on.. you guys are basically newbies when it comes to playing defense. Don't act like all of a sudden Phoenix is a team that can shut teams down. Atleast the Mavs have the size and shotblocking to really bother the Spurs. Phoenix? Ask anyone whether they think Phoenix's defense is gonna mess up the Spurs' offense.

Championship.. Bla bla bla... Crazy talk.

Championship? Really? Dude, you gotta be kiddin'...

The Suns have enough talent on their roster but they are historically bad in the playoffs - they have absolutely no character. This alone makes it a winnable series if we play well. They pose more problems than Dallas offensively, they have enough guys who are capable of scoring the ball and don't need to make offense-defense changes like Dallas (when Dallas had their starting 5 on the floor only Dirk was a scorer and maybe Butler when he got hot so they had to bench Butler, Marion and Dampier/Haywood in order to bring the guys who can score - Phoenix don't have to do that because they care much less about defense and know there aren't any really good defenders on their team anyway). Basically we've beaten the Suns many times by letting Amare score at will and keeping the others, if that works I'd be perfectly happy. I don't care if he averages 50 for the series as long as we eliminate them. But let's be real about this, Phoenix also have their chances and it will be a tough series. I expect this to go 6 or 7 games and hopefully the Spurs win.
GO SPURS GO!

I'd forgotten how articulate and thought provoking the posts of a Sun's fan can be.

Honestly, I don't know what to expect from the Spurs. I thought the Mavs were a matchup nightmare for them but they proved me wrong.

I hear Suns fans go on about the impact Robin Lopez is going to have defensively. I tend to think it'll be a catch 22 situation. They'll need to sacrifice a lot of their offensive identity to reintegrate him into the game.

I really like the George Hill defensive matchup with Steve Nash for SA. Steve's getting on in years and is dealing with an injury. We've seen George play quality defense on guy's like CP3 before, so expecting decent defense on Nash shouldn't be too far fetched.

The key to this series is doing whatever possible to slow down Steve Nash. George Hill, motivated playoff Parker, Ginobili and maybe some bogans can all take turns in trying to take him out of his rhytm.
I also feel that whatever player Nash is guarding has to receive the ball and attack him. Nash has absolutely no chance of guarding any of our main players.

Amare is going to put up great numbers but I really don't think he's the deciding factor to this series. If Dyess and Bonner focus and try to cut of his faceups then I'll be happy. An offense with Amare isolating and shooting jumpers is what I want to see.

Yeah, for me I thought the Mavs were the worst team we could face in the first round just because they seemed so deep with experience and talent and somehow they just screwed it all up.

I think the key to beating the Suns is stopping Jason Richardson, he's been pivotal to the Suns success against the Blazers, another one is Grant Hill, he's been awesome as a role player just making key plays now and then and exposing Steve Nash's weakness as a defender.

That and controlling the tempo, we play fast, we'll lose fast too.

But beating a 2 seed like Dallas is going to give the Spurs a lot of confidence getting into this next round, if they win one of these first 2 road games and I'd be very happy.

I see where you're coming from with J-Rich. I've never seen Richardson as a shot creater ala Manu Ginobili. His handles are weak and he's not in his athletic prime. If he's going off then the Spurs have probably allowed Steve Nash to get him in the flow.

Spurs in 5

2003
2005
2007
2008

Looks like these fools want yet another lesson...

Donald Kaufman wrote:2003
2005
2007
2008

Looks like these fools want yet another lesson...

Our team is drastically different from those teams. A more recent sample size showed how we defeated you by 10 plus twice this season.

ginobiliflops wrote:

Donald Kaufman wrote:2003
2005
2007
2008

Looks like these fools want yet another lesson...

Our team is drastically different from those teams. A more recent sample size showed how we defeated you by 10 plus twice this season.

Funny...I heard this same song in 2005, 2007 and 2008 - and now, in 2010!

The Mavs beat us 3-1 in the regular season...how did that turn out?

The series depends on whether Gentry has the gut to let Suns bench do their work and rest Nash. If he does, Suns will win this one in 7.

Couple of mis-conceptions here about the Suns:

His handles are weak and he's not in his athletic prime.

Jason Richardson is 27. That's pretty much the sweet spot for a basketball players most productive years. He really doesn't create off the dribble, true, but he's got good hands and is a generally above average finisher (missed dunks in crunch time aside)

Your defense? Oh come on.. you guys are basically newbies when it comes to playing defense.

I'm not sure it's a matter of how long you've been playing defense, but how well you are now. Suns held Portland below 100 in every game in their series, and below 40% shooting overall. Suns also were top half of the league in defensive FG% during the regular season. This isn't to say they're a great defensive team, but the mantra that the Suns don't play any defense isn't really true anymore. The biggest misconception is that points allowed per game = defense, but you have to take pace into consideration or negate it as a factor (i.e. defensive FG% is more or less pace indepent)

Transition/running/uptempo basketball is still your style and your game.

Phoenix is still a higher paced team, but they're nowhere near leading the league like they used to. As for fast break points, they're only a little above league average. Mostly, they like to get a shot early in the clock if they can while the defense is still finding their assignment, and if that's not avaiable they resort to the pick and roll game or iso's with Amare or JRich or Grant Hill if they have a mis-match after the switch.

there aren't any really good defenders on their team anyway).

Did you watch the Suns Blazers series? Grant Hill's defense was the difference in that series. Jared Dudley is also a very solid defender. Lopez was improving rapidly, and has some skills in the low post. Lou Amundson is a defensive / rebounding specialist, and leads the team in defensive point differential. In fact, his pesky (read: borderline dirty) defense got two players ejected last year. Phoenix's lack of defense revolves around Amare, Nash, JRich, and Channing Frye, who are all sub-par defenders. However, it's unfair to say no one on the team plays defense.

I hear Suns fans go on about the impact Robin Lopez is going to have defensively. I tend to think it'll be a catch 22 situation. They'll need to sacrifice a lot of their offensive identity to reintegrate him into the game.

Right now, Jarron Collins is a complete zero on offense. Before his bulging disk, Robin Lopez was looking vastly improved on offense. He's big, fast, tall, and has very good hands when he's expecting the ball (not so much when he isn't, which is why his offensive rebounding and 2nd chance points are top half of the NBA centers, and his defensive rebounding sucks (near dead last)). In some ways, Nash was having more success on the pick and roll with Lopez, because of Lopez's additional size and bulk allowed him to get to some passes even Amare wouldn't be able to. Beyond that, Lopez was starting to hit the 18 foot jumper consistently. They were wide open, nothing fancy shots generally, but it was keeping the defenses honest and preventing them from jamming the middle with their bigs. Lopez is a much better fit for their offense than Collins.

One other odd effect Suns fans have noted is is that the despite being a so-so rebounder, when Lopez was starting the Suns were one of the best rebounding teams in the NBA. Basically, Lopez is a spaz who rarely comes up with the ball himself, but he's adept at keeping the ball away from the other team's top rebounders.

So...who wins? I haven't a clue. Could be Spurs in 6 or 7 just as easily as Suns in 6 or 7. I doubt that either team can wrap this up in 4 or 5 games though. The character of this series is going to be a lot different than previous meetings, I suspect though.

Hope ya'll enjoyed the scouting report, though.

Without Horry, Berry and Bowen you guys dont have the same fire anymore. With that said, Suns in 6.

DaDragicShow wrote:Without Horry, Berry and Bowen you guys dont have the same fire anymore. With that said, Suns in 6.

You forgot Donaghy, but they still have Stern.

I really believe the Suns will finally get over the Spurs and finish in 5 or 6. Somebody said the Suns don't block shots, meet Robin Lopez in the 2nd round.

Can't wait to finally knock out the Spurs. Good luck Spurs, looking forward for a great intense series.

I'm pretty shocked at how cocky the Suns fans are around here. Ummm...when was the last time the Suns beat a healthy Spurs team in the playoffs (and no, beating them without Tim Duncan in 2000 doesn't count)? Try 1993.

Granted, the Suns have been playing well, they have HCA, and won the season series. However, did you freaking see the Spurs take apart Dallas? Holy !#$!. That was a monkey stomping if I ever saw one. And Dallas has a lot more talent and depth than the Suns....

Wormwood74 wrote:I'm pretty shocked at how cocky the Suns fans are around here. Ummm...when was the last time the Suns beat a healthy Spurs team in the playoffs (and no, beating them without Tim Duncan in 2000 doesn't count)? Try 1993.

Granted, the Suns have been playing well, they have HCA, and won the season series. However, did you freaking see the Spurs take apart Dallas? Holy !#$!. That was a monkey stomping if I ever saw one. And Dallas has a lot more talent and depth than the Suns....

forget about Dallas, because we're not dallas and they're not us.
The only guy I'm worried about with the Spurs is Roger Mason.
Dudley is gon lock up Manu.