STICKY - Suns vs Spurs - Round 2

[Christine-In-AZ]

[DirtyDez]

D'Antoni was an awful coach in the playoffs. I wish Ivaroni would've taken over.

[MaryvalesFinest]

Mike D'antoni = the anti christ

[BurningHeart]

LOL.

[dantian]

Avenge the spirits of Raja, Shawn, Kurt, Boris, James Jones, Zarko, Jim Jackson, Joe Johnson, Steven Hunter, Jake Voskuhl, Googs, Penny, Stephon, Big Jake....and anybody else who has been WRONGED by the Spurs over the last decade.

This is for them. This is for us.

And Mike. No matter what, I'll want to win it for Mike too. His vision is what got us here.

And departure from his vision will get us much farther.

Sorry, but game 6 win was such a good example of that. Gentry was pushing for tempo, but Nash not quite healthy had 6 TOs in the 1st q. Only with trusting the bench, particularly in the 4th, and defense did we win this game. Under DA, or even Gentry of earlier, it'd have been another 4th q. loss after big lead.

[impulsenine]

Sorry, but game 6 win was such a good example of that. Gentry was pushing for tempo, but Nash not quite healthy had 6 TOs in the 1st q. Only with trusting the bench, particularly in the 4th, and defense did we win this game. Under DA, or even Gentry of earlier, it'd have been another 4th q. loss after big lead.

I have to say ... I'm genuinely worried about Nash. He had a freaking terrible night, despite that extremely clutch 3.

[BurningHeart]

Sorry, but game 6 win was such a good example of that. Gentry was pushing for tempo, but Nash not quite healthy had 6 TOs in the 1st q. Only with trusting the bench, particularly in the 4th, and defense did we win this game. Under DA, or even Gentry of earlier, it'd have been another 4th q. loss after big lead.

I have to say ... I'm genuinely worried about Nash. He had a freaking terrible night, despite that extremely clutch 3.

Portland played great D on him the entire series...he'll be fine.

[impulsenine]

Portland played great D on him the entire series...he'll be fine.

Those turnovers were not fine.

[Kerrsed]

Phoenix led 24-17 after the first quarter despite the worst turnover quarter of Steve Nash's career. He had six of the Suns' eight first-quarter turnovers and matched his season high of seven before halftime. Nash's hip impingement that he suffered before Game 2 was bothering him again but he hit a shot clock-beating 3-pointer to help clinch the game with 2:34 to go.

"I was really hurting but I didn't want to make my physical problems the center of attention," Nash said. "I just wanted to keep the rhythm."

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/2010/04/29/20100429phoenix-suns-eliminate-portland-trail-blazers.html

[BurningHeart]

Portland played great D on him the entire series...he'll be fine.

Those turnovers were not fine.

You're right, but I just feel like the D was so good, that even unforced turnovers were "forced", in a sense.


EDIT: Guess he's hurt, these three days of rest should REALLY help.

[Christine-In-AZ]

Would have never thought I'd think this (at least this soon), but almost felt better when Dragic was in there tonight, rather than Nash..."almost" being the key word.

I hope to see at least a little of Steve and Goran together on the court in this upcoming series. Especially if Barbs game doesn't "happen" as it hasn't in past Spurs series.

I'm worried about Nash...something is not right with him. Hopefully he can get it back at least enough for 12 more wins. Yeah, I think they actually have a shot at it.

Even if Steve can heal-up/revive over the next few days, Goran is going to have to perform at a high level for the Suns to advance. No doubt about it.

[DRK]

Come on Suns! Do it for your fans. Do this because you have the ability to! This is for all the other feats of gross injustice that has been shovelled our way in the past. This is our Year!! Our time is now!!!


^^^^ Sorry guys got a bit carried away there. -sniff-
I do believe this Suns team has what it takes. We have a Ginobilli kiler in Dudley, (someone we didnt have an answer for in the past) Plus we have a LEGIT big man in Lopez. We also have a great energetic bench which can play better than our starters. ALSO, we have a backup for Nash in Dragic. This series is going to be a great series. The winner will take it all, and the loser(hopefully) will take it on the chin.

[trick83]

Hopefully Lopez is good to go. We need him against their big frontline. And he can defend Duncan 1 on 1!
Bring on the Spurs. Suns in 6
GO SUNS!!!

[garrick]

This is going to be an even tougher match up for the Suns, for one the Spurs are a team that can not only play slow but they can play up tempo as well.

[Calvin Klein]

Dammit I'm already feeling anxious. Have a weird stomach feeling just reading about this series.

I want to win so bad. I just want to leave these Spurs thing behind and move on.

[sunskerr]

Can't believe we have to play them again. Gonna be an all out war.

For the recent Suns of Playoffs Past. Let's do this.

[tsherkin]

D'Antoni was an awful coach in the playoffs. I wish Ivaroni would've taken over.

No you don't.

Memphis says "THHBBPPPTTTT!!!" and Toronto says "Defense? F*** defense!" in reference to Iavaroni.

Marc Iavaroni isn't anything special as a coach, at least where defense and head coaching are concerned.

Meantime, regarding this series:

Good luck. I mean this honestly. I'm conflicted, because I'm a fan of both styles of play and key players on both teams.

But Phoenix NEEDS this. If they never win a title with Nash, they need to beat Duncan's Spurs at least once and crush THEIR hopes the way they've done to the Suns and their fans. Smack 'em around, beat 'em up and, most importantly, advance to the next round.

[rocopc]

I think Nash is one of the best PG I have ever seen, not the best, but right there....

But I think this Spurs, is way too good PO team for this Suns, TD is playing great and Robin has nothing on him, be serius about this, c-mon, Manu is in great shape and J-Rich can give some troble but J-Rich D is....not so good to put Manu down, maybe with some help from Hill and Jared, but you have to not forget RJ at all, and Parker or Hill can score over Nash every time they want, Dragic have to play big mins and play big stright up.

Amare is a best and he score at will agains Spurs like allways, Frye can be the "X" factor for your team, if he can hit some 3 and play some D at times.

Overall I have the Spurs in 6, but you can doit if you play smart, good luck and have a great series and "try" to not get carry away with the refs and Stern like you...generaly do... hehe

[rsavaj]

Avenge the spirits of Raja, Shawn, Kurt, Boris, James Jones, Zarko, Jim Jackson, Joe Johnson, Steven Hunter, Jake Voskuhl, Googs, Penny, Stephon, Big Jake....and anybody else who has been WRONGED by the Spurs over the last decade.

This is for them. This is for us.

And Mike. No matter what, I'll want to win it for Mike too. His vision is what got us here.

Umm no, his no defense vision is what held us back.

Most overrated clown coaching a team ever.

If you like Gentry than you should like Mike, since Gentry himself has said that 90% of what we do here is Mike. Mike laid out the blueprint. Gentry is building the house. The 10% that Gentry added is phenomenal and NECESSARY(the bench, getting Amare to try to play some defense), but the saying that D'Antoni had a "no-defense" doesn't jive with the fact that this Gentry team hasn't finished ahead of any D'Antoni Suns team in defensive efficiency. Not a single one. Lest I remind you that with a Kurt Thomas, Shawn Marion, Raja Bell, Boris Diaw, Steve Nash lineup, we were top 5 in the league defensively(and I'm not making that up...that was our actual ranking). Then KT got injured and it all went downhill from there.

D'Antoni was an awful coach in the playoffs. I wish Ivaroni would've taken over.

Awful coach in the playoffs? Back to back WCF is pretty effing successful. 58 wins a season is pretty successful. I think Iavaroni brought a lot to our team but as tsherkin alluded to...he flamed out big time in Memphis. Biiiiiiig time.

Mike D'antoni = the anti christ

Well, some people say the same thing about Obama, and I know you don't believe that .

Avenge the spirits of Raja, Shawn, Kurt, Boris, James Jones, Zarko, Jim Jackson, Joe Johnson, Steven Hunter, Jake Voskuhl, Googs, Penny, Stephon, Big Jake....and anybody else who has been WRONGED by the Spurs over the last decade.

This is for them. This is for us.

And Mike. No matter what, I'll want to win it for Mike too. His vision is what got us here.

And departure from his vision will get us much farther.

Sorry, but game 6 win was such a good example of that. Gentry was pushing for tempo, but Nash not quite healthy had 6 TOs in the 1st q. Only with trusting the bench, particularly in the 4th, and defense did we win this game. Under DA, or even Gentry of earlier, it'd have been another 4th q. loss after big lead.

I'll agree with this.

[rsavaj]

I think Nash is one of the best PG I have ever seen, not the best, but right there....

But I think this Spurs, is way too good PO team for this Suns, TD is playing great and Robin has nothing on him, be serius about this, c-mon, Manu is in great shape and J-Rich can give some troble but J-Rich D is....not so good to put Manu down, maybe with some help from Hill and Jared, but you have to not forget RJ at all, and Parker or Hill can score over Nash every time they want, Dragic have to play big mins and play big stright up.

Amare is a best and he score at will agains Spurs like allways, Frye can be the "X" factor for your team, if he can hit some 3 and play some D at times.

Overall I have the Spurs in 6, but you can doit if you play smart, good luck and have a great series and "try" to not get carry away with the refs and Stern like you...generaly do... hehe

I think this is a solid post. San Antonio presents huge matchup problems for us. Nash can't hang out by Bowen anymore...Hill and Parker will really make him suffer on defense and that will take away from his offense. Ginobili is playing like a beast. RJ has woke up. Duncan still knows Amare in and out and will get his points.