bigbendbruisebrother
05-21-2005, 10:24 PM
Suns, Spurs to decide best in West
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-spurs-suns&prov=ap&type=lgns
By JAIME ARON, AP Sports Writer
May 21, 2005
PHOENIX (AP) -- With an offense as relentless as the Arizona heat, the Phoenix Suns are trampling the conventional wisdom about defense being the way to go this time of year.
Through two rounds of the playoffs, MVP Steve Nash and crew have taken the league's highest scoring average in 10 years and jacked it up nearly six points a game. They've done it while facing tricked-up defenses that have had more time to study them, and even though they've been without their third-leading scorer the last four games.
Now comes the real challenge: Doing it in the Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs, who are perfectly cast in the role of upholding conventional wisdom.
San Antonio has won two of the last six championships with defense. The Spurs allowed the fewest points in the league this season and recently had Tim Duncan and Bruce Bowen, their best inside and outside stoppers, receive their seemingly annual spots on the NBA's all-defensive team.
They also come into this series well-tested, having already eliminated high-scoring teams in the Denver Nuggets and Seattle SuperSonics.
``It will be a very big challenge for us,'' said Nash, whose personal challenge will be topping his phenomenal second-round series against Dallas. ``If we continue to show the pressure and poise we've shown all season, we'll be all right.''
Both teams probably wish the series wasn't starting for another day or two, but this matchup of contrasting styles is so compelling that ABC couldn't wait to get it on the air.
The Spurs advanced late Thursday with a last-second victory in Seattle. They flew home Friday, saw the Suns advance with an overtime victory against the Mavericks that night, then headed to Phoenix on Saturday.
San Antonio players admitted they were rooting for Dallas in Game 6, not because they wanted to duck the Suns but because they wanted more down time.
``I was at a restaurant and people heard me cussing,'' Spurs forward Robert Horry said, laughing.
The Spurs also were hoping Duncan would have more rest for his ailing ankles. He didn't practice Saturday and coach Gregg Popovich listed him as probable for the opener.
``We're not going to do something to jeopardize Tim's health or our team's chances for success,'' Popovich said. ``If he can't play, he's not going to play. If he can play at all, there's going to be no way to keep him off the court.''
Phoenix was hoping guard Joe Johnson might return to the lineup Sunday if he could adjust to a mask protecting the bone he broke near his left eye. However, as of Saturday, he'd seen only a prototype of the mask and he's not going to try playing until he gets comfortable with the real thing.
``I'm hoping to get back as soon as I can, but I'm not going to rush it,'' he said.
Johnson's absence hasn't hurt the team's point totals, but it has taken a toll on their legs. Jim Jackson has been pushed into the starting lineup, taking away the best player from an otherwise thin bench.
Still, the Suns never seemed worn out in the second round against Dallas -- especially not when they erased a 16-point third-quarter deficit and won the finale in overtime. In yet another example of how they can be kept down but not out, the Suns went from scoring 64 points the first 32 minutes to putting up 66 in the final 21.
Suns coach Mike D'Antoni isn't surprised. He even expected his team's scoring average to go up in the playoffs.
``In the regular season, there were some nights when we just didn't have it,'' he said. ``I knew that in the playoffs we were going to have it every night.''
The Suns will have public sentiment on their side, too. Besides offering a playing style that's refreshing to fans bored by the slug-it-out games usually seen this deep in the playoffs, they're a great story.
After winning just 29 games last year, Phoenix lured Nash from Dallas and rescued Quentin Richardson from the Clippers. Both moves raised eyebrows, Nash because of the huge financial commitment (six years, more than $60 million) and Richardson because his game seemed so similar to other players the Suns already had.
Phoenix started strong and never let up. They won 62 games, marking the third-biggest turnaround in league history and tops since Duncan joined the Spurs in 1997. Skeptics who spent months saying the Suns couldn't keep it up are now wondering whether they can be stopped four times in seven games.
They're 8-2 in the playoffs and have scored at least 106 every game. Their average of 116 points, and the way they do it, harkens memories of the Showtime-era Los Angeles Lakers that featured Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy, all of them Hall of Famers.
The Spurs are more likely to be compared to the '85 Chicago Bears or other great NFL defenses. Yet that didn't stop Popovich from noting that his club likes to run, too.
``Nobody wants to believe that, I guess,'' he said.
If the Spurs decide to keep it up, then this series could be even more exciting than their three regular-season matchups -- and those were pretty juicy.
San Antonio won the first, ending Phoenix's longest winning streak in seven seasons at 11 games. The Suns bounced back to win the next two, but they needed double overtime in January then eked out another in March when the Spurs were without Duncan and Manu Ginobili. :rolleyes
The author of this article blew it! He couldn't remember how the greatest game this season ended?!! Phoenix did not win the second game! Dubbed an instant classic by the NBA, the Spurs stormed back from 17 down at the start of the fourth quarter in Phoenix to win in ONE overtime with Manu turning in the single best performance of his career--and a jam over Stoudemire and Marion that will never be forgotten. I sure hope someone can track down this idiot's e-mail address.
The home team won every time and Phoenix has home-court advantage. It's also worth noting that while San Antonio was the league's best home team, the Suns were tops on the road.
Another factor in San Antonio's favor is experience.
D'Antoni laughed at that idea.
``You don't play with rings,'' he said, taking down yet another bit of conventional wisdom.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-spurs-suns&prov=ap&type=lgns
By JAIME ARON, AP Sports Writer
May 21, 2005
PHOENIX (AP) -- With an offense as relentless as the Arizona heat, the Phoenix Suns are trampling the conventional wisdom about defense being the way to go this time of year.
Through two rounds of the playoffs, MVP Steve Nash and crew have taken the league's highest scoring average in 10 years and jacked it up nearly six points a game. They've done it while facing tricked-up defenses that have had more time to study them, and even though they've been without their third-leading scorer the last four games.
Now comes the real challenge: Doing it in the Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs, who are perfectly cast in the role of upholding conventional wisdom.
San Antonio has won two of the last six championships with defense. The Spurs allowed the fewest points in the league this season and recently had Tim Duncan and Bruce Bowen, their best inside and outside stoppers, receive their seemingly annual spots on the NBA's all-defensive team.
They also come into this series well-tested, having already eliminated high-scoring teams in the Denver Nuggets and Seattle SuperSonics.
``It will be a very big challenge for us,'' said Nash, whose personal challenge will be topping his phenomenal second-round series against Dallas. ``If we continue to show the pressure and poise we've shown all season, we'll be all right.''
Both teams probably wish the series wasn't starting for another day or two, but this matchup of contrasting styles is so compelling that ABC couldn't wait to get it on the air.
The Spurs advanced late Thursday with a last-second victory in Seattle. They flew home Friday, saw the Suns advance with an overtime victory against the Mavericks that night, then headed to Phoenix on Saturday.
San Antonio players admitted they were rooting for Dallas in Game 6, not because they wanted to duck the Suns but because they wanted more down time.
``I was at a restaurant and people heard me cussing,'' Spurs forward Robert Horry said, laughing.
The Spurs also were hoping Duncan would have more rest for his ailing ankles. He didn't practice Saturday and coach Gregg Popovich listed him as probable for the opener.
``We're not going to do something to jeopardize Tim's health or our team's chances for success,'' Popovich said. ``If he can't play, he's not going to play. If he can play at all, there's going to be no way to keep him off the court.''
Phoenix was hoping guard Joe Johnson might return to the lineup Sunday if he could adjust to a mask protecting the bone he broke near his left eye. However, as of Saturday, he'd seen only a prototype of the mask and he's not going to try playing until he gets comfortable with the real thing.
``I'm hoping to get back as soon as I can, but I'm not going to rush it,'' he said.
Johnson's absence hasn't hurt the team's point totals, but it has taken a toll on their legs. Jim Jackson has been pushed into the starting lineup, taking away the best player from an otherwise thin bench.
Still, the Suns never seemed worn out in the second round against Dallas -- especially not when they erased a 16-point third-quarter deficit and won the finale in overtime. In yet another example of how they can be kept down but not out, the Suns went from scoring 64 points the first 32 minutes to putting up 66 in the final 21.
Suns coach Mike D'Antoni isn't surprised. He even expected his team's scoring average to go up in the playoffs.
``In the regular season, there were some nights when we just didn't have it,'' he said. ``I knew that in the playoffs we were going to have it every night.''
The Suns will have public sentiment on their side, too. Besides offering a playing style that's refreshing to fans bored by the slug-it-out games usually seen this deep in the playoffs, they're a great story.
After winning just 29 games last year, Phoenix lured Nash from Dallas and rescued Quentin Richardson from the Clippers. Both moves raised eyebrows, Nash because of the huge financial commitment (six years, more than $60 million) and Richardson because his game seemed so similar to other players the Suns already had.
Phoenix started strong and never let up. They won 62 games, marking the third-biggest turnaround in league history and tops since Duncan joined the Spurs in 1997. Skeptics who spent months saying the Suns couldn't keep it up are now wondering whether they can be stopped four times in seven games.
They're 8-2 in the playoffs and have scored at least 106 every game. Their average of 116 points, and the way they do it, harkens memories of the Showtime-era Los Angeles Lakers that featured Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy, all of them Hall of Famers.
The Spurs are more likely to be compared to the '85 Chicago Bears or other great NFL defenses. Yet that didn't stop Popovich from noting that his club likes to run, too.
``Nobody wants to believe that, I guess,'' he said.
If the Spurs decide to keep it up, then this series could be even more exciting than their three regular-season matchups -- and those were pretty juicy.
San Antonio won the first, ending Phoenix's longest winning streak in seven seasons at 11 games. The Suns bounced back to win the next two, but they needed double overtime in January then eked out another in March when the Spurs were without Duncan and Manu Ginobili. :rolleyes
The author of this article blew it! He couldn't remember how the greatest game this season ended?!! Phoenix did not win the second game! Dubbed an instant classic by the NBA, the Spurs stormed back from 17 down at the start of the fourth quarter in Phoenix to win in ONE overtime with Manu turning in the single best performance of his career--and a jam over Stoudemire and Marion that will never be forgotten. I sure hope someone can track down this idiot's e-mail address.
The home team won every time and Phoenix has home-court advantage. It's also worth noting that while San Antonio was the league's best home team, the Suns were tops on the road.
Another factor in San Antonio's favor is experience.
D'Antoni laughed at that idea.
``You don't play with rings,'' he said, taking down yet another bit of conventional wisdom.