Now that the tough series is over

[Rummpd]

My opinion and others share this, the match up's for the Spurs were a potential disaster in the Denver series and the Spurs were facing two very talented players in AI and Carmello plus the type of bigs that have historically given Duncan some trouble. We have also seen AI in particular go off on the Spurs in the regular season and Carmello is a talented scorer and a true potential superstar on the rise.

However, after breaking of the rust in game 2, and the Spurs shined, the defense was absurdly good, and Finley and Horry came alive and the Spurs moved on without major health issues.

Spurs are going to shock the world and dominate the Suns (the Spurs have handled and controlled the tempo with them commonly before and can also run with them when needed). The bottom line = Spurs in probably 5 and no worse than 6.

Amare will have some big games but overall Parker is going to also outplay Nash and Bowen will absolutely shut down Marion and help at times on Nash. Adios, the setting Suns!

[td4mvp21]

Nice optimism, but you're wrong. This Suns team is so much better.

[Rummpd]

Than what? Maybe than Denver but the matchups were worse for the Spurs in the Denver series. Watch and remember this prediction!

[td4mvp21]

Than what? Maybe than Denver but the matchups were worse for the Spurs in the Denver series. Watch and remember this prediction!

Better than '05, my bad. Don't get me wrong, I really hope you're right, I just don't see it being that short of a series though.

[ducks]

did not people say denver was way better then 05 to

[Extra Stout]

My opinion and others share this, the match up's for the Spurs were a potential disaster in the Denver series and the Spurs were facing two very talented players in AI and Carmello plus the type of bigs that have historically given Duncan some trouble. We have also seen AI in particular go off on the Spurs in the regular season and Carmello is a talented scorer and a true potential superstar on the rise.

However, after breaking of the rust in game 2, and the Spurs shined, the defense was absurdly good, and Finley and Horry came alive and the Spurs moved on without major health issues.

Spurs are going to shock the world and dominate the Suns (the Spurs have handled and controlled the tempo with them commonly before and can also run with them when needed). The bottom line = Spurs in probably 5 and no worse than 6.

Amare will have some big games but overall Parker is going to also outplay Nash and Bowen will absolutely shut down Marion and help at times on Nash. Adios, the setting Suns!
That is a HOOPSWorld-worthy take right there.

[TampaDude]

Spurs will sweep the Suns. Book it.

[dbreiden83080]

did not people say denver was way better then 05 to

They did say that about the Nuggets and they were in every way. They played better D and had 2 great offensive players to try and stop. Spurs are in very good shape heading into this series with the Suns. Spurs in 6 if they don't have any letdowns.

[mardigan]

amare 05 >> amare 07
:tu

[ploto]

Raja Bell , Boris Diaw and and Kurt Thomas were not even on the 2005 Phoenix team- add in the improvement of Barbosa and they are a much better team than in 2005.

[mardigan]

Raja Bell , Boris Diaw and and Kurt Thomas were not even on the 2005 Phoenix team- add in the improvement of Barbosa and they are a much better team than in 2005.
Who ever said they were? The 05 team had some other good players though, Joe Johnson, Q Richardson were both damn good

[Rummpd]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2007/columns/story?columnist=spears_marc&page=SpursNuggetsGame5

Says same thing I said but I had not seen it when I posted:

Can Suns avoid Spurs' defensive vise grip?By Marc J. Spears
Special to ESPN.com
Archive

SAN ANTONIO -- The long alley-oops to Carmelo Anthony were gone. There were no easy layups for Allen Iverson. No fun. Just boring half-court basketball. And after just five postseason games, the Nuggets' season is now over due to the stingy San Antonio Spurs defense.

Still, it's one thing to shut down the Nuggets' fast break and quite another to shut down Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns. But the Spurs more than displayed against the Nuggets that they have the defensive capabilities to make even the running Suns boring, too.

"I tip my hat to San Antonio," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "They are a great defensive team and they realized they had to be at the top of their game defensively and they were."

Remember how fun the Nuggets were to watch during the regular-season?

Denver entered the postseason with a 42-14 mark when scoring 100 or more points this season, averaged the third-most points in the NBA with 105.4 points per game and was second in the NBA in fast-break points with 18.6 per contest. The Nuggets also had the NBA's second-leading scorer in the regular season in Anthony and the eighth in Iverson.

But in the No. 3 seed Spurs the No. 6 seed Nuggets faced their worst possible Western Conference foe. San Antonio led the NBA in scoring defense (90.1 points per game) in the regular season and was fourth in field-goal percentage defense (.443). The Spurs also have two all-NBA defensive first-team members in Tim Duncan and Bruce Bowen.

Supposedly aging San Antonio doesn't have the best athletes pound-for-pound in the NBA nor the fastest. But one key to the Spurs' stopping teams that love to run is they get back to defend their baskets on fast breaks better than any other team in the league.

How? Well, it's simple. Either get back or deal with the glare and repercussions of San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich.

"You get back or you ain't going to play," Spurs center Francisco Elson said. "He's a tough man. He's going to explain it to you one time. If you don't get it, you just ain't going to play."

Well, the Spurs got back in the first round and the Nuggets simply weren't able to play their game not once in the series that ended with a 93-78 Game 5 loss at the AT&T Center on Wednesday .

The Nuggets won Game 1 of the series 95-89 against the Spurs. But even in their lone triumph Denver played Spurs ball instead of its own brand by scoring just three fast-break points. The Nuggets scored only 88 points and had seven fast-break points in a Game 2 loss. Denver had 91 points and only nine fast-break points in a Game 3 loss at the Pepsi Center, and then only 89 points and 10 fast-break points in a Game 4 loss at the Pepsi Center. And Denver had a series-low 78 points and just six fast-break points in a deciding Game 5 in San Antonio.

Overall, the Nuggets averaged 88.2 points on 42.3 percent shooting and seven fast-break points per game against the Spurs. In other words, San Antonio limited Denver to 17.2 fewer points and 11.6 fewer fast-break points in the first round than it averaged in the regular season.

The Spurs didn't have any answer for Anthony, who averaged 26.8 points per game, and I'm not sure anyone in the world does now. But San Antonio did limit Iverson, an eight-time NBA All-Star, to a playoff career low 22.8 points per game.

"There were times that I would get by my man and find another one waiting for me at the basket," Iverson said. "That's great defense. They play that same style of defense every night."


The Suns better get ready to see that defense that the Spurs take so much pride in every night, too. And not long ago, Phoenix got a taste of just how suffocating San Antonio's defense can be.

Second-seeded Phoenix finished the regular season averaging an NBA-best 110.2 points per game as well as 17 fast-break points. The Suns have the NBA's best passer in Nash, a two-time reigning MVP who averaged a league-best 11.6 assists per game. Many of those assists went to athletic, All-Star big men Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion.

All those aforementioned statistics are impressive. But the statistic from the regular-season that Phoenix has to be worried about is its box score on April 5, 2007.

It was on that night -- their last meeting with San Antonion -- when the Spurs put the Suns' fast break in cement during a 92-85 at AT&T Center. San Antonio held Phoenix to a season-low 37 points at halftime on 34.1 percent shooting.


The only Sun to reach the 20-point mark was Nash with 20. The Suns were 2-of-11 from beyond the arc, tying their season low in 3s made, and had a season low in points, field-goal percentage (38.6) and assists (14). They also tied their season low in field goals made (32). Oh, yeah, Phoenix was limited to six fast break points, too.

"We did not get in transition like we wanted to, but that's rare for us,'' said Phoenix guard Raja Bell, to the media in San Antonio, after the April 5 loss.

April 5 isn't quite a month ago, which means that defensive lockdown by the Spurs is still fresh in Phoenix' mind. The long alley-oops to Stoudemire may be gone. There might not be any easy layups for Nash. No fun and just boring half-court basketball is quite possible, too.

Be careful Suns. The boring basketball just displayed by those running Nuggets is possible for you, too, because of that stingy Spurs defense.

Marc J. Spears covers the Denver Nuggets and the NBA for The Denver Post.

[Rummpd]

By the way for the poster that said this was Hoopsworld worthy - I used to write for them part-time! Most of their writers respect the Spurs greatly.

[Deede4525]

Raja Bell , Boris Diaw and and Kurt Thomas were not even on the 2005 Phoenix team- add in the improvement of Barbosa and they are a much better team than in 2005.


The Suns are a better offensive team this year, but where's the defense? Running and gunning :madrun are fine at times, but then what if the other team, ie, the Spurs, shut you down? :dramaquee

What happened to goooooood defense in the NBA? :nope


:flag:

[Rummpd]

Check that post, right on!

[mavsfan1000]

By the way for the poster that said this was Hoopsworld worthy - I used to write for them part-time! Most of their writers respect the Spurs greatly.
That explains a lot. :lol Just like last year when the kings were the tough series. :rolleyes:

[DarrinS]

Nash makes that offensive machine work. If the Spurs can take away what he likes to do (or severely limit him), then the Suns can be had in 5 or 6 games, IMO.

[DarrinS]

That explains a lot. :lol Just like last year when the kings were the tough series. :rolleyes:


Hey, when does that huge, embarassing meltdown begin? 9:30, is it?

[SequSpur]

Disagree. If you thought the Nuggets were a tough match for the Spurs, you have no idea.

[DarrinS]

Disagree. If you thought the Nuggets were a tough match for the Spurs, you have no idea.

THey are definitely deeper. Barbosa is no J.R. Smith.


With the exception of Raja Bell and Shawn Marion, I don't think they're all that great defensively.

[mavsfan1000]

Suns>>>Nuggets. Nuggets are a 2 man team while the suns are a 5 man team with some solid players coming off the bench. If we're talking about who has the most talent it is clearly the suns. Also I like how D'antoni put Diaw on the bench. Another offensive threat once Nash goes out.

[Rummpd]

Mavs fans talking smack? Bad timing and it is debatable "who has the most talent" Spurs vs. Suns. The Suns open style of play leads to more scoring on an average night and inflated statistics but the Spurs also have talent in bounds.

The Spurs have 4 players on team that have been all stars, and 2 Olypic Gold medal winners in Ginobili and the savy Oberto. Most importantly, they have the best big man (and in my opinion still the MVP all the time in Duncan) in the game and 2 of the REAL top 5 defenders in the game. Plus Big Shot Rob etc. Talents are diverse and the commonality on the Spurs = winners.

Look how the Suns historically falter when Nash is down including this year. If Parker continues to play well against Nash, as he often has done in the past, this will be again a short series.

Watch and learn Mavs fans and watch how a true multi-championship team that is regaining its swagger this year, i.e. the Spurs dominates a second strong opponent instead of wrinkling under pressure like a cheap shirt.
Finally, comparing at this stage D'Antoni to Popovich in any strategic move is questionable. Come back and raise such issues when Suns have won at least one championship. Diaw was put on the bench cause he was stinking up the joint much of season period.

[florige]

Mavs fans talking smack? Bad timing and it is debatable "who has the most talent" Spurs vs. Suns. The Suns open style of play leads to more scoring on an average night and inflated statistics but the Spurs also have talent in bounds.

The Spurs have 4 players on team that have been all stars, and 2 Olypic Gold medal winners in Ginobili and the savy Oberto. Most importantly, they have the best big man (and in my opinion still the MVP all the time in Duncan) in the game and 2 of the REAL top 5 defenders in the game. Plus Big Shot Rob etc. Talents are diverse and the commonality on the Spurs = winners.

Look how the Suns historically falter when Nash is down including this year. If Parker continues to play well against Nash, as he often has done in the past, this will be again a short series.

Watch and learn Mavs fans and watch how a true multi-championship team that is regaining its swagger this year, i.e. the Spurs dominates a second strong opponent instead of wrinkling under pressure like a cheap shirt.
Finally, comparing at this stage D'Antoni to Popovich in any strategic move is questionable. Come back and raise such issues when Suns have won at least one championship. Diaw was put on the bench cause he was stinking up the joint much of season period.


We have normally held Nash pretty much in check for the most part. I see it probably being the same team as 05 talent wise. The reason I say that is due 2 the fact than Amare is not the same Amare from 05, but with that being said Barboso is a key addition who could give us some trouble. Aka: Devin Harris less all the flopping.

[leemajors]

Suns>>>Nuggets. Nuggets are a 2 man team while the suns are a 5 man team with some solid players coming off the bench. If we're talking about who has the most talent it is clearly the suns. Also I like how D'antoni put Diaw on the bench. Another offensive threat once Nash goes out.

i think the spurs have significant coaching advantage in this series, but it will still be a tough matchup with all the scorers phoenix has.

[SAGambler]

I'm looking forward to what should be a good series.

They key is to keep Nash off his game. After the way Tony handled AI in the Denver series, I expect him to give Nash huge headaches in this series.

Bowen should shut Marion down, and if Fin plays on both ends like he did in Denver, I also look for this to be a short series.

Guard that 3 pt line. Make them try to beat you by feeding Amare inside.

I've noticed that the Suns aren't nearly so bad when those 3 pointers aren't raining in.

[Rummpd]

Fred Carter on NBA TV just said 5 games Spurs over Suns and other announcers agreed with them. Lock it down Spurs win this series in 6 or less.

[The_Game]

yeah because we all know that NBA TV predictions worked real well in the Mavs/Warriors series.

some are picking spurs but some are also picking suns...it means nothing. It's the players that decide it not the freaking media.

I'm not convinced spurs have the weapons to beat the suns. Suns have far more options.

[SpurForLife]

Spurs in six. Mark it down!!!!

[bigfan]

This Suns team will be tough. I think this series will go 7 games but the Spurs will pull it out. Go Spurs Go!

[siopaoboi]

if the spurs win the series i wouldnt be surprised, same this also if the suns win it out.

i guess the team that dictates the tempo would be key.

[GrandeDavid]

I, personally, have virtually no doubts that barring injury the Spurs will win this series. Easy, fast, long, struggle, what have you, I have no idea. But whether its in 4 or 7, I think San Antonio will get the job done. Not much rah rah to this take, but that's it.

[GrandeDavid]

But I am concerned that its an afternoon game. If I recall correctly the Spurs have historically underperformed on national TV games on Sunday afternoons...but this is the playoffs...

[Marcus Bryant]

i think the spurs have significant coaching advantage in this series, but it will still be a tough matchup with all the scorers phoenix has.

Who do the Suns have who can create off the dribble other than Nash?

[Marcus Bryant]

Instructive:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2007/columns/story?columnist=spears_marc&page=SpursNuggetsGame5

[Catharsis]

The Suns are a better offensive team this year, but where's the defense? Running and gunning :madrun are fine at times, but then what if the other team, ie, the Spurs, shut you down? :dramaquee

What happened to goooooood defense in the NBA? :nope


:flag:
I hope the entire Spurs team shares your thoughts. The Suns lead the league in defensive efficiency (http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/teamstats?seasonType=2&action=upsell&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba %2fhollinger%2fteamstats%3fseasonType%3d2).

[The_Game]

difference is the nuggets depended purely on melo and AI. they had no shooters. Suns have a team full of shooters and they run much faster than denver did. not a good comparision.

[Catharsis]

Who do the Suns have who can create off the dribble other than Nash?
The Spurs 1st round pick of 2003 who also won the 6th Man of the Year award this season. Diaw is also considered the Suns' second best playmaker.