Is this Game 1 victory more like.....

[Phenomanul]

Game 1 vs Suns in 2005 WCF (Spurs won in 5)

or

Game 1 vs Mavs in 2006 WCSF (Spurs lost in 7)

in terms of defining the gaps between the Spurs and their opposition?

[dreamcastrocks]

Game 1 vs Suns in 2005 WCF (Spurs won in 5)

or

Game 1 vs Mavs in 2006 WCSF (Spurs lost in 7)

in terms of defining the gaps between the Spurs and their opposition?

I don't think that he will know the answer to this question, until we see what the Suns respond with in Game 2.

[BigBeezie]

I looked at it from both angles. The main difference is that we won on their home court yesterday.

[Cry Havoc]

Game 1 vs Suns in 2005 WCF (Spurs won in 5)

or

Game 1 vs Mavs in 2006 WCSF (Spurs lost in 7)

in terms of defining the gaps between the Spurs and their opposition?

Dallas actually played defense last year. Phoenix has never matched up well against us. I'd wager their fans are scared to death of our players at this point.

[dreamcastrocks]

Dallas actually played defense last year. Phoenix has never matched up well against us. I'd wager their fans are scared to death of our players at this point.

I am only scared of Parker. No need to double Duncan, he will get his. Just don't let Parker carve up the defense to the tune of 30PPG.

[J.T.]

I am interested to see Manu Ginobili get out of this funk he's in. I think Oberto stole some of his mojo because Fabbs has been pretty decent in the playoffs so far.

[nkdlunch]

It was more like Game 1 vs. Suns 2007 WCSF

[AnkleBreaker21]

its time 4 manu to start, this backup shit is getting to him. he cant get in any rhythm

[LavaLamp]

Dallas actually played defense last year. Phoenix has never matched up well against us. I'd wager their fans are scared to death of our players at this point.


Scared to death? This is basketball, not homeland security. :)

I did enjoy that game even if the Suns lost. I think the Suns had a shot of winning that one. They were still right there at the end. The Suns do play pretty good defense.

Spurs fans, do you think your team played pretty well in that game or did they have a sub-par game but still pulled out the win?

[AnkleBreaker21]

nah if manu would have been manu we would blown yall out

[dmac]

It was more like Game 1 vs. Suns 2007 WCSF
exactly!!!


:downspin: :downspin: :downspin:

[Kevin Blackistone]

Winning game 1 on the opponents court is huge, especially when you have matchup advantages over that team. It's not over by any means, but winning game 2 goes a long way to taking the basketball life out of Phoenix for the series.

Lavalamp, I think both teams played well. I think the Spurs played a solid game with the exception of the turnovers and allowing far too many fast break points (18). Defensively I thought the Spurs were a bit slow on rotations, but Nash is a player that will make you look slow, and the Spurs don't want to leave open 3's to cut off Nash in the paint. Keeping in front of Nash and making his shots difficult will be the key for the Spurs on the defensive end since they have shown time and again that they will not collapse and allow Nash to distribute at will.

[spursfaninla]

The Spurs as a whole played well, but had problem areas.

Tim, Tony, Finley and Oberto played well; HOrry was good but not amazing...Manu played average (good rebounding, bad shooting) and was mostly nullified by bell, barry was not a factor, Elson was not a factor, and Vaghn played terrible.

As a team, our defense was not effective enough. We need to hold Phoenix to around 95 or less to consistently win I think.

Our offense was great. I would like our free throw shooting to be better, and Tony needs fewer turnovers, but otherwise we played excellent I thought.

Phoenix played GREAT offense, and decent d at times. It was a very close game, and should be a close series.

[phyzik]

Spurs fans, do you think your team played pretty well in that game or did they have a sub-par game but still pulled out the win?

It was nothing to write home about. They could play better.

I will mention though, as they said on WOAI 1200, The Spurs seemed super relaxed before, during and after the game. It's just something in their look... its not swagger or superiority, just utter calm. Completely different from how they looked last year. Sure there were points of frustration but for the most part they had an ice cold stare.

That, above all, should have other teams fans squirming.

[dreamcastrocks]

Phoenix played GREAT offense, and decent d at times. It was a very close game, and should be a close series.

The Suns were not even close to being their best at offense. Again, they were at about 70%. Little to no fast break points. Not many points off of turnovers. (that I can remember) Shot a good % at the 3 point line, but didn't come close to putting up the 25 they average in the regular season.

The Suns played pretty well in the half court set, because they had to, to have a chance in the game. The Suns need to pick up the pace if they want to win tomorrow.

[Spurs>All]

It was nothing to write home about. They could play better.

I will mention though, as they said on WOAI 1200, The Spurs seemed super relaxed before, during and after the game. It's just something in their look... its not swagger or superiority, just utter calm. Completely different from how they looked last year. Sure there were points of frustration but for the most part they had an ice cold stare.

That, above all, should have other teams fans squirming.

Almost all the Spurs key players (except Fin) have been there, done that. Lose the first game at home in a series? Been there, done that. Play an amazing offensive team? Been there, done that. None of the remaining playoff teams (except Detroit, and look how they kicked Chi-town to the curb) can say that. It DOES make a difference.

[dreamcastrocks]

nah if manu would have been manu we would blown yall out

More one-liner statements.

If Marion would have been Marion, we would have blown you out. It goes both ways. (Marion disappeared for the 1st 3 quarters, and only had 6 boards)

If Kurt Thomas would have played more than 12 minutes, (more like 25-30) we would have blown you out too.

There were tons of mistakes by both teams. These one-liners don't make up for the multitude of other factors in these games.

[SAGambler]

Scared to death? This is basketball, not homeland security. :)

I did enjoy that game even if the Suns lost. I think the Suns had a shot of winning that one. They were still right there at the end. The Suns do play pretty good defense.

Spurs fans, do you think your team played pretty well in that game or did they have a sub-par game but still pulled out the win?

You noticed Pop was pissed at half time about the lax defense around the arc. But then the Spurs pretty much took care of that in the second half.

Tim for sure had a sub par 1st quarter and other than the little things he does, Manu did not have a Manu like game.

That's why I think the Spurs are on top of this series. If they all gel for 48 minutes, it will be a double digit win.

But I think we can live without Manu scoring in bunches, as long as Finley continues to be hot. A lot of those shots he made were hardly wide open looks, but he knocked them down anyway.

Now if Manu and Barry can get thier shit together on offense, we should see some big numbers put up.

I think rebounding is what killed the Suns yesterday. As long as the Spurs are getting 2nd chance points, the Suns have to be in trouble. Problem for the Suns, is who do they go to in order to get the rebounding about even?

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Game 1 v. Dallas last year I didn't feel like the Spurs were taking the Mavs seriously. In fact, I don't think they took the Mavs seriously until they were down 3-1.

I don't think the Spurs underestimate their opponent this time around.

[Kevin Blackistone]

The Suns were not even close to being their best at offense. Again, they were at about 70%. Little to no fast break points. (SPURS TRANSITION D LIMITS THAT) Not many points off of turnovers. (18 - MORE THAN SA USUALLY GIVES UP, DUE MAINLY TO TURNOVERS) Shot a good % at the 3 point line, but didn't come close to putting up the 25 they average in the regular season (SPURS TAKE THAT AWAY, THAT'S WHY NASH SCORED AS MUCH AS HE DID - SPURS TOOK AWAY HIS OPEN SHOOTERS.)

The Suns played pretty well in the half court set, because they had to, to have a chance in the game. The Suns need to pick up the pace if they want to win tomorrow.

[FromWayDowntown]

The Suns were not even close to being their best at offense. Again, they were at about 70%. Little to no fast break points. Not many points off of turnovers. (that I can remember) Shot a good % at the 3 point line, but didn't come close to putting up the 25 they average in the regular season.

That's all true, but I think it's indicative of what the Spurs' defensive game plan was and it would suggest that the Spurs were able to control those parts of the game. It's always crucial against the Suns to deny them points in transition. Part of that is defending the three point line during both a primary and a secondary break. If the Spurs are to be successful in this series, those must be points of focus for them. They did it well yesterday.


The Suns played pretty well in the half court set, because they had to, to have a chance in the game. The Suns need to pick up the pace if they want to win tomorrow.

Again, that's the controlling question in this series, I think. D'Antoni said yesterday that 106 should be enough for them to win, but even at a pace that's significantly faster than the Spurs like to play, the Suns were just short (when it mattered). Plenty of factors go into that, certainly. But I'm not sure that the Spurs were particularly efficient on the offensive end in Game 1 and it would seem to me that if the Suns want to increase the pace, that almost necessarily means that there's going to be more opportunities for the Spurs to find a greater efficiency on the offensive end. Phoenix can up the pace by trying to force turnovers and enticing the Spurs into quick shots -- but if they aren't successful in their attempts to create turnovers, the Spurs will have advantages going to the rim; enticing the Spurs into quick shots generally tends to work only when the Spurs find a good shot -- it's not always that way, but it's generally true that the Spurs are remarkably patient on the offensive end.