Was the lineup change the main reason we lost?

[LaMarcus Bryant]

Curious here.

[cherylsteele]

It might have played a part but the bigger problem was the lack of focus, hustle, desire, etc. The Suns outplayed us.

[BIG IRISH]

Yep, combined with 56% FT Shooting and not dominating on the boards

[Fabbs]

1. Suns hustled more, loose balls etc and shot much better.
2. Stoopid assed return to small balls after 1st qtr lead of 25-19.
Fabbs lone big on the floor. :downspin:
3. Not enough ball movement, 4 Dumb ad nauseum and missed shots.
4. Tim Thomas very effective, also allowed to play physical D on Duncan and no adjustment made by Spurs.
5. Floppy Nash being set up by his moving screen buddy Amare was oh so titilating to Salvatore.

[kps0001]

The Thompson brothers.










Sorry, it was interesting to learn about them and the either; coincidence or the effect they have on the Spurs.

[PM5K]

Inevitable, we had already won five games in a row, and the Suns are a good enough team that there probably isn't anybody right now that could beat them twice in a row at home...

[easjer]

Uh, I'd say that the lack of aggression, poor shooting, lack of ball movement, defensive lapses and adjustments, turnovers, and piss poor free throw shooting had more to do with it. I fail to see how the starting line up for Phoenix was responsible for all those things.

[GrandeDavid]

Phoenix brought it, they had to. The Spurs didn't and got burned (no pun intended).

[Big P]

I think putting Marion on Parker really handcuffed him & us as a team, causing us to have less ball movement & take bad shots & also make alot of turnovers. I hand it to Phoenix, the made an adjustment & it worked, I just hope Pop can come up with an adjustment of his own.

[Spurs Dynasty 21]

NO



the reason was Duncan's teammates were shit



Kurt Thomas did NO better on Duncan then Amare, and if the game wasn't a blowout and Duncan tayed in he'd of easily had 35+ points

[exstatic]

It might have played a part but the bigger problem was the lack of focus, hustle, desire, etc. The Suns outplayed us.
Ding ding ding.

[exstatic]

I think putting Marion on Parker really handcuffed him & us as a team, causing us to have less ball movement & take bad shots & also make alot of turnovers. I hand it to Phoenix, the made an adjustment & it worked, I just hope Pop can come up with an adjustment of his own.
Marion was on Parker for game 1. Did you watch?

I told someone at work that it looked like Parker was reined in. Big mistake. His penetrations cause chaos for experienced defensive teams, let alone recent converts like PHO. He doesn't have to score, just cause the defense to rotate one time. A quick pass will cause a second rotation, at which point PHO will leave someone open. Free Parker.

[easjer]

Marion was on Parker for game 1. Did you watch?

I told someone at work that it looked like Parker was reined in. Big mistake. His penetrations cause chaos for experienced defensive teams, let alone recent converts like PHO. He doesn't have to score, just cause the defense to rotate one time. A quick pass will cause a second rotation, at which point PHO will leave someone open. Free Parker.


Agreed. Tony looked like he was trying really hard to get other people involved early on instead of being aggressive himself. He seemed subdued in the first quarter. He didn't score his first field goal until the 2nd quarter. That shit won't work. I know he had some misses, but I thought it would have been better for him to establish early on to free up others on offense. It didn't appear that Marion necessarily bothered him too much more than Game 1, but I wasn't watching it completely.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

tony had a bruised elbow that completely took him out of his shooting element.


manu had no excuse, but tony's bruise on his shooting elbow changed a lot for him

he got the bruise from the barbosa foul

[Suns>Spurs]

No

The reason Phoenix is the better team.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

No

The reason Phoenix is the better team.

in 1993 they were

[Suns>Spurs]

in 1993 they were

still living in the past I see

[Dave McNulla]

concentration + effort + missed wide open shots

[Dave McNulla]

No

The reason Phoenix is the better team.are you going to fix that picture when the suns lose the series?

[THE SIXTH MAN]

No

The reason Phoenix is the better team.
Great insight and analyses.

[GrandeDavid]

No

The reason Phoenix is the better team.

Especially as evidenced by Phoenix's 5-12 record against San Antonio over the past few years.

Thanks for sharing that gem from deep within your noggin:

:shootme

[LaMarcus Bryant]

Spurs are SOL if Pop doesn't at least half heartedly listen to PJ Carlesimo during this short break we have.

[GrandeDavid]

still living in the past I see

And you are not? Or do you possess an uncanny ability to see into the future? Because in the past the Spurs are better, and presently sit at 1-1 against Phoenix, going back to San Antonio. So how, pumpkin pie, is Phoenix better than San Antonio?

[timvp]

It wasn't the main reason. The main reason is the Spurs didn't have the necessary focus or effort.

But yeah, it was a pretty huge reason. The Suns went from getting destroyed on the glass to matching the Spurs. They went from having their best low post player go from foul trouble to having to play only one end of the court. They actually had a big man with the ability to switch against Parker. They had a guy out there able to set a solid screen.

The insertion of Kurt Thomas into the lineup has made this a much tougher series. The Spurs would have been able to beat the small ball Suns in 4 or 5. Now with Thomas, they are all of a sudden bigger than the Spurs and this series will be a long one.

[T Park]

ive yet to see anyone say what they would do....

[kps0001]

don't mean to hijack the thread but damn that is a cool Cardinals sig. Go Redbirds!

[ambchang]

The Suns played well and the Spurs didn't. The Suns are a very capable team, and going through the series expecting a sweep is a bit overoptimistic.
Even though I thought the Spurs were going to win Game 2, my assumption was that the Spurs will bring their A game, they didn't, the Suns did, so the Suns won.

[Trainwreck2100]

spurs had it at seven to start the fourth, so no.

[mavsfan1000]

You all are dumb. Duncan was killing Amare. Kurt Thomas at least had a chance against Duncan. Amare would've gotten in foul trouble if he had to guard Duncan from the start of the game. Smart move by D'antoni on starting Kurt Thomas.

[slayermin]

No.

You have to hand it to Phoenix. They played great in an extremely physical game. We didn't come out and match their intensity.

Since Thomas went 6-7 from the field, you would have to say the Sun's big lineup worked but it wasn't the main reason they won. He is more physical than Stoudemire but I thought TD showed he will win most of those battles down there, one on one. Mentally, I think the Spurs prepared for an up and down series against a horrible defensive team. Inserting Thomas makes Phoenix more physical which isn't anything new to the Spurs. But now, they need to adjust to Phoenix and match their physicality. Maybe start Oberto instead of Fran.

But overall, it was a 6-7 point game throughout. TD's fourth foul hurt us. There were several shots that just rimmed out. The free throw shooting was horrible.

One thing Pop should do again is play TD big minutes in the first quarter. Get some fouls on Thomas early.

I'm not sure what's up with Manu. I did see a couple of nice drives but only nine shots? Tony Parker struggled. Both looked passive on the offensive end.

On to game three...

[mavsfan1000]

No.

You have to hand it to Phoenix. They played great in an extremely physical game. We didn't come out and match their intensity.

Since Thomas went 6-7 from the field, you would have to say the Sun's big lineup worked but it wasn't the main reason they won. He is more physical than Stoudemire but I thought TD showed he will win most of those battles down there, one on one. Mentally, I think the Spurs prepared for an up and down series against a horrible defensive team. Inserting Thomas makes Phoenix more physical which isn't anything new to the Spurs. But now, they need to adjust to Phoenix and match their physicality. Maybe start Oberto instead of Fran.

But overall, it was a 6-7 point game throughout. TD's fourth foul hurt us. There were several shots that just rimmed out. The free throw shooting was horrible.

One thing Pop should do again is play TD big minutes in the first quarter. Get some fouls on Thomas early.

I'm not sure what's up with Manu. I did see a couple of nice drives but only nine shots? Tony Parker struggled. Both looked passive on the offensive end.

On to game three...
I don't know the exact percentage but it seemed Duncan was scoring on Thomas about 50% of the time but was scoring on Stoudemire like 70% of the time. The shots Duncan made on Thomas were tough shots as well.

[J.T.]

Spurs missed shots, didn't play like they wanted it except for Duncan. Had some costly TOs and the lineup Pop went with after Duncan got his 4th foul essentially sealed the deal for Phoenix. Phoenix played to win, we didn't. End of discussion.

Spurs need more focus and better execution in Game 3.

[Big P]

Marion on Parker was like Phoenix cutting the head of the snake off...he took Parker out of his game, Parker couldn't make good passes, so the ball movement suffered,...when we did pass there was too much time off the clock, which forced us to take bad shots...the playoffs are all about adjustments & I hope Pop has a couple.

[stéphane]

in terms of effort, it was like a "win or die" situation for the suns wich was not the case for the spurs... it was obvious during the game.
everyone says only Duncan was ok but tell me :
Don't you think TD in a great night won't simply destroy Thomas?
He was the best player from the spurs but he has always been...
They have to play to win not just to try to steal the game...

[SAGambler]

Nope.

Spurs, after kicking butt for the first quarter, look like they were satisfied to walk away with one win.

While Thomas may disrupt Tim a bit more than Amare, this was done mainly to try and keep Amare out of foul trouble. And like someone said, "he ain't no Nene."

It's like the Spurs just turned it off after the first quarter. Simple as that.

[theroc5]

we got out hearted and parker and manu didnt feel like driving to the basket.

[mathbzh]

The new lineup worekd fine. But I believe that the main reason is on the Spurs side.
It is like the Spurs were happy with 1 victory on the road and did not realy try to win game two.

[GrandeDavid]

You all are dumb. Duncan was killing Amare. Kurt Thomas at least had a chance against Duncan. Amare would've gotten in foul trouble if he had to guard Duncan from the start of the game. Smart move by D'antoni on starting Kurt Thomas.


Talk about dumb, and inappropriate coming from a Mavs fan...you mention the very obvious insertion of Kurt Thomas into the starting lineup, something which has been commented upon countless times over the past couple of days. Would you not venture to guess that Duncan's lower shooting percentage could have had something to do with fatigue, being that he obviously had to work harder as his primary supporting cast - Parker and Ginobili - were having off nights?

There are numerous reasons, and until you state them all in an intelligent manner, you have no business calling other contributors here "dumb".

But you fail to address the Spurs' passed up shots, lack of aggression, Bell's defense on Ginobili and/or Ginobili's tenacity with the ball in his hands. You failed to mention the intangible yet most important factor - heart. Phoenix absolutely HAD to win that game, and they did their job. The Spurs have a collective off night. I wouldn't count on that happening over the next couple or few games.

[nkdlunch]

the main reason is Tony + Manu played like shit