SpursFanFirst
12-18-2007, 09:45 AM
Suns take care of business vs. Spurs
Charley Rosen
Special to FOXSports.com, Updated 7 hours ago
Game time: Suns 100, Spurs 95
In the NBA's latest media-hyped rivalry, this was absolutely a must-win for Phoenix. And for just about any team other than the Spurs, playing without their 20 ppg All-Star point guard Tony Parker would have made this a throwaway game. Going into the contest, the Suns were faced with five crucial questions:
1. How would Parker's absence affect the outcome?
- Jacque Vaughn shot well — 7-for-10 for 14 points — hitting open jumpers plus a couple of driving floaters. But he never put enough pressure on the Suns' defense. He didn't earn a single free throw — and he made a host of mistakes. These included a couple of forced shots, a charging foul, and even a moving screen.
- Brent Barry was 2-for-6 with five assists, but his subpar defense was the target of the Suns' offense.
- Overall, Parker's unavailability was a huge factor — and one reason why the Suns had 27 free throws to the Spurs' 15.
2. How would Phoenix deal with the Spurs' physicality?
- The banging was extremely limited.
- Just some minor arm-wrestling between Boris Diaw and Fabricio Oberto; a solid screen set on Bruce Bowen from Brian Skinner; and Robert Horry was knocked down by a screen set by Shawn Marion.
- But there was absolutely no discernable bad blood between the teams.
- In fact, after one second-quarter play wherein a questionable foul was nailed on Marion for inducing Horry to flop, the two were actually smiling and joking about the injustice of the call.
- Even Bowen's late-game defense against Steve Nash was much more gentle than we'll see in the playoffs.
3. Could the Suns control tempo?
- Almost.
- Literally half of the Suns' 36 field goals were produced by their half-court offense, but their shooting percentage in these situations was less than 40 percent.
- The Spurs managed 13 offensive rebounds (to the Suns' six) and thereby generated eight extra shots as well as slowing the pace.
- But if the Suns couldn't establish either their running game or their early offense, when the game came down to the finish line, Nash's creative ball-handling and passing were the deciding factors.
- The Spurs had their biggest spurts when they went small — teaming Tim Duncan with Manu Ginobili, Vaughn, Barry, Bowen and Mike Finley — and were temporarily able to match Phoenix's quick-hitting offense.
- In essence, Nash enabled the Suns to compete on virtual even terms with the Spurs in San Antonio's own station-to-station game.
4. Could the Suns control Tim Duncan?
- Nope. TD was 15-for-25 and had 17 rebounds to go with his 36 points.
- For most of the game, he totally destroyed Amare Stoudemire — spinning, jump hooking, laying in put-backs and securing great position in the pivot.
- Skinner, however, did a yeoman's job at defending Duncan — fronting him and thereby denying TD the ball, fighting for position on every possession and even blocking one of Duncan's shots.
- In the waning minutes of the game, however, Stoudemire made two critical plays: Poking an entry pass away from Duncan, a play that led to a fast-break hoop by Grant Hill, and capturing an offensive rebound and converting the two subsequent free throws.
- Stoudemire's numbers weren't as spectacular as Duncan's — 6-for-9, six rebounds, 17 points — but he came up big at both ends when the game was on the line.
5. Could the Suns contain Manu Ginobili?
- Yes and no. They were unable to keep Ginobili out of the middle, but the Spurs' electric wingman missed four layups and had one blocked. For the game, Ginobili was 6-for-19 for 18 points — but he made a runner that was nearly the winning score.
- Without Parker on the floor, the Suns could concentrate on ganging up on Ginobili's lane penetrations — and they did a good job here.
Not having to deal with Parker undoubtedly took some of the sweetness out of the Suns' revenge. Still, winning in San Antonio is tough no matter which of the home team's players are MIA.
All in all, the Suns came up with several big plays in the clutch and simply did what they had to do. That in itself is one sign of an outstanding ball club.
Charley Rosen
Special to FOXSports.com, Updated 7 hours ago
Game time: Suns 100, Spurs 95
In the NBA's latest media-hyped rivalry, this was absolutely a must-win for Phoenix. And for just about any team other than the Spurs, playing without their 20 ppg All-Star point guard Tony Parker would have made this a throwaway game. Going into the contest, the Suns were faced with five crucial questions:
1. How would Parker's absence affect the outcome?
- Jacque Vaughn shot well — 7-for-10 for 14 points — hitting open jumpers plus a couple of driving floaters. But he never put enough pressure on the Suns' defense. He didn't earn a single free throw — and he made a host of mistakes. These included a couple of forced shots, a charging foul, and even a moving screen.
- Brent Barry was 2-for-6 with five assists, but his subpar defense was the target of the Suns' offense.
- Overall, Parker's unavailability was a huge factor — and one reason why the Suns had 27 free throws to the Spurs' 15.
2. How would Phoenix deal with the Spurs' physicality?
- The banging was extremely limited.
- Just some minor arm-wrestling between Boris Diaw and Fabricio Oberto; a solid screen set on Bruce Bowen from Brian Skinner; and Robert Horry was knocked down by a screen set by Shawn Marion.
- But there was absolutely no discernable bad blood between the teams.
- In fact, after one second-quarter play wherein a questionable foul was nailed on Marion for inducing Horry to flop, the two were actually smiling and joking about the injustice of the call.
- Even Bowen's late-game defense against Steve Nash was much more gentle than we'll see in the playoffs.
3. Could the Suns control tempo?
- Almost.
- Literally half of the Suns' 36 field goals were produced by their half-court offense, but their shooting percentage in these situations was less than 40 percent.
- The Spurs managed 13 offensive rebounds (to the Suns' six) and thereby generated eight extra shots as well as slowing the pace.
- But if the Suns couldn't establish either their running game or their early offense, when the game came down to the finish line, Nash's creative ball-handling and passing were the deciding factors.
- The Spurs had their biggest spurts when they went small — teaming Tim Duncan with Manu Ginobili, Vaughn, Barry, Bowen and Mike Finley — and were temporarily able to match Phoenix's quick-hitting offense.
- In essence, Nash enabled the Suns to compete on virtual even terms with the Spurs in San Antonio's own station-to-station game.
4. Could the Suns control Tim Duncan?
- Nope. TD was 15-for-25 and had 17 rebounds to go with his 36 points.
- For most of the game, he totally destroyed Amare Stoudemire — spinning, jump hooking, laying in put-backs and securing great position in the pivot.
- Skinner, however, did a yeoman's job at defending Duncan — fronting him and thereby denying TD the ball, fighting for position on every possession and even blocking one of Duncan's shots.
- In the waning minutes of the game, however, Stoudemire made two critical plays: Poking an entry pass away from Duncan, a play that led to a fast-break hoop by Grant Hill, and capturing an offensive rebound and converting the two subsequent free throws.
- Stoudemire's numbers weren't as spectacular as Duncan's — 6-for-9, six rebounds, 17 points — but he came up big at both ends when the game was on the line.
5. Could the Suns contain Manu Ginobili?
- Yes and no. They were unable to keep Ginobili out of the middle, but the Spurs' electric wingman missed four layups and had one blocked. For the game, Ginobili was 6-for-19 for 18 points — but he made a runner that was nearly the winning score.
- Without Parker on the floor, the Suns could concentrate on ganging up on Ginobili's lane penetrations — and they did a good job here.
Not having to deal with Parker undoubtedly took some of the sweetness out of the Suns' revenge. Still, winning in San Antonio is tough no matter which of the home team's players are MIA.
All in all, the Suns came up with several big plays in the clutch and simply did what they had to do. That in itself is one sign of an outstanding ball club.