duncan228
04-16-2008, 04:51 PM
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/sports/articles/0416boivin0416.html
Bring on the Spurs
Paola Boivin
The Arizona Republic
The stars with height, like to pick a fight, deep in the heart of Texas . . .
Are we there yet? Forget Utah. Never mind about Houston. I want the San Antonio Spurs to face the Suns in Round 1.
Can you think of a more entertaining series? The Spurs and Public Enemy No. 1, "Genghis" Bowen, against the Suns, a team that made a blockbuster trade primarily to shorten San Antonio's postseason. advertisement
Some don't want the Spurs until later. I want them now.
"I'd rather not see them at all," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said Tuesday. "I think they're going to be very good in the playoffs. They'll go down swinging."
Pause.
"Maybe literally," he said with a smirk.
How can you not love this matchup?
The series would be a much-needed antidote for Suns fans, too. They have become a neurotic bunch, seeing injustice in every call against their team. ("Maybe they should play their games at Jobing.com Arena!" one voice-mailer screamed Tuesday. "Because they keep getting jobbed!")
Deep breath, people. Deep breath.
If the Spurs meet the Suns in the first round, the Suns win. I don't care who has home-court advantage.
The Spurs have issues. They've lost three of their past six games, including that 90-64 fiasco against Utah. Let's not forget the 21-point defeat to the Lakers and the 17-point loss to the Suns.
For all the good things that an experienced roster can bring, sometimes experience is spelled A-G-E down the stretch, and you can't help but wonder if that's what's going on here. Look at some of their second-half point totals recently: 26, 33, 34.
Yuck.
Last season they led the NBA in point differential. This season, they're barely in the Top 10. Offensively, they can't spread the floor the way they have in the past. This is not exactly a team heading into the postseason with a lot of confidence.
The Suns, meanwhile, finally have shed their one-dimensional tag.
Their flexibility was evident in back-to-back games against Memphis and San Antonio.
They played like the old up-tempo Suns against the Grizzlies, and the newfangled Suns against the Spurs, thanks to tough defense and fourth-quarter dominance.
"We're more equipped to handle different things that come at us," D'Antoni said. "That was the whole point of the trade."
Ah, yes. The trade. Have you noticed what Shaquille O'Neal has done to Tim Duncan, recently? O'Neal has limited Duncan to 15-of-40 shooting in their past two meetings.
The super-sized Saguaro gets giddy when talking about defending San Antonio's cyborg in the post.
Talk about entertainment value.
And let's be honest. Aren't you simply beside yourself over the prospect of Bruce Bowen returning to US Airways Center?
Suns fans' nerves are still raw after seeing the elbow he directed at Amaré Stoudemire's ribs April 9.
"Where's this guy from, anyway? RanGOON?" one e-mailer said. "Where does he sleep? In a LaGOON?")
He attacks ribs like Fat Albert at a Tony Roma's.
His "accidental trips" are like the late Timothy Leary's "accidental trips."
A Suns-Spurs opening series isn't certain, but it's a strong possibility.
Our resident Shaq-etologist, The Republic's Paul Coro, on Tuesday morning looked at the remaining regular-season games and came up with 32 combinations that could affect playoff pairings.
Thirteen of those scenarios had the Suns facing the Spurs.
Lucky us.
Bring on the Spurs
Paola Boivin
The Arizona Republic
The stars with height, like to pick a fight, deep in the heart of Texas . . .
Are we there yet? Forget Utah. Never mind about Houston. I want the San Antonio Spurs to face the Suns in Round 1.
Can you think of a more entertaining series? The Spurs and Public Enemy No. 1, "Genghis" Bowen, against the Suns, a team that made a blockbuster trade primarily to shorten San Antonio's postseason. advertisement
Some don't want the Spurs until later. I want them now.
"I'd rather not see them at all," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said Tuesday. "I think they're going to be very good in the playoffs. They'll go down swinging."
Pause.
"Maybe literally," he said with a smirk.
How can you not love this matchup?
The series would be a much-needed antidote for Suns fans, too. They have become a neurotic bunch, seeing injustice in every call against their team. ("Maybe they should play their games at Jobing.com Arena!" one voice-mailer screamed Tuesday. "Because they keep getting jobbed!")
Deep breath, people. Deep breath.
If the Spurs meet the Suns in the first round, the Suns win. I don't care who has home-court advantage.
The Spurs have issues. They've lost three of their past six games, including that 90-64 fiasco against Utah. Let's not forget the 21-point defeat to the Lakers and the 17-point loss to the Suns.
For all the good things that an experienced roster can bring, sometimes experience is spelled A-G-E down the stretch, and you can't help but wonder if that's what's going on here. Look at some of their second-half point totals recently: 26, 33, 34.
Yuck.
Last season they led the NBA in point differential. This season, they're barely in the Top 10. Offensively, they can't spread the floor the way they have in the past. This is not exactly a team heading into the postseason with a lot of confidence.
The Suns, meanwhile, finally have shed their one-dimensional tag.
Their flexibility was evident in back-to-back games against Memphis and San Antonio.
They played like the old up-tempo Suns against the Grizzlies, and the newfangled Suns against the Spurs, thanks to tough defense and fourth-quarter dominance.
"We're more equipped to handle different things that come at us," D'Antoni said. "That was the whole point of the trade."
Ah, yes. The trade. Have you noticed what Shaquille O'Neal has done to Tim Duncan, recently? O'Neal has limited Duncan to 15-of-40 shooting in their past two meetings.
The super-sized Saguaro gets giddy when talking about defending San Antonio's cyborg in the post.
Talk about entertainment value.
And let's be honest. Aren't you simply beside yourself over the prospect of Bruce Bowen returning to US Airways Center?
Suns fans' nerves are still raw after seeing the elbow he directed at Amaré Stoudemire's ribs April 9.
"Where's this guy from, anyway? RanGOON?" one e-mailer said. "Where does he sleep? In a LaGOON?")
He attacks ribs like Fat Albert at a Tony Roma's.
His "accidental trips" are like the late Timothy Leary's "accidental trips."
A Suns-Spurs opening series isn't certain, but it's a strong possibility.
Our resident Shaq-etologist, The Republic's Paul Coro, on Tuesday morning looked at the remaining regular-season games and came up with 32 combinations that could affect playoff pairings.
Thirteen of those scenarios had the Suns facing the Spurs.
Lucky us.