Battle Stations Re-Run, for Game 3, T-2 Days

[Rummpd]

It worked last game - so bring on the victory slogans mates:

Here are three new quotes from Googling [victory, quotes] that are seemingly very applicable to the quiet and confident Spurs vs. the brash Suns:

1) "Invincibility lies in the defence; the possibility of victory in the Attack.”
Sun Tzu quotes (Chinese General and Author, b.500 BC)

Sounds like Gregg Popovich winning with defense!:flag:

2) “There is no substitute for victory.”
Douglas MacArthur quotes (American General who commanded the Southwest Pacific Theatre in World War II, 1880-1964)

3) “Beware of rashness, but with energy, and sleepless vigilance, go forward and give us victories.”

Abraham Lincoln quotes (American 16th US President (1861-65), who brought about the emancipation of the slaves. 1809-1865)

http://thinkexist.com/quotations/victory/3.html

Mark it down, Spurs will win again and put the thought of a sweep into the minds of all!


Your in the coming victory and the acting commander (where is the Battle Comander X?), PDR 05 Ret USA MC (up from private level medic training at Ft. Sam way back when).

[Guajalote]

I love the smell of napalm in the morning... Smells like... victory.

-Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore Apocolypse Now

[Joe Schmoogins]

I hated every minute of training, but I said, ''Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.''

-Muhammad Ali

[Rummpd]

T-13 hours

"Give no quarter!" involves combat or struggle, and urges one's own forces to keep on keeping on, without ceding any ground to the enemy's. "

http://thetimberyard.blogspot.com/2008/03/give-no-mercy-give-no-quarter.html


(What the Spurs need to do and will do tonight to the mentally soft Suns)

[BATMAN]

"Ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?"

[fyatuk]

"It's not the will to win that matters - everyone has that. It's the will to prepare to win that matters."

Coach Bear Bryant.

[Bulwark]

Hoorah!

[Tacker]

Defeat is sweetest when you're the Phoenix Suns

The best policy is to declare defeat and leave

Failure is only a temporary change in direction to set you straight for your next success, unless if you're the Phoenix Suns

[ancestron]

A loser doesn’t know what he’ll do if he loses, but talks about what he’ll do if he wins, and a winner doesn’t talk about what he’ll do if he wins, but knows what he’ll do if he loses.
- Mario Puzo

[phyzik]

A loser doesn’t know what he’ll do if he loses, but talks about what he’ll do if he wins, and a winner doesn’t talk about what he’ll do if he wins, but knows what he’ll do if he loses.
- Mario Puzo

perfect.... I think that sums up this series and the quotes from both sides.

[Rummpd]

I don't want else to say except go Spurs and DRIVE ON TO FINAL VICTORY OVER
VANQUISHED SUNS - since I started this thread Spurs on overdrive - bring on theTime Running Out On Suns
By J.A. Adande
ESPN.com
(Archive)

"Those who stand for nothing fall for anything."
-- Alexander Hamilton, one of our nation's Founding Fathers.

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns had their chance to take a stand, to defend their home court, to justify their bold mid-season trade for Shaquille O'Neal, to show why this group and this system should continue.

Instead they fell, fast and hard, looking less like a cohesive unit and more like a mismatched collection of parts that the San Antonio Spurs easily dismantled, 115-99, in Game 3. They never found something to stand by or stand on, and thus moved a step closer to extinction.

Playoff Schedule
WEST FIRST ROUND
Los Angeles 2, Denver 0
Game 3: Sat., 5:30 ET, at DEN
New Orleans 2, Dallas 1
Game 4: Sun., 9:30 ET, at DAL

San Antonio 3, Phoenix 0
Game 4: Sun., 3:30 ET, at PHO

Utah 2, Houston 1
Game 4: Sat., 10:30 ET, at UTA

EAST FIRST ROUND
Boston 2, Atlanta 0
Game 3: Sat., 8 ET, at ATL

Philadelphia 2, Detroit 1
Game 4: Sun., 7 ET, at PHI

Cleveland 2, Washington 1
Game 4: Sun, 1 ET, at WAS

Orlando 2, Toronto 1
Game 4: Sat., 3 ET, at TOR

• The full playoff schedule

The most anticipated first-round matchup ever is turning into a dud, headed to sweepsville in a series that's getting less competitive by the game. That double-overtime thriller in the opener seems like it was two months ago, and it's getting harder to believe the Suns were the superior team most of that night.

Now, after all of the battles and adjustments, the Suns still haven't found a player or pattern they can count on for a full 48 minutes against the Spurs.

The Spurs, meanwhile, showed the difference between searching and choosing. While the Suns have sought something, anything, to rely on in the second half, the Spurs merely selected a different star to accent each night. In Game 1 it was Tim Duncan scoring 40 points. In Game 2 Manu Ginobili took over in the fourth quarter. And in Game 3 Tony Parker set the tone for a dominant Spurs night, when he got the bucket or the assist on 12 of San Antonio's first 13 field goals.

The Suns never figured Parker out. He hit them for 41 points and 12 assists.

"We tried to take out their king," Stoudemire said, referring to Duncan. "But when you're playing the game of chess, there's always that queen that steps up and hits you from the blind side."

Stoudemire was just making an analogy, not questioning Parker's masculinity. There was nothing but respect from the Suns for the way the Spurs played. And if you read between the lines, there wasn't much confidence in the way the Suns coaches countered it, or the approach they've taken.

Only three of Parker's baskets came in the paint, meaning the Suns at least accomplished their objective of keeping him from getting to the basket.

"That was, sort of, the game plan," Suns guard Steve Nash said. "But when he starts making all the shots we've probably got to adjust."

The Suns never found a way to get the ball out of his hands early, before he could become a playmaker.

"We tried to double, not double, switch, not switch," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "They were almost perfect."

The Suns also went to a zone for a while, but the first time they unveiled it Parker sliced right through it. That's the problem when a team that isn't known for its defense tries to win a game by making defensive adjustments on the fly in the playoffs. "It's not really about offense," O'Neal said. "It's about defense. Defense wins games."

After Parker hit a 3-pointer to make the score 101-85, a frustrated Suns owner Robert Sarver slammed his foam No.1 finger to the ground. Maybe it dawned on him that he could only have two of the money-making home playoff games to show for his $70 million roster.

They brought in O'Neal -- who still has another two years and $40 million left on his contract -- to make them bigger and tougher. But it's hard to change a mindset on the fly.

Popovich made the most relevant comment of the night.

"Both teams pretty much have to do what they do," he said. "After 100 games that we've played you're not going to change your system. You might adjust a bit, but you're not going to do anything drastic."

The playoffs are a time of revelation, not transformation. Who you are, what you're about, gets exposed. You don't get to reinvent yourself.

The Spurs, for example, have always made a point to limit the Suns' transition baskets, even if it makes forsaking offensive rebounds to get back on defense. They also emphasize denying 3-point shots; the Suns tried only three in each half for a total that was 15 below their nightly average during the season. (Parker was one of the Spurs' defenders closing out on the Suns' 3-point shooters, another thing he did well Friday).

As an added wrinkle this series, Popovich has been fouling O'Neal away from the ball and sending him to the free-throw line. Nash said the constant stops affected his rhythm on a night he took only eight shots and made three (plus a technical free throw) for seven points.

"I felt like an outsider," Nash said.

The Spurs were right at home, beating the Suns for the 15th time in their past 20 playoff meetings, holding the Suns below 100 points for the fifth time in their seven meetings in 2007-08.

J.A. Adande joined ESPN.com as an NBA columnist in August 2007 after 10 years with the Los Angeles Times. Click here to e-mail J.A.

Playoff Dimes Past: April 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-0804246

2Mavericks Put Drama Aside quotes!