http://www.nba.com/nba_news/sunsheart_070507.html
Suns Look for More Heart in Critical Game 2
By BOB BAUM, AP Sports Writer
Posted May 7 2007 9:02PM
PHOENIX, May 7 (AP) -- The Phoenix Suns have better players. San Antonio has a better team, at least for now.
That was the conclusion of Suns coach Mike D'Antoni in the wake of the Spurs' bloody 111-106 victory in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.
"I hate to say this and I hope it sounds the right way. I think we have more talent than they do,'' D'Antoni said after the Suns practiced on Monday. "I think that we're individually better. Collectively, they're better right now.''
The Phoenix coach was mum on what changes he planned for Tuesday night's Game 2, but Amare Stoudemire spilled the beans on one big move.
"I think we're going to start Kurt Thomas,'' he said.
That would seem to make sense.
The professed reason that Phoenix acquired Thomas from the New York Knicks in 2005 was to give the Suns a rugged defender to go against the Spurs' Tim Duncan, who dominated inside for 33 points and 16 rebounds in Game 1.
"Kurt is a good defender,'' said San Antonio's Tony Parker, who scored 32 on Sunday, "so I guess they want to slow down Timmy. I thought he did a pretty good job on Timmy last night, and I can see why coach D'Antoni wants to do that.''
Adding Thomas will slow the Suns, but will relieve Stoudemire of the burden of guarding Duncan. Foul trouble plagued Stoudemire throughout Sunday's game.
Parker and Steve Nash pronounced themselves ready to play on Tuesday after their head-on collision late in Sunday's game. Parker had a headache Sunday night and a bump on his head, but said he felt fine on Monday.
Nash missed a crucial 45 seconds in the final minute of Sunday's loss because a cut on his nose was bleeding profusely. On Monday, the cut that required six s ches was covered by a bandage.
"I'm not thinking about it,'' Nash said. "We'll see how it goes tomorrow, but I don't think I'll have any problems.''
Of more concern to the two-time defending league MVP was his belief that there were times the Suns did not play with the intensity required for a matchup of this magnitude. The 33-year-old point guard knows that the window for winning championships will not be open forever.
"This is the toughest matchup for us,'' Nash said. "They've got size, sort of a collective toughness you have to deal with. They've got experience and they play hard. They're extremely disciplined.
"I'm at a loss to explain why we think that we can go out there and not outhustle them and outwork them and win games.''
D'Antoni said the Spurs were mentally tougher than the Suns on Sunday.
"We all collectively have to pick up our energy and concentration, our mental ability to get over the hump,'' he said. "They put `champion' by their name for a reason. There's a lot of guys who will never be in this position again. I told them today `This could be your only chance in life to be a champion, so we're going to have to dig harder.'''
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich pointed out that a couple of plays at the end won the game, not some dominating San Antonio performance. The Spurs lost Game 1 at home against Denver in the opening round, then won the next four.
"It's not a desperate situation,'' Popovich said. "Good teams come back from losses in the regular season and even more so in the postseason. They'll be a heck of a team tomorrow night.''
But so will the Spurs, who have visions of their third NBA le in five years.
D'Antoni said he again will start with the bigger Shawn Marion guarding the speedy Parker. Again, the idea will be to force the San Antonio point guard to shoot jumpers rather than layups.
"I would think a 15-foot shot is better than a 2-foot,'' the Suns coach said.
That didn't surprise Parker.
"I think they're going to change nothing,'' he said. "I think they're just going to see if I can hit shots the whole series.''
Outside shooting was a deficiency for Parker when he first came to the NBA as a 19-year-old in 2001, but that's no longer the case, as the Suns know too well.
"Tony's put in the time,'' Popovich said. "That's what it takes. When a player is that dedicated to change something and to improve, it usually works for him.''
The Spurs have won five consecutive playoff games and are 12-4 against Phoenix since Nash came to the Suns in 2004.
"If we put these guys down 2-0 going back to our house, it puts some incredible pressure on them,'' Duncan said. "It's incredible pressure anyway with us up 1-0.''
So let's see.... their players are more talented, individually better, and yet we've historically stomped them.
Our players are less talented and only better "as a team", yet we hustle individually to get rebounds and loose balls, and outplay them?
They're better individually. Right. That's why D'Antoni is CHANGING HIS LINEUP, after just one Game against San Antonio. Does that sound like a coach who thinks he has better players?
I don't understand. Why are you giving his rants a forum. Why give any thought to his lunacy? The majority of Suns fans don't.
He wants to give us some bulletin board material, so I posted it. And he IS the voice of your franchise.
D'Antoni basically admitted that Pop owns him as a coach, and Pop's system owns his.
How else do you have better players and yet keep losing?
This dude just needs to shut up.
As a Suns fan I agree, but when he says stuff like that, he is shooting himself in the foot. If you feel that you have better talent, and you cannot beat this team, then the result is all on you.
For the record, I do believe him when he says that the Suns have more talent. Do they have the better team, when the series ends, we shall see. (should be the Spurs)
I like the Suns more than the Spurs, but seriously, what is Mike smoking that makes him think the Suns are individually better?The rest of the team depends too much on Steve.
If Thomas is such a good defender, why keep him out of Game 1?
I thought we already covered that D'Antoni was an idiot?!
Well, in case you missed it, he's an idiot!
Does talent count for defense, too? Because the Spurs have been the most talented defensive team in the league (along with Detroit during their le run) for about 8 years now. It's not often that a team has the two best defenders (sorry Camby, your block party isn't worth didly now) in the league.
Not trying to argue. I'm just really sick to death of hearing about talent.
Talent is what Darius Miles had coming out of high school. Talent is Trajan Langdon. Talent is Sebastian Telfair. I bet 99.999/100 people would have picked any of them to be a better player than Bruce Bowen upon entering the league, especially from a statistical perspective. But let me ask you this: For all the lack of his numbers, what would you or the Mavs give to have him on your team right now? That goes for Duncan as well, who will probably never have a 60 point game in his career, so obviously he's less "talented".
Starting Kurt Thomas? Suns are screwed.
looooooooooooooo 92 to 85 games!
Amen. Does talent = physical skills? Mental skills? If a player has every shot in the book but insists on making impossible shots and plays without discipline, in my book he doesn't get any points for talent.
Results = Skills + Brains + Effort + Discipline
Why talk about skills alone?
I hope Manu owns tomorrow. Because when he's on, he's on another level. It's like 5 Manus.
5 Manus > than opposing team.
Kurt Thomas.... Ha... He'll be fouled out by the end of the 1st
Actually, D'Antoni is being honest here, and I think he's right. The Suns do have more talented individual players.
Interestingly, though, he doesn't take the statement to the logical conclusion most of us have reached: the Suns' system (i.e., coaching) is inferior.
And starting Kurt Thomas, assuming that also means more minutes for him, is going to make things very, very tough for the Spurs.
Talent does come into effect. However, IMO, Defense is more about coaching, execution, and being in the right positions, something that D'Antoni could learn a thing or ten from Popovich.
Yup, just what the Suns excel at, rough-and-tumble grind-it-out games. Score.
luckily, we're smarter
but game 2 will be extra interesting with d'antoni making *gasp* adjustments
And all is right with the world...
I pray this start for Thomas rights the ship. They have no shot if it doesn't.
This was exactly what I didn't want to happen. Thomas was effective in slowing not only Duncan, but also was effective in limiting Parker in pick-and-rolls.
If someone watched a tape of Game 1, it was the obvious move to make. I'm still surprised D'Antoni made the move because playing Thomas means that they pretty much admit the Suns' regular style won't work.
But yeah, this series just got a whole lot harder.
And this is nothing new. The Mavs have had more talent than the Spurs since 2000, and it didn't matter until they got a coach who was more interested in winning les than showing off a great "system".
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
