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Another nice article by Johnny.
Suns running out of quarters to beat Spurs
By Johnny Ludden, Yahoo! Sports
SAN ANTONIO – If Shaquille O’Neal is smart, he used the two-hour plane ride back to the desert to remind his new teammates that these San Antonio Spurs are known for going up 2-0 then giving it right back once they hit the road. Shaq knows from experience. Twice, the Spurs surrendered such an advantage to his Los Angeles Lakers.
That’s one reason the Phoenix Suns should still believe they have a chance to win this series. Here’s another: As good as Tony Parker was Tuesday night, scoring 32 points, handing out seven assists, looking every bit the NBA Finals MVP he was last season, he usually keeps one bad game tucked away in his back pocket.
So the Suns have hope. Amare Stoudemire, in fact, said he has “no doubts” the Suns can rally themselves at home and take out the Spurs.
The problem?
The Suns aren’t Shaq’s Lakers and Stoudemire should have more doubts than anyone.
For six years now, Stoudemire has watched Suns officials build a team to beat San Antonio. They signed Steve Nash away from the Dallas Mavericks. They brought in Raja Bell to help slow Manu Ginobili. Two months ago, they traded for Shaq to give them someone to counter Tim Duncan.
And yet, after Tuesday’s 102-96 loss at the AT&T Center, it’s fair to question whether Stoudemire and the Suns are actually any closer to getting past these guys. Just like they did in Game 1, the Spurs wiped out another double-digit deficit against Phoenix. This time, they didn’t even need a single three-pointer from Duncan. Or Michael Finley.
“We had our chances the other night,” Suns coach Mike D’Antoni said. “We got beat tonight.”
The Suns didn’t even waste time searching for excuses. They kept Stoudemire and Shaq out of foul trouble. They shot a torrid 61 percent in the first half. They limited Duncan to 18 points, less than half his total on Saturday.
They lost. Again. For the 14th time in 18 playoff games against San Antonio.
“We’re not discouraged,” D’Antoni insisted. “We’ve shown we can be there. A lot of quarters we’ve won.”
Unfortunately for the Suns, the NBA doesn’t tally up individual quarters in the won-loss column. Only games. The Spurs won Tuesday’s the way they usually win in the playoffs: With defense.
San Antonio held the league’s third-highest scoring offense without a single point for the first 6 minutes, 25 seconds of the second half. After the Spurs yielded 25 points to Stoudemire in the first two quarters, Gregg Popovich varied the team’s pick-and-roll defense, instructing his players to stay attached to the Suns’ explosive forward. If they had to let Steve Nash loose to accomplish that, so be it. Stoudemire made only two shots the rest of the way, one of which was a last-gasp three-pointer.
The Spurs tired Nash by rotating Bruce Bowen and Parker on him. Suns forward Boris Diaw often had matchup advantages against the Spurs smaller defenders, but made only one shot in the second half. Once, he even failed to score against his best friend, Parker.
Phoenix’s most productive offense in the third quarter? Hack-A-Shaq. O’Neal made all but one of his six free throws after Popovich had the Spurs intentionally foul him three times.
Said Nash: “For some reason, we just panicked a little bit.”
“I don’t know what happened,” Grant Hill said. “Usually I can come back and say this, that or the other. Maybe it was great defense, maybe we got a little overconfident after playing well in the first half …”
Hill is new to this, so he should be forgiven for not having an answer. But if he and his teammates want to get back in this series, they’re going to have to come up with a solution for Parker and Ginobili.
“The whole league is trying to do that,” Hill said.
Not everyone in the league has had as much trouble as the Suns. They traded for Shaq because they thought he would improve their interior defense, and yet they’ve allowed 128 points in the lane in the two games. In their past three playoff games against Phoenix, Parker and Ginobili have now totaled 63, 50 and 61 points. The Suns had hoped to use Hill to corral Parker, but he’s been bothered by an abdominal injury that caused D’Antoni to limit him to 20 minutes.
Asked if he could have played more, Hill shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know,” he said.
What was far less known was that the Spurs weren’t completely sure Ginobili would be able to play Tuesday. He missed three games toward the end of the season when a right ankle injury also led to a left groin strain. In Saturday’s game, Ginobili jammed his left ankle, which also caused his right groin to tighten. He had trouble practicing Monday and the team’s training staff didn’t clear him until after watching him work out before the game.
Ginobili said his ankle bothered him more than his groin, but it was hard to tell. Flanked by Parker, he helped the Spurs to a 23-4 advantage in fast-break points. Are the Suns now the ones struggling to keep pace?
After declaring that “the floppers prevailed” in Game 1, Shaq was much more generous in his praise. Ginobili and Parker, he said, played “fabulous.”
“But we like what we see,” Shaq said. If we play like that at home, I think we’ll be fine.”
As for Stoudemire?
“One of these years we’re going to beat these guys,” he said. “I hope it’s this year.”
So the Suns go back home, clinging to hope they can even this series against these Spurs.
The problem: From Stoudemire to Nash to Bell to Shaq, at one time they all believed.
Another nice article by Johnny.
“We’re not discouraged,” D’Antoni insisted. “We’ve shown we can be there. A lot of quarters we’ve won.”
Unfortunately for the Suns, the NBA doesn’t tally up individual quarters in the won-loss column. Only games. The Spurs won Tuesday’s the way they usually win in the playoffs: With defense.
Damn, Manu gonna need some miracle workers in the next two days.
Damn. I really hope Manu will be okay. Losing him due to injury would be really bad. It was good that he did not play too much this last game and that they play again on friday. So 2 days of rest should help him.
Yeah, Spurs went pretty secret on that one.
If the best case scenario pans out, a hard fought sweep of the Suns would help Manu get some recovery rest.
Ginobili said his ankle bothered him more than his groin, but it was hard to tell.
sh*t! Hope Manu will get better soon.
"They traded for Shaq because they thought he would improve their interior defense, and yet they’ve allowed 128 points in the lane in the two games"
I suggest, if Manu is hurt even only a little bit, to rest him for game 3.
I think Amare thinks too much that Shaq's presence allows him to concentrate on offense and not play serious defense.
And Shaq not being very mobile, TP an Manu can penetrate if help from Amare doesn't come quickly.
They both have to play smart and collective defense if they want to stop them while still containing TD...
You understand why spurs big three is so complementary and hard to stop.
Do your magic, Mr. Sevening and company. No way we win everything this year if Manu is banged up.
No. That's regular season . You go balls out in the playoffs. You can never afford to hand a team a game in the playoffs.
As an aside, his ankle tweak seemed to improve his shooting.
Agree.
A lot of players are playing through pain or injuries at that time of the year.
But You can't afford to tank or keep anything in such series.
I like the beginning. He said "if Shaq was smart..." key word: if.
IMO, Changing the PNR defense to stay on Amare was the turning point in the game. This, along with switching Bowen and Parker on him, contributed to Nash being so tired and getting careless with the ball. Nash was forced to probe and move more on offense instead of just giving a bounce pass to Amare for the dunk. I can't remember a game or a quarter where Nash had such a hard time dribbling the ball. I hope the Spurs continue with that defense and force them to shoot outside jumpers instead of dunks.San Antonio held the league’s third-highest scoring offense without a single point for the first 6 minutes, 25 seconds of the second half. After the Spurs yielded 25 points to Stoudemire in the first two quarters, Gregg Popovich varied the team’s pick-and-roll defense, instructing his players to stay attached to the Suns’ explosive forward. If they had to let Steve Nash loose to accomplish that, so be it. Stoudemire made only two shots the rest of the way, one of which was a last-gasp three-pointer.
The Spurs tired Nash by rotating Bruce Bowen and Parker on him. Suns forward Boris Diaw often had matchup advantages against the Spurs smaller defenders, but made only one shot in the second half. Once, he even failed to score against his best friend, Parker.
I miss Ludden!!!!!!
You know I really like Ludden as a writer, but even when he was in SA writing for the Express news, he always managed to throw subtle little comments into his columns downgrading Parker. Nice to see it continues when he's with Yahoo too.As good as Tony Parker was Tuesday night, scoring 32 points, handing out seven assists, looking every bit the NBA Finals MVP he was last season, he usually keeps one bad game tucked away in his back pocket.
Where was his one bad game in his pocket in the Finals last year Ludden?
I'm glad we didn't know the Manu news before the game. Can you imagine the panic on this site?
Get better, Manu!!!
I say "Sweep and then rest"
Depending on how Game 3 goes, you can limit his minutes if neccessary.
I'm sure Pop will be on top of it.
Cheers!
ludden still wanted kidd over parker
LUDDEN LOOK AT DALLAS
if manu is hurt it would be better if the spurs go for the sweep to avoid injuries
... not if Dallas gets their asses swept by NO.
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