Have the Suns ever been scarier? Preview/ predictions.

[DespЏrado]

The Suns seem to finally play on both sides of the floor, and that fact makes them more dangerous than they ever have been. Grant Hill sets the tone on the defensive side of the court for the Suns, playing the role of a more athletic Bruce Bowen while Jason Richardson, Steve Nash, and Amare Stoudemire guarantee a potent offense.

The Suns can rely on three point shooting from Dudley 45.8%, Hill 43.8%, Nash 42.6%, Richardson 39.3%, and Dragic 39.4%. For the season they ranked a league high 41.2% on the long ball. The Suns have five players who average over ten points a game, a testament to Nash's superlative ball handling skills. Amare Stoudemire plays better against the Spurs than he does against any other team by about 4 pts for 32.7 pts.

All of that makes the Suns' challenge as formidable as any team in the league, and the Spurs still don't get the luxury of home court advantage.

That said the Spurs still have a huge mental advantage over the Suns. No Steve Nash lead team has ever beaten the Spurs in a playoff series. With the emergence of Hill, the Spurs have more fresh legs to absolutely remove Nash from being a factor in this series, and that is the first crucial step to beating the Suns. Remove Nash from the game, and his havoc style offense that can deliver points at will against any team will be neutralized. Remove Nash and you remove the Suns fast break.

Jason Richardson is absolutely a playoff stud, but he isn't a franchise player. Playing the Guard Forward position he is the barometer to the Suns offense. If he gets going the Suns are almost always going to win. Any player that can erupt for 42 points in the playoffs is someone that has to be neutralized. Manu, Jefferson, Hill, and Bogans will probably all get a crack at locking him up and the Spurs success hinges on how well they do. Stopping his break away points is the most crucial part when you play J.Rich. There is probably not a faster person down the court than Richardson. In one play against the Trailblazers he corralled a rebound and passed the ball out just so he could take off full speed down the court to receive the alley-oop he knew would be there. It was a play more reminiscent of a football player receiving a touchdown pass than basketball. If the Spurs let that happen more than once in a quarter; the Spurs will lose that game.

With Amare, no longer do the Spurs have to let him get his. The addition of Dice is going to play huge dividends again for the Spurs, if he can make Amare work for every point, the fans will again be singing Dice's praise. Not to mention the fact that Dice will be able to take advantage of Amare's inability to stay focused on defense.

The Spurs meanwhile have more x factors and more unknowns going into this series than ever before. Tim Duncan and Manu already appear to be fatiguing as the intensity they played with in games 1, 2, and 3 against Dallas has been dropping off alarmingly fast. They both played a "good enough" game to eek out the win against Dallas, but their reserves have never seemed more depleted than they have this playoff run. The Duncan and Manu of yesteryear would normally make this a guaranteed series win against a team that lacks so much in the interior defense department. At this point just seeing 20+ points out of either of them is a blessing.

Jefferson, Hill, Tony, and Dice are again going to have to carry the team for large stretches, especially if Tim and Manu aren't able to play at their former MVP levels, but given their play in the first round each has proven themselves to be more than capable.

Prediction: (attempts to channel a little timvp mojo) spurs in 5. Spurs win the first one in a tight game, the second one is a blow out loss as Amare or Richardson blows up for a huge game and the spurs lose track of the suns three point shooters. Spurs take games 3, 4, and 5 in their usual business like manor, managing to eek out the series finale in Phoenix.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

You're being too harsh on TD and Manu. They will get 3 days off before the series starts on Monday. There is no Haywood or Dampier to wear TD down, and the Suns have never had an answer for Manu. Plus with George Hill rounding into form that only makes us better.

The biggest question for me is how well the Spurs can keep the 3 point differential respectable. The Suns kill it from 3 point land, yet the Spurs are one of the best at guarding the 3.

However, the Spurs have no one who can consistently drain it from outside. Their best outside shooters are all very very streaky. Mason is finished, and relying on Bonner is just a joke at this point. I also hope neither Mason or Bogans get any playing time but that isn't going to happen.

[Flux451]

Dallas was scarier. If Spurs keep winning you will need a thread like this after every series win.

[DespЏrado]

You're being too harsh on TD and Manu. They will get 3 days off before the series starts on Monday. There is no Haywood or Dampier to wear TD down, and the Suns have never had an answer for Manu. Plus with George Hill rounding into form that only makes us better.

The biggest question for me is how well the Spurs can keep the 3 point differential respectable. The Suns kill it from 3 point land, yet the Spurs are one of the best at guarding the 3.

However, the Spurs have no one who can consistently drain it from outside. Their best outside shooters are all very very streaky. Mason is finished, and relying on Bonner is just a joke at this point. I also hope neither Mason or Bogans get any playing time but that isn't going to happen.

I am being hard on Duncan and Manu. How they respond as the playoffs get deeper is probably the biggest obstacle between making this a trophy year or just a deep run. But at this point it is hard to avoid the fact that their ability to step on the gas is the biggest question mark going forward.

I agree about the three point shooting.

[Ignignokt]

not if they don't have a person on their team who can fade and draw fouls over nate robinson or miley cyrus.

[Buddy Holly]

Grant Hill sets the tone on the defensive side of the court for the Suns, playing the role of a more athletic Bruce Bowen

Whatcha smokin'?

[Xylus]

The Suns are playing better defensively right now than they have in many, many years. Unfortunately, they're not quite as clutch as they were back in '06-'07, which I think was the Suns' most dangerous team this decade. In particular, Nash is half the player he was in that series.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

It is fundamentally impossible for a team to play good defense and run the constant attack transition game.


(I'm copying this sentence to my browser because it looks like I will need it constantly)

[JustinJDW]

the Suns.

Nah seriously though, I think the Mavs are better than the Suns and are harder to beat. I think we can win this Series in 6.

[DespЏrado]

Grant Hill: 2 blocked shots 12 rebounds and a plus/minus of +26 in his last game against Portland.

The Suns switched Hill to Andre Miller after he scored 31 in the first game and Miller average 12.6 pts in the 5 games that followed for 12, 11, 15, 21 and 4, and his FG% dipped to the mid 30s. He is their Bruce Bowen.

[Xylus]

It is fundamentally impossible for a team to play good defense and run the constant attack transition game.


(I'm copying this sentence to my browser because it looks like I will need it constantly)

Good thing the Suns don't constantly attack in transition. They just won a series that featured a whole uvalot of half-court sets.

The Blazers scored more than 90 points only twice in 6 games.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Grant Hill is a stud defensively. Out of anyone on PHX, he can give Parker the most problems with his length. The only issue with Hill is his consistency, but he's one of those players who obviously does a lot more than what the box score records.

[slayermin]

From what I recall, the Spurs usually stay home on Suns three point shooters and let Amare get his points. It's worked before and I think it will work again. But not having Bruce Bowen is a big loss. Though I think Pop has enough options to slow down Nash.

Offensively, the Spurs showed that they can make clutch shots down the stretch. Our top six or seven players made crucial 4th quarter shots against the Mavs. The Mavs aren't a great defensive team but it seemed like they did give the Spurs problems with their zone and physical play.

The Suns are no way near as physical. That should mean softer lanes to the basket for our slashers. I really don't see the Suns slowing down our offense. We will score at will. Especially since the Mavs threw everything at us in the first round, our guys will already have seen it.

I didn't realize how good the Dallas Mavericks were until tonight. We might have just beaten the best team in basketball.

[Xylus]

I didn't realize how good the Dallas Mavericks were until tonight. We might have just beaten the best team in basketball.

Give me a ing break.

[DespЏrado]

From what I recall, the Spurs usually stay home on Suns three point shooters and let Amare get his points. It's worked before and I think it will work again. But not having Bruce Bowen is a big loss. Though I think Pop has enough options to slow down Nash.

Offensively, the Spurs showed that they can make clutch shots down the stretch. Our top six or seven players made crucial 4th quarter shots against the Mavs. The Mavs aren't a great defensive team but it seemed like they did give the Spurs problems with their zone and physical play.

The Suns are no way near as physical. That should mean softer lanes to the basket for our slashers. I really don't see the Suns slowing down our offense. We will score at will. Especially since the Mavs threw everything at us in the first round, our guys will already have seen it.

I didn't realize how good the Dallas Mavericks were until tonight. We might have just beaten the best team in basketball.

One thing the Spurs can not be faulted for this year, and it is a huge improvement over every Spurs team since we had SJax is the clutch play. The Spurs have shown they have about 7 players who can all deliver a dagger to close out a game.

Not sure the Mavs were the best, I think every series is going to get harder.

[newacc]

Grant Hill is a stud defensively. Out of anyone on PHX, he can give Parker the most problems with his length. The only issue with Hill is his consistency, but he's one of those players who obviously does a lot more than what the box score records.

If Grant Hill is guarding Tony Parker, he's going to go off.

The Suns are quietly rolling right now. They look extremely tough because they're so good offensively - and it's in the half court, not just transition.

Manu is the PHX killer and he and Tony are going to have to come up with 22-25 points to stymie PHX.

I had the Spurs in 6 against the Mavs so I have 1 round. Unfortunately, I think the Suns are actually going to take this series in 7. They're just so damn good from outside.

The past is no reason to think they won't win this time. Ditching Shawn Marion may be one reason why they advance.

[slayermin]

Give me a ing break.

Hey, that Beauboux kid was killing us. If he got a few more minutes in this series, it might have all turned out differently. Also, Dirk is unstoppable. You just have to pray he misses. Really. I used to laugh at people comparing him to Bird. Well he still isn't Larry Bird. But his shooting reminds me of Bird.

I really don't want to give props to the Mavs because I really dislike their owner and fanbase. But Dirk Nowitzki is one bad mofo.

[Xylus]

If Grant Hill is guarding Tony Parker, he's going to go off.

The Suns are quietly rolling right now. They look extremely tough because they're so good offensively - and it's in the half court, not just transition.

Manu is the PHX killer and he and Tony are going to have to come up with 22-25 points to stymie PHX.

I had the Spurs in 6 against the Mavs so I have 1 round. Unfortunately, I think the Suns are actually going to take this series in 7. They're just so damn good from outside.

The past is no reason to think they won't win this time. Ditching Shawn Marion may be one reason why they advance.

This is a myth. I love Ginobili. He's my favorite non-Suns player in the entire NBA. But Ginobili hasn't been a Suns killer for years. The last 3 times the Suns have played the Spurs in the playoffs, it's always been Parker and Duncan, Parker and Duncan, Parker and Duncan.

I'm not saying Ginobili is going to have a bad series, I'm just saying that in recent history, that hasn't been the case...

[Cane]

Imo the Suns are going to have growing pains trying to reintegrate Lopez (if they do) which might throw off their chemistry. Gotta wonder if Tony Parker will start also especially if he can exploit Steve Nash.

I also think the Mavs are better than the Suns...Spurs seem to have a lot of confidence when they play against PHX as well.

This is definitely one of the better if not best Suns team in a while simply because they play defense and a healthy and conditioned Lopez helps solve a lot of their weaknesses.

[DespЏrado]

Unfortunately, I think the Suns are actually going to take this series in 7. They're just so damn good from outside.

The past is no reason to think they won't win this time. Ditching Shawn Marion may be one reason why they advance.

The spurs have always been able to take the three point shot from every team not named the Lakers in the Pop era. I don't see that changing this series. I don't think three point shooting is going to threaten the Spurs chances of winning this series.

Pops greatest coaching strengths namely defending the three and the transition break have made the Suns our es. It's going to take Nash, Hill, and Richardson lead dribble penetration to break down our defense and Amare's interior scoring to give the Suns a chance.

[spurs10]

This will not be easy, of course, but if all the Spurs are healthy, we'll win.

[kace]

This is a myth. I love Ginobili. He's my favorite non-Suns player in the entire NBA. But Ginobili hasn't been a Suns killer for years. The last 3 times the Suns have played the Spurs in the playoffs, it's always been Parker and Duncan, Parker and Duncan, Parker and Duncan.

I'm not saying Ginobili is going to have a bad series, I'm just saying that in recent history, that hasn't been the case...

you should get used to it. as great as manu really is, you always have fans who fan to create false myth about him. and the most they reapeat it, the most some people will take it as a real thing.

you look at the last serie against phoenix, and TP was the suns killer, with a very good Tim and Manu who faded at the end of the serie after good first games.

anyway, like always, we will need a lot of players contributing to beat the suns, who are very good right now.

[rascal]

Spurs in 6. The spurs will get as far as the lakers and thats the season.

[DespЏrado]

One small addition Frye shot 43.9 percent. so the Suns have 6 players that average about 40% from three point land. And Bonner or Jefferson will probably get the majority minutes guarding him. Gives Popovich another excuse to play small ball and or Bonner.

[Rummpd]

Spurs in 6 in what will be a fabulous series and it might take 7. Suns > Mavs.


Suns a scary and deep team but when Shaq (albeit older and not in his prime) joined them they finally had a true defensive answer to Duncan at the end of games and a true inside force defensively, and I am not sure they are really any better now except perhaps better coached. Spurs match up very well and Amare is a stud but he does not have the range of Dirk. Parker, Hill and Manu are going to drive with impunity on the Suns the whole series.