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please don't underestimate the Suns, they are better than the Mavs
Basically what I'm saying. I think the Mavs were a uva team, and better than Phoenix. Doesn't mean Phoenix isn't a uva team in their own right, but we've already beaten a statistically better team this postseason.
please don't underestimate the Suns, they are better than the Mavs
Dice needs to make Amare work on offense. Tony and/or Manu needs to make Nash work on Defense. The team as a whole needs to force Phoenix to slow it down and play a half court game. If those 3 things can happen, plus efficient scoring by SA, the Spurs will win in 5 or 6.
So you think PHX is a "new team" and the Spurs are the same old Spurs? So are we not to take into account all the new players that have made the Spurs better? If that is the case then the Suns win. I think the Spurs upgrades are better than the Suns. Suns got better and so did the Spurs, so it let the chips fall where they may.
Fact is though, Phoenix doesn't have any more legit three point shooters than Dallas. Maybe one.
Defensively no way. They pale in comparison to Dallas. Offensively yes they are better.
Match up wise, I was way more worried about the Mavericks than the Suns. And I still feel that way.
Suns are playing very well right now but I still do feel they are a good match up for us.
Now that doesn't mean that this isn't going to be a tough series or that they might not beat us, but I do feel less worried about the Suns than I did against Mavs, just by a small margin.
Well, we did great against the mavs and nobody, nor ourselves expected that, so now we are jumping too high with our heads in the clouds thinking we will beat the suns just like that. It doesnt have so much to do with underestimating the suns, but rather because we think everything is easy now and were going do to the same with the suns. Because of we beat the mavs and thinking we are now great.
It's going to be tough, the Suns are a different team, we will have our hands full. I still think we'll make it, but its certainly not going to be easy.
The same revenge we had vs the Mavs the suns have against us... tough tough series... I am not sure we can beat them...
The only thing I fear are the Spurs themselves. Can they stay healthy? Can they keep playing solid D? Can the offense keep rolling and not revert to the mediocre level that we saw most of the regular season?
If the Spurs can play at least to the same level than they played the Mavs, I don't see any possible way of losing this series. This Suns team is just not better than the Mavs we just beat.
Spurs are aways rusty as coming off of more than 1 day rest. Expect to have no energy, TO's, no hustle tonight. Suns win by 8.
Even if the role players are different, the formula for beating them is the same...
1. Focus on Transition D...stop run-outs, fastbreak opportunities
2. Chase PHX role players off 3pt line...force them to put the ball on the floor
3. Get the ball out of Nash's hands on O and make him work on D
4. Turn Amare into a scorer...if possible, make him a jumpshooter
5. Attack the paint...Duncan on the low block, Parker/Ginobili/Hill/Jefferson penetrating
Because the Spurs don't really have to concentrate on combatting the Suns defense, it plays right into the "defense first" mentality that is the team's iden y...notice that 4 of the 5 points are defense-oriented.
If the Spurs can consistently execute in all or most of those areas, they've got the edge in this series.
Good thread. I dont know why people continue to say the Mavs were "a better team".
They couldnt even figure out what their BASIC rotations were. Ive never seen a series where MULTIPLE players went from big minutes to the doghouse and back again.
The final minutes of last game featured that French dude who I had never even HEARD OF.
I thought the Spurs played mediocre the last series. The Mavs just played WORSE.
Last edited by da_suns_fan; 05-03-2010 at 01:51 PM.
The Mavs dont have anyone as good, defensively, as Grant Hill or Jard Dudley.
Its not even close.
http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/tea...ff/order/false
Mavs are 12th, Suns are 19th in defensive efficiency.
Then they should have AT LEAST one really good defender, right?
I personally felt the Mavs were a bigger hurdle in terms of a good team playing well and the mental and emotional aspects of that rivalry, which go both ways.
I think the rivalry with the Suns is more one-sided that the SA/DAL rivalry. We've certainly given them reason to despise us, but they haven't really beat us (sort of like LA/SA recently). I don't think it has the same emotional weight for the Spurs that Dallas did.
Which could work in the Suns' favor.
But I feel like the matchup is better than against Dallas, and while I think the Suns played well, I don't fear them. I think the Spurs are playing well and know how to get the job done. I finally have the feeling that they can win if they play well.
If they lose, then I'm wrong. Oh well. I don't believe it's ever really mattered what fans think anyway. I'm quite certain the Spurs aren't looking beyond the Suns.
That's because of bad coaching, not the players' fault. Butler should have played 48 minutes every game of the series.
I'll go on the record and say Dallas is the better team than Phoenix. They had a better record, a better road record and play in a tougher division -- a division that they easily won. Talent-wise they are stronger. Coaching is a wash...I think neither Gentry nor Carlisle have made it to the finals once.
But the matchups are equally challenging in this series, as the Suns have the same two main talents that the Spurs will have to defend: a beast of a PF and a SG/SF that can light it up if he gets going. Nash and Kidd are about a wash as far as legendary PGs go. I expect the series will go to 5 games, with the Spurs winning in 5.
True, they are both legends.
Of course, Jason Kidd has been a notoriously bad shooter his entire career where Steve Nash continues to set the record for consecutive seasons shooting 50% from the field, 40% from 3 and 90% from the free throw line.
Other than that, theyre practically twins!
I agree, Dallas' coach did an awful, awful job. Ive never even seen that before.
Spurs in five is so laughably stupid its not even worth dignifying with a response. Theres going to be a huge tremor when you guys come back down to earth in a few hours.
Last edited by da_suns_fan; 05-03-2010 at 01:58 PM.
The Suns are a better team. The Mavs overachieved in the regular but their lack of inside game (Poor coaching) was really exposed in the playoffs. The Suns got an inside game and a very athletic bunch. I can guarantee this series will be tougher than the Mavs.
Suns haven't been tested anywhere near as much as the Spurs have - its going to come down to Manu's performance given his broken nose and whether or not Duncan still has vintage nights left in him.
Suns and Portland didn't play anywhere near as physical. If the Spurs aren't worn out I see 'em taking this easier than the Mavs.
This. If the Suns shoot 40% from 3 pt land as a team, I'd be wary of our chances.
You obviously didnt watch a single game of Suns/Blazers. I think there was a record broken for number of times the word "chippy" was used to describe the game.
Likewise, Im not sure what kind of test the Spurs faced when the Mavs' coach basically had multiple personality disorder. It was as if he chose lineups using darts.
I did, the Mavs/Spurs was much more physical and it wasn't even close. Tons of contact went unnoticed.
By everyone except you, right?
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