Has Finley become too much of a liability?

[Cry Havoc]

A liability? Did you notice Pop panicking every time Diaw posted up and threw in those baby hooks against Fin? Absolutely not... the idea was to *let* the Suns funnel their offense into Diaw. It was this -- plus the Hack-a-Shaq -- that got the ball out of Nash's hands, making the Nash/Stoudemire two-man game disappear for entire quarters at a time. The Suns themselves admit (with the wisdom of hindsight) that the strategy worked like a charm.

I know you've been watching the Spurs for years, man, but you should be used to Pop's subtle manipulation of opponents' team dynamics. Personally, I thought it was a thing of beauty in that last round. Now let's see what he cooks up for the talent laden Hornets...

+475 You are officially one of my favorite posters from this response alone.

I was so happy they were using Diaw (I actually typed Diaq.... lolz) to score.





Consider that, for a second. The Suns were using Diaw exclusively to get points.


That's basically D'antoni admitting that he was scared of our D. At that very second the Suns were beaten in Game 5. Because D'antoni trusted Diaw with the ball more than Steve Nash to get points.

In defense of Finley, how many late-30s Shooting Guards would be able to even stay with Diaw in the post? Seriously guys, that's like blaming Barbosa for not being able to contain Duncan in the block. I mean, wtf.

[oboymeetsogirl]

... and besides, every six or seven games Fin goes off for 20+. All depends on what the other teams "give." When the Big Three are wreaking habit in the paint, sooner or later players (and coaches) are straying off shooters like Fin, Barry and Bruce (and Horry, when he's in there), and then all breaks loose from the outside.

You have to give props to the Suns, though, for absolutely not giving in to that temptation, even when they were losing. In the first round defenders were sticking to Fin and Bruce like glue, refusing to let them beat them with treys. My question is, will the Hornets be as disciplined? We'll see how Scott maps out this defense...

[Ishta]

NO, but that's just my opinion. This is a stupid thread. Fin is not a great defensive player, but he is NOT BAD, unlike the majority of the Suns team give me a flippin break.

[rAm]

A liability? Did you notice Pop panicking every time Diaw posted up and threw in those baby hooks against Fin? Absolutely not... the idea was to *let* the Suns funnel their offense into Diaw. It was this -- plus the Hack-a-Shaq -- that got the ball out of Nash's hands, making the Nash/Stoudemire two-man game disappear for entire quarters at a time. The Suns themselves admit (with the wisdom of hindsight) that the strategy worked like a charm.

I know you've been watching the Spurs for years, man, but you should be used to Pop's subtle manipulation of opponents' team dynamics. Personally, I thought it was a thing of beauty in that last round. Now let's see what he cooks up for the talent laden Hornets...

wow, never even thought of it like that. ing genius.

I remember the suns players complaining that they wish they hadn't switched up their strategy from how they played in the regular season. D'Antoni is bad.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

If Fin hadn't hit that 3 with 15 seconds left in game one against Phoenix there would never have been the Timmy 3 ball, or Manu's winning runner. He hit another clutch 3 with about three minutes left in that game to tie it. Spurs lose game one and that series is completely different......and we wouldn't have won it without his contributions.

I guess you can call him a liability if you want to. Good call.