Next up, The Phoenix Suns

[milkyway21]

I never said anything about Nelson sucking as a coach. I said the mavs in 6 but yeah I was wrong. Dirk decided not to show up this series and Golden State are incredibly hot right now. So yeah I'm not totally accurate but not everything I say goes the opposite like you think. Maybe the spurs have the psychological advantage though which in that case could be like what Golden State did to Dallas. The suns are much better now so I expect a very close series.

yeah i agree to a very close series. I think this will go on to game 6 or 7.

but with the Spurs winning by a single digit.

[naico]

Offense: - Parker should use his quickness, he can go by nash easily.

- Use the pick n roll; again parker could free up duncan easily, drawing the
double team away from, which should lead to some easy baskets, or could
draw some fouls on stoudamire.

- play with duncan!! He should profit from stoudamire's offensive efforts
and abuse him on offense. Oberto could play a factor here, knowing he
can free himself up and put him in a good position to get some easy baskets.
He also is a great passer down low.

- when suns play zone; set whoever is being guarded by nash on the strong
side.

- Make Marion work on defense.

- One play that the spurs should really benefit from in these series: guard
dumps the ball into duncan, cuts by him while duncan fakes the hand off.
Duncan one on one.Thats what they did a lot 2 years ago and it really
worked out for them.
Should make stoudamire work a lot on defense.

- feed off a hot shooting hand

Defense: - make marion and barbosa work for their baskets.

- big pressure on nash; when it matters maybe box and one or box nd two.

- deny the ball as much as possible.

- DO NOT let nash drive, we cant give him to much courtvision; if we can
take away his passing game, we should win.

- If Nash does make it work, play some zone so we can rotate on defense and
avoid players such as marion and stoudamire to get some wide open lay-ups
or dunks. Again Oberto could be key here because he is one of the best in
the league( i kid you not) in rotating on defense. He's been doin it his entire
career in Europe.

- Elson could play a defensive role on Marion.

- Frustrate Marion ( tends to dissapear in a game when frustrated)

[majinkoola]

Marion will be on Parker; Nash will rarely be on him unless the Spurs have neither Barry nor Bowen nor Vaughn in the game.

Kurt Thomas will see a lot of minutes against Duncan. The reason the Suns got him was to guard great low post scorers like Duncan.

Whoever said to put Finley in instead of Bowen, that's a good idea for the Spurs. Bowen's D won't be that important against the Suns anyway; shutting down Raja Bell isn't all that necessary. That way Nash would have to guard Parker.

[Tigole Bitties]

Manu should guard Marion, Parker on Bell, and Bowen on Nash. Parker has to guard Barbosa as well. We should stick Elson on Amare as much as possible. Oberto is too slow and too unathletic to guard Amare.

Both will be racking up the fouls like mad men. Not a good thing with Amare being an above average FT shooter.

If given the opportunity, James White would probably do well in this series.

How did Dallas defend Nash last year? A combination of Jason Terry and Devin Harris?

[ElNono]

I think a big factor in this series is the fact that:
Pop >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> > D'Antoni

Plus we've been in Nash head since his Dallas days.

Talking about Dallas, I would like to take the opportunity of thanking Mark Cuban for subsidizing the Spurs by paying a good chunk of the salary of now franchise-record-holder Michael Finley. Way to go Mark!

[ducks]

Duncan needs to be alive. He's been IMHO so far.

he has played camby and they have been banging him
suns can not do that

[ducks]

Marion will be on Parker; Nash will rarely be on him unless the Spurs have neither Barry nor Bowen nor Vaughn in the game.

Kurt Thomas will see a lot of minutes against Duncan. The reason the Suns got him was to guard great low post scorers like Duncan.

Whoever said to put Finley in instead of Bowen, that's a good idea for the Spurs. Bowen's D won't be that important against the Suns anyway; shutting down Raja Bell isn't all that necessary. That way Nash would have to guard Parker.

marion will be guarded by bowen

[Assman]

Ummm just a basketball game..if the Mavs lose so be it.

Weakest argument of the year

[Extra Stout]

The Spurs have well-established, long-standing matchup advantages against the Suns. So if the Spurs play at a high level, they should win the series. But, the margin of error is not very high for the Spurs simply because of how good the Suns are.

[SAGambler]

Series will go at least 6 games. Series certainly will be more difficult than the Nugget series.

No way. Denver was much more physical than Phoenix will be.

Key is taking Nash out of his game. Not allowing passing lanes for him. Maybe even at times double team him just to keep him off his game.

You take Nash out of the equation just a little bit, and the Suns have no chance.

Let Amare have his.....Just don't send him to the FT line for "and 1s".

Manu needs to come up big in this series. Fin needs to continue down the path he has been on lately. I also think Barry will come on big in this series if he is given the minutes.

I think Fin, Horry, and Barry are probably licking their chops about now.

And I really don't think Phoenix is exactly looking forward to taking on the Spurs. They have tried before and failed. It's easier to say that's "out of your mind" than it is to actually put it out of your mind.

I think Spurs take this one in no more than 6. Probably 5. Spurs will take back HCA Sunday.

As good as Phoenix played the Lake Show, remember the Spurs are not a one-dimentional team, and that should give the Suns fits.

Time to send Phoenix packing.....

[bdictjames]

Just play like we did in the last game; no easy points for them and effectively closing out quarters.

I just want to shut up the bandwagoner fans.

[itzsoweezee]

Kurt Thomas will see a lot of minutes against Duncan. The reason the Suns got him was to guard great low post scorers like Duncan.

i don't believe that's going to happen. d'antoni already said that the suns are going to try to outscore everyone they play in the playoffs. they're not going to change their style up. thus, i don't see thomas getting big minutes.

[easjer]

Oh, I'll get in on this - Please play Kurt Thomas, please play Kurt Thomas, please play Kurt Thomas!

He interrupts the offensive flow. I'm down with that.

Suns are a better team than in 2005. But the way to beat them hasn't changed much at all. Spurs must control the game, keep from fouling Amare, but if he goes off, clamp down on everyone else, go inside early and often to create foul trouble, make their shots and play stellar defense. I really think that despite the fact that the Suns are a better team than the Nuggets, they will be a little easier for us. Less physicality, more stamina. The only problem I see is if they do what hurt them in the Denver series - ie, fall in love with their jumpshot even when it's not falling.

Spurs in 5.

[Spursfan101]

Putting bowen on nash will work. But who do you put on Barbosa?

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

marion will be guarded by bowen

Finley actually guarded Marion pretty well in the last matchup this year.

I think Pop is going to throw tons of looks at Phoenix and see what sticks.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Marion will be on Parker; Nash will rarely be on him unless the Spurs have neither Barry nor Bowen nor Vaughn in the game.

Kurt Thomas will see a lot of minutes against Duncan. The reason the Suns got him was to guard great low post scorers like Duncan.

Whoever said to put Finley in instead of Bowen, that's a good idea for the Spurs. Bowen's D won't be that important against the Suns anyway; shutting down Raja Bell isn't all that necessary. That way Nash would have to guard Parker.

Bowen's D was pivotal in '05 against Phoenix, and it will be again.

Duncan owns Kurt Thomas so I hope they use KT on Tim.