Reply With Quote
I think this has to be Tony Parkers series IMO. Steve Nash can't defend him, Tony Parker should have big games this series and take over.
New faces give Suns new hope against old rival Spurs
Fran Blinebury
NBA.com
Every hero needs a villain.
Batman has the Joker. Clarice Starling has Hannibal Lecter. Sandra Bullock has Bombs McGee.
So there were the Phoenix Suns, minutes after finally wrestling the Portland Trail Blazers to the mat, and in the midst of their joyous celebration, already there was a long shadow crossing their threshold.
The Suns could feel the hot breath on the back of their necks just with a mention of the name and get that tingle that goes down your spine when somebody cues up the "Jaws" theme music.
San An-ton-i-o.
The worst five syllables heard in the desert since "we're out of sun block."
The Suns were still feeling the body blows and wearing the ice packs from their 4-2 first round win over the Blazers that culminated with Thursday night's 99-90 win and already everyone was looking forward to the next brawl.
The Spurs-Suns rivalry is the NBA's blood feud equivalent of Ali-Frazier, except that Smokin' Joe never gets to deliver the final blow.
Of the last five times the Suns have been in the playoffs, they were eliminated by the Spurs on four occasions.
It seems that all Phoenix has experienced at the hands of San Antonio is busted lips and bloodied noses. It's been a long and torturous history of Steve Nash being hip-checked into the scorer's table by Robert Horry, of Amar'e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw being suspend by commissioner David Stern, of Tim Duncan getting open 25 feet from the basket and burying his only 3-pointer of the season just before the horn.
"There's a lot of history there, a lot of history," said the Suns' Grant Hill. "But you've got to remember that there are a lot of new players, younger players in this locker room. This is a different team."
They are, in fact, a vastly different Suns team. They're a bunch that relies on a deep bench, a deep sense of resolve and even mixes in a generous helping of defense. A change from the previous Phoenix incarnations, which ended up broken like bone china after all of those run-ins with the rugged, stronger Spurs.
This is a Phoenix team that lived through a miserable 12-18 stretch in the middle of the season, building leads of 14 points or more in 10 different games and blowing those leads seven times. This is a Phoenix team that grew through that experience into this.
The Blazers came from 16 down late in the third quarter to tie the score at 76 with 8:07 left to play. But instead of folding, the Suns stood firm and ran off eight in a row to run away and straight into another meeting with San Antonio.
"It's great," said coach Alvin Gentry. "But I told our guys, we don't look at past history. This team has never played San Antonio in a playoff series. That's the way I look at it. Everyone knows that it will be physical, it will be great."
Nash repeated the mantra that this is a different season and a different set of cir stances and swore that he wouldn't be thinking about seeing stars and getting s ches when he steps onto the floor against the Spurs.
Stoudemire talked again and again of it being a challenge and having to watch video of previous games against the Spurs to see what his next task will be.
Sure.
They can pretend and they can try to ignore the past, but the Suns won't be able to escape it every time they turn on the TV, open a newspaper or visit a website.
After all, the Hatfields and the McCoys carried their feud on down through generations.
"I think this team and sort of what we've done and how we've done it, the fans have really taken to the team and have enjoyed watching IT come together," Hill said. "I think that would be the case in the next round with anybody we played. But you throw that together -- this special group of guys and how we play -- and send us against the hated Spurs, the fans and the media will eat this up.
"It would mean a lot to beat the Spurs, but you can't get caught up in the emotion of it and the history. You have to disassociate all that stuff and remove all that emotion from the equation and just get down and play basketball.
"All that ill-will and all that hate, it's all in the past. There are a lot of new faces in this locker room and Alvin will do a good job of making sure we stay focused and attend to the task at hand."
Yet if these are the newer, better Suns, who are capable of playing at both ends of the floor and making a real championship run, what better path to travel than through San Antonio. There are demons to be exorcised.
"It would be nice to beat them, yeah," Hill said. "Let's be honest."
Let's be brutally honest and admit that if is a stake to be driven through the heart of their perennial living nightmare, those demons that need exorcising are the Spurs.
"Oh yeah," said Jason Richardson. "I wasn't here for that stuff. There's a lot of bad blood. Anybody who's followed the NBA or watched the NBA understands there's bad blood there. Should make it fun."
I think this has to be Tony Parkers series IMO. Steve Nash can't defend him, Tony Parker should have big games this series and take over.
And the addition of Jason Richardson will make it more difficult Im sure he will be a nightmare guard for us on defense.
they have to win for it to be a rival... its simply ownage right now.
Spurs need to stay with the Suns' 3pt shooters, transition and half-court.
Been there, done that, it worked.
That opens the inside up for Amare's 37 ppg vs Spurs, but that has never been enough to beat the playoff Spurs.
Guarding the 3 pt line is the key to phoenix on defense. Don't let them have any open 3's.
Our backcourt will seriously eat them alive... Especially if they double duncan on the post. If they don't double duncan then they wont be able to stop him straight up.
They have no answer for our 3 headed monster backcourt- Parker,Hill,Manu
and their 3's could keep them in games if we are not rotating and staying with the 3 shooters. They left them open a few times in the Dallas series and they were able to climb back into the game quickly.
Suns have changed, but the Spurs have changed too. These are not the Spurs of last year, ask the Mavs.
I see the Spurs dealing with Suns much in the same was as the Mavs. Let Stoudamire have his, put everybody else on lockdown. Run the shooters off the line, especially Jrich and keep them to 2 pt baskets.
Phx and Dallas and LA are all "bad blood" for the Spurs, and vice versa; to a lesser extent, I think for phx and dallas with each other and with LA.
This makes sense, in that those teams have been at the top of the west for the past decade, and typically are eliminated by each other in the playoffs.
Because the Lakers and Spurs have had the most success, phx and dallas would of course have a chip on their shoulder about it.
Maybe because the Spurs are the bad boys of defense for this decade, and we had bowen who gave beatdowns to people, they hate us more than the lakers.
I think I like the Spurs being the bad guy in this series.
This should be called the last hooray series. Amare will move on next year and the Suns will not be in the playoffs again for another 5-6 years.
I think that most of the starters are the same for the Suns from the 2008 team.
That team had Nash, Amare, Hill, Barbosa and Dudley I thought. Maybe I am wrong.
The Spurs have Hill which is a major piece we didn't have. He will have to stay with Nash and make life for him.
I see Blair getting more minutes in this series, especially if the Suns go small, the Spurs could go small with Blair in the middle for stretches.
I also see Bonner playing some better offense. Its easier to shoot when you know the other team is not really looking to defend you. Bonner should score 6-7 ppg this series.
I think that Jefferson will also have a big series. He will have access to the basket without any real shot blockers in the game. He could easily put up 15-18 ppg in this series if he is aggressive and looks to drive to the hole.
Man, this should be a VERY good series.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
