Reply With Quote
Welcome.
o Spurs fans!
I signed up two days ago waiting for this moment. I have a lot of respect for your team, your fans, your city, your organization. So does Suns management, who often mentions the San Antonio Spurs as the model of organization they would most like to model. I'll use this post to introduce you to the Suns rotations and some general observations.
Mike D'Antoni generally uses an 8-man rotation ...
PG Nash/Barbosa
SG Bell/Barbosa
SF James Jones/Diaw
PF Marion/Diaw
C Amare/Kurt Thomas
D'Antoni will use multiple amalgamations of the above 8 players. There's also a chance will we see Jumaine Jones, Pat Burke (in the shortest of spurts), and Marcus Banks, but that would be a sign things are going badly for this team. Banks, especially. I think the Spurs would have to win the first two games for D'Antoni to bust his short rotation.
The Suns are deeper than they were when the Spurs faced the Suns two years ago. The combination of James Jones (also referred to as Junior) and Boris Diaw at SF and Raja Bell at guard is actually a more effective trio of players than Joe Johnson and Quentin Richardson. More than anything, Bell is a better defender at the 2 than Johnson while providing consistent offensive punch when needed, and Junior and Diaw are ten times more efficient at both ends of the court than Richardson (who shot a poor % and was completely useless as a defender).
Diaw is also the defacto offensive facilitator off the bench when Nash sits. Barbosa will sometimes handle those duties, but they generally like Diaw to create and set up the offense. It's also when you're most likely to see Stoudemire set up on the low-post as a newer look in the Suns' half court offense.
The gradual improvement on defense for Stoudemire and the addition of Thomas (finally) allows the Suns to gamble less. You will see them occasionally mix in some zones, but they mostly play man with a lot of help in the paint. Generally speaking, the Suns do not extend their defense to the 3 pt line unless they have to, partially because they want opponents to shoot 3s for long rebounds to kick start the break. That would, of course, change if/when the opponent starts hitting the long ball.
I don't think there's any doubt the Spurs start this series with the mental advantage. Let me add they probably have the emotional advantage, too. The Spurs have had the Suns' number for awhile, and you in tonight's post-game quotes you could already hear a slight bit of fear. When asked if he was looking forward to his match up with Duncan, Stoudemire replied: "No. I can't deny it." Furthermore, the Lakers series had the look-and-feel of a regular season match up most of the time. Both teams knew the Suns were better, the Lakers have been prepping for a major roster overhaul since March, and the Suns' system doesn't work without a lot of energy. It was the sleepiest 4-1 series win I've seen in about 20 years. The Suns enter this second-round match up with a lot of questions whether they can crank up the fire a little bit. I'm having my doubts, and expecting the machine that is your team to win at least one game in Phoenix ... probably the first one.
The Suns' biggest concerns are Nash on Parker and getting Marion involved in the offense against Bowen. I'd say Duncan, but the Suns would likely prefer him to shoot more, fearing most what he does as a distributor. They would probably gladly give Duncan 30 if they could limit other contributions, but I'd say that's unlikely. In addition, Ginobli has always preferred playing the Suns because of the tempo and I look for him to be more productive on a game-to-game basis in this series. The Spurs look deeper on the bench, but the Suns have been getting much better production from Barbs, Thomas, and Diaw the last month. In terms of scoring of the bench, I think the Suns might have an advantage there.
So those are my initial thoughts. I look forward to interacting with you and watching (finally!) great playoff basketball!
Welcome.
Spurs in 5.
That's what's up man... welcome
Hopefully Timmy can do his thing, and our shooters can take advantage of that...
I won't post a large one now, but I must say that is an excellent first post and I think the majority of Spurstalk will be very happy to have you here (don't worry about the clowns, they are mostly harmless!)
Anyway, nice breakdown on your team. I'm going to do some thinking and maybe post a response about us.
Welcome indeed!
PS This is one of the best basketball message boards in the world, if not the very best, so well done on finding it.
Yeah, welcome, and nice first post. I can't wait for the second round.
Welcome! It will be a great series for us fans. I expect lots of friendly (and some not so friendly) ribbing and smack talking in the next couple of weeks.
next time done write essays as posts man
essayspur1001 i see you looming
nice post Gaddabout and i concur with everything you wrote.
Will be interesting to compare notes as the series goes along.
Welcome.
Hey, if you guys don't want Shawn Marion, we'll trade him for this up-and-coming stud PG, Beno Udrih, straight up.
He ain't gonna bite for players in different positions... we should offer a Barbosa <-> Beno swap.
I'll take that trade, too.
Haha. and the sad reality is that we basically already made that deal.... only we got Beno......
Welcome, and nice post. I will say this, as much as Amare may not like facing Tim, as much as he absolutely TORCHED us a couple of years ago in the playoffs---I think he averaged 30+/game, we're not looking forward to facing him, either.
I think the Nuggets series prepared the Spurs for Phoenix better than the Lakers prepared the Suns for the Spurs. It should be a great series---after chasing around 'Melo and A.I. for 5 games, Bowen and Parker now have to contend with a great TRUE point guard in Nash, and a host of solid role players (Marion, Barbosa, etc.) I think the Spurs bench will be key again---Oberto, Horry, Vaughan etc. gave them a lot of energy in Round 1. Look for Brent Barry, and maybe Matt Bonner, to get some more time in this round.
I suspect it goes 7 games, much like the Dallas series last year....and I think the winner goes on to win the championship.
Diaw (it hurt me as a frenchman to say this) isn't as great as he was last year in PO. I don't know if it is because of the suns staff asking him to bulk up but he looks a bit fatter and less mobile.Diaw is also the defacto offensive facilitator off the bench when Nash sits. Barbosa will sometimes handle those duties, but they generally like Diaw to create and set up the offense. It's also when you're most likely to see Stoudemire set up on the low-post as a newer look in the Suns' half court offense.
Besides, Amare's comeback has really hurt his game in a sense that he hasn't as many touches and. Once Amare got the ball in his hand he's often looking to get to the rim or for his shoot. 'Bobo' seems less involved than last year to me.
I agree that he always has his BBIQ and can be a facilitator but he isn't as comfortable in this team than he was. I hope he'll find some place to be force in this series but that spurs still win of course.
BTW, nice first post indeed. I wouldn't give you an A+ though cos I think it's de facto, in two words (5 years in latin and that's one of the few things I can remember)Diaw is also the defacto offensive facilitator
As for the series : 'Alea jacta est !'
Excellent first post ... welcome. Given the close series between the two this year (Suns had the only blowout, both teams won on their home court) not sure I would agree that there's much of a mental advantage at this point. Looking forward to a fun series.
BTW, don't worry about ppl b*tching about your post length.
Welcome Suns fan! Looking forward to a great series.
I think what remains to be seen is if the suns can beat the spurs at our game, since that is what we always make them play....
o there! Great analysis.
Spurs in 4.
Should be a of a series. The Spurs need Manu to rebound from a bad series vs Denver, they need Tony to continue his great play against Nash, and they have to cut off the three point shot, especially in transition. Phoenix needs Kurt Thomas to have a major impact, and for Marion to produce for them to win the series.
My pick? Spurs in 6, although the Suns are good enough that Phoenix in 6 wouldn't be a huge surprise either. When Horry's playing like he has been, the Spurs don't lose.
Going to be fun. If Suns take it I'm betting it won't be with a transition or three point shooting game. They'll have to beat the Spurs the old fashioned way.
Welcome, its nice to see someone who actually knows what they are talking about and who isnt just blowing smoke out of thier ass talking crap. Its going to be a good series and if any team can keep up with the Suns transition offense its the spurs. Thank you for not being a ignorant fan like that Wizard fan that made a post saying that the spurs were going to choke.
Well said.......well said!!!
Very good first post. Should be fun, but who knows because I can't watch the games.
Diaw has shown signs of life the last 4 mos. He came into training camp overweight, which put him in the dog house. He started the season in the starting lineup at the 3, and went back and forth as D'Antoni had to find room for the guy they just signed to an $8 mil per contract. He stunk it up for awhile.
Since about the second week of April he has picked up his game. He looks more in shape and is more aggressive. He was critical in the Lakers series. He actually had a positive +/- for the series. How big is that? In years past since Nash arrived, the Suns often had near double digit negative scoring changes when went out. There's just no PG that can duplicate what he does for the Suns offense. But when Diaw goes in and plays point forward now, the Suns have offensive flow, albeit a bit different look than with Nash. Barbosa and Diaw provide that stability off the bench, which is why the Suns are much more confident this year than the last two years.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
