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Spurs notebook: Finley again faces friend in second round
Web Posted: 05/05/2007 11:13 PM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News
PHOENIX — New year, new team, same story.
For the second season in a row, Michael Finley finds himself facing a good friend and former teammate in the Western Conference semifinals.
Finley and Phoenix point guard Steve Nash played alongside each other in Dallas. Nash also tried unsuccessfully to recruit Finley to join the Suns the same summer he signed with the Spurs.
"Steve is definitely one of the better players in this league, so it will be fun to go up against a former teammate, a friend for life," said Finley, who also was teammates with Suns guard Raja Bell in Dallas. "It will be an interesting series from that standpoint."
Finley was drafted by Phoenix with the No. 21 overall pick in 1995. The Suns traded him to Dallas midway through his second season to acquire Jason Kidd.
"Believe it or not, I have an experience going against a former team," Finley said. "I learned a lot about what to do or not to do from last year's series against Dallas.
"But no matter what the series outcome is, we'll still be friends. He understands it's business and it's nothing personal."
D'Antoni impresses Bowen: Bruce Bowen spent some time with Suns coach Mike D'Antoni last summer during the U.S. national team's training camp. He was impressed with what he saw.
"The way he can draw something up on the fly is really something special," Bowen said.
That's one way to win: While D'Antoni said he wouldn't mind if the Spurs' bus broke down on the way to the US Airways Center this afternoon, Nash wasn't counting on a forfeit.
"I think it's unlikely," Nash said, "to rely on mechanics at this point."
Misconception: Anyone who believes the Spurs must hold the Suns under 100 points to win does not recall the 2005 Western Conference finals.
Suns coach Mike D'Antoni hasn't forgotten.
"We can beat them under 100," D'Antoni said, "but they proved two years ago they can beat us above 100. You know, they played four little guys two years ago. They went to a small lineup and played better small ball than we did.
"They run very well. They're just a very tough team to get a handle on because they do everything really well."
Touchy, touchy: Suns All-Star forward Shawn Marion, who needs two rebounds to pass Charles Barkley (644) as the Suns' playoff rebounding leader, is sensitive when anyone suggests he must play better than he did during the Western Conference finals two years ago.
"I'm not even going to dwell on that," said Marion, who averaged only 7.8 points on 39 percent shooting in that series. "The simple fact is, if you know anything about basketball, you can see the adjustments (Spurs coach Gregg) Popovich made, and you know he made it strictly a two-man game. So it is what it is. If you know anything about basketball, you can see that, so I'm not even going to worry about that."
Professor Nash: Suns center Amare Stoudemire said he often seeks lessons from Steve Nash on the nuances of the game.
"This is my fifth year, just my fourth year playing," Stoudemire said, "so I'm still a student of the game. I definitely go to the veteran players and ask questions. Steve is one of the guys that you can lean towards and ask him any question about the game of basketball."
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Staff writer Mike Monroe contributed to this report.
Man afriend. This the playoffs.
But not vice versa... Impressive that the USA basketball team left out Bowen on their list.
That wasn't D'Antoni's call. He loves Bowen.
bwahahah the thing i love about that duncan/nash picture is how calm duncan looks and how nash looks
the facial expressions are flawless
For some reason, I get a good vibe with the Suns ball-club, like there's a lot of ties and respect for the other players. Probably because they're both very team-oriented ball clubs and we've got players who respect the other's position. Obviously Tim and Amare respect each others' games. Nash and Parker and Manu all respect each other. D'Antoni gets schooled by Popovich...
I don't have that same arrogant at ude I got from the Mavs, probably because Mark Cuban and Avery had a lot to do with it.
Man, the more I hear from Marion, the more of annoying insecure sissy girl he comes off.Touchy, touchy: Suns All-Star forward Shawn Marion, who needs two rebounds to pass Charles Barkley (644) as the Suns' playoff rebounding leader, is sensitive when anyone suggests he must play better than he did during the Western Conference finals two years ago.
"I'm not even going to dwell on that," said Marion, who averaged only 7.8 points on 39 percent shooting in that series. "The simple fact is, if you know anything about basketball, you can see the adjustments (Spurs coach Gregg) Popovich made, and you know he made it strictly a two-man game. So it is what it is. If you know anything about basketball, you can see that, so I'm not even going to worry about that."
I can imagine the patience Nash must have, to get questions from Amare constantly ..."Ah, I see...ok...so that means??...Professor Nash: Suns center Amare Stoudemire said he often seeks lessons from Steve Nash on the nuances of the game.
"This is my fifth year, just my fourth year playing," Stoudemire said, "so I'm still a student of the game. I definitely go to the veteran players and ask questions. Steve is one of the guys that you can lean towards and ask him any question about the game of basketball."
Nash: --come on man, how many times do I have to frickin' Spell it out for YOU!!?
Amare : ...thatt...I have to... what?"
Actually, Marion is exactly correct about the Spurs' game plan last time.
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