How important is it for the Spurs to take BOTH games...

[Amuseddaysleeper]

at home?

Taking both could all but end the series, but then again SA doesn't have that much of a hard time winning in phx.


thoughts?

[kyle macy]

As an objective Suns fan, I believe the Suns have to win both games in San Antonio. If the teams split, as you said, the Spurs have no problem winning in Phx. To me, this series is the western conference finals. Each team has what it takes to beat the other, but we have to wait to see which team will rise to the challenge.
If the Spurs win, I give them a pass the the NBA finals, if the Suns win, it is a much more difficult road as both teams (Jazz or Warriors) match up better with PHX.
To answer your question....it is not that important for the Spurs to win BOTH games, but it is important for them to win at least one.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

As an objective Suns fan, I believe the Suns have to win both games in San Antonio. If the teams split, as you said, the Spurs have no problem winning in Phx. To me, this series is the western conference finals. Each team has what it takes to beat the other, but we have to wait to see which team will rise to the challenge.
If the Spurs win, I give them a pass the the NBA finals, if the Suns win, it is a much more difficult road as both teams (Jazz or Warriors) match up better with PHX.
To answer your question....it is not that important for the Spurs to win BOTH games, but it is important for them to win at least one.

thanks for the take, how do you feel about the suns' chances of taking both games?

[Dro210]

Yea, we definatly have to take 1.... I don't think we HAVE to win 2, but man... 2 would let me sleep alot better at night...

The Suns are definatly going to have to win 1 tho if they want to keep their hopes alive.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Yea, we definatly have to take 1.... I don't think we HAVE to win 2, but man... 2 would let me sleep alot better at night...

The Suns are definatly going to have to win 1 tho if they want to keep their hopes alive.

haha I hear you man, but I don't think taking both will be nearly as easy as it sounds.


But hopefully we stay focused, manu gets going, and we'll take care of business

[Dro210]

Yea, I don't think it's gonna be easy at all either.... and I think the 1st game is gonna be more important than the 2nd game for us (that is, unless we lose game 1, then game 2 becomes HUGE)....

[Obstructed_View]

If the Spurs decide to start playing well before they are eliminated, they'll be fine. If they keep playing the way they have so far this postseason, it's up in the air if they'll come out of the west.

[kyle macy]

thanks for the take, how do you feel about the suns' chances of taking both games?

I think the Suns chances of taking both games are very slim. The way I see it, the Spurs are a very well disciplined team, they rarely get rattled and in my viewing experience, they are rarely get down by more than ten points. From an outsider point of view, you guys have a ton of clutch guys, I cringe when even Horry or Berry have the ball near the three point line, not to mention any of the stars of the team.
For the Suns, Barbosa will be hot 80% of the time, Bell = less so, and Diaw hasn't done squat most of the year, but we all know he has some talent.
Fouls will kill the Suns and Pop knows this, I am sure he will adjust and attack with Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili.

[Kori Ellis]

I think the Suns chances of taking both games are very slim. The way I see it, the Spurs are a very well disciplined team, they rarely get rattled and in my viewing experience, they are rarely get down by more than ten points. From an outsider point of view, you guys have a ton of clutch guys, I cringe when even Horry or Berry have the ball near the three point line, not to mention any of the stars of the team.
For the Suns, Barbosa will be hot 80% of the time, Bell = less so, and Diaw hasn't done squat most of the year, but we all know he has some talent.
Fouls will kill the Suns and Pop knows this, I am sure he will adjust and attack with Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili.

Oh my gosh, you are using Kyle Macy as your screen name - that's awesome.

I grew up in Phoenix and had a mad crush on Kyle Macy as a teenager girl. I waited in line for hours at shoe store to talk to him and get my picture taken with him and an autograph

If it wasn't for Kyle Macy, I probably wouldn't have ended up loving basketball. If I didn't love basketball, then a lot would have gone wrong .. I never would have met/married my husband, I never would have become a reporter, I never would have started this forum.

Props to Kyle Macy

[SenorSpur]

Very important. If the Spurs take 2 games, they not only take control of the entire series, they also generate a HUGE psychological advantage against a team with both "lurking" chemistry issues and a fragile mental makeup.

[kyle macy]

Oh my gosh, you are using Kyle Macy as your screen name - that's awesome.

I grew up in Phoenix and had a mad crush on Kyle Macy as a teenager girl. I waited in line for hours at shoe store to talk to him and get my picture taken with him and an autograph

If it wasn't for Kyle Macy, I probably wouldn't have ended up loving basketball. If I didn't love basketball, then a lot would have gone wrong .. I never would have met/married my husband, I never would have become a reporter, I never would have started this forum.

Props to Kyle Macy

Kyle was one of my favorite players when I became a basketball fan as a kid, that's cool that you know who he is. Phoenix was so much better when it was a small city like it was back then.

[Kori Ellis]

Kyle was one of my favorite players when I became a basketball fan as a kid, that's cool that you know who he is. Phoenix was so much better when it was a small city like it was back then.

I grew up there and left after I graduated high school (1984) to go to college at UCLA and I haven't lived in Phoenix since. But my whole family still does.

I don't visit often but I think it's still a good city - but the growth has been phenomenal.

[kyle macy]

Very important. If the Spurs take 2 games, they not only take control of the entire series, they also generate a HUGE psychological advantage against a team with both "lurking" chemistry issues and a fragile mental makeup.

I cannot disagree with your point, the Suns have 2 stars who believe they can be leaders on any other team, if you believe the local media. The Spurs, IMO, are mentally strong and don't falter when times get tough. My observation was, that at the end of game 2, the Spurs just walked off the court knowing they had accomplished what they needed to do in Phoenix (winning 1 game). I have this question for you guys, should the NBA re-seed teams after each round like the NHL (example Suns V Warriors and Spurs v Jazz in semis)? I do believe that Spurs vs Suns is the top matchup in the semis and the Western Conference Finals may not live up to what we will se in the Semis.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

I don't think they should reseed b/c for example if you have the warriors, why should they get penalized by facing a harder team after knocking off the #1 seed? If they earned a date with utah as oppose to phx or sa then more power to them.

I thought the NBA did the right thing with changing the rules for seeding in regards to division champs, but I don't care much for reseeding after each round

[Kori Ellis]

They don't re-seed the teams.

Here's the rules.

The top four seeds will be the three division winners plus the team with the next best record. Those four will be ordered by record (and tiebreakers if needed), so it's possible that two teams in the same division could hold the top two spots, with the other two division winners at Nos. 3 and 4.

Seeds 5 through 8 are the next four teams according to record (and tiebreakers if needed).

First Round matchups are as follows:
1 vs. 8
4 vs. 5
2 vs. 7
3 vs. 6

Conference Semifinals matchups are as follows:
1-8 Winner vs. 4-5 Winner
2-7 Winner vs. 3-6 Winner

Homecourt advantage for any series is determined by record, not seed. So, it's possible that the 5 seed could have homecourt advantage over the 4, or that the 6 seed could have homecourt advantage over the 3.

Tiebreakers
(1) Head-to-head
(2) Division record (if the teams are in the same division)
(3) Conference record
(4) Record vs. Playoff teams, own conference
(5) Record vs. Playoff teams, other conference
(6) Net points, all games

[ThomasGranger]

Phoenix was so much better when it was a small city like it was back then.

I'd say the same thing pretty much applies to SA.

[Man of Steel]

I think if either teams wins both games 3 and 4, that would pretty much start the fat lady to start her warm-up.

I would love to see SA do it.

Still harbor a fear that we will lose one here and thus give home court back to the Suns.

I'm not overly impressed with this team's post season play thus far. That Denver series was 4-1, but those games were pretty close. Nuggets gave us a lot of trouble.

The SUns have re-gained their confidence.

If only Gino would pull his head out of his ass and realize that he is blowing his chance of making up that stupid play against Dirk last year--that would be great. Then we would have a big three again. So far we have only a big two or--like the last game--a big One.

[timvp]

It's pretty damn important. I don't like the Spurs' chances if it become a best out of three series with two games being in Phoenix. And if the Spurs lose both 3 and 4, it's going to be a looooong summer.

[MadDog73]

Spurs in 6. We can lose one more game MAX.