Spurs-Suns Previews

[duncan228]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/preview?gameId=280309021

Spurs-Suns Preview
By BRETT HUSTON, STATS Writer

The San Antonio Spurs had lost three straight games and weren't looking much like the defending champions the last time they visited the Phoenix Suns, but they still pulled out an "ugly" win.

The Spurs have been on quite a roll ever since, while the Suns would gladly settle for any win they can get.

San Antonio looks to rebound from its first loss in 12 games on Sunday when it travels to Phoenix, which is trying to avoid its longest home losing streak in four years.

The Spurs (43-18) were 7-8 in 2008 when they faced the Suns (40-22) on Jan. 31, and appeared on their way to their first losing month since going 6-8 in February 1999. Though it was far from a masterpiece -- both teams shot under 40 percent -- San Antonio scored 29 fourth-quarter points in a come-from-behind, 84-81 win.

"We'll win them ugly. We've never been known for winning games pretty," Tim Duncan said after finishing with 16 points and 17 rebounds. "It was a good win for us, a good game for us to steal and hopefully a momentum builder."

Duncan's hopes came true. The victory in Phoenix sparked a stretch of 15 wins in 17 games for the Spurs, who had won 11 straight before losing 109-96 at Denver on Friday.

Manu Ginobili led San Antonio with 24 points Friday and is averaging a career-high 20.7 this season. He played some of his best basketball during the winning streak, twice scoring at least 40 points and averaging 26.3 in the 11 victories.

Ginobili has scored 18.5 per game against the Suns this season, but has shot just 27.3 percent. Duncan has averaged 26.0 points and 17.0 rebounds in the teams' two meetings.

Even though San Antonio has the same record it had through 61 games a year ago, coach Gregg Popovich thinks his team has a lot of work to do if it's going to defend its le.

"We're not at the same level we were at last year at this time, even though we seem to be situated relatively well in the West," said Popovich, whose Spurs are a half-game behind the conference-leading Los Angeles Lakers. "This team isn't as good as last year's team. We have significant improvement that we have to make both mentally and physically if we're going to be able to contend for the championship."

The Suns made a bold move last month that general manager Steve Kerr believed could make them championship favorites, dealing four-time All-Star Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to Miami for Shaquille O'Neal.

With a nine-game sample to judge, the results aren't looking favorable. Phoenix is allowing 113.2 points per game since O'Neal has joined the lineup while going 3-6, including four losses in its last five.

Besides looking to avoid losing three straight for the first time this season, the Suns are trying to stop a three-game skid at home. That losing streak is their first at US Airways Center since dropping three in a row in February 2007, but they have not lost four straight at home since March 6-19, 2004, during the season prior to re-acquiring two-time MVP Steve Nash.

O'Neal's presence in the post has not provided the defensive boost the Suns hoped for, having allowed 126 points in each of their last two games. Two days after a loss in Denver on Wednesday, Phoenix was outscored 41-24 in the fourth quarter as it blew a nine-point lead en route to a 126-118 defeat to Utah.

"We've just somehow got to find a way to defend a little bit better," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "All the things we did for the trade are happening, but we haven't been able to stop people."

Opponents are shooting 50.5 percent from the field against Phoenix since O'Neal has been in uniform.

His addition, however, has not gotten in the way of Amare Stoudemire, who has averaged 28.9 points in the last nine games and scored 37 in the loss to the Jazz.

Stoudemire averaged 26.4 points when Phoenix lost to the Spurs in six games in the Western Conference semifinals last spring, but is averaging only 17.6 in his last five regular-season games against San Antonio.

"We've got to man-up," Stoudemire said. "We've got to dig inside our chests and find that heart that's in there beating."

Nash has averaged 13.5 points and 9.5 assists against the Spurs this season, shooting just 34.6 percent.

San Antonio has won 12 of its last 16 regular-season meetings against the Suns, taking five of eight in Phoenix.

Gameday Matchup

W-L PF PA HOME ROAD STK L10
SA 43-18 96.0 90.9 26-5 17-13 L1 9-1
PHO 40-22 109.5 105.3 21-10 19-12 L2 4-6

2007-08 Season

Series tied 1-1
Mon 12/17 PHO 100, @ SA 95 Recap | Box Score
Thu 1/31 SA 84, @ PHO 81 Recap | Box Score
Mar 9, 2008 SA @ PHO 3:30 PM ET
Apr 9, 2008 PHO @ SA 9:30 PM ET

Injury Report

SAN ANTONIO
No significant injuries
PHOENIX
No significant injuries

Last 5 Games

SAN ANTONIO
Mar 07 @DEN Loss 109-96
Mar 06 IND Win 108-97
Mar 04 NJ Win 81-70
Mar 02 @NJ Win 93-83
Mar 01 @MIL Win 96-94

PHOENIX
Mar 07 UTA Loss 126-118
Mar 05 @DEN Loss 126-113
Mar 04 @POR Win 97-92
Mar 01 PHI Loss 119-114
Feb 27 @NO Loss 120-103

Depth Chart
POS SAN ANTONIO (PPG) PHOENIX (PPG)
PG T. Parker 18.3 S. Nash 17.4
SG M. Ginobili 20.7 R. Bell 12.0
SF B. Bowen 5.9 G. Hill 14.4
PF T. Duncan 19.7 A. Stoudemire 24.1
C F. Oberto 4.9 S. O'Neal 13.5

Team Stat Leaders
SAN ANTONIO PHOENIX
Points M. Ginobili 20.7 A. Stoudemire 24.1
Rebounds T. Duncan 11.5 S. O'Neal 10.8
Assists T. Parker 5.8 S. Nash 11.4
Steals M. Ginobili 1.6 S. Marion 2.0
Blocks T. Duncan 1.9 A. Stoudemire 2.2

Today's Line
FAVORITE OPEN CUR UNDERDOG O/U
SAN ANTONIO -2 -0 @PHOENIX --
ATS San Antonio Phoenix
Record: 43-18-0 (.705) 40-22-0 (.645)
As Favorite: 41-9-0 (.820) 39-17-0 (.696)
As Underdog: 2-9-0 (.182) 1-5-0 (.167)
At Home: 26-5-0 (.839) 21-10-0 (.677)
On Road: 17-13-0 (.567) 19-12-0 (.613)

[duncan228]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/preview?...030921&prov=ap

Notes

Spurs:

After Friday night's loss, the Spurs fell to 9-4 in the second half of back-to-back games. ... With a team-high 24 points, F Manu Ginobili is now averaging 26.1 points per game in his last 12 games. The Spurs have gone 11-1 during this stretch. ... Friday night's loss in Denver marked the first time since the 1988-89 season that the Spurs have been swept on the road by Nuggets.

Suns:

Phoenix is now 1-1 this season in overtime games following their 132-130 double-overtime loss to the New Orleans Hornets. ...The 132 points was the most allowed this season. ...Despite the loss Phoenix has won eight of it's last 11 overall and 11 of their 14 at home. ...Phoenix has lost all three games against the Hornets by a combined total of 10 points. ...G Steve Nash recorded his sixth 30 point game in this season. He had 23 of his 32 points in the second half and the overtimes. The two-time MVP also dished out 12 assists for his 32 double-double of the season. Nash now has 6,455 career assists which moves him into 19th place on the NBA's all-time assist list passing Reggie Theus (21st) and John Lucas, (20th). ...With fellow All-Star Shawn Marion traded Amare Stoudemire played just under 50 minutes scoring 26 points and grabbing a season high 20 rebounds. ...F Boris Diaw who replaced Marion in the stating line up finished with a season high 22 points.

[carina_gino20]

a recap of last year's playoff series against the Suns:

http://broadband.nba.com/cc/playa.ph...&secondClick=1

[duncan228]

a recap of last year's playoff series against the Suns:

http://broadband.nba.com/cc/playa.ph...&secondClick=1

Sweet find.
Thanks for posting it.

[Princess Pimp]

Living in the past?

Suns by 12

[WalterBenitez]

Living in the past?

Suns by 12

Living with no trophy?

[boutons_]

March 9, 2008
Suns Add Size but Pay the Price

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHOENIX (AP) — Shaquille O’Neal and the rest of the Phoenix Suns insist everything is all right, that they just need time to work out the kinks that come with their giant addition.

“We’re not going to panic,” Amare Stoudemire said.

Time is running out, though, for the Suns, the three-time defending Pacific Division champions. With 20 games remaining in the regular season, Phoenix has fallen to sixth in the Western Conference. The Suns are 3-6 since O’Neal was acquired from Miami for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. “Time is a-ticking, but we’re basically in a bit of a training camp during the season right now,” Raja Bell said after the team practiced Thursday. “We’ve taken away a major part of what we did and added a piece that could be even a bigger part of what we do, and that’s going to take some time.”

Entering Saturday night’s play, Phoenix was four games out of first but only two and a half ahead of ninth-place Denver. Such is the state of the extremely cramped Western Conference.

“Everybody’s got to take a little bit of a dose of reality,” Suns Coach Mike D’Antoni said. “There’s nine really, really, really, really good teams in the West, and somebody’s not going to make it.”

On Friday night, the Suns lost to Utah, 126-118, in the opener of a crucial five-game homestand that includes a Sunday contest against San Antonio.

This is hardly the time for what O’Neal called “the experimental phase” of working him into what had been a full-tilt, high-octane style.

O’Neal, who turned 36 on Thursday, has brought what the Suns wanted to their game.

He was averaging 11.1 points and 10.8 rebounds for Phoenix, with a high of 18 rebounds Wednesday at Denver, and he has erased the offensive rebound woes that had hindered the pre-Shaq Suns. But the team’s perimeter defense has been awful, its shooting inconsistent and the ball-handling often atrocious.

“All of that I believe is a byproduct of just guys trying to get accustomed to what we’re doing now, the different personnel and different spacing on the court,” Bell said. “You know Shawn was a guy who was definitely a spacer. That allowed Steve and the guys who make a lot of plays to have a lot of room to make those plays. When you add a big body like Shaq, plus his defender, that space that was wide open isn’t there.”

Steve Nash, who had 30 turnovers in the first eight games with O’Neal, left without talking to reporters Thursday, but his previous comments echo those of his teammates: that the Suns need more time to work things out. O’Neal said Nash should take more shots.

“Steve is the most unselfish player ever created,” O’Neal said. “A lot of times when he has the shot, he’s looking to get somebody else the ball. Sometimes he’s just too unselfish.”

The Suns have been better defensively inside, but perimeter players have burned them . Marion is one of the league’s best defensive players. Bell, also a top defender, has been left to guard some bigger players, as has Grant Hill.

D’Antoni also said opponents were confident because of the Suns’ reputation for being soft defensively.

“Right now, people come in thinking, Oh, we’re going to get a lot of easy shots,” D’Antoni said. “Whether they’re easy or not, they’re knocking them down.”

O’Neal said it was a matter of constant defensive effort, something that was lacking even in the best of times for the Suns in the past.

“I’ve been here two, three weeks now, and I know that when we get into guys and play with a lot of energy, we’re a hard team to beat,” he said. “We just have to do that almost every game and you know it’s going to take some time.”

There’s that word again.

It didn’t take much time for Pau Gasol to blend in with the Los Angeles Lakers, but that was not nearly the drastic change of adding a 7-foot-1, 320-pound behemoth into the middle of what had been a flock of gazelles.

“For the fans, I know they’ve got to be a bit frustrated, but all I can say as a player is we are, too,” Bell said. “There’s no book on how long these things take.”



Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

[duncan228]

Thanks boutons.
Good read.

[duncan228]

Spurs.com

http://www.nba.com/spurs/gameday/080309.html

Probable Starters:

Parker
Guard
18.3 PPG
Ginobili
Guard
20.7 PPG
Bowen
Forward
5.9 PPG
Duncan
Forward
19.7 PPG
Thomas
Center
7.0 PPG

Spur in the Spotlight
Manu Ginobili
Manu Ginobili led San Antonio with 24 points Friday and is averaging a career-high 20.7 this season.

Did You Know...
Phoenix General Manager Steve Kerr averaged 3.7 points in 206 games for San Antonio and was a member of the 1999 and 2003 championship teams … Suns head coach Mike D’Antoni played for the Spurs during the 1976-77 season and served as a scout during the 1999-2000 season … Phoenix assistant coach Alvin Gentry was an assistant for the Spurs from 1988-90 … the Suns defeated the Spurs 137-91 in Phoenix on 4/15/89 … the 46-point loss is the worst in Spurs franchise history … Suns forward/center Sean Marks spent three seasons with San Antonio and averaged 3.3 points and 2.1 rebounds in 48 games … Spurs guard Michael Finley was originally drafted by the Suns with the 21st pick in the 1995 NBA Draft … he averaged 15.0 points per game before being traded to the Mavericks in the 1996-97 season …Suns guard Leandro Barbosa was originally drafted by the Spurs in the first round of the 2003 NBA Draft … Steve Nash, Raja Bell and Michael Finley were teammates with the Mavericks during the 2002-03 season … Suns guard Boris Diaw and Spurs guard Tony Parker are both from France … former Spur great George Gervin was originally drafted by the Suns in the 1974 NBA Draft.

[duncan228]

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/t...spx?id=4137198

Slumping Suns face test from surging Spurs

(Sports Network) - The Phoenix Suns hope to avoid their longest home losing streak in four years when the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs invade the US Airways Center this afternoon.

The slumping Suns actually haven't been winning much at any venue as of late. Phoenix enters today's showdown with losses in four of its last five games and have gone a surprising 3-6 since Shaquille O'Neal made his debut with the club on February 20.

After dropping a 126-113 decision at Denver on Wednesday, the Suns returned home and were handed a 126-118 defeat by Northwest Division leader Utah two days later. The Jazz erased a nine-point deficit after three quarters by outscoring Phoenix by a whopping 41-24 margin in the final period.

The loss spoiled a 37-point effort from Suns forward Amare Stoudemire, while O'Neal netted 20 points on the evening. Steve Nash compiled 17 points and 15 assists for Phoenix, which has now tasted defeat three straight times at the US Airways Center.

The Suns have not lost four straight home games since March 6-19, 20004.

San Antonio, meanwhile, will attempt to avert suffering back-to-back defeats for the first time since a three-game slide in late January. The Spurs have won 15 out of 17 following that skid and began that impressive stretch with an 84-81 victory over the Suns in Phoenix on January 31.

The Spurs had ripped off 11 consecutive wins before falling in Denver on Friday, when the Nuggets used a strong second half to come through with a 109-96 triumph.

Denver trailed 54-46 at halftime but outscored San Antonio 34-17 in the third quarter to forge ahead.

Manu Ginobili led the Spurs with 24 points and Tim Duncan scored 23 while grabbing a team-high nine rebounds.

Despite Friday's setback, San Antonio still owns a 1 1/2-game advantage on Houston and New Orleans for first place in the Southwest Division and is just one-half game back of the Los Angeles Lakers in the battle for the Western Conference's top seed.

The Spurs bring a 17-13 road record into today's tilt and have won nine of their 11 most recent games away from home. San Antonio has also defeated the Suns in 12 of the last 16 regular-season meetings between the clubs, although they've split a pair of matchups so far during this campaign.

[Il Caraibico]

Living with no trophy?