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I've have selective amnesia. I prefer it this way.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/s...n.19dea6b.html
Spurs: 2-0 lead isn't insurmountable -- remember 2004?
Jeff McDonald
Express-News staff writer
PHOENIX — So far in this Western Conference playoff series between the Spurs and Phoenix Suns, Shaquille O'Neal has found himself beset by each of basketball's three F's: floppers, fouls and free throws.
Undaunted, he is now apparently taking aim at one of the three R's.
After the Spurs trotted out their "Hack-a-Shaq" strategy in Game 1, O'Neal complained bitterly about their egregious use of 'rithmetic.
"If you're going to use mathematical formulas on me, it won't work," O'Neal said.
As the series shifts to US Airways Center for Game 3 at 9:30 tonight, with the Spurs holding a 2-0 lead that is close to statistically insurmountable, math is indeed no friend of the Phoenix Suns.
Throughout NBA history, teams that take a 2-0 lead go on to win a best-of-7 series nearly 94 percent of the time.
That means O'Neal, a career 52.4-percent foul shooter, has a significantly better chance of surviving his next trip to the free-throw line than the Suns have of surviving this series.
The Spurs, too, know this math. And they know enough to ignore it.
"You can lose 6 percent of the time, too," point guard Tony Parker said. "We just can't be satisfied with that."
Four years ago, the Spurs learned about life among the unfortunate 6 percent, and O'Neal was there for that particular tutorial.
The Spurs took a 2-0 lead against O'Neal's Los Angeles Lakers in the 2004 conference semifinals, then promptly dropped four in a row and the series.
The math lesson, as if it bears repeating? It takes four victories to add up to one successful series.
"There's always a natural tendency to feel good about what you've accomplished," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "I think our team is experienced enough to know they haven't accomplished anything yet."
The Spurs, despite their 2-0 stranglehold, aren't emboldened enough to count on coming back from two games in Phoenix with a sweep.
Their two victories at home came by a combined eight points, and one of them required double overtime. The going should prove even tougher as the series moves west.
"It's not easy to walk into Phoenix and win," said Tim Duncan, who like Parker is averaging 29 points in the series. "It's a series all the way through, and I don't think anybody on this team feels like we will go 4-0."
Winning two games in San Antonio proved difficult enough for the Spurs.
In Game 1, they had to overcome an early 16-point deficit, winning 117-115 on a Manu Ginobili bank shot with 1.8 seconds left in double OT. The Spurs needed 11th-hour 3-pointers from Michael Finley and Duncan just to get there.
In Game 2, they fell in a 14-point hole out of the gate, reversed that for a 17-point lead in the second half, then had to fend off a fierce Phoenix charge to emerge victorious, 102-96.
"We didn't beat anybody to death," Popovich said. "We had to work our tails off. We had to have some good fortune. We had to play well down the stretch to win both games."
As such, the Suns departed San Antonio buoyed that they were a play away from at least carrying a 1-1 tie back to the desert with them. Win in Phoenix, they've spent two days telling themselves, and they are right back in the series.
"They held serve on their floor, and if we are going to beat them, we have to do the same thing," Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We have shown we can be there and win quarters."
Still, the object of the postseason is to win full games, not quarters, and this is where the Spurs have succeeded. If the Spurs can do it again, tonight in Game 3, it would really put the Suns on the wrong side of the math.
No team in NBA history has rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-7 series.
For now, however, the first step for the Spurs will be to follow O'Neal's lead, and ignore the mathematics.
"We have to realize 2-0 doesn't mean anything," Parker said. "We just did our job — we won our two games at home. In Phoenix, it's going to be even harder."
KEYS TO VICTORY
Show up early: The Spurs have fallen behind by 16 and 14 points in the first half of each of the first two games of the series. They were able to come back and win anyway, but that might prove more difficult now that the series has shifted to Phoenix.
Down 2-0, the Suns will be fired up. US Airways Center will be rocking. The crowd will be howling for blood. It would behoove the Spurs not to give Phoenix fans much to celebrate early on.
Keep on runnin': Conventional wisdom paints the Suns as the exciting run-and-gun team and the Spurs as the old, stodgy slow-it-down team. The truth is, the Spurs have been at their best in this series when they have been able to run the ball back at the Suns.
With Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili leading the race, the Spurs outscored the Suns 23-4 on fast breaks in Game 2. They would like to keep up that pace in Game 3.
It all starts on defense. The Spurs can't run if they don't get stops.
Make it Big Three plus one: Parker (29 points), Ginobili (26.5) and Tim Duncan (29) are all averaging close to 30 points in the series so far. The Big Three can carry the Spurs a long way, but they are going to need some help.
In Game 2, that trio scored 51 of the Spurs' 54 points before halftime, and the Spurs trailed by seven. It wasn't until other players like Michael Finley and Ime Udoka began throwing in baskets that the Spurs were able to pull ahead and pull away.
I've have selective amnesia. I prefer it this way.
The '04 Lakers were better than the '08 Suns. The '04 Spurs were not as good as the '08 Spurs.
Nice dream for the Suns, but it won't happen.
Go up 3-0 and we can be somewhat satisfied.... no team.... EVER... has come back from a 3-0 deficit. That doesnt mean we can stop the pressure if we win, I dont want the Spurs to be the first team that allows it.The Spurs, too, know this math. And they know enough to ignore it.
"You can lose 6 percent of the time, too," point guard Tony Parker said. "We just can't be satisfied with that."
There's a first time for everything.
I'd love to see the team go up 3-0, but I would hate for them to ease up on the gas pedal at any point in this series.
In the playoffs, anything can happen.
But if a team were to come back from 3-0, I think it could be the Suns.
This is a big series for their whole team. The Shaq vs Timmy debate will almost definitely go to the winner of this series and the Suns are still pissed at us for beating them last year. It's personal.
I personally think that Steve Nash has it in him. He wants this series as bad as anyone, and that's scary.
totally different teams, totally different coaches.
Old McDonald trying to unjinx the Spurs.
In addition to the fact that this team hasn't undergone a huge roster turnover replacing a HOF C and the best 3 point threat in NBA history, not mention it's starting 2 guard and back up point, and the fact Manu and Parker are both better and more experienced now than they were then...not to mention the Spurs have a better bench, also not to mention that the Suns don't have a championship core as those Lakers did...
The simple fact of the matter is that the Spurs remember 2004 more than anyone.
I'll tell you one other major difference...when the 2004 Tony Parker started getting smacked around, in particular by Shaq...it worked...it doesn't work anymore, see games 1 and 2 for proof of this.
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