The Suns cannot afford to watch Tony Parker shoot layups again in tonight's Game 2.
Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
May. 8, 2007 12:00 AM
An opposing player scored at least 30 points in 28 Suns games this season. Even then, Phoenix won 17 times.
Tim Duncan can have his 33 points, but the Suns can't handle Tony Parker's 32 points.
Phoenix will address both issues tonight in Game 2 of the second-round series, which San Antonio could lead 2-0, just as it did in the teams' 2005 playoff meeting.
The Suns on Monday planned to have Kurt Thomas start tonight in James Jones' place. The move seemingly would help keep Amaré Stoudemire out of foul trouble against Duncan and use a starting lineup that was 7-0 this season.
And although the Suns' intangible goal is to play with the non-stop energy of a circus, the most tangible change would be in defending Parker better. After averaging 28 points in three regular-season games against the Suns, Parker hit 14 of 22 shots Sunday.
Parker ranked second among NBA guards for points in the paint this season, but Phoenix's strategy overplayed that again. As Shawn Marion, who drew the assignment on Parker, went under screens set close to the lane, the Spurs point guard made the easy jumpers the Suns gave him.
"They don't want to see me in the paint," Parker said. "It's a quick decision for me. I have to knock down that shot if I want to be effective in the series.
"If they go over (screens), I'm going to be in the paint all night long, and they don't want to do that."
Proving his jump shot has improved in recent years, Parker hit nine jumpers, two floaters and three layups Sunday.
"It's too easy," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "It's going to take a heroic effort from a couple people. Shawn has to got to up it. He's got to do it. I'm asking a lot from Shawn, and we ask a lot from him all the time. This is going to be a monumental task for him, and it's going to be a big key."
Marion starts as the defender on him because Parker's quickness is too much for Suns guards Raja Bell and Steve Nash.
"The idea is with Shawn's athleticism, length and quickness, that's a combination that he should really be able to pressure those shots and make it difficult," said Nash, who remained mystified Monday that some unnamed teammates did not bring sufficient energy or concentration to the season's grandest stage Sunday.
Nash knows his team needs all of that because of its disadvantages in size, experience and discipline that continue to show up against San Antonio. The Spurs are 3-1 against the Suns this season, 12-4 since Nash's 2005 return and 18-4 since the 2003 playoffs.
"It's incredible that we can still improve there, because that's the one place we can all control if you have the desire," Nash said of the effort.
That means more from a lot of Suns, but all eyes will be on Marion, who has been asked to go from lanky Lakers power forward Lamar Odom to all-NBA Kobe Bryant to Parker to Duncan. When asked what he was going to do to celebrate his 29th birthday Monday, Marion said he needed to get some rest.
"People don't understand sometimes that I'm the only one who probably has to go from one player to another during the sequence of the game or three players," said Marion, who was quiet offensively until an 11-point fourth quarter Sunday. "That means I've got to change my mentality or focus every time I switch to somebody else. That's more pressure. That's not easy for anybody. I'm trying to get that right and do everything else, too. Right now, all my focus is basically Tony."
Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
May. 8, 2007 12:00 AM
An opposing player scored at least 30 points in 28 Suns games this season. Even then, Phoenix won 17 times.
Tim Duncan can have his 33 points, but the Suns can't handle Tony Parker's 32 points.
Phoenix will address both issues tonight in Game 2 of the second-round series, which San Antonio could lead 2-0, just as it did in the teams' 2005 playoff meeting.
The Suns on Monday planned to have Kurt Thomas start tonight in James Jones' place. The move seemingly would help keep Amaré Stoudemire out of foul trouble against Duncan and use a starting lineup that was 7-0 this season.
And although the Suns' intangible goal is to play with the non-stop energy of a circus, the most tangible change would be in defending Parker better. After averaging 28 points in three regular-season games against the Suns, Parker hit 14 of 22 shots Sunday.
Parker ranked second among NBA guards for points in the paint this season, but Phoenix's strategy overplayed that again. As Shawn Marion, who drew the assignment on Parker, went under screens set close to the lane, the Spurs point guard made the easy jumpers the Suns gave him.
"They don't want to see me in the paint," Parker said. "It's a quick decision for me. I have to knock down that shot if I want to be effective in the series.
"If they go over (screens), I'm going to be in the paint all night long, and they don't want to do that."
Proving his jump shot has improved in recent years, Parker hit nine jumpers, two floaters and three layups Sunday.
"It's too easy," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "It's going to take a heroic effort from a couple people. Shawn has to got to up it. He's got to do it. I'm asking a lot from Shawn, and we ask a lot from him all the time. This is going to be a monumental task for him, and it's going to be a big key."
Marion starts as the defender on him because Parker's quickness is too much for Suns guards Raja Bell and Steve Nash.
"The idea is with Shawn's athleticism, length and quickness, that's a combination that he should really be able to pressure those shots and make it difficult," said Nash, who remained mystified Monday that some unnamed teammates did not bring sufficient energy or concentration to the season's grandest stage Sunday.
Nash knows his team needs all of that because of its disadvantages in size, experience and discipline that continue to show up against San Antonio. The Spurs are 3-1 against the Suns this season, 12-4 since Nash's 2005 return and 18-4 since the 2003 playoffs.
"It's incredible that we can still improve there, because that's the one place we can all control if you have the desire," Nash said of the effort.
That means more from a lot of Suns, but all eyes will be on Marion, who has been asked to go from lanky Lakers power forward Lamar Odom to all-NBA Kobe Bryant to Parker to Duncan. When asked what he was going to do to celebrate his 29th birthday Monday, Marion said he needed to get some rest.
"People don't understand sometimes that I'm the only one who probably has to go from one player to another during the sequence of the game or three players," said Marion, who was quiet offensively until an 11-point fourth quarter Sunday. "That means I've got to change my mentality or focus every time I switch to somebody else. That's more pressure. That's not easy for anybody. I'm trying to get that right and do everything else, too. Right now, all my focus is basically Tony."
It's time to prove that bringing Kurt in here was the key to getting the Suns past the Spurs. We brought him in just for a series like this. I say we either live or die by that move or what was the point?
