Spurs @ Suns Game Thread

[CaptainInsano]

On the other hand, I think the space that Bell and Jones create with the threat of the three make it much easier for the rest of the offense to function. That lineup features four players that excel in the paint, and only one real outside shooter.

The thing is though it will give us options, on nights that our shooting is off or against a team that is struggling with their inside defense or foul trouble put that unit on the floor to have a large defensive and offensive presence on the inside.

When our 3's are going put bell, house/jones out there with stevie OR mix it up a little and space the floor.

We will be able to attack in multiple ways. We will be a team that others won't be able to adjust against. Teams like the spurs LOVE to adjust their defense and offense depending on the team they are playing. Remember them outscoring us in 100-110 point games in last years finals? NOT going to happen now!

 

[jbeecham]

Didn't we make it to the WCF last year with Q, Marion & Amare as our frontcourt? If Stoudemire could stay out of foul trouble last year then he should be ok this year.

 

[F-Dog]

There's something to that. If the frontcourt is Stoudemire/Diaw/Marion, any team with two bigs is going to give the Suns significant matchup problems. The Suns face the same problem now with Thomas/Diaw/Marion, but the difference is that it's not the end of the world when Thomas gets three fouls in eight minutes and has to spend the rest of the first half on the bench.

If the problem is that Amare plays limited minutes because of foul trouble and the Suns are forced to bring in a fresh Kurt Thomas off the bench, instead of KT being forced to start, getting in foul trouble and the Suns having to scramble, then I think there's a pretty clear upgrade there.

My guess right now is that the Suns will start Amare/KT/Marion and bring Diaw and Barbosa off the bench together. When those two were coming off the bench at the start of the season, they were torching other teams' bench players left and right.

 

[George O'Brien]

My guess is that a healthy Amare CAN be a pretty good defender if he is allowed to be aggressive. Most teams attacked him with sole intention of getting him into foul trouble and off the court.

1. Both KT and Diaw can defend the post, so Amare won't have to take one the opponent's top low post player. The combination of Amare, Diaw, and Marion will be extremely athletic and good at weak side shot blocking.

2. Amare will be a load on offense whether he matched with KT or Diaw. With KT there is a very good mid range shooter and rebounder. With Diaw there is a second PG who can attack the basket and is great at making interior passes.

There will be matchup issues, but the Spurs are likely to be forced to play small. In last Sat game, Nesterovic played 15 minutes and Mohammed 9 while Horry played just under 30.