Spurs to play winner of Suns/jailblazers

[Tyler]

Thoughts?

Not host, play.


When the Suns win this game tonight, I will be elated to play the Sterns. The Suns have some demons to exercise.

 

[Gee!]

I believe that the Spurs will not play the Blazers if they were to win.. The Spurs would then play the Lakers.. The Spurs will play the Suns if we win..

 

[slinslin]

I believe that the Spurs will not play the Blazers if they were to win.. The Spurs would then play the Lakers.. The Spurs will play the Suns if we win..

Ummm no this is not the NHL.

 

[ninous26]

^ NHL is not like that either.

 

[Tyler]

Kickball?

 

[ninous26]

Back on topic.. I'm super stoked about playing the spurs. Suns WILL beat this spurs team for sure. I was actually fearing dallas this year if anything.

Now, I'm not being delusional or a fanboy here because the spurs are definitely back and are playing some insane basketball. They suffered some bad breaks this year in the regular season which caused them getting a low 7th seed so don't let that fool you.. Even so, all 8 teams this year are very dangerous..

I honestly just don't think that the spurs can stack up against us, especially if RoLo is back.. Grant Hill on Ginobili is something I really want to see.

This year the suns will definitely sink in more 3's against this spurs team... Also, no cheap shot rob and IMO the dirtiest player in all of pro sports, Bruce Bowen.

 

[slinslin]

^ NHL is not like that either.

NHL re-seeds. In the NHL the Lakers would play the Spurs in the next round.

 

[Gee!]

NHL re-seeds. In the NHL the Lakers would play the Spurs in the next round.

You sure? i thought they were gonna start.. Maybe it was the initial seeding where the best record regardless of winning the division..

 

[ninous26]

I stand corrected.. I thought I saw different a couple days ago

 

[HooverDam]

So do the Spurs start Antonio McDyess or George Hill against the Suns? I would think McDyess as it gives them more size, and allows Duncan to not have to guard Amare. Plus it limits the Suns ability to hide Nash on someone his size, and forces him over onto Richardson.

I imagine the Suns defensive assignments will be as follows:

If Popovich starts Hill:
T. Parker--G. Hill
G. Hill-- S Nash
M Ginobili- J. Richardson
R. Jefferson- A. Stoudemire
T. Duncan--R. Lopez*

If he starts McDyess:
T. Parker-- G. Hill
M Ginobili-- J. Richardson
R Jefferson-- S. Nash
A McDyess-- A. Stoudemire
T Duncan--R. Lopez*

 

[Ronin]

Charles Barkely goes with his heart and picked the suns to beat the Spurs. Kenny Smith went with his brain and picked the Spurs.

 

[Tyler]

The Suns are a horrible matchup for the Sterns. IMO the Suns win the series, and I dont think it takes 7 games to do so.

 

[cly2tw]

Key to the series will be Nash defense. Both Parker and Hill kill Nash everytime. It looks like we have to hidek Nash on Manu! So, the only chance seems that we play Nash lower minutes to get him fresh for clutch time at least and trust our bench even more. Gentry seems to realize that by sticking to Dragic in game 6 despite losing the lead middle in the fourth. And we need JRich and Grant to punish them when they play GHill and Parker together, or even drive on Manu to get him into foul trouble.

 

[BC867]

So do the Spurs start Antonio McDyess or George Hill against the Suns? I would think McDyess as it gives them more size, and allows Duncan to not have to guard Amare. Plus it limits the Suns ability to hide Nash on someone his size, and forces him over onto Richardson.

I imagine the Suns defensive assignments will be as follows:

If Popovich starts Hill:
T. Parker--G. Hill
G. Hill-- S Nash
M Ginobili- J. Richardson
R. Jefferson- A. Stoudemire
T. Duncan--R. Lopez*

If he starts McDyess:
T. Parker-- G. Hill
M Ginobili-- J. Richardson
R Jefferson-- S. Nash
A McDyess-- A. Stoudemire
T Duncan--R. Lopez*

* - Whatever Lopez gives us in the way of defense, rebounding, some scoring and presence -- getting back in game shape game-by-game -- will be just in time.

I fully expect to hear that he will be starting Game 1.

 

[TJ]

Portland was a nice warm up for the Spurs. They play a very similar style of basketball and know how to beat us by taking us out of our rhythm. As long as we keep the same mentality and play a physical brand of basketball, we may find a way to thwart the Spurs in the playoffs

 

[CaptainInsano]

Portland was a nice warm up for the Spurs. They play a very similar style of basketball and know how to beat us by taking us out of our rhythm. As long as we keep the same mentality and play a physical brand of basketball, we may find a way to thwart the Spurs in the playoffs

I am not quite sure though. There is defensive team A and defensive team Z.

Blazers Team A focuses on keeping Amare contained and letting the wings like J-rich have monster games. This usually will not work vs the Suns unless they have a string of bad shooting games (which they barely ever do).

Spurs Team Z focuses on keeping the wings contained and lets Amare have his way on the inside, since if the refs call some ******** ticky tac fouls/charges on Amare the Spurs have the game in the bag, and even if Amare has a monster game but no one else does, the Suns don't have enough scoring punch (no wing input) to outscore the Spurs.

Hopefully this time Grant can shoot lights out a game or two like he did vs the blazers that one game from midrange.

Amare is probably going to need to hit some midrange J's too which is iffy since his midrange jumper almost vaporized vs the blazers, but then again he was shooting over Aldridge or Camby.

 

[jagu]

The Suns will go way of the pick and roll more in this game. The Spurs looked horrible guarding the pick and roll this year and I think the Suns will exploit that more this series. Spurs big men aren't as mobile as the Suns offense. We did make a good amount of threes on the Spurs this year.

11-18 in 116-104 Win
8-22 in 112-101 win
8-15 in 113-110 loss to SA

That's good for 49% from downtown against the Spurs this season. The key to this series is containing Parker, Ginobili and Hill from going off.

oh yea and don't forget Roger MAson!!!!!!!!!!!!! Guard him like GLUE!

 

[Chaplin]

So do the Spurs start Antonio McDyess or George Hill against the Suns? I would think McDyess as it gives them more size, and allows Duncan to not have to guard Amare. Plus it limits the Suns ability to hide Nash on someone his size, and forces him over onto Richardson.

I imagine the Suns defensive assignments will be as follows:

If Popovich starts Hill:
T. Parker--G. Hill
G. Hill-- S Nash
M Ginobili- J. Richardson
R. Jefferson- A. Stoudemire
T. Duncan--R. Lopez*

If he starts McDyess:
T. Parker-- G. Hill
M Ginobili-- J. Richardson
R Jefferson-- S. Nash
A McDyess-- A. Stoudemire
T Duncan--R. Lopez*

If Hill starts, I agree with your first lineup, although seeing Amare on RJ will be strange.

If Parker starts, though, I don't think you'll see Nash on Jefferson. Because Parker isn't quite 100%, you'll see Nash on him, GHill will guard Manu and JRich will take Jefferson. Nash on Jefferson is a disaster waiting to happen. RJ is explosive AND big, not a good combo for Steve Nash.

 

[CaptainInsano]

I could see him actually starting Bonner to drag Amare out on D so that Parker can get by Nash and not run into a rotation clogged lane.

He put Bonner on guarding Dirk so it makes sense then that Bonner would guard Amare.

Either manu or jefferson then off the bench.

If Popovich starts Bonner I think I would actually put Nash on Hill so he doesn't have to guard Parker who could get to the rim without worrying about enough rotation covering the paint. Tony Parker slashing is a lot more dangerous then Hill slashing IMO.

 

[chickenhead]

This is a general comment, but the bench is the difference maker, IMO. In previous series while Nash was resting his back we would pray that things didn't get out of hand, and then hope he could start a run when he got back onto the floor. I don not underrate the Spurs at all, and I won't criticize any analyst for picking them in the series. But I also don't have the same sinking feeling this matchup used to give me.

 

[jagu]

This is a general comment, but the bench is the difference maker, IMO. In previous series while Nash was resting his back we would pray that things didn't get out of hand, and then hope he could start a run when he got back onto the floor. I don not underrate the Spurs at all, and I won't criticize any analyst for picking them in the series. But I also don't have the same sinking feeling this matchup used to give me.

Sigh, as soon as Nash stepped off the court back in the days, the opposing team would retake the lead. We have a better bench than the Spurs. If Parker comes off the bench I'd put Duds on him like Gentry put him on Payless. I think the Suns bench will have to play a big role on the defense against the Spurs starters than the actual starters will. Guys like Dudley, Amundson will have to play big roles against McDyess and Jefferson.

 

[Gaddabout]

Statistically, I believe the Suns have the deepest bench in basketball. Analytically, who the Magic and the Spurs bring off the bench ... hard to argue against them, but the Spurs names are older and you never know what you're going to get from them. They also lack true size at 4/5 after Duncan -- they play a lot of small ball when they get into their bench.

 

[KatySpursFan]

The Suns will go way of the pick and roll more in this game. The Spurs looked horrible guarding the pick and roll this year and I think the Suns will exploit that more this series. Spurs big men aren't as mobile as the Suns offense. We did make a good amount of threes on the Spurs this year.

11-18 in 116-104 Win
8-22 in 112-101 win
8-15 in 113-110 loss to SA

That's good for 49% from downtown against the Spurs this season. The key to this series is containing Parker, Ginobili and Hill from going off.

oh yea and don't forget Roger MAson!!!!!!!!!!!!! Guard him like GLUE!

If Mason is the game, leave him alone. Double ANYONE else off the ball. It's the best PHO strategy.

As for season stats, ignore them. Either a team was at half strength, or didn't care (see: Final game of series). If the Suns score 100 points every game, the Spurs have little chance. If the Suns don't score 100, they have no chance. I expect it to live in the middle. Spurs may win a game over 100. Suns may win a game scoring 92.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Well, up until I watched them dismantle the Mavs I really thought we were a better team this season than the Spurs. Now, with Nash ailing and a questionable Lopez I don't know what to think. Especially since, even fully healthy, I didn't think we were quite at the level of the Mavs.

So I guess I'm going to stop thinking and just start hoping. I'm going to hope that all our pieces come together at the right time and if that happens we'll get a shot at LA in a few weeks. If it doesn't happen I'll still get the chance to cheer against LA in a few weeks so at least there's a bright side.

Steve

 

[Tyler]

Well, up until I watched them dismantle the Mavs I really thought we were a better team this season than the Spurs. Now, with Nash ailing and a questionable Lopez I don't know what to think. Especially since, even fully healthy, I didn't think we were quite at the level of the Mavs.

So I guess I'm going to stop thinking and just start hoping. I'm going to hope that all our pieces come together at the right time and if that happens we'll get a shot at LA in a few weeks. If it doesn't happen I'll still get the chance to cheer against LA in a few weeks so at least there's a bright side.

Steve

THe Mavs just flat out didnt show up to play in that series. If they would have played their game they would have won. San ANtonio does not scare me. **** them.