Suns @ Spurs Game Thread

[JS22]

Where the hell was Tim Thomas? Sure, he's not a great rebound but at least he BOXES OUT 75% of the time. Not to mention he was having his way on the offensive end.

...and I'm finally starting to jump off the House bandwagon.

 

[boisesuns]

Any game like this, when any fart by Suns player is foul anyway, .

Would that be a frangrant foul?

 

[F-Dog]

From what little I saw of the game, the Suns left Tony Parker wide open on a couple of baseline shots down the stretch. That's bad coaching IMO--you can play the percentages for most of the game, but down the stretch, you have to force the other team to take contested shots.

Other than that, it's pretty much what I expected, right down to the officiating. The best news from this game is that the Spurs are pretty much guaranteed to lose tomorrow.

 

[arthurracoon]

well, if we are gonna have any shot vs. the spurs in the playoffs we need our big men.

 

[elindholm]

There's no point complaining about the officiating. The Spurs have gotten these calls for years and will continue to do so. Expecting things to be any different is an exercise in futility.

But surely the rebounding can be improved. The Spurs had 26 offensive rebounds and the Suns had 21 defensive. That means that the Spurs got the rebound on the majority of their own missed shots. That's just absurd. If not for their huge edges in shooting and taking care of the ball -- plus, as an even rarer event, a draw in free-throw attempts -- the Suns would have gotten crushed.

Overall, this was a poor effort. Except for the difference in personnel, it was pretty much a carbon copy of last year's playoff series. The Spurs will almost always win these games, because they'll make the crucial plays (or, if you like, get the crucial calls) at the right time. The Suns' only hope would be to build a big cushion and then hang on, but it's pretty hard to do that when you can't get a stop.

 

[George O'Brien]

I didn't watch the game, but I expected the Suns to lose by a much bigger margin. They are playing a huge front line with starters who are only 6'8", 6'8", and 6'7". How is it that the Spurs could only win by 6?

When I look at the stats, it is obvious that the offensive rebounding killed the Suns, but the Spurs certainly had problems stopping the Suns on the other end. The Suns shot 51.3% and 43.8% for three. Also, the Suns took as many free throw attempts as the Spur (19), but shot nearly as badly from the line.

Beyond the rebounding, the other problem the Spurs present is that they limit the number of three point shots the Suns take. 16 attempts is 9 fewer than their season average. The Suns are the top three point shooting team in the NBA, so taking away their three point shooting cuts their offense a lot.

Fewer three pointers, bad free throw shooting, and terrible rebounding -- yet the Spurs win by only six at home. After the way the Spurs destroyed the Suns a week ago, I expected worse.

 

[cly2tw]

The rebounding problem is the direct consequence of our double and triple teaming defense which makes our players lose track of the direct opponents. In addition, their bigs are good and active at occupying the positions vacated by the defenders. We need KT to single cover TD most of the time to have a chance.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Would that be a frangrant foul?

Its an offensively foul.

 

[reader]

Post Game Quotes
http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/quotes_060317.html

Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich

On the game - “It was a good win for us against a very good basketball team. Timmy was our steady rock the entire game. Nazr was stupendous obviously. Tony did a great job. He stepped up even though he wasn’t having a great game in the fourth quarter on both ends of the court. It was a good win.”
On using the big lineup - “We decided to stay big most of the night and concentrated on the boards. We figured it would be a tough time in situations guarding, but the boards would even that out.”

Tim Duncan

On the game - “(The Suns) spread the floor and shoot the ball really well and we just have to try to counter their offense any way we can. Nazr (Mohammed) played great. Tony (Parker) made some clutch shots down the stretch and we were able to get the win.”
On Nazr Mohammed - “Nazr was helping us in every way on the floor tonight. He was really great in the first half.”
On the Spurs defense against the Suns - “The (defensive) philosophy was to keep Nash out of the lane, but that is hard to do. We try to stay in front of him and make tough lay-ups. He made some shots that kept them in it.”
On tomorrow night’s match-up with the Houston Rockets - “(The Rockets) are a different team from the one we played tonight. They play a more controlled style of basketball. I don’t think the score will be in the hundreds like it was tonight. It is good to play like that against teams with different styles and we keep the same defensive philosophies.”

Nazr Mohammed

On the game - “I am happy with my performance tonight, but I am the kind of player that thinks about the mistakes that I made throughout the game so that I can learn how to get better as a player.”
On the Phoenix - “They are a small team. Sometimes they use Boris (Diaw), Shawn (Marion) or Tim Thomas in the post. Playing against them is extremely different from playing against any other team. I am used to going down the floor and finding a big on defense, but when you play the Suns I have to pick up guys that are playing above the free-throw line at times.”

Suns Head Coach Mike D’Antoni

On the game - “We played a good game, not a great game, but a good game. We will do better next time. The Spurs hit big shots and got the win. Mohammed was really solid down the stretch, we couldn’t stop him. We were very encouraged by the effort and played pretty well.”
On offensive rebounding - “We’ll give up some of those and we’ll try to get better at it. We’ll just have to do a little bit better job at the other end. I didn’t think we were sharp, sharp but I thought we played well. We’ll get a little bit better in the next month or so.”

Boris Diaw

On the game - “We didn’t play bad but we didn’t play great.”
On the second chance points - “It’s tough to go in there against those guys. We’ve got to double team, so that makes it tougher because that’s where they got a lot of second chance shots off the offensive rebounds.”

Steve Nash

On the game - “We have the ability to play at a high level but tonight it just wasn’t there. We missed little things like lay-ups and free throws. Little things like hustle plays and calls here and there. You look back and we probably missed a lay up here and there and a free throw, all the little areas. We just do a tiny bit better with each one of those and they add up to six more points.”

 

[elindholm]

This team is in denial about their ineptitude on the defensive boards.

 

[boisesuns]

This team is in denial about their ineptitude on the defensive boards.

Yeah, how is it that at least one player on oppposing teams has career nights against us that normally wouldn't?

I think our defensive rotation is terrible. Teams will spread the floor with the half court, and we look lost.

 

[George O'Brien]

I'm not sure denial is the right term. They know perfectly well they are having trouble due to injuries and don't want to make excuses. How about the real world answer, "How about you take away your top three inside guys and play us with ours? You think you'd be within ten?"

They won't say it because it would sound like whinning. Winners aren't supposed to give excuses. That's not denial, that just the macho creed of sports.

The one thing I like about the Suns is that they never get into the "we're better than they are even though we lost" nonsense some guys give us. I hate that. Respect the other team and admit they played better.

 

[elindholm]

I'm not sure denial is the right term. They know perfectly well they are having trouble due to injuries and don't want to make excuses.

In that case, they should say, "Our defensive rebounding is unacceptable. Everyone has to step up." Instead they say wishy-washy things about playing "good but not great," lamenting missed free throws, or focusing more on offense to make up for it. That's denial.

 

[boisesuns]

The one thing I like about the Suns is that they never get into the "we're better than they are even though we lost" nonsense some guys give us. I hate that. Respect the other team and admit they played better.

They might not say that, but they sure seem to play worse when they play teams with worse records.

 

[George O'Brien]

They might not say that, but they sure seem to play worse when they play teams with worse records.

The Suns are a team based on speed, which means if they don't play at high energy they get into trouble. The Suns don't have any trouble finding energy in most of their games against major opponents, but it is hard to play at highly intensive level every game.

Another problem is that the Suns are having defense problems. This means that they are too dependent on their offense to win games, but weaker teams come out pressing and playing at very high energy which can disrupt their offense. Generally they can't do this for 48 minutes, but it creates problems.

Mostly the Suns have been able to keep their composure against teams that are trapping and flying around, but the Suns players tend to get impatient and start rushing their shots. The way to deal with trapping opponents is to move without the ball and pass very very quickly. The trap creates weaknesses that need to be exploited. IMHO, taking quick shots is not the way to beat the trap or pressure defense.