Suns vs Spurs 7:30 ESPN FSN AZ

[cly2tw]

Just pathetic. Proponents of the big trade were convinced that last year's team would never get Phoenix a title, and they may have been right. But you have to admit that last year's Suns at least gave us a chance--they took us deeper into the playoffs, they looked good doing it, and never once gave the fans at USAC an excuse to boo the home team.

We had our chances two games in a roll, but DA blew it with his coaching, plus Hill's injury due to his not resting before the playoffs the way Manu did (which is part of coaching).

Besides, it's bad luck that we got Spurs whose coach Pop was a master of exploiting even the slightest advantage. We surprised them in the first two. They adjusted and lucked out for the wins plus help from DA. If we had met Rockets, we might have more time to learn to play with one another in playoff situations which are different from regular season.

The trade was a gamble. I believe Kerr didn't think it could work as well as it did with Shaq already for this year.
It's bad luck the way the seeding and the first two games played out. Next year, DA is gone, Nash will finally be asked to play a reduced role, and we still have a motivated Shaq who'd be in the hand of a coach who could properly use him.

 

[TheHopToad]

Geez that Dallas game we blew a few Sunday ago really stings now. If we had held onto that game we would have been playing Houston with HCA. We might even be saying what a great trade that was...

 

[Raindog]

Geez that Dallas game we blew a few Sunday ago really stings now. If we had held onto that game we would have been playing Houston with HCA. We might even be saying what a great trade that was...

Yes, sadly everything is connected. That team that didn't care enough to play hard in the latter half of that Dallas game to get a better seed is the same one that phoned it in tonight with their backs against the wall. Given that, I don't know why any of us are really surprised about how they've played against the Spurs.

 

[cly2tw]

Yes, sadly everything is connected. That team that didn't care enough to play hard in the latter half of that Dallas game to get a better seed is the same one that phoned it in tonight with their backs against the wall. Given that, I don't know why any of us are really surprised about how they've played against the Spurs.

Then, they should have sat Hill for the last 3-4 games in regular season. Our problem has always been that Spurs can stop Nash so that we have to resort to a lot of one-on-one scoring. But besides Amare and sometimes Shaq and Diaw, we didn't have enough fire power due to LB's sucking and Hill's injury. It's also bad luck that we met Spurs.

 

[msdundee]

It's bad luck the way the seeding and the first two games played out. Next year, DA is gone, Nash will finally be asked to play a reduced role, and we still have a motivated Shaq who'd be in the hand of a coach who could properly use him.

Shaq will never be more motivated than he should have been motivated this year--I guess we just have to figure he just wasn't quite "pissed" enough. Except for one or two games that finally got everyone's hopes up, the Suns haven't looked like or played like a TEAM for the past few months. Grant Hill was a great addition and his surgery and subsequent injury were a blow, no doubt about that. Still, I don't think it's any "group coincidence" that the rest of the regulars are in a collective slump--Nash, Barbosa, Bell, Diaw are all struggling with trying to make it work.

If everyone in the fire-D'Antoni camp gets their wish, and they probably will, the Suns will bring in a new coach. If they bring in the type of coach everyone's looking for--a no-nonsense, defense-minded, in-your-face, bench 'em if they don't produce, give-'em-hell coach--my guess is the result will be one unhappy superstar and one very large, very grumpy $20M center.

 

[Cheesebeef]

you know what really sucks? Knowing that this is the end, I firmly believe we are staring at the minimum of 6 years before this team can possibly challenge for a title again. At the end of every era, it seems like it takes at least 3-4 years to rebuild and then every team has at least 2 or 3 years taking their lumps climbing the mountain until they reach the top. We're now staring at walking back down the mountain without ever reaching the top and the worst part is when we get down to the bottom, we don't even have the hiking gear a team needs to start climbing again (besides Amare we have no young talent to speak of and a dearth of draft picks) Ugh. That sucks.

5 years minimum. 2013. Man, that's a long time away.

 

[cly2tw]

If everyone in the fire-D'Antoni camp gets their wish, and they probably will, the Suns will bring in a new coach. If they bring in the type of coach everyone's looking for--a no-nonsense, defense-minded, in-your-face, bench 'em if they don't produce, give-'em-hell coach--my guess is the result will be one unhappy superstar and one very large, very grumpy $20M center.

Actually, it might be the 2x MVP who'd sit in favor of a 2nd year 2nd-rounder like DJ. Shaq's defense is not bad, but the combination with Nash to defend the perfect p-n-r plays is the nightmare. A Banks, DJ kind of roughing up, fighting through picks, in your face defense could slow Parker down. Yet, Nash's energy is supposedly too precious for offense to do that, even if he were strong enough to.

Defense aside, even on offense Nash has not been able to consistently crack Spurs defense for the last 4 years with the Suns. It's painfully obvious that there was no space for Suns offense at all, everything seems jammed, compared to the clinically clean offensive operation by the Spurs. If your man Nash were not to give up the on-court coaching title, the team would never overcome the Spurs.

 

[GorrilaLips]

what would bryan boitano do?

 

[Andrew]

what would bryan boitano do?

When Brian Boitano was in the alps,
Fighting grizzly bears,
He used his magical fire breath,
And saved the maidens fair.

 

[msdundee]

Actually, it might be the 2x MVP who'd sit in favor of a 2nd year 2nd-rounder like DJ. Shaq's defense is not bad, but the combination with Nash to defend the perfect p-n-r plays is the nightmare. A Banks, DJ kind of roughing up, fighting through picks, in your face defense could slow Parker down. Yet, Nash's energy is supposedly too precious for offense to do that, even if he were strong enough to.

Defense aside, even on offense Nash has not been able to consistently crack Spurs defense for the last 4 years with the Suns. It's painfully obvious that there was no space for Suns offense at all, everything seems jammed, compared to the clinically clean offensive operation by the Spurs. If your man Nash were not to give up the on-court coaching title, the team would never overcome the Spurs.

Shaq--combined with anybody--can't defend the pick and roll and never could, as mentioned several times by an LA fan who's a regular poster here. That was probably somebody else's fault when he was a Laker.

I think by now we all understand that you're down on Nash since you make a point of blaming him for something or other in every post. We get the message.

 

[cly2tw]

Shaq--combined with anybody--can't defend the pick and roll and never could, as mentioned several times by an LA fan who's a regular poster here. That was probably somebody else's fault when he was a Laker.

I think by now we all understand that you're down on Nash since you make a point of blaming him for something or other in every post. We get the message.

Well, the System was Nash! And when it failed, you have always been blaming everybody else but Nash. Or your excuse would have to be like, "we have a perfect System and a perfect player Nash, but other players never perform like they should to make it work".

Shaq has his shortcomings. P-n-r defense is one of them but it's the coach's job to work around it, including sitting him. He got 4 titles despite all these shortcomings. I believe Shaq/DJ or Shaq/Banks would have done it a lot better than what we saw in this game. And he is a complementary player now.

 

[D-Dogg]

Shaq is a horrible PnR defender. Terrible.

Nash is a horrible PnR defender. No defensive lateral quickness.

Put the two together??? Good lord. Thank God you weren't playing against stockton and Malone or it would be a bloodbath of epic proportions.

 

[GorrilaLips]

I don't know who I was listening to the radio, but I have to agree with the radio dj's.....

If a Suns fan had to pick between the Spurs and Lakers....(yeah, we would say neither...Boston...lol) but just for the sake of saying....

I would take the Lakers over Spurs anyday. That's how much I hate that freakin' team...there is not one person I don't like on that team.

 

[95pro]

got back from the casino late.

slept 4hrs, and had to work today.

did i dream the suns sucked that bad last night?

 

[msdundee]

Well, the System was Nash! And when it failed, you have always been blaming everybody else but Nash. Or your excuse would have to be like, "we have a perfect System and a perfect player Nash, but other players never perform like they should to make it work".

That was very creative--not quite factual, but I'm sure you know that.
I never claimed we had a perfect system because there is no perfect system, and I never claimed Nash was a perfect player because there is no perfect player. The "system" is a composite of individual players, the team as a whole, the coaching staff, the franchise, and the mindset of that combination, and we now have a system that is not only imperfect but also looks downright dysfunctional. Saying any one individual is the "system" is ridiculous.

Dumping the blame on any single player, the coach, the owner--is common practice and it's quite popular here. No different than any other message board. Over the course of this whole season every player on the team has been bashed and trashed, some more than others, and the coach takes the biggest hits, which is always the case. I guess it's taken for granted that once they're out on the court, NBA players with those enormous egos always do what they're told to do--although there's no way to know that since fans don't know what they're told to do.

So, fine. Marion's gone (partly to eliminate those 'problems' in the locker room). Shaq arrived (to jolly up the the locker room, shore up interior defense, give the team the needed toughness, and free up Amare to score, score, score). A couple of Shaq interviews later. most Suns fans were optimistic if not delirious with confidence. So now the locker room's "fun", but the interior defense still has big holes, nobody looks the least bit intimidated, and Amare's racking up big points in games we lose. What happened? D'Antoni might be gone next year, but whoever gets his job will be the next one to blame for anything and everything.

I don't think the "2x MVP" would have any problem at all taking a secondary role next year, if that's what happens and he's still here. Nash has a normal-size ego (that shoulder problem is not a result of constantly patting himself on the back after every game). He's not been playing up to par for the last month but I don't think it's physical, nor do I think it's physical with anyone except for Grant Hill. They're just lost, and there's no time left for Plan B.

 

[msdundee]

got back from the casino late.

slept 4hrs, and had to work today.

did i dream the suns sucked that bad last night?

You weren't dreaming.
Don't know if we frequent the same casino, but I cashed a check for $300 and came home with $2,100 yesterday.

 

[95pro]

im in flag. drove to cliff castle with 3min left in the game.

came home at 2pm. woke up at 530, and im at work now.lol

went to eat, bowled a couple of games, wasted money on slots & poker.