Time to smack the bully in the nose

[MaoTosiFanClub]

-No D'Antoni

Most important thing here, we're actually built to win hard-fought playoff series now. We go to seven games against Portland and the SAS get a physically spent Nash and Hill (if he hadn't already wore them out by March) on one day's rest for Game 1 if Antoni was our coach. That and we're actually making critical stops these days and have the depth to grind out those inevitably long playoff series.

Not to be a broken record, but screw you D'Antoni.

-the Popovich factor

Another key point here. While though we don't have Antoni to screw us over with his arrogance and idiotic system, Gentry is still no Pop. But overall I like the matchup if the jersey said anything but 'Spurs' on it. We can finally match their depth and we seem to have fresher legs at this point. My biggest concern is staying in front of both Parker and Manu when they're on the court at the same time. I'm assuming we see a lot of Jared Dudley in this series.

It's going to be fun one way or another.

 

[CaptainInsano]

The irony of this series loss for dallas is that it wasn't the same ol' soft mavs. I'm in awe somewhat to hear NBA players like Chris Webber calling the mavs soft and putting it on dirk again....talking about his days of playing the mavs and dirk which was almost a decade ago? If anything dirk and his mavs were as physical as they've ever been in this series. Dirk broke ginobili's nose on a play that he got a and 1 while being doubled. that's soft? there were hard flagrant fouls and hard fouls throughout. As someone else pointed out on every play there was heavy questionable contact and the officials were terrible at controling the game and keeping it even for both teams. Dirk and other mavericks relentlessly attacked the basket. In this game 6 they just didn't get rewarded for it at the FT line like SA did.

That really is a bunch of stupid garbage from the TV pundits no doubt, Dirk gets double teamed and yet Terry or Kidd put up terrible numbers. Amare gets double teamed and J-rich bombs portlands ass for 42 points, Frye had a 20 point game, Dudley had a 19 point game. Who can Dirk pass out of the double to hit the open 3-pointer then? Kidd, no. Marion, no. Terry, no. Plain and simple anyone who actually watch and pay attention to the game knows it's not Dirks fault. No inside scorer like Amare and no wing 3-point shooting. Bad coaching. Dampier. Marion. Not much to explain here.

Marion really hurts you because he can't spread the floor with outside shooting or even execute as part of a half-court set. With Marion if Terry doesn't have a good series your outside shooting is sunk and then there goes your offense when Dirk gets doubled.

 

[GorrilaLips]

If anybody has watched the spurs/mavs series and seen Duncan play, I think theres something wrong with that guy physically. He looks sapped, and I think there are more underlining issues with him regarding his performance. SA is the most tight-lipped organization of all teams and I wouldn't be surprised if Duncan was playing injured or something.

 

[cly2tw]

The irony of this series loss for dallas is that it wasn't the same ol' soft mavs. I'm in awe somewhat to hear NBA players like Chris Webber calling the mavs soft and putting it on dirk again....talking about his days of playing the mavs and dirk which was almost a decade ago? If anything dirk and his mavs were as physical as they've ever been in this series. Dirk broke ginobili's nose on a play that he got a and 1 while being doubled. that's soft? there were hard flagrant fouls and hard fouls throughout. As someone else pointed out on every play there was heavy questionable contact and the officials were terrible at controling the game and keeping it even for both teams. Dirk and other mavericks relentlessly attacked the basket. In this game 6 they just didn't get rewarded for it at the FT line like SA did.

Having said that you can't blame the officials for this series loss. You have to blame the mavericks, their coaching, and their backcourt. Parker, Hill, and Ginobili pooped on jason kidd and jason terry. Kidd and Terry were relied on heavily by dallas to score at least 25 points per game all year long. They were absent. Since the experts can't seem to get it right I will point it out to them. In the playoffs it is all about dribble penetration in the halfcourt set. When the easy transition buckets and wide open shots dwindle, you have to attack the paint with your either your guards or your bigs. The mavs did it with their bigs, but their guards could not get into the paint finish and create open shots like the spurs guards did all series long.

For the suns this will be the key. I feel they have a better shot than dallas because of steve nash. Amare is a matchup problem for the spurs just as dirk was...for different reasons...but should net the same results as far as points go. If nash can get the other suns wide open looks(unlike what the dallas guards failed to do) then the suns can win this series. They just have to be tough, physical, and keep their composure. That is were they have failed in years past against the spurs.

It's funny. Terry and Kidd are always hot against Suns,em Nash, so that Mavs are a bad match for Suns as they could play good defense at every position. But Dirk is left alone if the defense is as good as Spurs. We have a better chance as you said because our offense will not be stopped no matter what now Amare showed he can play real smart besides dominating. And we have improved on our defense a lot. The key point for us is Gentry manage Nash's minutes and not allow his bad defense due to fatique drags the team down. We need limit him to Stockton kind of about 30 min a game on avg. to keep him fresh, both for clutch scoring and better defensive energy overall.

 

[95pro]

phantom fouls here we come...

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

If anybody has watched the spurs/mavs series and seen Duncan play, I think theres something wrong with that guy physically. He looks sapped, and I think there are more underlining issues with him regarding his performance. SA is the most tight-lipped organization of all teams and I wouldn't be surprised if Duncan was playing injured or something.

Dude's got a lot of mileage. It's remarkable he's even still playing at this level having carried that franchise for so long. I have a lot of respect for Tim Duncan. Sure he whines about some calls (of course so does every NBA star), but he carries himself the right way off and on the court. He's probably the best power forward that's ever played.

 

[ActingWild]

Remember....

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Remember....

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Remember the knee to the nuts....

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Enough!

This is the match up I wanted for the playoffs.

One more shot at a team as dirty as their town. One more chance for the Suns to pick themselves up and smack the bully in the mouth.

Leave Duncan and his phony "I never foul face" in the rear view mirror.

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Leave Ginoboli flopping like fish on the court

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And leave Parker to continue this sad charade with his wife when we all know the truth...

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**** the prize. Eyes on the Spurs.

That sums it up beautifully and your last line couldn't be any more spot on!

 

[AzStevenCal]

Dude's got a lot of mileage. It's remarkable he's even still playing at this level having carried that franchise for so long. I have a lot of respect for Tim Duncan. Sure he whines about some calls (of course so does every NBA star), but he carries himself the right way off and on the court. He's probably the best power forward that's ever played.

He is the best power forward ever and he does comport himself well off the court but his on the court behavior is a different story. No one in the history of the game has been treated as well by the officials as Tim Duncan was the first 10 years of his career and yet no one has whined and pouted more than this guy.

I still remember the first time we played against this guy. We were fronting and fouling David Robinson just about every possession and the guy couldn't buy a call but Duncan went to the line every time we got within a few feet of him. I never understood the reason they mistreated Robinson so routinely (remember the absurd calls in the Utah/SA series before Duncan comes along?) and yet from Tim's first game he was given God-like respect out there.

I don't think Duncan gets quite that level of respect from the refs anymore so hopefully it will be a moot issue. I actually think the worm turned on this issue following the Crawford incident. Thanks to Joey and his suspension it's now politically survivable to ignore Duncan and his silly putty face.

Steve

 

[Lorenzo]

It's funny. Terry and Kidd are always hot against Suns,em Nash, so that Mavs are a bad match for Suns as they could play good defense at every position. But Dirk is left alone if the defense is as good as Spurs. We have a better chance as you said because our offense will not be stopped no matter what now Amare showed he can play real smart besides dominating. And we have improved on our defense a lot. The key point for us is Gentry manage Nash's minutes and not allow his bad defense due to fatique drags the team down. We need limit him to Stockton kind of about 30 min a game on avg. to keep him fresh, both for clutch scoring and better defensive energy overall.

well said. I'm amazed that dirk got as many points as he did with all of the doubles and attention that he got. Its a shame that the maverick guards hurt them rather than helped. they have to upgrade there, at least get rid of terry with a real 2 guard or make him a 7th or 8th man if you know what i mean.

I hope the suns pull this one out. I'm still not buying into the spurs. I think manu and hill are the one's who are going to decide if the spurs can make a legit run. they are great guards that have size and are well rounded. something that a lot of teams don't have. The suns just need to keep their composure and play strong and they can do it now that duncan is older and parker is bi-polar with his game.

 

[82CardsGrad]

I don't even want this team to advance to the Finals UNTIL they beat the Spurs. This is the matchup I want, but it's the matchup I fear....

DITTO!!!! I am so STOKED for this series!!!! We need to conquer this battle in order for the post season to mean anything. It's just the way it has to be...
And as Wolf said this morning - "don't fear the reaper"....

 

[Griffin]

Unfortunately, if Lopez cannot play in this series, the Spurs will once again benefit from playing a short-handed Suns missing its starting center while they themselves are again at full strength.

2005: Joe Johnson misses two games
2007: Stoudemire and Diaw each miss one game
2008: Grant Hill misses two games
2010: Lopez misses ? games

All these players except for Diaw were starters. We went 1-5 in those games. For the Spurs, not a single starter or key reserve missed so much as a single game in any of the recent series they played against us. In fact, you'd probably have to go back to 2000 when Duncan missed the series. That, coincidently, is the last time we beat the Spurs in playoffs.

 

[leclerc]

YES YES YES

I am freaking stoked. This is the perfect playoff scenario.

**** you San Antonio! Time to break out the old school San ANtonio SUCKS Gear!!!!!

LOL I got me some of that.

Great 1st post Chris Sanders!

Don't make excuses even before the first game Griffin... We can beat them without Lopez!

 

[Griffin]

Don't make excuses even before the first game Griffin... We can beat them without Lopez!

It's not about excuses, I am simply stating the facts. I know we can beat them. But to do so, we will once again be asked to overcome some adversity and beat the odds. It seems like every time we play them, they always have that advantage.

 

[leclerc]

Not to be a broken record, but screw you D'Antoni.

LOL! Good post though.

I don't feel like the Spurs have a clear advantage in this round. If Nash is playing with a really bad back then maybe. We have very good shooters, a great bench, much improved defence, a wing player who actually improves in the playoffs, and we still have the pick and roll with Nash and Amaré. And boy do we wanna beat these ****ers!

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

i'm ready to rock 'n roll!


who the hell guards who now???


nash - parker?
hill - ginobili?
jrich - jefferson?
collins/lopez (please let him be healthy) - duncan?
amare - mcdyess?

and who has to cover george hill when he enters the game? as i said in another thread, no bowen on which to hide nash any longer. he has to guard hill, parker, ginobili, or jefferson. none of that is appealing.

crush the spurs' mothers! and eat their second cousins!

 

[KatySpursFan]

well said. I'm amazed that dirk got as many points as he did with all of the doubles and attention that he got. Its a shame that the maverick guards hurt them rather than helped. they have to upgrade there, at least get rid of terry with a real 2 guard or make him a 7th or 8th man if you know what i mean.

Lorenzo, how much of the SA-DAL series did you watch?

Dirk was doubled about 3 quarters over 6 games. Pop allowed him to get his points, and make Kidd/Terry/RandomHotPlayer beat them. It worked. It's also the strategy he has often employed against STAT. Amare may get 40+ every game, but who cares if the Spurs win in 5?

And, please, can we drop the Nash bloody nose of 2007? He bonked his face on Parker's head. It wasn't a head-butt by Parker. Pop gave more time than the NBA allowed in order to stop the bleeding. It was an unfortunate thing, but it wasn't SA initiated, and not SA exploited.

In a general PHO-SA world, we can agree to disagree on the Horry hip-check and suspensions.

-edit
Gack! I forgot to mention how much I'll miss the D'Antonio scrunched up face during the series. Although I do love the fact that his best season in NYK may be 30 wins.

 

[ninous26]

[Deleted by Matt Self]

That's Strike 1 and 2, ninous. Protect the plate or get sent to the showers for 72 hours. - Matt

 

[Gaddabout]

I'll be curious how the Suns defend the Spurs. The Mavs tried doubling Duncan and got burned. Unlike Aldridge, Duncan is just like a point guard when you double team him in the post. And the Spurs have guys who can hit shots from a distance.

Wish Lopez would come back, but whomever plays the 5, they better be prepared to guard Duncan without any help.

 

[ninous26]

Sorry, Imade another bad post before I saw this.> disregard that

 

[KatySpursFan]

I'll be curious how the Suns defend the Spurs. The Mavs tried doubling Duncan and got burned. Unlike Aldridge, Duncan is just like a point guard when you double team him in the post. And the Spurs have guys who can hit shots from a distance.

Wish Lopez would come back, but whomever plays the 5, they better be prepared to guard Duncan without any help.

True. Duncan has not mandated doubles for a while now, but he has his moments. And those moments can KILL you.

George Hill might want to get Gentry's attention. He may have not been up there in Most Improved Player, but he or SA don't care. He already seems to have learned that the only real hardware is the ring. He amazed me in the DAL series.

I'll put Ginobili up against any team. And PG (Parker/Hill) speed against Nash always makes me smile.

 

[Gaddabout]

And PG (Parker/Hill) speed against Nash always makes me smile.

Parker's been coming off the bench, and that's not really an advantage for the Spurs. Dragic showed earlier this year he's a much better matchup defensively against Parker. Dragic has the size and speed to make him work.

Suns left Hill open in December and got burned. I suspect Grant Hill will draw that defensive assignment, too.

 

[az1965]

Spurs sucks... San Antonio sucks... extremely boring city

 

[AzStevenCal]

In a general PHO-SA world, we can agree to disagree on the Horry hip-check and suspensions.

Out of simple curiosity, exactly what would we be agreeing to disagree on here? It was a gutless maneuver and it likely won the Spurs a series. Unlike many here I understand the necessity to suspend 2 Suns players but rewarding a team for that kind of behavior was wrong on so many levels.

It would have been unfair to penalize the entire Spurs franchise for Horry's actions but in a just world, Amare and Boris should have been suspended for the first game the Suns played that didn't involve the Spurs. And for those that say Stern couldn't have done this consider that he has quite a history of acting unilaterally.

Steve

 

[KatySpursFan]

Spurs sucks... San Antonio sucks... extremely boring city

Spurs may suck, but they do win. Lots. 13 years of 50+ win seasons. And this year is the worst of the Duncan era. 50 wins.

Boring, maybe. I enjoyed the time I lived there. But, I'm kinda boring.

Trophy-laden, absolutely. Might only be one professional team, but more combined Championships than most cities with multiple pro teams.

 

[KatySpursFan]

Out of simple curiosity, exactly what would we be agreeing to disagree on here? It was a gutless maneuver and it likely won the Spurs a series. Unlike many here I understand the necessity to suspend 2 Suns players but rewarding a team for that kind of behavior was wrong on so many levels.

It would have been unfair to penalize the entire Spurs franchise for Horry's actions but in a just world, Amare and Boris should have been suspended for the first game the Suns played that didn't involve the Spurs. And for those that say Stern couldn't have done this consider that he has quite a history of acting unilaterally.

Steve

In general, I just assumed that Suns fans will never let this go. It's the ultimate excuse to put PHO actions on someone else, namely Stern.

My, obviously not neutral, opinion is that Horry wanted to make a play, but nothing nearly as emphatic as what happened. I also believe that Nash may have exaggerated the result, in order to get a call.

I think the deciding factor in the Suns players leaving the bench was Nash's subsequent sprint to Horry, and a coaching staff that was clueless. Had Nash remained on the floor for 2 seconds, both Amare and Diaw might not have reacted. Had Nash laid on the floor for 30 seconds, nothing. I understand that there is the spur of the moment reaction, but everyone in the NBA knows leaving the bench is 1 game suspension.

As a corollary, watch clips from the flagrant 2 Najera foul on Ginobili in the DAL series. Pop jumped up, but within a second turned to the bench and stopped any player movement. No one ignores Pop.
Najera wasn't suspended. A hand to the throat to a player in the air didn't get additional suspensions, but a hip check got 2 games.