Why Did San Antonio Win ?

[tmtcsc]

I'm not coming in here to troll. It's about an hour until tip-off for the Spurs and Jazz and the next chapter for me will begin.

I've read alot of posts about the Suns and the bad breaks etc.. I just wanted to offer my 2 cents as to why the Suns lost this series. Some of you have already stated a few of the reasons while others will sadly suggest that it was the unfair treatment by Stern and the front office.

I personally believe that you are 1 good coach away from getting over the top.



Here goes: I'll go backwards in terms of signifigance.

8. Suns inability to overcome distractions. No offense, but the bitching about fairness, cheap shots and officiating should have been left to the fans. Amare should have just stayed quiet on the subject and let his play do the talking. -- Why haven't Suns coaches done more to work with Amare's mental approach to the game ? The guy is unbelievably talented.

7. You didn't have full strength for Game 5. I listed this one at 7 because the Suns are 2-7 at home against the Spurs. 2-6 with Amare. I know it was difficult w/o him but his absense was not the reason you lost. Neither was Diaw's. The Suns had a 16 point lead and ran out of gas and the Spurs got into a nice rhythm. Bad coaching.

6. Amare Stoudemire's defense or lack there of. Kurt Thomas did a respectable job of slowing down Duncan. Amare committed senseless fouls. I'm not referring to the controversial ones, but the DUMB ones. The "I'm going to block a 2 time MVP who got an early step towards the basket on me". You gotta let those go.

5. No point guard to back up Nash.

4. Leandro Barbosa underachieved and did not overcome Spurs defense.

3. Manu overcame solid defense by Bell. He had to break through a mental stranglehold too. It's no secret how well Bell managed to defend Ginobili and Manu was well aware of it. He hated when you signed him.

2. Steve Nash was brilliant but ultimately ran out of gas. At times, he wasnt aggressive enough and passed up his own shot. In addition to heavy minutes, Bruce bodied Nash up and also made him work extremely hard on offense.

1. Coaching: D'Antoni's rotations really hurt your team. Your starters were left out to dry. No matter who...he needed to play a couple of other people to give the Spurs a different look and give his starters some rest.

I put coaching at the top because you have the players to get the job done. You also showed that you can play very good defense. The problem is, defense takes effort and heart. You can't win with just 6 or 7 players. You must find areas to give players a break.

Good luck next year. I like your team. They are fun and entertaining to watch. I just happen to hate them when they play my Spurs.

 

[az1965]

Good analysis. I agree with #1.

 

[green machine]

I'm OK with most of it, but for # 7, the starters played all those minutes and ran out of gas because they were shorthanded. One can argue (successfully) that if Stoudemire and Diaw are in the lineup that night then the minute distribution would have been what we saw the rest of the series.

 

[JCSunsfan]

When two very good teams are matched every little thing matters. I'll give my own.

I disagree about distractions. They did very well trying to deflect them. I was more frustrated at the coach for not making more of them. To me the Suns were too passive, even off the court. They need to dish some hard fouls. That's what turned them around against the Lakers last year. A Raja suspension after a good whack on Parker might have been a big help.

The coach's frustrating lack of use of Kurt Thomas. Thomas should have been on the floor at the end of game 5. His +- with the Spurs is remarkable. You could see Duncan miss over and over again with Thomas on the court.

Barbosa's disappearance. This was huge. It didn't allow Nash to rest as much and didn't give us that explosion off the bench. There was really no reason for it either. The Spurs don't have anyone that can truly guard him. He just absolutely choked.

 

[hcsilla]

I agree with Points 2-6.

I don't really get Point 7. Isn't that the same Point as Point 1?

I'm not sure about Point 1. OK, D'Antoni played 8-player rotation. Didn't the Pistons win a final series with 8 players in 2004 against the Lakers?

 

[Lorenzo]

these are some good posts from everyone. I dislike the spurs and the suns as i'm a mavs fan. so this was a fun series to watch. from a neutral perspective i thought this series was very close. I thought the suns were capable of beating the spurs, but they are trailing in a key categorie. championship experience. I don't know why amare called out the spurs after a blowout victory. That threw gas on a fire. You already had an edge at that point no need to do that. Amare played great when he was on the floor, but as some have said he commited some unecessary fouls. The whole horry situation. Sure it was a cheap shot. big shot rob is now cheap shot rob. but it was what it was. It was a flagrant foul. there have been many other flagrant fouls in the playoffs this year. and no other teams had issues with retaliation. This is just my opinion so don't take it personal. But the suns, in paticular raja bell, made a mistake by going after horry. Nash has always been one to turn the other cheek. If bell doesn't go after horry and they let it go. The suns go back to phoenix with the edge in the series. Having said that i do believe the suns could have won game 5 with amare and diaw. Does it mean the suns would of won the series. That can never be proven. I give the spurs credit. They did what they could to close out the series without letting it go back to phoenix.

 

[Bong]

Spurs cheat and the league helps them. Is that reason enough?

 

[Billy Bob]

2. Steve Nash was brilliant but ultimately ran out of gas. At times, he wasnt aggressive enough and passed up his own shot. In addition to heavy minutes, Bruce bodied Nash up and also made him work extremely hard on offence.

Did You also notice Bowen mug nash every time he drove in the lane? "2 time MVP", never has there been a player of his caliber not get the calls, "I mean real fouls"

That is the reason the spurs won, Your superstar gets the calls our doesn't. paint it anyway you want but a fact is a fact.

 

[PHX 32]

hey tmt....NO ONE CARES!!!!!

 

[1sunsfan]

There just a better team three championships,less mental breakdowns. Lets stop the crying and hope we learn from this.

 

[tmtcsc]

I'm OK with most of it, but for # 7, the starters played all those minutes and ran out of gas because they were shorthanded. One can argue (successfully) that if Stoudemire and Diaw are in the lineup that night then the minute distribution would have been what we saw the rest of the series.

I guess # 7 should have been: You didn't have your leading scorer and his back-up.

I think Sean Marks, Jalen Rose or Burke could have played some or a few more minutes. Not playing those guys forced D'Antoni to go small ball for too long. Also, Marion would have gotten more rest to be ready for Game 6.

 

[KT7211]

Spurs cheat and the league helps them. Is that reason enough?

don't go out like that...at least try and act like you have a sack

 

[KT7211]

There just a better team three championships,less mental breakdowns. Lets stop the crying and hope we learn from this.

this is rare around here, i feel bad for you and maybe 5 others who share your sentiments. you're men among little boys

 

[green machine]

I guess # 7 should have been: You didn't have your leading scorer and his back-up.

I think Sean Marks, Jalen Rose or Burke could have played some or a few more minutes. Not playing those guys forced D'Antoni to go small ball for too long. Also, Marion would have gotten more rest to be ready for Game 6.

Thing is Marks, Rose, and Burke are awful. I'm guessing D'Antoni figured that with the season on the line it isn't worth losing with guys who have no business losing the series for you. If those guys played and played awful with the Suns losing big people would wonder why he turned to guys who had nothing to do with why the team was there in the first place.

There just a better team three championships,less mental breakdowns. Lets stop the crying and hope we learn from this.

I don't think this guy is a Suns fan. Regardless, the past championships don't prove they are better. The Lakers have a ton of championships, and at this point I'd rather be the Suns. This year's Spurs knew exactly what it took to win a title. Game 6 was their best game of the series by far, and for that they deserve credit.

 

[cly2tw]

tmt,

you were too kind to not mention the main reason of our loss: the Spurs have us figured out!

Once that happened, it's all about execution, defense, and perseverance. And as lorenzo put it, lack of experience from everybody on our team. It's not that we couldn't win it still. But the odds were small against us as we were completely taken out of our comport zone and weren't prepared enough for that.

 

[dodie53]

san antonio scored more points than phoenix..
=)

 

[jandaman]

D'Antoni is at fault to a certain extent... continually gets outcoached and so stubborn to try a different approach... something unpredictable.. sure the Suns are more talented... on paper and on court.. but the thing is Popovich knows how to bring the game down to Spur's level.. or style anyways... just too good of a coach... dirty or not.

Suns need to stop playing the victims and start playing the thugs.... the only way to win in the playoffs....


And of course, D'Antoni actually coaching... rather than hoping talent overcomes a very tactical, physical (dirty to an extent) and smart team like the Spurs.

 

[mathbzh]

I agree with Points 2-6.

I don't really get Point 7. Isn't that the same Point as Point 1?

I'm not sure about Point 1. OK, D'Antoni played 8-player rotation. Didn't the Pistons win a final series with 8 players in 2004 against the Lakers?

8 player is probably enough if you play in the East and are a bit lucky. But in the West you must have a deeper rotation.

 

[Milgod]

I'm not sure if it has been said but IMO the Suns were the better team. There were bad calls at some pretty vital times in games 1 & 3. The momentum was really with the Suns headed to game 5 and then the suspensions happened. After the game 4 comeback the Suns really looked like they knew how to handle SA.

 

[Lorenzo]

I'm not sure if it has been said but IMO the Suns were the better team. There were bad calls at some pretty vital times in games 1 & 3. The momentum was really with the Suns headed to game 5 and then the suspensions happened. After the game 4 comeback the Suns really looked like they knew how to handle SA.

I thought there were some bad calls against the spurs down the stretch in game 4......but that's not why the spurs lost. The refs don't decide the game bud. The refs also did nash a favor by letting him play with that bloody nose much longer than they should have. So you have to look at it both ways.

 

[Milgod]

I thought there were some bad calls against the spurs down the stretch in game 4......but that's not why the spurs lost. The refs don't decide the game bud. The refs also did nash a favor by letting him play with that bloody nose much longer than they should have. So you have to look at it both ways.

Well we'll have to disagree then if you don't think the refs can decide a game. We had a couple of real obvious calls near the end of games 1 & 3 that went the wrong way. It changed the tide and the Spurs won. I'm not saying that the Suns would have definately won if the calls went the other way, but it would have been even closer.

 

[Lorenzo]

Well we'll have to disagree then if you don't think the refs can decide a game. We had a couple of real obvious calls near the end of games 1 & 3 that went the wrong way. It changed the tide and the Spurs won. I'm not saying that the Suns would have definately won if the calls went the other way, but it would have been even closer.

I understand that. I was just looking at game 1 where the refs could have made nash sit down much sooner. Nash scored 5 pts while his nose was clearly bleeding and the refs let him play. If they make nash sit then.......then the suns probably aren't even within striking distance. That's all i meant by looking at it fairly. In close games calls are always magnified and refs get called out. I remember how bad it was in the dallas/SA series last year. 6 of the 7 games went down to the last posession.....and the refs were talked about after every game. At the end of the day the team that deserves to win usually does.

 

[Milgod]

I understand that. I was just looking at game 1 where the refs could have made nash sit down much sooner. Nash scored 5 pts while his nose was clearly bleeding and the refs let him play. If they make nash sit then.......then the suns probably aren't even within striking distance. That's all i meant by looking at it fairly. In close games calls are always magnified and refs get called out. I remember how bad it was in the dallas/SA series last year. 6 of the 7 games went down to the last posession.....and the refs were talked about after every game. At the end of the day the team that deserves to win usually does.

True, although I don't think you can say that here, especially because of the suspensions in game 5.

 

[Lorenzo]

True, although I don't think you can say that here, especially because of the suspensions in game 5.

the only thing i can say about the suspensions.....it was what it was. It was very unfortunate. Hopefully in the future players will let the cheap fouls go without retaliation. Then the last and only laugh will be on the cheap shot player. That very instance happened to jason terry in the playoffs last year.......the last laugh was on him.

 

[Covert Rain]

I'm not coming in here to troll. It's about an hour until tip-off for the Spurs and Jazz and the next chapter for me will begin.

I've read alot of posts about the Suns and the bad breaks etc.. I just wanted to offer my 2 cents as to why the Suns lost this series. Some of you have already stated a few of the reasons while others will sadly suggest that it was the unfair treatment by Stern and the front office.

I personally believe that you are 1 good coach away from getting over the top.



Here goes: I'll go backwards in terms of signifigance.

8. Suns inability to overcome distractions. No offense, but the bitching about fairness, cheap shots and officiating should have been left to the fans. Amare should have just stayed quiet on the subject and let his play do the talking. -- Why haven't Suns coaches done more to work with Amare's mental approach to the game ? The guy is unbelievably talented.

7. You didn't have full strength for Game 5. I listed this one at 7 because the Suns are 2-7 at home against the Spurs. 2-6 with Amare. I know it was difficult w/o him but his absense was not the reason you lost. Neither was Diaw's. The Suns had a 16 point lead and ran out of gas and the Spurs got into a nice rhythm. Bad coaching.

6. Amare Stoudemire's defense or lack there of. Kurt Thomas did a respectable job of slowing down Duncan. Amare committed senseless fouls. I'm not referring to the controversial ones, but the DUMB ones. The "I'm going to block a 2 time MVP who got an early step towards the basket on me". You gotta let those go.

5. No point guard to back up Nash.

4. Leandro Barbosa underachieved and did not overcome Spurs defense.

3. Manu overcame solid defense by Bell. He had to break through a mental stranglehold too. It's no secret how well Bell managed to defend Ginobili and Manu was well aware of it. He hated when you signed him.

2. Steve Nash was brilliant but ultimately ran out of gas. At times, he wasnt aggressive enough and passed up his own shot. In addition to heavy minutes, Bruce bodied Nash up and also made him work extremely hard on offense.

1. Coaching: D'Antoni's rotations really hurt your team. Your starters were left out to dry. No matter who...he needed to play a couple of other people to give the Spurs a different look and give his starters some rest.

I put coaching at the top because you have the players to get the job done. You also showed that you can play very good defense. The problem is, defense takes effort and heart. You can't win with just 6 or 7 players. You must find areas to give players a break.

Good luck next year. I like your team. They are fun and entertaining to watch. I just happen to hate them when they play my Spurs.

Way to once again "cherry pick" some things the Suns could have done better. Cheap shot Bob changed the momentum in this series. Period. It's easy to sit here and post things that we could have done better after the fact because the Spurs moved on. If not for that cheap shot I might be going over to your board cherry picking points so you can read it. Enjoy your continued playoff success with a big * next to it.