Greg Popovich
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- Apr 5, 2007
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First--let me say that I know this is a difficult time for Suns fans. As a Suns fan myself (that is, my second favorite team being the Suns), I know that many Phoenix fans will probably look forward to seeing the Spurs knocked out of the playoffs as soon as possible.
This ia a normal reaction.
But if you think about it--as much as you hated the Spurs for last year's series, for a brief time now in the playoffs, you might consider rooting for San Antonio.
First--when you look at the Spurs/Suns series this year, you see that this series was so incredibly close--who would ever in their right mind would have guessed that Tim Duncan would have made a three point shot in the closing seconds of a game? Even more so when you consider that the play was not drawn up for Tim Duncan and had Shaq have been a couple of feet closer to Tim, Manu probably would not have even thrown the ball to Tim in the first place.
The SA/Suns series was not a typical five game affair. The final game was nip and tuck the entire game and the game may have been lost solely due to a Nash or Diaw turnover in the closing seconds.
After the game was over, Gregg Popovich himself stated that the series felt like an NBA Finals series that had gone to the seventh game.
With this premise in mind...
I think as much as you may detest SA--it is in Phoenix' best interest for latter contests to not have nearly the competitiveness that the Phoenix series did.
For one thing--it should be mentioned that other great NBA players like Grant Hill must look upon the Suns as an organization that could win a championship--that is so close to getting over the hump--and is a viable alternative to going to the Lakers, the Celtics, SA, etc.
This image will be reinforced the better the Phoenix/SA series is looked upon.
Moreover, I would think that it would bring some satisfaction if Phoenix played a better series than the Hornets or the Lakers.
This ia a normal reaction.
But if you think about it--as much as you hated the Spurs for last year's series, for a brief time now in the playoffs, you might consider rooting for San Antonio.
First--when you look at the Spurs/Suns series this year, you see that this series was so incredibly close--who would ever in their right mind would have guessed that Tim Duncan would have made a three point shot in the closing seconds of a game? Even more so when you consider that the play was not drawn up for Tim Duncan and had Shaq have been a couple of feet closer to Tim, Manu probably would not have even thrown the ball to Tim in the first place.
The SA/Suns series was not a typical five game affair. The final game was nip and tuck the entire game and the game may have been lost solely due to a Nash or Diaw turnover in the closing seconds.
After the game was over, Gregg Popovich himself stated that the series felt like an NBA Finals series that had gone to the seventh game.
With this premise in mind...
I think as much as you may detest SA--it is in Phoenix' best interest for latter contests to not have nearly the competitiveness that the Phoenix series did.
For one thing--it should be mentioned that other great NBA players like Grant Hill must look upon the Suns as an organization that could win a championship--that is so close to getting over the hump--and is a viable alternative to going to the Lakers, the Celtics, SA, etc.
This image will be reinforced the better the Phoenix/SA series is looked upon.
Moreover, I would think that it would bring some satisfaction if Phoenix played a better series than the Hornets or the Lakers.
