Congrats to Spurs backers

[gjn23]

strange that phx played such a seemingly flat game....kind of uninspiring....thought they play with their pants on fire, totally push the tempo, fire at will and have a chance at a romp in this game.

Q was a total zero ALL series, tonight topped it off (0 points 1 board...fking clipper)

missing JJ for the first 2 games was a huge blow (think it's at least 1-1 leaving phx if he's healthy)

marion was totally neutralized all series long

and contrary to scott4usc opinion, phx did not play "really good basketball" they played well in game 3 which was the only game they truly pushed the ball like they did all year long with quick shots in the clock

in the end the spurs were better and deserved to win....still think ginobli flops around way too much

spurs-pistons
:scared

i think i might actually rather watch the wnba (and i've never seen a game)
:mj07:

 

[Scott4USC]

missing JJ for the first 2 games was a huge blow (think it's at least 1-1 leaving phx if he's healthy):

I think you are right. Spurs split 1st 2 games but Spurs would not have lost game 4. Remember, Jim Jackson played at very high level in game 1 so JJ back for game 1 prob. takes away Jim Jacksons production and Spurs win either way. Also takes away shot attempts from Nash who shot LIGHTS OUT in games 1 and 2.

marion was totally neutralized all series long

Props to Bowen!!! :clap:

and contrary to scott4usc opinion, phx did not play "really good basketball" they played well in game 3 which was the only game they truly pushed the ball like they did all year long with quick shots in the clock

That is contrary to Duncan, Popovich, and whole slew of others (including me) who thought Suns played well. Both teams played well.

You can't expect role players to play well against a Spurs defense. Not gonna happen. You can't expect Nash and Amare to play any better than they did in this series. (huge plus for Suns) Heat and Pistons don't have 2 players who can play lights out like Nash and Amare. Wade might but he is not lights out shooter like Nash was from perimeter. Nash for most of series was making EVERYTHING!

in the end the spurs were better and deserved to win....still think ginobli flops around way too much

I agree on Ginoble! Also agree Spurs were better team and deserved to win. Plus Spurs overcame HORRIBLE officiating to win game 5 on road.

spurs-pistons
:scared

Hope your prediction comes true! That def. be the best matchup but Heat vs Spurs might make more $$$.

i think i might actually rather watch the wnba (and i've never seen a game)
:mj07:

Don't blame you the way these playoffs have been officiated.

 

[gjn23]

will never agree that the suns played good basketball......

amare was amazing
nash was very good. not as good as vs dallas
q was horrible
marion was below average
jjack was average
jjohnson was missing for 2.5 games...was excellent in game 4 and about average today

as a team though they didn't play anywhere near the style that they did all year long...yes the spurs have something to do with that (as did missing JJ for 2.5 games) but phx wasnt pushing the ball anywhere near as hard as they did or as consistantly as the did all year.....that's where they had an advantage over sa and they didn't exploit it.....

they should be back but are woefully thin and lack depth....when you have no bench, marion gets exposed vs bigger 4's and q gets exposed for being a clipper....think they need jjack back, need to resign jjohnson and get a BIG front court player......i'd also listen to offers or make offers on marion to see how they could upgrade the front line

 

[Scott4USC]

Jim Jackson was great or below average in each game for a role player. I disagree with Nash. Nash was EXCELLENT along with Amare. Don't know what kind of standards you have for players.

Suns couldn't push ball because Spurs get back on defense. Game 4 Suns were able too because Spurs were lazy getting back. Spurs were not lazy in games 1,2,3 and 5. In addition to that, it is difficult to push ball when opposing team is putting ball in basket. Fast breaks happen with missed shots. Even with missed shots, Spurs got back on defense. You saw them do it against Denver and they did it against Suns as well.

I agree with Marion. Suns should trade him and Suns would get great value. Def. need a bruiser. Then Suns would have 3 big guys with Amare, Hunter, and new guy! A perfect player would be James from Sonics.

 

[gjn23]

my point about the suns is that they ran all year long. make, miss, ft, jump ball, didn't matter....and they ran for 48 mins...

spurs ran better than suns in game 1-2
suns hardly ran in game 3
suns were always running in game 4
suns rarely ran in 2h game 5

think they led the leauge in shots attempted within 8 secs of the shot clock....saw way too many possessions this series where they where barely across half court at 8 secs...the suns game was that if you scored, they were back at you immediately...that rarely happened in this series.

fyi-james is a fa so think that would have to be a sign and trade......a guy like collison or elton brand would fit better for phx....gives them a bigger presence inside without totally compromising their offensive philosophy....still, i'd be shocked if they traded marion but getting him back to the three, amare at the 4-5, and another athletic big at the 4-5, getting jj at the two , with nash at the 1 and having jimmy jack, hunter, q, barbosa off the bench would be a nice well rounded playoff team

 

[pt1gard]

marion for jerome james???????????

c'mon scott, we are talking a possible HOF for a mediocrity

 

[Scott4USC]

marion for jerome james???????????

c'mon scott, we are talking a possible HOF for a mediocrity

I said Suns getting James would be great. Never said I would trade Marion for James only. But Suns do need to prepare to sign Amare in near future to max contract. They already have big contracts to Richardson and Nash. Can they afford to sign JJ?

Although Suns do trade Marion for James or Collisons or both, they would have room to sign JJ. I rather have JJ than Marion. Especially since Spurs look to be a dominate force for a long time. Marion was worthless entire series. He missed few wide open shots tonight.

 

[maverick2112]

I personally thought Suns sucked all series long.......except 2nd half of gm 4......

Marion and Richardson sucked all series..........
Nash sucked tonight in the 2nd half..............and didnt really play anywhere near level of Mavs series...........of course that had a lot to do with what the spurs were doing............


I done really know what series you were watching.......

 

[pt1gard]

prob is you cant just break up your team every time you dont win it all... suns had best record in nba this year and were excitign to watch and should be applauded ... the guys who had down series are not losers, they feel worse than anyone, coming as close as they did after being 30/1 dogs to win the west is a helluva lot more impressive to me than spurs winning it ... and spurs have been my fave team for years ...

 

[gjn23]

while i agree with you about the suns having a great year.....it's fairly obvious that, with marion at the 4 and q at the 3, those two get exposed in playoff basketball vs solid teams....Q was horrible the entire playoffs.....on another note...the heat were a fairly fun team last year, came from out of nowhere...had a good young nucleus, had potential for the future....then traded 3 of their starters to get shaq.....it has been done before.....dont think the suns will trade marion but it wouldn't totally shock me....

 

[pt1gard]

Q. folding surprised me, i still love marion, have to hand it to bowen getting in his head ... I would not trade marion unless U got something incredible ... I just disagree with gutting teams like Mavs seem to do; Bad Boys #1, Isiah's Pistons, struggled mightily then got to pinnacle and won it all ... They dumped Dantley for Aguirre, but overall kept their stars ... there are diff ways of doing it, i'm more a purist and think players playing together means a lot, tho nowadays in sports it means very little and is hard to see the benefits b/c no one seems to think it matters ... TD, Bowen, TP, Gino have been in tact for a few years now

ps when u can get shaq, the best player in the game, you do it ... i.e. Jabbar from Bucks etc ... but there ain't many of them, right? Blame and credit the lakers for those moves. Such as trading Goodrich to NO Jazz and getting Magic. (That's almost as bad as the GS trade to Celts JOe Barry Carroll for Chief and McHale.)

 

[AU2001]

Nash/Stoudemire/Johnson = Parker/Duncan/Ginobili

Cancels each other out.

Bowen/Horry/Barry/Mohammed/Udrih > Marion/Hunter/Richardson

And then some!!! There's the difference in the series. Suns got no consistent help outside of their big 3.

As long as both teams keep their core 3 together, they will meet again in the playoffs for years to come. Phoenix needs to get rid of Richardson and develop some depth, especially on the defensive side of the ball. I think Marion just hit a slump in this series, probably because he played out of his mind in the Dallas series. Not to mention Bowen's tenacious D.

 

[maverick2112]

Nash/Stoudemire/Johnson = Parker/Duncan/Ginobili

Cancels each other out.

Bowen/Horry/Barry/Mohammed/Udrih > Marion/Hunter/Richardson

And then some!!! There's the difference in the series. Suns got no consistent help outside of their big 3.

As long as both teams keep their core 3 together, they will meet again in the playoffs for years to come. Phoenix needs to get rid of Richardson and develop some depth, especially on the defensive side of the ball. I think Marion just hit a slump in this series, probably because he played out of his mind in the Dallas series. Not to mention Bowen's tenacious D.

I believe they just signed Q to a big deal last yr so I dont know how they can trade him, I dont think many teams would be willing to pay him the big dollars the Suns did. I would keep the core players together and just add a few bodies here and there. The Suns are not that far away to be breaking team up.