This seems to be a down PHX team this year.
I would think that SA would be the clear cut favorites no matter who they play, that's until they run into the lakers in western finals.

I think the Spurs will win, but I would be a lot more confident if Manu were in one piece.

Going to need someone to D up on Richardson, that guy has been playing out of his mind.

Blair, if he gets minutes (and I think he will), is going to have a ton of putbacks.

Nash is about the worst defender anywhere, the Spurs will have layups off of pick and roll all day long.

The over/under on number of times Nash+Stoudemire cry is set at 3.

only game I got to see live was against the suns- spurs match up very well

It's funny. It seems like every time we play them, they run the high pick and roll with Nash and Amare. But when I see them play other teams, they don't use it nearly as much. If the Spurs can figure it out and get their rotations down on defense, they should be alright.

The other thing to consider is that the Spurs won games in different ways. The big 3 aren't as dominant as they used to be, but it still takes a lot of focus to stop them... and it means you are leaving guys like Hill and McDyess open. Won a game without making a three, won another making 8. Won games where Duncan had 20+ and games where he had 1 field goal. Won without making free throws. Won when Hill was not a factor and when he had 29.

There's not one or two things you can pick out and say, "if we do this well enough we will beat the Spurs."

No matter what Phoenix fans say, the Spurs have to be the last team they wanted to see.

This Sun team is much better then the last few years without any doubt.

The big question is do they get this years regular season Amare or soft playoff Amare?

They have a good bench that plays alot.

Phoenix may play better, but it no way do they have more talent than in previous years.

Much, much better team. Maybe not in talent, but in style of play, hustle, rebounding, they even play some D now. Good chemistry too.

Suns will be all we want and then a little bit. This is the West. Nothing weak out here.

The Suns (really Amare) miss Lopez. When he is in it opens things up for Amare. Don't know what his status is for the next series.

The Suns, Nugs and Mavs have been the Spurs Beech this past decade.....

I bet none of their fans calls us "Dirty Mexicans"

the spurs will have a big advantage since no Robin Lopez.

the spurs will win this series. despite amare playing out of his mind, he'll come down in the playoffs.

Dammit simple! Pick the suns, **^hole...

You just effed the Spurs...

Nash is 6-16 all time against the Spurs in the playoffs.

Last time these two teams met in the playoffs was 08.

Suns roster in 08:
Shaq
Amare/Skinner
Grant Hill/Diaw
Bell/Giricek
Nash/Barbosa

Vs Roster in 10

Jared Dudley/Channing Frye
Amare
Grant Hill
Jason Richardson
Steve Nash/Barbaro

Differences:
Barbaro/Amare/Nash/GrantHill = Amare/Nash/GrantHill/Barbaro

Obviously, the Suns are worse in the post. No one knows if Robin Lopez will come back, but Shaq/Skinner for Dudley/Frye is a huge downgrade.

Jason Richardson vs Diaw + Raja Bell
This is key. Richardson is obviously a better scorer and a more dynamic player. However, Bell was a great defender and could man up on Ginobili/Parker. Now the Spurs have Manu/Tony/George all slashing and Richardson/Nash/Barbosa all suck ass at defense. Diaw was also a strange player to guard because he can post up, has shooting range, can rebound and pass. Jack of all trades, master of none. But you can't cheat off him.

The Suns are shooting threes like crazy right now, however, the Spurs are about the best team ever at not giving up open threes. In 2008, the Suns were obviously a good 3-shooting team with Nash/Bell/Barbosa/Giricek and the Suns hit 33% of their threes over the 5 games.
The Mavs are obviously a great shooting team with Dirk/Caron/Terry/Kidd/Barea/Roddy and the Mavs were just 38-116 from three for 33%.

The Suns are a run and gun team (averaged 110ppg) while the Spurs are a more methodical team at 101ppg.

Spurs advantages:
Defense:
Spurs are obviously the clear better defensive team. The Suns don't have a stopper anymore (Marion/Bell) that can guard the Spurs little three slashers. The Suns also don't have an interior presence (Amare is a piss-poor defender.)
Ball handling:
The Spurs and Suns both average an assist on ~16% of their plays. Pretty even. Parker/Hill/Nash are all great ball handlers, although Nash is clearly the best passer.
However, the Suns average slightly more turnovers per 100 possessions than the Spurs. Suns are slightly worse than average, Spurs are slightly better.
Rebounding:
Spurs are the better rebounding team over the course of the season, and that includes when the Suns had Lopez.The Spurs had the third best rebounding rate in the league this year, while Phoenix was in the middle of the pack. Subtract Lopez from that, and Phoenix becomes a poor rebounding team.
Depth:
The Suns just aren't as deep as the Spurs. The Suns big three [Nash/Amare/Richardson] account for slightly more than 50%
Suns points. the Spurs big three account for slightly less than 50% of their points.
Jefferson/Hill is pretty much a draw at this point, as much as it pains me to say that.. Jefferson did average 9 and 4 on 54% shooting and had a big game against Dallas. Hill averaged 8/8 on 50% shooting and 57% Fts. For the season, Jefferson averaged 12/4.5/2 on 47% shooting and Hill averaged 11/5.5/2 on 48% shooting. Jefferson is the more athletic of the two, while Hill has better intangibles.
Am I going to get any arguments that George Hill is better than Barbaro right now? Would it help to know Barbaro averaged 8 points, 1.7 boards and .8 assists on .404/.313/.714 shooting against Portland? Hill averaged 12 and 3 while Barbaro averaged 9 and 2 for the season. Hill shot 48%/40% while Barbaro shot 43%/32% this year. HUGE advantage for the Spurs, before you even count in the fact that Hill is a great defender already.
Channing Frye vs Blair. Frye is obviously the better scorer, but Blair kills him at defense and rebounding.

The Spurs just matchup a ton better with Phoenix than Phoenix matches up with the Spurs. Look for the Spurs to go big to take advantage of Phoenix's pathetic big men on defense (Amare/Dudley/Frye) and to clog the lane on D. The Suns have no one that can man up on Ginobili/Parker/Hill, and that is really going to be the key to the series. No one cleans the offensive glass for Phoenix except Amare, so if we can man him up and keep them from getting second chance points, the Spurs should roll.

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despite amare playing out of his mind, he'll come down in the playoffs.

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Out of his mind? Amare just averaged 20/5 against Portland after averaging 23/9 for the season. 23 ppg being his third best scoring season ever and 8.9 rebounds being his 5th best rebounding season ever.

Portland = the playoffs. he's coming down.

amare is averaging above his career average in: points, FG%, FT%, offensive rebounds, and the 2nd half of the season he's been playing really well which is why the suns have one of (if not) the best record after the all star break.

aka, out of his mind.

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Portland = the playoffs. he's coming down.

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Oh cool. I can do that too.

The Spurs will win the 99, 03, 05 and 07 titles!

you're retarded. and clearly just wanna nitpick anything.

amare is playing very very well. better than usual. better than last year. so i'll call that out of his mind.

and his playoff average will finish below his season averages (especially the 2nd half of the season).

also, you imply (because you dont actually say) that duncan is playing well. and amare is clearly outplaying him in almost every category. thereforeeee.....come on soup you mustve been in discrete math and know the logical rule of modus ponens.

[This message has been edited by Simplebay (edited 4/30/2010 8:45a).]

And BTW: Check out Amare's game logs from the 05 and 07 series. The Spurs have a history of letting Amare/Nash get their points, and shutting everyone else down. Amare averaged like 38ppg in 05.

And that is why Pop is brilliant and Nash is 6-16 against the Spurs in the playoffs.

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also, you imply (because you dont actually say) that duncan is playing well. and amare is clearly outplaying him in almost every category. thereforeeee.....come on soup you mustve been in discrete math and know the logical rule of modus ponens.

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Duncan is up and down right now. His defense has been great. His offense (particularly FT shooting) has been off.

But in a close out game, 17/10/5/3/3 are pretty good numbers from someone who looked 'gassed.'

I'll go out on a limb and say Nash/Amare combine for like 60/15/15 per game but the Suns still lose.

whenever these 2 teams meet it is kinda fun. and some suspensions were handed out that might've (see: did) affect the outcome of the series.

but, the suns had a better nucleus of a team then

plus, the suns go as j richardson goes. and im sure jrich won't forget this gem against the spurs earlier this season:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7vD1cVhsAc

they're already in his head.

[This message has been edited by Simplebay (edited 4/30/2010 9:10a).]

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and some suspensions were handed out that might've (see: did) affect the outcome of the series.

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You're a hypocrite. On one thread you suggest Spurs fans always make excuses when they lose (which, most RARELY do).
On another, you make EXCUSES for a team LOSING TO the Spurs.

I use to think you were an okay poster. But now you are just a constant troll.

nahh mass, the spurs shouldve won that series. if im not mistaken, duncan dropped like 40, finley hit some bigs 3s, hell didn't duncan even hit that 3 to force double OT? i tihnk parker had 40 in a game in that series.

IMO that was the year the best year for the spurs. suspensions aside, they were a force that year on both ends of the court.