NBA Playoffs 2007: Conference Semifinals

[ANKLELOCK 0]

Why does everyone think the Jazz play a boring, slow-it-down style like these announcers and the people on this board do? They were the second highest scoring team in the NBA! They can score it better than the Warriors! The only reason the Utah/Houston series was low-scoring was because of the team wearing red.

[Ripper 0]

Thus playing the SPurs, they would slow it down because they believe they can play at both paces. Oh don't get me wrong, if the Suns win this round the West finals is going to be FUCKING fun.

[Matt Young 0]

Jazz win.

[Just John 0]

GS can't be too discouraged by that loss. Much like Game 5 at Dallas, they played tough and got their pace the entire game, they just lost at it. Only difference is now they are playing a game down for the first time in the playoffs, so it'll be interesting to see how they react in Game 2.

 

And man, Detroit looks sharp right now. I don't see how they won't win the East with relative ease.

[Rendclaw 0]

I am shocked at how badly the Pistons are making the Bulls look. But then again this is like how they would handle the Bulls in 2004-2005. Force them to take bad shots and make young players mistakes. I have said it before and I will say it again. The Bulls need seasoning in order to make serious noise in the Central and the East. The players are too young to go further than the 2nd round. They overacheived by sweeping the Heat, which were ripe for the picking anyway.

[Guest Vitamin X]

If you make GS go through San Antonio and Detroit to win a championship, you'd definitely say they were the ultimate underdog story. I just hope they can get through Utah as well.

 

I hope Chicago can come back and make it competitive. I'm shocked as to how bad they look right now.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I am shocked at how badly the Pistons are making the Bulls look. But then again this is like how they would handle the Bulls in 2004-2005. Force them to take bad shots and make young players mistakes. I have said it before and I will say it again. The Bulls need seasoning in order to make serious noise in the Central and the East. The players are too young to go further than the 2nd round. They overacheived by sweeping the Heat, which were ripe for the picking anyway.

 

That's what I thought. They seem like they are still two players away from making a real real real serious run. An inside defender/scorer and a good perimeter defender/scorer.

[Ripper 0]

The suns are making the adjustments that d'antoni should have made in game one. He is starting Kurt Thomas to guard Duncan, meaning that Amare has to guard Elson....I think I like that matchup.

 

This moves James Jones out of the starting lineup and hopefully out of the rotation. This would put Marion on Finly hopefully, leave Nash on Bowen and put Bell on Parker switching him to Ginobli when he comes in. I would use Marcus Banks as the 8th man in the rotation to shut down Parker, because, well, he can. I doubt Mike will do that, but I think that is the best bet to win.

 

Its funny though, once again i have to see the "SPURS ARE THE GREATEST DEFENSIVE TEAM IN THE HISTORY OF EVER" after that game one where the suns got plenty of uncontested layups and watched Nash walk by Bowen at will and score at the rim. Duncan had the game you would expect out of a single covered duncan. But Parker had 33 and it shows that they can't defend. Ignoring that Parker only got 3 laypups on the night. His jumper was just on. I dont' see how watching that game anyone could say that one team played better defensively than the other. At the end it came down to offensive execution. Duncan hit some ridiculously tough shots as did Nash, then there was no Nash and the suns looked lost on offense.

 

Tonight is a huge game though. They need to win this one. Not saying I don't think they can't come back from 2-0, but I don't think you want to give up both home games.

[godthedog 0]

the suns got the uncontested layups because the spurs defended the 3. that makes the suns have to work about twice as hard to get the same amount of points, and it goes a long long way to keep them from getting their scoring surges. the spurs got the looks they more or less wanted (especially towards the end), and they made the suns work that much harder just to keep up. i'm sure popovich has no real problem with having steve nash get to the rim whenever he wants to if it means he's not dishing it out to somebody at the 3-point line.

[Ripper 0]

the suns got the uncontested layups because the spurs defended the 3. that makes the suns have to work about twice as hard to get the same amount of points, and it goes a long long way to keep them from getting their scoring surges. the spurs got the looks they more or less wanted (especially towards the end), and they made the suns work that much harder just to keep up. i'm sure popovich has no real problem with having steve nash get to the rim whenever he wants to if it means he's not dishing it out to somebody at the 3-point line.

 

 

The spurs main source of offense outside of Tim Duncan was Tony Parker 20 footers. I am pretty sure thats not exactly what they wanted.

 

And the suns went on multiple surges in the game.

 

I don't see how anyone saw anything but a evenly matched game on Sunday no bad call on Barbosa and Amare makes that easy layup instead of looking for contact and a foul and the game is still tied. Without Nash on the floor. The amount of uncontested layups was because, like I have said, the Spurs have crappy perimeter D. But they are good at funneling towards Duncan who officially can no longer commit fouls. Thomas taking him out the paint will help with that.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

Pistons/Suns Finals plz. billups vs nash.

[Guest Vitamin X]

That should've been the finals two years ago. Instead we got that SA/Detroit stinker.

[godthedog 0]

The spurs main source of offense outside of Tim Duncan was Tony Parker 20 footers. I am pretty sure thats not exactly what they wanted.

maybe so, but it remains that if you contain the suns at the 3, you're already more than halfway to beating them. if you're scoring more 3's than they are (which the spurs did, albeit by a narrow margin), you've basically made it a non-factor. i have yet to see the suns create an answer to that problem, and unless it gets solved they'll never be able to build a comfortable lead at any time in a game.

 

 

And the suns went on multiple surges in the game.

i saw some moments when the suns would score quickly on almost every possession, but nothing that san antonio didn't manage well and keep up with. i only see a "surge" as a total shift in momentum where one team's scoring gets out of the other team's control, and i don't remember that happening at all. they never lead by more than six, and if memory serves me right, that was only momentary.

 

normally i'd agree that you could write this off as a couple of bad calls, but if you get beat just a little bit by a team that beats you just a little bit every time, you haven't proven anything. the suns have yet to prove that they can beat the spurs, and citing a couple of bad calls isn't going to change that. nash was absolutely right at that press conference: they lost because they just didn't have the will that the spurs had.

 

 

nash & d'antoni seem to know that they need to emerge as basically a different team in order to win. i'm really excited to see if they can pull that off tonight.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

I am shocked at how badly the Pistons are making the Bulls look. But then again this is like how they would handle the Bulls in 2004-2005. Force them to take bad shots and make young players mistakes. I have said it before and I will say it again. The Bulls need seasoning in order to make serious noise in the Central and the East. The players are too young to go further than the 2nd round. They overacheived by sweeping the Heat, which were ripe for the picking anyway.

 

Last year, an inexperienced Cavs team got assraped in the first two games before winning three straight over a similiar Pistons roster (much to the horror of TSM). Granted, they flubbed up the last two games (much to the delight of TSM) but the point is that I wouldn't be surprised to see Chicago tear it up at home.

[Ripper 0]

Good game for the suns. They played basically the same game as game one only played Kurt Thomas more and James Jones less. That is a formula for winning. They also got to the foul line this game which was good and Parker wasn't hitting those jumpers that he hit in game one(mostly because Kurt was showing on those screen and rolls).

[justsoyouknow 0]

The best call I heard while listening to the Suns game on the radio at work, "And.....they call an offensive call on Stoudemire? Both guys jumping for the ball, but Stoudemire gets the call? Whatever, they're down by twenty points, they can call whatever they want, it doesn't matter." Gotta love the professionalism of the 620 KTAR announce team.

[Just John 0]

I don't know how the Warriors manage to stay close.

 

Seems like the Jazz are scoring on every possession. If the Jazz don't score on the first try, they're getting foul calls or easy offensive boards. The entire Warriors team will foul out by the start of the 4th quarter if the game keeps going this way.

[Guest]

And those are the perils of facing a half court pick and roll team when you play no defense.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Playing Golden State is so frustrating because just when you think your team can pull away they start jacking up threes and nailing them on possession after possession.

[alfdogg 0]

DEREK FISHER HAS ENTERED THE BUILDING

 

Reggie needs to stop calling Warriors games.

[Bored 0]

Oof, Pietrus channeling Nick Anderson there.

 

Fuck....oh shit only a two! Lucked out.

[alfdogg 0]

And now Stephen Jackson makes the game-winner just to piss me off.

[alfdogg 0]

OK, maybe not.

 

This is one hell of a series.

[Brett Favre 0]

Derek Fisher is a sneaky son of a bitch. I hate how Utah plays. From fouling on each possession and not getting called for fouls, to going on a fastbreak then turning back and running the possession by using the whole shot clock. Come on Golden State.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

i'm really impressed with Utah's team. Big gut-check here, same with the end of the houston series. Great frontline with Memo and Boozer, fantastic point guard with Deron Williams, defensive wingman in AK47, just a well put together team who can play well in the clutch. I'm impressed.

[Just John 0]

Well, GS did everything they could to give that game away, and Utah finally took it. Only good thing is the Warriors should probably win both back in Oakland with the home crowd and the refs not giving so much leniency to Utah's hack and shove defense.

 

Still think Utah will win this series, though. GS can't get an important rebound to save their lives. It's sad I'll probably have to resort to cheering San Antonio in the WCF after Utah knocks out my favorite team and the feel-good story team.

[alfdogg 0]

There's the Action Jackson I know and love. 4-18 (2-10 3PT), 18 points.

 

I really like this Utah team, and think that they could easily win the whole thing. They played the Spurs very well in the regular season in the games I saw, and took 3 of 4 against the Suns. Detroit's probably coming out of the East, and they've had a lot of trouble against Utah over the past couple years. It wouldn't surprise me.

[ANKLELOCK 0]

Refs were pretty lenient both ways, a REALLY physical game.

 

What a story with Fisher, too. Biggest defensive play and biggest offensive play of the game after his daughter's surgery and spending all day on the plane with no warmup. Probably the most resonant moment of his professional career tonight. What a moment.

[MFer 0]

We'll see how tough the Warriors are the rest of this series. Their psyche had to have taken a huge hit considering they had a chance to win both games on the road. The games are being played at their pace and they're still losing. You gotta give GS credit though for not going away even when they keep getting dominated inside. Like Charles Barkley said last round, you're gonna have to kill the Warriors to beat them.

[Gert T 0]

Except Alf, and I am a diehard Utah fan, that they haven't won in San Antonio since about 2001. (So I am rooting for the Suns). I think GS is not out of the series, but Utah is in the drivers seat. Boozer is just playing in another stratosphere right now.