NBA Western Conference Finals

[Sass 0]

The Suns remind me of the Colts.

[razazteca 0]

More like the Kings and Mavs of the past.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I'm happier to see the Spurs advance than anyone else, other than the Suns. Despite the fact they've been my team's archrival over the past few years, I've got a lot of respect for them, and it would be fitting that the Duncan-led Spurs would grab 3 NBA Championships as much as the Kobe-Shaq Lakers grabbed 3. And like I said, they're the most complete team left in the playoffs right now, with experience to boot. Detroit lacks offense, Miami lacks experience and a playoff defense (no, beating the Nets and Wiz do NOT count, as we can gather from the Detroit series), and the Suns lack everything except offense, which they've tried to make up for in spades.

 

I know they still have to win one more game to advance, but still, we can call it over.

[Dangerous A 0]

The Spurs have also shed the "boring" title with me, particularly this playoff run. They are playing both half court, grind out ball as well as running when they can. Ginobili and Parker are just as fun to watch as the Suns and I've always appreciated Duncan's game even though some still have this "robot" title tagged to him.

[iggymcfly 0]

When I watched the Suns play the Mavs, I saw how vulnerable they were against any team that could play decent defense. (Note: I'm not saying the Mavs played decent defense; I'm just saying that it was easy to see the Mavs only lost because they were doing nothing on the defensive end.) The fact is that no one on the team other than Nash can shoot, so if the Suns don't get wide-open dunks, they're pretty much screwed. The Spurs aren't letting them get all those dunks, they're guarding Nash, and they're basically making the Suns look like shit.

 

The Phoenix Suns were the biggest over-achievers in the NBA, as talent-wise, they were probably only about sixth in the Western Conference.

[Matt Young 0]

LOL... When the Hornets relocated to the Western Conference, everyone was saying they'd be out of the playoffs.  I knew it'd be tougher to make it in the West, but I don't think anyone expected an Eastern Conference playoff team to drop to the second worst record in the league, behind even Charlotte's new expansion team, the Bobcats.

Based on last year's roster, only P.J. Brown survived the season unscathed. Magloire (82 games played last year, 23 this year) was out for nearly four months, and three of their starters from last season were gone before they could contribute this year (Davis, Wesley, Lynch, Armstrong to a smaller extent). It was a complete turn-over with Dickau, Nailon, Claxton and Smith - three unproven players and a rookie - taking those spots.

 

It's a product of bad management over bad play.

Thanks for filling me in. Obviously, I don't really follow the Hornets, and I maybe saw 1 of their games all year, so this is news to me. I can see how the new roster combined with facing more Western Conference opposition could cause them to end up with that dreadful record.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

More like the Kings and Mavs of the past.

It wouldn't be like the Kings of the past, unless Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion were #2 and #3 on the Suns in assists.

[razazteca 0]

Take note that the Suns, Kings, Mavs are all soft teams. Nobody on the Kings team averaged 10+ assist in the playoff did they?

[alfdogg 0]

The Phoenix Suns were the biggest over-achievers in the NBA, as talent-wise, they were probably only about sixth in the Western Conference.

Would you care to name the 5 teams who are ahead of them?

[Damaramu 0]

Phoenix avoids the sweep tonight. That was a hard fought and physical game and the end was really enjoyable to watch.

Ginobli needs work as a stun man.

[razazteca 0]

Damn that Amare block just killed the Spurs mojo in the final seconds of the game.

[iggymcfly 0]

The Phoenix Suns were the biggest over-achievers in the NBA, as talent-wise, they were probably only about sixth in the Western Conference.

Would you care to name the 5 teams who are ahead of them?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Why certainly.

 

1. San Antonio

2. Dallas

3. Denver

4. Minnesota

5. Seattle

 

The Spurs are obvious and the Mavs should be obvious if you watched that series, and saw how far below potential they played, especially on the defensive end.

 

Denver was almost unstoppable once Karl took over and got them to try, and they gave San Antonio a better series than Phoenix is doing.

 

Minnesota has almost the entire team that was competitive in the Western Conference Finals last year, and if it wasn't for internal struggle and lack of motivation, they'd be there again right now.

 

Finally, Seattle had a similar regular season record to Phoenix, and would have had a chance to beat San Antonio if they hadn't been beset with ridiculous amounts of injuries.

[Just John 0]

I bet Phoenix would beat any of those teams in a 7 game series except San Antonio.

 

The Spurs are obvious and the Mavs should be obvious if you watched that series, and saw how far below potential they played, especially on the defensive end

 

What potential on defense? Even with the coaching change, Dallas was still pretty weak on defense. They showed flashes toward the end of the season and in the last game against Houston, but nothing that should lead anyone to believe they're capable of playing great D for 4-7 games. Especially against a team that runs like Phoenix. They also scored well above their season average for that series, so it seems to me like the Mavs just weren't good enough to beat the Suns.

 

Denver was almost unstoppable once Karl took over and got them to try, and they gave San Antonio a better series than Phoenix is doing.

 

Phoenix beat Denver 3 times under Karl's watch. Just because Denver matches slightly better with San Antonio doesn't mean they could beat the Suns, nor are they a better team than the Suns.

 

Minnesota has almost the entire team that was competitive in the Western Conference Finals last year, and if it wasn't for internal struggle and lack of motivation, they'd be there again right now.

 

Oh, come on. You can't play the what-if game to determine the best teams. They play the games on the court, so whatever team looks better on paper is meaningless. The fact is Minnesota sucked this year, and to say they're better than a team that won 20 more games than they did is a joke.

 

Finally, Seattle had a similar regular season record to Phoenix, and would have had a chance to beat San Antonio if they hadn't been beset with ridiculous amounts of injuries.

 

Phoenix went 2-1 against Seattle before Seattle was stricken with injuries. Again, the just because the Sonics match up better with the Spurs doesn't mean they match up well with the Suns.

 

The Spurs are the only team in the West that plays D well enough to slow down the Suns. Everyone else gets worn down by their fast pace and can't keep up with them. The Suns are at worst the 2nd best team in the West and are clearly better than 4 of the teams you listed.

Edited May 31, 2005 by Just John

[Adam 0]

It's idiotic at best to say that the freaking TIMBERWOLVES are a better side than Phoenix this year. Face it iggy, this year, eveything clicked for the Suns. Nash arrived and gave them a playmaker, Amare had a blinder, Matrix filled the stat sheet, with Q and Joe Johnson providing good backup. Phoenix had the best record, and won some tough games. While I won't disagree that the Spurs are a better team, I will challenge your call that Denver, Minnesota, Dallas and Seattle are better teams.

[Ripper 0]

EDIT: I quoted the wrong post. I meant this to go with the questioning the validity of Nash's MVP.

 

I would think his god like performances in Dallas and the first 2 games of this series would shut up Screamin A. I mean seriously, what the fuck has Shaq done.

Edited May 31, 2005 by Ripper

[Ripper 0]

And aparently my post about the last couple of games got lost too.

 

Okay, SERIOUSLY, calling the suns soft is laughable. LAUGHABLE. They beat up an a physical, defensive minded team in Memphis, beat up on the Mavs, and like to admit it or not, they are being JUST as physical with San Antonio as San Antonio is being with them. People keep screaming about this great San Antonio D, but ITS NOT THERE. They haven't done shit defensively that the suns haven't. Ginobli Parker scoring at will? So is Nash and Amare. every game there has been one more guy to chip in a few. The spurs are DEEPER. That is all it is to it. The suns play 6 players, the spurs play 8-9. They STILL aren't blowing the suns out due to their stiffling D be cause they aren't blowing the suns out. The suns are shooting over 52 percent in 3 of the games and had a off game 3. No correction...they had a off half in game two as they outscored the Spurs in the second half.

 

All the announcers keep pointing at the 10 points by the suns in the 2nd quarter of game 3, alot of which were missed jumpers. They ignore that San Antonio only scored 18 in that quarter. 28 freaking points were scored in the quarter. both teams either played great D or they both just sucked that quarter.

 

And seriously, iggy. You name a bunch of teams that the suns outright bitch during the regular season as being better than the suns. Then why can't they beat the suns. The Mavs lost because a better team lined up against them. And the mavs were play 10 guys consistantly to the 5 the suns put out there. Its obvious who had the more talented squad. The Nuggets were almost unstoppable under Karl, but the Suns stopped them EVERYTIME they played under Karl, and I don't recall the games being close. Once again, from 1-5 the suns are a more talented team(yes, I would take Marion over Carmello). Seattle? Minnesota? They were manhandled by the team you are saying was better than them. The Spurs are the only ones that have the claim to being better, and i still think it is pretty even. Noone on the Spurs can stop the Suns top offensive threats and noone on the Suns can stop the Spurs top offensive threats.

 

Geez. The suns have shot a better percentage and been outscored by 13 points in the series. That doesn't scream "great D by the spurs none by the suns". Its either the suns are playing good D(and we know thats not happening) or the Spurs are doing just as shitty a job as the Suns(the TRUTH).

 

The Spurs have more weapons, and more mismatches, though I maintain that Joe Johnson not being there for the first couple of games made a HUGE difference as you could see his impact last night. you can't look at it in any other way besides the fact that 5 suns players were battling 9 Spurs players for 2 games, and were RIGHT THERE in the end. How this team is "soft" is beyond me. The spurs are out quicking the suns, not out bruising them.

[cabbageboy 0]

This series has been one sided only in terms of results. The only game that wasn't real competitive was the game 3 win for the Spurs. If Phoenix could simply hold a friggin 4th quarter lead they'd be UP 3-1 in this series instead of down 3-1.

 

Iggy was making these goofy comments on the NCAA tourney, riding dead horses like Ga Tech (or here the T-Wolves). Arguing that the Suns aren't as good as the Mavs is absurd considering the Mavs just lost a 7 game series to them. You can make these cases for the NCAA tourney where it's one and done (i.e. Kentucky might have beaten Michigan St. in a 7 game series), but the whole point of these long and drawn out affairs is to show who is conclusively better.

 

Denver is basically the equivalent of these teams that gets hot late to make a tourney run, but once they get there had nothing left. Arguing for Minnesota is like arguing for the Grizzlies the first round.

[nogoodnick 0]

Wow Iggy those are some of the dumbest comments I've ever seen. I dont even need to get into why.

 

On another, less idiotic note, I've come to actually root for the Spurs which was a surprise to me. I like their players and the style they play. I hadn't watched much of them all season but theyre not as boring as ESPN would have you believe. Duncan is a top 3 player, Tony Parker and Manu are exciting, and Robert Horry just keeps getting it done.

 

Amare's block was just ridiculous. I still cant believe he did that.

[Guest Redhawk]

Question for the Suns fans (or whoever can answer it): You know that shoe commercial with Amare Stoudemire and Zach Randolph, right? What company is that for?

[Dangerous A 0]

It's a Nike ad.

[Dangerous A 0]

Damn that Amare block just killed the Spurs mojo in the final seconds of the game.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

If the Suns miraculously come back to Red Sox this baby, that block should be etched in stone.

[cabbageboy 0]

You know what's funny? The other night I couldn't help but think of the Red Sox when Phoenix won that game.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Game is tied after the 1st quarter. Suns are really playing their asses off, poor guys. They really look like they're chasing around the more talented squad in this game. Spurs are calm, cool, and collected... and are getting damn near every call their way while they elbow and push their way around and don't get called for it.

 

As a Laker fan, I know a thing or too about shitty officiating, and this isn't looking very good at the moment. Jeff Van Gundy was right...

[Guest Vitamin X]

Okay, nevermind what I said. San Antonio with 3 straight offensive fouls.

[Guest]

Phoenix will take this to 6 games, I don't see it any other way, also Tony Massenburg should NOT be getting offensive rebounds.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Duncan got kicked in the balls in the 4th.

 

Bill Walton- "A very effective defensive technique!"

[razazteca 0]

Duncan got kicked in the balls in the 4th.

 

Bill Walton- "A very effective defensive technique!"

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That was a move straight out of a Ric Flair match or any lucha libre match where the Rudos would win.

 

Somebody needs to make an animated gif of it!

[Adam 0]

I really want the Suns to come back in this game, but it looks like Duncan and the Spurs are headed to the finals. Another good block by Amare on Manu at an important point in the game though.

[Adam 0]

Jimmy Jackon 3 for 3 from behind the line, made a clutch 3 to cut the lead to, well, 3.

[razazteca 0]

Damn sloppiness on that last play.