The Official San Antonio vs. Phoenix Thread

[iKe7in]

My prediction, Suns in 7. Here's how it goes:

Matchups:

Centre: Nazr Mohammed vs Amare Stoudemire
Advantage: Stoudemire
Even more lopsided than Amare vs Dampier, Amare will destroy Mohammed...most of the time. Nazr can block and is a good rebounder, and Duncan will likely matchup defnsively some of the time, and Amare will likely be double teamed quite a bit....but still.....advantage Amare.

Power Forward: Tim Duncan vs. Shawn Marion
Advantage: Duncan
If Marion is the Matrix, Duncan is a documenatry about birds. He's not flashy, but he is still the superior post scorer and defender. Marion won't be able to conatin him whatsoever, so expect either Marion or Stoudemire to regularly be in foul trouble.

Small Forward: Bruce Bowen vs. Quentin Richardson
Advantage: Bowen
As good of a shooter as Q is, Bowen will eventually wear him down. He's great at pissing off perimeter shooters, especially the younger guys. Q will still knock down shots in transition, and will get some open looks, but dont expect the same numbers from downtown. Although he will probably get to the line more often, he's only shooting 60% from the line in the playoffs. even still, 10 points a night from Q will still be better than the 2 the Spurs will get from Bowen.

Shooting Guard: Manu Ginobli vs Jimmy Jackson/Joe Johnson
Advantage: Manu, unless JJ plays
If Johnson is helathy enough to play, which he probably will be, expect JJ to have the upper hand. Ginobli's transition defense is subpar, (mainly because of the greasy hair in his face) and JJ is primed for a breakout series. Manu is incredibly hot right now, but after a few nights of running all night as opposed to the Spurs typical crawling offensive sets, combined with the fact that he still cant play more than 30 minutes a night, JJ will be victorious, and will be the X-factor in the series.

Point Guard: Tony Parker vs. Steve Nash
Advantage: Nash
As good as Parker has become in a short time, all his totals are down in the playoffs from the season. He hasn't stepped up yet, and he hasn't picked a good time to start trying. he will routinely get beat by the red-hot Nash, and if he doesn't step up huge, Nash will again take over the series and the Suns will walk into the finals.

Bench:
Advantage: Even
San Antonio has some great clutch players like Horry and Barry, a good rebounder in Rasho who probably wont play much, and who knows about the Big Dog, but Phoenix answers with only needing one or two guys a night. Jimmy Jackson and Barbosa are great when needed, and Outlaw and Voskul can babysit for a few minutes a night and wont set the house on fire.

[Air Jordon]

i dont think phoenix has much of a chance, now they run into a team that plays good D, and now they will really fall.

[Matt]

Duncan is a documenatry about birds

theres nothing wrong with documentaries about birds. they own.

Anyways....a few points i will make.

Nash won't torch Parker like Parker will torch Nash. Parker is way too quick and Nash is too bad a defender.

SAS bench is better and deeper. Phoenix have no big men for Duncan if Marion or Stoud get in foul trouble, and besides, SAS has Horry!!!

Spurs in 6.

[cyanide]

Advantage: Manu, unless JJ plays

Even if Joe Johnson plays, Manu still has the advantage with his shooting, slashing to the lane, and passing abilities (which JJ does have, but imo, Manu does it better). With Joe back from surgery and wearing a face mask, I don't see how he's going to have the advantage over Manu.

My prediction: Spurs in 6 or 7

[Colin]

My thread wasn't good enough for you.

Anyways, GO PHOENIX!!!

[fgrep15]

Small Forward: Bruce Bowen vs. Quentin Richardson
Advantage: Bowen
As good of a shooter as Q is, Bowen will eventually wear him down. He's great at pissing off perimeter shooters, especially the younger guys. Q will still knock down shots in transition, and will get some open looks, but dont expect the same numbers from downtown. Although he will probably get to the line more often, he's only shooting 60% from the line in the playoffs. even still, 10 points a night from Q will still be better than the 2 the Spurs will get from Bowen.

Bowen will not be guarding Quentin Richardson if Joe Johnson is back. Also even if he's guarding Q-Rich, he will not wear him down because Q's offense does not take energy, it doesn't take much to catch the ball on the first pass and jack a three. If Q is hot, he will be hot, if he's not he won't be. Phoenix doesn't run plays for him, or run screens for him to get open, so he's not going to be battling with Bowen all day, it will make no difference.

With Manu and Joe Johnson, I'd actually say it could be even in Young JJ is playing. Manu is not a better shooter, let's check those percentages again, yes, people will say JJ has good teammates, but so does Manu. Also Joe Johnson's percentage of asissted jumpshots has imcreased about 2% this season which in no possible way equal a 17% jump in his 3PT%.

Joe Johnson is a similar passer to Manu, doesn't slash the same way, but is a bigger outside threat, and also a good defender himself. They're very similar players, and it should be a good matchup. Overall Manu is the better player, but JJ can match up to him and perform just as well.

Power Forward: Tim Duncan vs. Shawn Marion
Advantage: Duncan
If Marion is the Matrix, Duncan is a documenatry about birds. He's not flashy, but he is still the superior post scorer and defender. Marion won't be able to conatin him whatsoever, so expect either Marion or Stoudemire to regularly be in foul trouble.

Another thing here, while Duncan is a great scorer, the Suns try to stay away from foul trouble, and many times will give up easy plays where the foul is inevitable because they know they can get it back on the other end. Maybe in the later games if their offense isn't as efficient against the Spurs, but I won't expect Marion and Amare to see much foul trouble. Amare could actually be bother more by Nazr Mohammed because he will get on the offensive glass, and could draw fouls on attempted put backs.

[Jeffx]

I'm going with the better defensive team. Spurs in 7.

[Andrew]

I know picking against Steve Nash is an arrestable offence these days, but nevertheless I'm going with San Antonio in six games. The Suns have youth and a high-octane offense on their side, but the Spurs have the depth, the experience and the ability to win playing all kinds of basketball.

Depth in particular is a great advantage for the Spurs. They can go their bench with a lot more confidence, while Phoenix relies heavily on its starters. Their bench isn't inept, but they don't pack anywhere near the punch the starting five does, though if Joe Johnson's going to be available and productive Jim Jackson does strengthen the second unit somewhat. Foul trouble can really hurt the Suns though, whereas the Spurs aren't in as much trouble if one of their big three has to sit.

[John WB]

Bench:
Advantage: Even

I was with ya, until you said that. There's no way the benches are even. Advantage Spurs all the way.

And Manu has the advantage over either JJ.

I just want to see what kind of games these two teams play. I hope it's more Suns style and not a lot of the slow-downed game they faced with the Mavs.

That game Manu went off on the Suns and the Spurs won it OT was probably the best game of the year IMO.

I hope the Suns take the series. GO SUNS!!!

[Boyk]

I tipped the Spurs to win the lot, but i really wanna see Phoenix win.

either way, it'll be 7 games, spurs or suns, it will be 7

[Null17]

My prediction: Spurs in 6 or 7

same here

[iKe7in]

Bench:
Advantage: Even

I was with ya, until you said that. There's no way the benches are even. Advantage Spurs all the way.

They are even in the sense that they both fill each teams needs. The Suns have a team of players who can play a full game.

Anyway, the benches will not have any kind of factor in the series. It'll come down to who steps up more, Nash or Duncan.

[beau_boy04]

I'm rooting for the Suns but I believe the Spurs's bench is much more superior than the Suns. The Suns rely heavily on their starting 5 and once they get in foul trouble, things are gonna get ugly for them. However, if the Suns starting 5 could somehow manage to stay out of foul trouble, the Suns are winning! no doubt!

[Alvin]

somehow, i want Nash to bring the Suns a championship just to show Cuban. Did you hear what he said about Nash? Total disrespect IMHO.

[Indy]

This one will go 7 only because Phoenix has home court. I did a game by game predicition for Detroit and Miami so I'll do one for this one.

Game 1: San Antonio 88 Phoenix 86
Game 2: Phoenix 105 San Antonio 100
Game 3: San Antonio 99 Phoenix 95
Game 4: San Antonio 92 Phoenix 84
Game 5: Phoenix 112 San Antonio 103
Game 6: Phoenix 107 San Antonio 96
Game 7: San Antonio 89 Phoenix 88

But, I am rooting for a Miami-Phoenix final. But I see a San Antonio-Detroit final on our hands.

[Sac-1]

looks like San Antonio is going to win game 1..,.its 106-116 with 1:00

[-BHZMAFIA-]

Very high scoring game and Phoenix did what they came in to do, they forced the Spurs to play their game judging by the score. If only they could've made a couple of stops down the stretch and maintained a slim margin. The Spurs had 4 players with 20+ points and Jackson stepped up once again with 20 points. I think what really hurt Phoenix is that they only played 2 players off the bench the entire game and they could've used McCarty when Horry was in the game a few times. IMO, it was a waste of them getting McCarty if they rarely play the guy.

[Colin]

Damn...

Positives: great play from Steven Hunter. PLayed good d on Duncan (compared to what was expected) and attacked the basket hard, Amare destroyed them, Paker was held in check until the 4th
Negatives: Quentin again, Shawn didn't do anything tonight, Brent Barry destroyed the team.

[Indy]

Wow. If San Antonio can beat Phoenix in games like this, we could have a 4-1 or 4-0 series in favor of the Spurs. This type of game is what i thought the Suns would win. This shows the incredible versitality of the Spurs, and this game proved to me that they are going to win it all.

[Air Jordon]

i dont think phoenix has much of a chance, now they run into a team that plays good D, and now they will really fall.

1-0, spurs, i rest my case.

[Indy]

i dont think phoenix has much of a chance, now they run into a team that plays good D, and now they will really fall.

1-0, spurs, i rest my case.

Yeah, you were right about the Spurs winning, but it had nothing to do with your example of defense since the Spurs allowed the Suns to score 114 points.

[Air Jordon]

their transition D is what helped them win, not letting the suns get easy transition baskets.

[FendeR`]

I can't see Phoenix being stopped, even though they lost game 1 I think they'll win the series in 6.

[kevC]

Nash can't guard Parker worth sht.

[Keo]

Advantage: Manu, unless JJ plays

Lol, they're both J.J.'s... but I think I know which one you mean...
btw, I didn't know Nazr Mohammed was starting over Rasho...