Finals dreaming

With the Pistons out, at least the NBA avoided the most boring playoff matchup since Spurs-Jazz. But I can't help but imagine how exciting it would be right now if the Suns had pulled it off and were facing LeBron next week. That series would have been just the jolt that the NBA needs (although the King's historic performance will have long-lasting effects).

As it is, I can't imagine the Cavs making much of a dent against the Spurs. LeBron might be great, but so is Nash, and he had a better supporting cast. This series won't go past 5, and very well could be a sweep.

Live Spurs v. Suns Thoughts

1st Quarter - The first quarter of an NBA game can be largely ignored...as I did when I fast forwarded through it on my Tivo

2nd Quarter -
8:40 - Tony Parker, Steve Nash - man are they hard to keep out of the lane. The difference is that Tony Parker looks to finish more with his array of tear drops while Nash uses the drive to find the open man (often dribbling under the baseline).
Also, both teams are really getting down to the floor to get the ball. Should be a good game.

6:50 - James Jones 3/3 behind the arc with 2 in a row. He's got to love playing with Nash.

5:14 - I noticed this the other night as well: Off the pick-and-roll or the high screen, it seems that Nash sometimes leans in on 3's. Those haven't tended to go in, as would be expected.

4:28 -Duncan has 6 blocks right now. The 1-2 punch of him and Tony Parker is really tearing up the Suns.

3:37 - Amare CANNOT guard Duncan. He appears to be only concerned with fouls.

2:59 - Ridiculous pass by Nash to a thunderous dunk by Amare. Every Suns player should give a portion of their next contract to the charity of Nash's choice because he makes life sooo easy for the other guys. It actually makes you wonder how you can evaluate a guy like Amare in a potential trade if he ever became available because his greatest skill (finishing with dunks near the basket, not in a back to the basket post position) is highly dependent upon a PG like Nash.

1:41 - Just watched Duncan dominate some more. Made me want to watch Oden guard Duncan. He could learn so much from watching Duncan on his way to being a dominate post defender.

0:00 - SA up two at half. Should be a close game. No prediction yet on the winner.

3rd Quarter
8:46 - Duncan is up to 8 blocks. That's not right. Triple Double?

6:21 - There is no question in my mind that these are the best two teams in the NBA (removing Dallas based on their playoff performance). Detroit might win or might make the finals close (or Cleveland, I guess), but that doesn't change the fact that these two are the best.

5:37 - Maybe I am underestimating Amare a little bit - he's pretty damn good. My point from above was that his best skill is as a finisher which is largely dependent upon having a good PG.

4:56 - Ginobili is breaking this game open with a few 3's (SA up 8). Must be nice to watch Parker and Duncan do all the heavy lifting and then hit a few 3's and be a hero.

During commercials I am checking out some more Ronald Jenkees clips. This cat is awesome!

3:33 - I love how the Suns instinctively turn and sprint when they grab a rebound (SA up 11, btw). It would be a real shame if this doesn't go to a game 7 (for the shear entertainment value). This game is great.

:54 - Bowen with a cold 3 to put SA up 13. SA's 2nd team is really taking care of the Suns 2nd team. Raja Bell is the only guy doing anything offensively the past few minutes for the PHX, which is interesting with Marion in the game.

0:00 - Bruce Bowen and Jacque Vaughn are putting this game out of reach. Who would have thought?

PHX defintely should look into another PG in the draft or via trade to run the 2nd team and eventually take over for Nash. The way they are constructed is so dependent upon the PG creating shots for everyone else that when Nash is out of the game they look lost. Barbosa is good, but he is barely a PG.

4th Quarter
11:11 - The ESPN guys just had a mini-conversation about the word "spurtability." I wonder if their producer cut them off in their headsets.

10:52 - This is not nearly the best Barbosa has played. When the Suns have needed him, he has not come through.

10:30 - Ginobili just flopped a 3 pointer into a potential 4 point play. This was all started by Oberto "blowing by" Amare. Oberto...maybe I was right about Amare. (SA up 18 - game over).

9:06 - Game Over. I just don't see how any team is going to be able to beat these guys. Parker did it in the first quarter, Duncan in the 2nd and early 3rd and scrubs /Ginobili are doing it in the 4th. And they ALL play good D.

BLOG OVER.
OK - Maybe not....

3:55 - Barbosa just had a nasty layup and then a Nash long 2 and its 9...
Barbosa would be a deep bench player on the Pistons. He can hit 3's (at least on nights other than tonight) and he can run like a gazelle, half of which wouldn't be utilized much by Det.

2:30 - Only 7 points. Should be less. PHX keeps getting the stops but they are not finishing.

1:53 - Every once in a while they goto "coach" who is Van Gundy who was fired yesterday. I wonder how much he gets paid to sit there and watch the game, occasionally saying something...

1:15 - Duncan deuce and a strip of Nash in the lane - this game is officially over.

Really good game except early in the 4th where the Suns forgot how to score. Too bad this couldn't have been closer or that the Suns didn't win on Wed to make this force game 7. Oh well...

Suns v. Spurs

The Suns v. Spurs game 5 was basically the exact opposite of the last game. There is no way that the Spurs should have won this game (like how the Suns never should have won the last one).

A few observations:
1 - The Spurs play great defense (nothing new here).
2 - Bowen is dirty (I'm not passing judgment, but he is). Bill Simmons has it more than covered in his article about the suspensions.
3 - Right after they made some comment about how Nash makes better decisions than anyone else, he threw up a few bad threes.
4 - Nash is awesome. Post game press conference - ::reporter's phone rings:: Nash: "I hope she's hot"
5 - I hope that Amare puts up 40 and dunks over Bowen/Duncan to do it so we can get a game 7.

a lesson from the playoffs

(I just can't stand having a MLB story at the top of the page.)

For all the talk of the NBA following the Suns' lead and switching to an up-tempo full-court style (hello Toronto!), just take a look at the playoffs so far. The two "best," most entertaining teams, GSW and PHX, are done. And why? Because they came up against two defensive teams. The Spurs defense is awe-inspiring. The way that they're able to shut down the Suns' 3-point attack made Nash's offense the focus of the scoring. That can only go so far.

Do I like watching San Antonio or Utah or Detroit play? No. I won't be watching many more games this post season. But they're proving that D wins it.

So okay, I guess the Bucks should pick Oden if the opportunity is there.

Suns followup

I don't have anything to say that you can't read in 8 other places. Maybe that right there hammers the point home more than anything else.

Amare and Diaw should not have been suspended. Period. Obviously reasons for that include:
1 - Common Sense
2 - They didn't do anything.
3 - You give incentive for a player to clean out a guy in front of the opposing team's bench.
4 - You force yourself to give Horry an unprecedented suspension (how did he get 2 games for a hard foul?), which is just as screwy.
5 - My favorite one, Duncan left the bench in a less escalated, but potentially similar way. The reason why this one is my favorite is watching Jalen Rose playing chicken with the league yesterday on TV by saying, look, if you suspend Amare and Diaw, you have to suspend Duncan. He almost seemed to be challenging Stu Jackson (image right) or trying to back him into a corner. It was great.

Anyway, this decision is EXACTLY like Bill Simmons' assessment of NBA GM's. They don't make trades because their jobs are not in jeopardy if they don't trade, but could be if they do. Here, Stu suspends Amare and Diaw because he can hide behind the idea of the letter of the law. It is more defensible in a court room. However, it is far less defensible in the court of common sense. Either way, it is easy for him to deflect the criticism he will receive this way.

Baron Davis is dominating these playoffs

Baron was back in amazing mode last night. GSW should have won both of the first games, and I think they'll now take this series. I don't know how they choked it in game 2, but Utah has never dominated them as much as they were crushed in this game.

CHECK OUT the FULL HIGHLIGHTS of BARON: http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/nba/nbacom/news/davis_ballin_070511.asx

The best three drives start at 1:10, including a 360 spin underhand backwards shot.

but . . . is this the highlight of the playoffs so far?

AK-47

This link makes me sad, but it is so nasty I have to put it up:
http://ballhype.com/story/baron_davis_dunks_on_andrei_kirilenko_2/
Watch it and then watch it again. Watching GS play at home is my new found NBA playoff joy. I hope they advance so we can see them play SA/PHO. Of course, GS should be playing PHO right now and SA playing UTAH, but we don't always get what we want.