What the hell is wrong with Phoenix?

[Toeknee]

yeah the spurs definitely needed me in that arena, the spurs are undefeated when i'm at the SBC. Was there when horry missed that shot in game 5 of the 2003 playoffs, was there for the crucial game 2 of the Mavericks series, and was there in game 6 of the Nets series. What the spurs needed last night was Steve Kerr to go off like he did against the mavs, before he came into that game i was like OH ITS OVER!. Oh and free throw shooting. But i'm sure Pop cant get on these guys heads and tell them how important this game is and how they need to refocus. Spurs are really good when they play angry after a loss. All in all I agree should be an interesting game... hopefully the Eastern Conference goes the distance.

 

[calyxman]

Spurs are really good when they play angry after a loss. All in all I agree should be an interesting game... hopefully the Eastern Conference goes the distance.

I think Ginobili was definitely angry, however I think Duncan was a little startled. This wasn't like the kind of loss they sufferred from their sloppy Game 1 loss to the Denver Thuggets.

The Suns definitely went into this game angry. Steve Kerr said the following in his analysis after the game:

After the Phoenix Suns lost Game 3 on Saturday night, Amare Stoudemire stormed into the locker room and shouted, "We're not getting swept!"

Also, D'Antoni was very animated from courtside during Game 4. I think they know what they're up against. The effort they came out with in the first quarter was amazing.

Game 5 should be interesting.

 

[calyxman]

Phoenix is out matched , they would have lost to Seattle also. Seattle was big , quick and deep. Phoenix is just quick.

I did a little checking on the stats this past season, and it turns out that Phoenix and Seattle did play against each other in 5 games--4 of which Phoenix won, and 1 in which Seattle won. I doubt Seattle would have defeated the Suns in a series (with Joe Johnson of course).

 

[blitzkrieg79]

I did a little checking on the stats this past season, and it turns out that Phoenix and Seattle did play against each other in 5 games--4 of which Phoenix won, and 1 in which Seattle won. I doubt Seattle would have defeated the Suns in a series (with Joe Johnson of course).

Phoenix-Seattle series during regular season were actually pretty close, its not liek anyone got blown out, anyway, playoff basketball is a bit different, pace usually slows down, and you have to know how to play defense, the play is more physical, and you need that one clutch player and Phoenix doesnt have any of it (Nash is not a consistent shooter), they played against Memphis and Dallas in the earlier rounds of whom non of them possesed physical nor defensive aspects either...
Seattle took Spurs to 6 games after two of their key players didnt play at all (Lewis and Radmanovic) and Suns barely won one game against the Spurs...
Seattle (when healthy) was probably the only team in this years playoffs that could have defeated Spurs, they had excellent shooters all over the court so Spurs had to spread out their defenses, and they had tuff nasty rebounders such as Evans, Collison, and Fortson... Pretty much Seattle was a deeper team than Phoenix and Seattle also could rebound and defend better than Phoenix...

 

[calyxman]

you need that one clutch player and Phoenix doesnt have any of it (Nash is not a consistent shooter).

I beg to disagree. They only have the best offense in the league, and yet they don't have a clutch player? You don't think Joe Johsnon is a good clutch player? Or Nash? Did you notice in Game 4 Nash only scored 17 points and the Suns won? That's because he had 12 assists! And they were definitely in control of themselves, it wasn't a lucky win.

I never said anything bad about Seattle, Seattle is a great team. I'm just astonished that nobody wants to give the Suns any credit for anything.

 

[aloofman]

I never said anything bad about Seattle, Seattle is a great team. I'm just astonished that nobody wants to give the Suns any credit for anything.

Don't misunderstand. Phoenix had a great regular season. But everyone knows that the best regular-season record does not give many advantages, except for home court. In recent years the best regular-season team usually didn't win the championship that year. Should Phoenix get more credit than Sacramento did a few years ago when they lost the conference finals to the Lakers? On the flip side, the Lakers got a lot of kudos going into last year's finals, only to pick a bad time to slump while the Pistons were playing their best ball of the season.

The playoffs are like a second season. All that's important is whether you're winning NOW, not how well you did in the previous six months. The highs and lows of the playoffs don't stop for one team.

 

[Lancetx]

I think it's simply a case of the Spurs coming out flat in Game 4, while the Suns picked up their intensity with their backs being against the wall. San Antonio still only lost by 5 (and they could easily have pulled it out if anyone would have stepped up down the stretch) despite the fact that they couldn't buy a free throw to save their lives on Monday night. I highly doubt they'll shoot under 50% from the line again any time soon, that was absolutely abysmal. Plus Duncan had a really bad night and was virtually a non-factor, which is something that is doubtful to happen again in this series either. It'll be interesting to see how the two teams come out early in tonight's game, however, I still don't see this series going any longer than 6 games, but we'll see...

 

[blitzkrieg79]

I beg to disagree. They only have the best offense in the league, and yet they don't have a clutch player? You don't think Joe Johsnon is a good clutch player? Or Nash? Did you notice in Game 4 Nash only scored 17 points and the Suns won? That's because he had 12 assists! And they were definitely in control of themselves, it wasn't a lucky win.

I never said anything bad about Seattle, Seattle is a great team. I'm just astonished that nobody wants to give the Suns any credit for anything.

Of course Suns don't have a good clutch player, at least not a proven one, Nash is too inconsistent when it comes to shooting and Joe Johnson is definately not Kobe Bryant nor Ray Allen...
Only reason Spurs lost game 4 was because Tim Duncans head wasn't in the game...
Team that has good offense doesnt neccessarily mean that it also has great clutch performers... Clutch is when you got 2 minutes or less to go and you shoot the other teams lights out when the game is tight... Best example of a great player but a sorryass clutch performer is definately Shaq and his free throw shooting... Clutch usually means your GO TO guy and who is the GO TO guy in Phoenix? Stoudamire? Johnson? Nash? they got too many good ones but not enough GREAT ones...

 

[calyxman]

Best example of a great player but a sorryass clutch performer is definately Shaq and his free throw shooting... Clutch usually means your GO TO guy and who is the GO TO guy in Phoenix? Stoudamire? Johnson? Nash? they got too many good ones but not enough GREAT ones...

Funny you say Shaq is a lousy clutch player when the author of this article ranks him as No. 2 in the NBA right behind Duncan.

I'm not surprised that nobody wants to give Phoenix credit in game 4 for their win, it's always something wrong from San Antonio's standpoint. But when Phoenix lost their first three games and played miserably in the third, nobody cares to share the same perspective.

I see some phoenix players on this list as well. Of course, it doesn't matter because nobody wants to give this young team any credit.

All teams have critical players that, without them, struggle. It's not that the bench is all that bad, it's that you go into a game with a certain chemistry that you've built up during the offseason that you just can't change overnight. Shaq was critical to the Lakers, Jordan was imperative for the Bulls, and Phoenix has trouble without Nash.

 

[blitzkrieg79]

Funny you say Shaq is a lousy clutch player when the author of this article ranks him as No. 2 in the NBA right behind Duncan.

I'm not surprised that nobody wants to give Phoenix credit in game 4 for their win, it's always something wrong from San Antonio's standpoint. But when Phoenix lost their first three games and played miserably in the third, nobody cares to share the same perspective.

I see some phoenix players on this list as well. Of course, it doesn't matter because nobody wants to give this young team any credit.

All teams have critical players that, without them, struggle. It's not that the bench is all that bad, it's that you go into a game with a certain chemistry that you've built up during the offseason that you just can't change overnight. Shaq was critical to the Lakers, Jordan was imperative for the Bulls, and Phoenix has trouble without Nash.

LOL I love sport debates as I am a basketball fan (not as much as I used to be during the Jordan Barkley Malone era). Anyway, I dont need any rankings to tell me about clutch players, all I need is watch the actual games, for example, do you remember last year playoffs when Lakers played against San Antonio? Games were very close, so close that in 4 quarter with less than a minute to go Phil Jackson took out Shaq during offensive possesions because even he knew that with Shaq in the lineup he would lose... Like I said, clutch is when it counts the most at the end of 4th quarter...
You want clutch players? Iverson, Allen, Bryant, Reggie Miller those are clutch players... Are those players the best throughout 48 minutes? Probably not, but they are the best when it comes to the final seconds...
Anyway, Don't get me wrong, Phoenix definately did beter than everyone expected this year, they had the best record by outscoring teams, obviously that worked to get the home court advantage throughout the playoffs but right now you can see that Phoenix lack of depth, lack of defense has caught up with them when they play an elite team...

 

[calyxman]

Well, I guess it's over now. That was a tough game to stomach. They did very poorly in the 3rd quarter and that's what cost them this game. They did even more poorly in games 1 and 2 and that's what killed them.

To the spurs, hats off. To the suns, it's a bitter lesson to have to learn. Better luck next year.

If Miami wins in the east, then I'll watch the finals and cheer for Shaq. If it's San Antonio and Detroit, I'm watching baseball.

 

[homerjward]

w00t! we're going to the finals! w00tn355!!!!

also, w00t! for more free coffee diamond shamrock has free coffee 'til like 10am i think days after a spurs playoff victory! (local convenience store)

 

[Lancetx]

Phoenix gave it all they had and they deserve a lot of credit for that. They simply ran into a superior team in this series and it showed. If they add a bit more bench depth and experience to their roster, I'm sure they'll be back strong again next year. They've now seen first hand that the playoffs are a totally different game from the regular season and that what works then, doesn't always work now. As for the Spurs, by ending the series early, they're getting exactly what they need and that's rest. I think regardless of whether it's the Heat or the Pistons that make it to take on San Antonio though, that the finals will go either 6 or 7 games and will be very competitive.