After meeting the Mavericks in the playoffs for the 5th time this decade (and dispatching them for the 3rd), up next is another team also marking their 5th series against us this decade: The Phoenix Suns. As great as the rivalry is between the Spurs and Mavs, the one with the Suns might even be better. The history is certainly as contentious. And the fact that the Suns have yet to defeat us in a series with Duncan playing makes it a little one-sided, which always creates an interesting fan dynamic (they hate us, we scorn/pity them).
While I hate playing the Mavs (those 2006 scars may never heal), I get a little more joy out of facing the Suns. Maybe it was just seeing D'Antoni stomp around the sidelines like Ron Burgundy, or hear everybody talk about how amazing Amar'e was in 2005 because he averaged nearly 30 ppg against us, even though that was clearly our defensive design (and it clearly worked). The Suns have always seemed like the little brother that can't quite beat us, and storms off in a huff. And like family, I don't hate them like I hate the Mavs. In fact, these days, I find them more likable than despicable. I think anyone would be happy to root for Steve Nash; Grant Hill is a scholar and a gentleman; Alvin Gentry is unassuming, a good coach, and speaks with a hypnotic lilt to his voice; Steve Kerr is a former Spurs hero, for God's sake; and their bench is comprised of hustle and energy guys that fan bases easily fall in love with. The only player that I still get up the energy to despise is he of the emerging apostrophe, Amar'e.
Some keys to the series:
--These ain't your father's Suns. Despite appearances, these Suns aren't like the teams of past that we so brutally dispatched from the playoffs. Yes, they have returned to an up-tempo team. But they also play pretty decent defense. And they have a bench now. A pretty damn good one, actually. They bring Jared Dudley, Louis Amundson, Channing Frye, Goran Dragic, and Leandra Barbosa all of the bench. They run 10 deep. And all of them add something, whether it be defense, energy, scoring, or rebounding. In years past, D'Antonio would play 7 deep, and the team would be dragging by the end of the game. Not anymore. Gentry has done a masterful job getting his bench in shape. He relies on them in big moments, and they usually reward him. I saw the bench players swing at least 2 games of that Portland series. There will be no letdown.
--Slow Up, Going Faster. Pace, pace, pace. The Suns want to play fast, the Spurs want to slow it down, grind it out. Against the Mavs, another team that wants to speed up, we won the pace battle. Can we do it again? The Suns are better at it than the Mavs, but we're pretty good at dictating pace, as well. And as the series of the past have shown, we're not too shabby at running, either. However, if the games are in the 90s to low 100s, we'll probably win; if they're higher, we're probably losing.
--Robin's back?: See what I did there? That's pretty clever. Robin Lopez is their only big that can realistically guard Duncan one-on-one. He is out with a bad back (ahh, now you get it), and his return is questionable. If he can return and play big minutes, he will allow the Suns to stay at home on defense. If he can't make it back, they might have to double Duncan, which will open up all kinds of things for our offense. Duncan is diminishing, but don't be fooled: he can still own the Suns undersized front line for long stretches at a time.
--Who does Nash guard?: With our emerging three headed monster guard rotation, it puts the Suns in the position of having to put Nash on a superior athlete defensively. In the past, he could camp out on Bowen and hide; no more. He'll have to start out guarding Ginobili, Hill, or possibly Jefferson. All are nightmares for him. His other option: Parker. Ouch. Not much better. Who will he guard? And how will we exploit that match-up? My guess is he starts on Hill. Will Hill continue to be aggressive, or will he return to deferring? His play, once again, could be what swings the series.
--I've Got Some Bad News for You, Antonio...: Hey, McDyess. Great job against Dirk. You guarded one of the most unguardable and freakishly talented scorers in the league, one-on-one. He scored in bunches, but you made it very difficult for him, and you allowed our defense to stay honest. Next up for you...a freakishly talented scorer who is virtually unguardable that you'll need to cover one-on-one so that our defense can stay honest. He's probably going to score 30 on you. Good luck.
--It's the Magic Number: The Phoenix Suns shoot the 3 better than almost any other team, and they have a lot of threats from deep. We need to neutralize that weapon. Conversely, outside of George Hill, nobody on the Spurs is shooting the 3 particularly well. We need to start making some.
--Pop. Duncan. Nash. Ginobili. Stoudemire. Parker. And the star of the series is...Jason Richardson? He's been the star of the playoffs thus far. I don't know the exact numbers, but basically the Suns never lose when he scores more than 20 and they never win when he's kept under 20. Let's keep him from going off.
At the end of the series, one thing will be certain: either little brother will have finally won, and a fan base will rejoice; or big brother will win again and tousle the hair of little brother as he once again storms off.
Of course, the Mavs seemed that way until 2006, didn't they?
Let's steal Game 1.
Go Spurs Go.
