Spurs Blinded by the Suns
When you get it wrong, you really get it wrong. My prediction of the Phoenix Suns chances against the Spurs have not only been shattered into smithereens, but the Suns are now on the verge of completing the exact “bizarro” version of my prediction, and eliminating the Spurs with either a clean sweep, or by game 5 back in Phoenix.
And when I say bizzaro, I mean it, there is nothing typical about how the Suns claimed game 3 in San Antonio.
In Game 3 Amare Stoudemire only scored 7 points, Steve Nash didn’t have double digit assists, and three Suns players (Jared Dudley, Louis Amundson, and “starting” center Jarron Collins) amassed 0 points in a combined 36 minutes of run. On paper, this looks like the outcome would have no chance of rolling in the Suns favor.
Somehow Goran Dragic explodes in the second half, with 4 for 4 three point shooting ( 5 for 5 total), ending up with 26 points in 17:27 minutes of run.
Alvin Gentry nor any of his teammates could fathom this happening, that is how bizarre this game truly was.
Thanks for the lift Goran!
What about Steve Nash? Nash was on the bench getting plenty of rest while enjoying Dragic terrorize the Spurs guards. No seriously, George Hill and Tony Parker might be crying themselves to sleep tonight biting their pillows out of the fear that Dragic might invade their dreams and hit countless 3 point shots on them. Kind of like counting sheep, but in the nightmarish form of Dragic and his lethal stroke.
On that note, where in the world is the “A” game of Tony Parker and George Hill? What in the world happened?
After basically dousing the Mavericks with gasoline and setting them on fire during the first round, these two have fizzled and self-extinguished themselves. At this point I seriously doubt they could hit water even if they were tossing basketballs into the San Antonio River Walk.
The only thing good for the the Spurs is that we are all bearing witness to how unbelievably gifted Manu Ginobili truly is. If you ever enjoy basketball strictly for the purity of watching good basketball, all favorites and team faith aside, you owe it to yourself to watch Ginobili and slowly enjoy his game in like you would a fine wine.
Unfortunately for the Spurs, Ginobili is supposed to be the player that puts them over the top, not the guy who has to carry the entire load. That’s Tim Duncan’s job.
Duncan has been somewhat decent offensively but he has shown an inability to hang with the Suns defending the pick and roll, which used to be his bread and butter. Looks like Steve Nash is heading towards the Most-Valuable-Old-Dude-Who-Still-Got-It award for this series.
The bottom line is Steve Nash and Alvin Gentry have the Suns in unfamiliar territory. The Suns are poised to eliminate the Spurs and proceed the Western Conference Finals, something they have been unable to do during the Tim Duncan era.
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Sat, May 8, 2010 by Adam Sedie
NBA Playoffs, News