Suns out of the Playoffs. D'Antoni out next?

Led by Tony Parker and Tim Duncan the Spurs once again eliminated the Suns from the playoffs. For the third time in the last four years, the Suns' great expectations were shattered by the Spurs.

The season's over for the Suns and plenty of questions will fill the offseason, including the biggets of them all: Should Phoenix rebuild now or give it one more try to Nash and Co. ?

“It seems like every time we get to the playoffs we play the Spurs, and they beat us every time. They’re well-coached…they’ve got solid players…they understand what it takes to win. They were the better team." Stoudemire stated after the game 5 loss.

In case you didn't notice it sounds a lot like STAT's goodbye to Coach D'Antoni (AP Photo/Eric Gay).

The Suns were clearly out coached and out played in the series. The Shaq move, made to beat the Spurs (don't forget that), didn't work. I am not sure whether it was D'Antoni or Kerr who made that deal, but I feel it's time for a change.

Coach D'Antoni will be fired also according to both ESPN and SI.com who recently rumored about insanable differences between D'Antoni and the front office. I think the Owner and the GM Steve Kerr believe the Suns are not going to win with that coaching staff.

We'll have plenty of time to write, discuss and analyse everything from poor drafting to the Shaq trade or the non-use of bench players.

Fire Mike D'Antoni is probably the easy (and partial) answer to a more complicated question about the Suns ability to win an NBA Championship. But we all know easy answers is what an Owner tends to look for.

It's more or less 185 till Opening Day...

Go 2008/09 Suns!

Do you still believe?

Three reason why I still believe Suns (Barry Gossage/NBAE Photos) will come back and win the series

1. Shaq, after game 3: "I think if we can win just one game we can take it from there and see what happens. It's never been done before but will probably be done one day."

2. San Antonio can't play so well, make every clutch shot, execute perfectly on every play

3. Suns had been able to build big leads in game 1 and 2, menaing they can actually outscore the Spurs.

Of course, there's one (huge) reason why I don't believe the Suns will come back

1. Spurs are a better basketball team.


Whatever Go Suns !

Spurs-Suns or simply Nash and Ginobili

The first two games of the Spurs series were decided by two players. After watching game 2 I realized it was not about Duncan, Stoudemire, Shaq, foul trouble, zone defense or anything.

It all comes down to Manu Ginobili and Steve Nash (Ronald Martinez/NBAE Photos). Suns can’t limit Manu and can’t play efficient offense without Nash on the court.

1. Suns don’t have an answer for Manu Ginobili.

Ginobili has a plus/minus of + 9 in game 1 and +12 in game 2.
Raja Bell can’t guard him, nor can Grant Hill. Zone defense (2-3) can be used to protect the inside and the big men from getting into foul trouble but it’s very vulnerable to outside shooting, or better, to mid-range shooting.
Parker and Ginobili beat the first line of perimeter defense, easily, and can score without actually having to deal with Shaq and STAT coming up the middle. Check the shot charts of Manu and Parker in Game 2 from espn.com

2. Suns offense can’t function without Nash.

It’s not only evident by watching the games, Steve has 13 of a Suns season-low 16 assists (if I remember it right) in game 2. The Spurs defense can send the Suns completely out of rhythm and when Nash is on the bench it gets really ugly.

The Suns could use Barbosa and Diaw as alternative point men. Forget that! as both are having an awful series (-18 for both in +/- in game 2).

By the way, did you notice that in the high-equilibrium Western Conference each series is now 2-0?

Go Suns!

"New" Suns lost game one in the "old" Suns way

The Suns lost game one of the Western Conference first round series against the Spurs in dramatic fashion.

Michael Finley 3-pointer to tie it (Barbosa on him? Why not Grant Hill, the Suns best defender?)

Tim Duncan first triple of the year (rotation?), Manu Ginobili amazing shot (help up the middle?) whatever...

Phoenix played poor defense in the second half, mostly because of the big men's foul trouble.
With Shaq, STAT (Jeramie McPeek/NBAE/Getty) and Diaw in foul trouble the Spurs "underlined" all the Suns defensive limitations on the perimeter. Ginobili and Parker often beat the first line of outside defense driving to the rim.

The Suns played well for the most part, on the road despite the fact that their initial game plan (protect the paint, attack TD, keep Manu and Parker out of the area) was denied almost immediately by foul trouble.

Suns and Spurs have now played each other in the Playoffs four of the last five season. Phoenix has actually been eliminated by the Spurs on every such occasion.

In 2004-05 (Spurs 4, Suns 1 in the Conference Finals) San Antonio won game 1 (121-114), in 2006-07 (Spurs+Stern 4, Suns 2 in the second round) SA won game 1 (111-106) and of course in 2007-08 Suns lost game 1 (117-115 in 2OT). On each of those three games Tim Duncan led the Spurs to victory.

During the D'Antoni era the Suns have played the Spurs three times in four years and in each of those occasions San Antonio took game one of the series. By the way, the Spurs eventually took the series in '05 and '07.

While all of our worst fears materialized on Saturday night's game 1 loss there's plenty of reason to believe this is going to be a tough and long series.

Go Suns !

Suns vs Spurs: Focus, Paint, Refs and "our" Frenchman

The great statistical analysis at 82games.com will confirm tha the Suns are the better team on offense: shooting .552 to .504 and passing the ball as 65 percent of the Suns baskets are assisted to the Spurs 58%.
Steve Kerr has identified his won five keys to beating the Spurs on Suns.com.

Scout Inc. broke down the series on ESPN.com as the Suns won the Season series 3-1 for the first time in five years.

Even on their side of the story on MySA.com, The Spurs are worried by Shaq.

Everyone agrees this will be an intense series with lots of close game. There will be blood indeed.

With the Playoffs beginning on Saturday in Texas I believe the Suns-Spurs Series will come down to four key factors

1. Stay focused.

Never lose sight of the situation. Never try to win the game with one single player. Never give up on defense. Never stop running. Never. It's got to be 100 percent every second of every game.

2. Control the Paint.

Suns need to have control of the painted area and the boards. It means no second chances for the Spurs and trying to keep Ginobili and Parker from driving to the hoop. It all starts from their initiatives. That was reason no.1 why Shaq came to the Suns.

3. Have decent officiating.

Refs need to prevent the Spurs from making this series Royal Rumble II. It's the playoffs and everything, but it's still basketball. The last time I checked the game had not yet made special rules for the occasions. San Antonio loves fighting even more than playing basketball. The Suns are the best basketball team. Let's just hope that game will be played.

4. Boris Diaw needs to step up.

Our Frenchman can change the series. He's a great defender and an unstoppable combination of passing, shooting, inside and ouside game, but he needs to put energy and will on the court. Leave everything you have on that court, Boris!

Spurs have eliminated the Suns three of the last four Playoffs but this time will be different. I think the Suns can beat the Spurs this time. 4-2 Suns in the series.

GO SUNS !

Suns vs Spurs. Next

So, after 82 games (55-27) of the regular season, it’ll be the Spurs again starting this weekend in Texas. We haven't forgotten.

Go Suns !

Today we're all Sonics Fans

SAVE OUR SONICS

Save this great franchise from moving to Oklahoma City.

Do something, take action ! It's not too late. Write your NBA owner, post on your blog, let them know they're making a terrible mistake.

That move is "ripping" a great basketball town and the Seattle fans who supported their Sonics for 40 years. By the way, I can't see any long-term economic sense either.

Keep the Sonics in Seattle as today, we're all Sonics Fans.

Go Sonics !

The Envelope Please

It's time to hand out some silverware to the best in the 2007/2008 NBA season.


MVP - Kevin Garnett (Boston)
Each time Kobe, CP3, Garnett, STAT and Co. go to the line these days the crowds start the inevitable "MVP MVP" chants. To me the MVP has to be the best player on the best team. There could be a case for both Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant but KG changed the franchise beyond the numbers. Case closed


Coach of the Year - Byron Scott (New Orleans)
Made a great team from a bunch of talented player. A close runner-up has to be the Rockets' Adelman for his great job without Yao Ming.


Rookie of the Year - Kevin Durant (Seattle)
Played in a low-pressure, just play and have fun, environment but did very well in his first NBA season.


Most Improved Player
Either Rajon Rondo (Boston) or Rudy Gay of the Memphis Grizzlies...I would say Gay in a close one.


Best sixth man
This is a real non sense award. No awards, please. I am not really willing to hand out an award to any member of the Spurs, anyway.


Suns MVP - Stoudemire put up great stats but did not really improved his game. Steve Nash is still my MVP. By the way, Steve got over 40% of the votes in the recent Sons of Steve Nash poll ;-)

Go Suns !

The expected April decline of Steve Nash

I am a bit worried by the last few games played by Steve Nash.

He looked tired and I am afraid his back is starting once again to feel the pressure of playing 35 minutes each night.

The long discussed inability of the Suns coaching staff to develop a decent back up to Nash is taking its toll, as usual in April. Just check his Split Stats on ESPN.

Nash is averaging 13.2 points, 11 assists and shooting a season low 35 percent from the field. This decline in production has already happened in 2005-06 and 2004-05 and that means 3 of Nash 4 seasons with the Suns.

With the Suns more or less locked in 6th place in the West, why not rest Nash for a week?

Go Suns !

"The baddest 36-year-old ever created"

"I played through everything," O'Neal said. "I told them that if they play me single coverage, let me make them pay. I'm still the baddest 36-year-old ever created."

The Shaq (AP Photo/Eric Gay) after the Suns 96-79 win in San Antonio on ESPN.com

The man is a genius.

Go Suns !

Who would you like to play in the Playoffs?

Since the Suns clinched a playoffs spot with last night’s - otherwise meaningless - win in Memphis we can probably start thinking about Playoffs matchups in the Western Conference.

All the debate about the Suns final place in the standings has to do with home court advantage and above all who's gonna be "our" first round opponents. It’s all about first round opponents, really, since the real disaster, not only for the Suns, would be losing so early in the Playoffs.

The Suns are currently 6th in the West and would face the Lakers. Fifth place could mean facing the Jazz in round one. Those seem the two most probable combinations at the moment. Do you like those matchups? Not at all as the Suns are a combined 2-5 against Utah and LA.

It wouldn’t be any better if the Suns had to face say New Orleans, San Antonio and given last Sunday’s game Dallas.

Of the Suns’ 28 wins vs the West, 18 came against non playoffs teams. The Suns are 8-14 vs Western Playoffs teams.

I like the Suns’ chances against Houston and Denver, but everyone would love to play those two teams in the first rounds since the Rockets will be without Yao and the Nuggets without any form of defense.

If only the Suns could play the Clippers or the Kings.

Go Suns !

Nash: The Monthly Invoicing

Somehow, during this season, I got the idea that Nash was having a so-so season, possibly not in line with expectations nor with his previous performance as the Suns PG. I decided to have a look at the numbers.

Steve Nash season so far looks like this: GP 73 MPG 34.7 PPG 17.2 APG 11.2 TO 3.70 3P% 0.48 while his Suns career stats are MPG 35 PPG 17.6 APG 11.2 TO 3.6 3P% 0.45.

Nash is in line with his past performance and shooting the best of his career from 3-point range. So, could you please bring back those MVP MVP chants?

Here's a statistical recap of Steve Nash's performance, on a monthly basis.

November (too many turnovers, but a great moth)

GP 16, MPG 34.3, PPG 19.5, APG 10.9, TO 4.2, 3P% 0.50

December (great passing month)
GP 15, MPG 34.5, PPG 13.9, APG 14, TO 2.8, 3P% 0.40

January (another excellent month)
GP 15, MPG 33.7, PPG 18.6, APG 10.5, TO 4.3, 3P% 0.49

February (too many turnovers in the toughest month of the season for the Suns)
GP 11, MPG 36.4, PPG 17.7, APG 10.3, TO 4.6, 3P% 0.43

March (adjusting to the Shaq era)
GP 16, MPG 35.3, PPG 17.5, APG 9.8, TO 3, 3P% 0.56

In case you wonder, here are Nash's stats in the post Shaq era: GP 21, MPG 35.2, PPG 17.5, APG 9.6, TO 3.1, 3P% 0.52

So, Steve is playing is usual great game. There's not much talk lately about Nash since everyone is focusing on Shaq and Stoudemire. Only dangerous sign is playing time, I'd rather se Nash play under 34 minutes a game trying to rest him a little before the playoffs, since the Suns failed once again to develop a back up PG.

Go Suns !