[Ed note: I completely forgot to post this yesterday because I'm a giant dunce. My apologies to both you the reader and to Noam. He wrote this all before Game 1, thus no recappy info. But don't worry, this great piece is more essay on awesomeness of these teams than series preview, so everything contained within is just as relevant as it was before Steve Nash started off the first game getting to the rim like Iverson and JRich turned into Peja Stojokavich circa 2004. Plus, it's gonna be a looong series. Strap in. – JW]
“Oh, thank god. I thought that I lost you forever. Welcome back, and don’t ever disappear like that again.”
If these thoughts didn’t run through your mind once this match-up was officially determined, your brain is wrong.
After a one-year hiatus that felt like way more, Suns/Spurs is back. And while the personnel has changed, the main suspects remain the same: the Steve Nash- and Amar’e Stoudemire-led offensive juggernaut against the Duncan/Ginobili/Parker trifecta.
Let me tell you, as someone who, up until October, was certain that these teams would never face off in a meaningful playoff series again, this is heaven sent.
Notice how I said “meaningful” playoff series. As in, a series with title implications. Because while the Lakers are pretty much consensus favorites to make it out of the West, both of these teams could make it out instead — and you shouldn’t be the least bit surprised.
Really? The Suns?
Yes. They’re as good as ever offensively, somehow getting better every time they let go of a key player, turning would-be bench warmers into NBA rotation guys. How could any player not want to go there? If you have a pulse and you join the Phoenix Suns, you will shoot over 40% from three. It’s just a fact.
This time around, though, they’re winning with the same things that were once their greatest weaknesses: defense and depth. The Suns held Portland to an offensive efficiency mark of 104.1 vs. its 108.0 pace in the regular season. And apart from the usual suspects – Grant Hill shut down Andre Miller after game one, Jared Dudley gave his usual serving of hustle and the most athletic hands in history – it seemed as if the whole team was buying in. Even Amar’e Stoudemire was moving his feet and looking like he gives a damn. When was the last time that happened?
As for the depth, well, the Suns now have either 10 or 11 legit rotation guys (depends whether Robin Lopez is healthy and if you count Jarron Collins). They finally have their Nash backup in Goran Dragic, who has evolved from perhaps the worse player in the NBA to a future starter in the making (and yet he got no MIP votes. Sigh). In fact, they played extended minutes against Portland without a single starter. Don’t be surprised to see that again against the Spurs: between the hustle of Dudley and Amundson, the shooting of Dudley and Frye, and the speed of Dragic and Barbosa, the Suns’ second unit is a force to be reckoned with.
On the other side, we have the Spurs. Oh, those marvelous Spurs.
Somehow, they just keep doing it. Keep finding these diamonds in the rough, as they have done for over a decade now and as they probably will continue doing until the end of time. This time around, it is George Hill. I’ve always been way, way too high on Hill, even when he was mostly a volume scorer for the first season and a half of his career, but, man, has he been amazing. As if the Spurs needed another clutch scorer.
As for the aforementioned trifecta … what else can one say? They just keep finding ways to come back. For the first half of the season, it was Duncan who was, somehow, sustaining an All-NBA level of play, having one of his best offensive seasons and putting up an MVP-type year. And when fatigue caught up with him – bam, Manu. The Poo God exploded for his own post-All-Star Break obliteration camp, taking his turn carrying the Spurs on his back with Tony Parker on the injured list.
And Parker? Back from a broken wrist after the worst season he’s had in eons, he seamlessly returns to the lineup – only in Manu’s former 6th man role. I mean, in the name of all that’s Eva Longoria, he’s a former Finals MVP. Coming off the bench. How many teams in the league – how many players in the league – could pull that off? And not only has he been accepting his role without complaint, he’s been excelling in it, taking and making clutch jumpers to put away those pesky Mavs.
Which is what makes this series so, so different than it was in the past:
This time around, we have no bad guys.
In the past, we were all rooting for the fun, refreshing Suns over the dull, mean Spurs. We were counting on Phoenix to prove to us that beauty can triumph, and we were all disappointed when ultimately it didn’t.
But this year? How can you be against these Spurs? How can you be against Tim Duncan, at age 34, a step slow defensively and much more prone to bad offensive outings, as he tries to get another one? How can you be against Manu Ginobili getting back on the court four minutes after breaking his nose and leading his team to victory? How can you be against Dejuan Blair as he proves that rebounding is 100% mental, 0% ACLs?
We’re in for an absolute treat. We just have to hope it isn’t taken from us. Between Steve Nash’s back, Robin Lopez’s return, Duncan’s knees, Manu’s nose and Parker’s everything, health can swing this series either way. And in a playoffs marred by injury-related swings, one would hate to see it affect such a potentially great series. A series which, as it seems right now, I have no idea who takes.
So many players have the ability to tip this thing either way. Jason Richardson has proven that when he’s on, the Suns win – just ask the Blazers. Amar’e could go 2005 on Duncan. Duncan could go 2005 on Amar’e. Manu, Parker and Hill can all get their points. Steve Nash can never be counted out. And please note, that almost 1000 words in, I have yet to mention Richard Jefferson, who might decide that he wants to play the kind of basketball we’ve become accustomed to seeing from him in New Jersey.
If I had to predict what happens, though – and I do, because I’m writing this – I go Spurs. Barely. Partially because they were my preseason Finals pick, and I’m a man of my word. Partially because with George Hill playing like this, Steve Nash has nobody to guard: Parker, Ginobili and Hill would all torch him. And do you really want him guarding the 6′7″ Jefferson, even as bad as he’s been? He can still score, as evidenced by his two good games against Dallas.
Mostly, though, it’s because of Duncan. Look, he’s slipping. He knows it. We know it. Not so much on offense – again, from November to January he was a monster – but on defense. And yet, you can’t bet against him. You just can’t. This could be his last chance to get the 5th ring, to distinguish himself as the best of the 2000s (though, to be honest, he already did). And as much as one likes Jarron Collins – who really is a good defender once you get past the twin jokes – if the Spurs need a win, and Duncan is the one who has to step up, he will.
I love you, Phoenix Suns, and if you prove me wrong I will be ecstatic. It’s just that this time, if you lose, I’ll still be happy for the winner.
Spurs in 7.
Known Associates:
Groundhog Day,
Spurs,
Steve Nash,
Suns,
Suns vs. Spurs
