This isn’t your father’s Suns team. This team plays pesky, irritating defense. They still score bunches in fast-break and transition, but they can also score in half-court sets efficiently. They shoot better, if that’s possible. And they actually have a bench, and a pretty good one at that. (D’Antonio’s greatest flaw might be his inability to trust more than 7 or 8 players, running those players ragged throughout the season and burning them out by the playoffs).
They played very well; we didn’t. There’s lots of reasons why we wouldn’t have played well, mainly that we’re in the stretch of 5 games in 7 nights and they had been off for 3 days. One game does not a season make. But there was enough there to make us fear a potential playoff match-up with them. We had absolutely no answer for the Nash-Stoudemire pick and roll. It was almost embarrassing. Missing Hill obviously hurts us, but as good as his defense is, pick and roll defense is not his forte. (I find it interesting that Pop didn’t employ Bogans on Nash, a la Bowen. Was he holding out for a potential playoff match-up? Does he not trust Bogans on smaller, quicker players?) There defense actually seemed to bother us, pestering us into TOs and miscues all over the place. They outplayed and outworked us, and it was just a tiny bit embarrassing.
On a happier note, it looks like Ginobili is finally getting his extension. Spurs fans around the world sigh a relief of happiness. Losing Ginobili would have been just short of disastrous for this team. I understand the reservations of paying a 33 year old swingman with injury issues who plays with reckless abandon $40 million over the next 3 years. I really do. Like I’ve said a million times, though: Pop is the brains, Duncan is the soul, and Ginobili is the heart. And you don’t let your heart just up and leave. You pay whatever it takes to keep him around, and you go to battle with the guys you trust and love. Like Dingo said in a comment months ago (I’m paraphrasing here), “I’d rather go to war with Ginobili and lose than go without him.” Agreed. We only have so many years of watching Ginobili’s manic genius on the court, and I want to watch every minute of it, and I want him in the Spurs uniform.
And someday, years from now, I want to see his 20 hanging next to 21 in the rafters.
Looking Forward:
We have four games left. We need at least 2 wins to reach 50. Tonight against Memphis and Monday against Minnesota are our best chances. After our poor performances the last 2 games, I expect the team to come out focuses and take care of business. As great and surprising as the Grizzlies’ season has been, they are officially out of the playoffs and have nothing left to play for. We have plenty left to play for.
The Western Conference is just insane right now. It seems like it gets crazier and crazier every year. We’re in prime position to finish 6th or 7th, which is precisely where we want to be (moving up to 2nd or 3rd is a long shot), avoiding 4, 5, and 8 to avoid the Lakers half of the bracket. My really thorough analysis: we need to win as many of our remaining games as we can.
