Run 'em into the ground?

We’ve won our championships by playing our style of basketball. No one can do it better. I think trying to force the Suns into a fast pace would be a huge mistake. We win this with defense and experience. Grind it out.

Well, we did prove we can run with them, and at the time they didn’t have Shaq dragging them down. It could work.

I was thinking the same thing after the Utah game. We ran on them with ease, and Spurs teams in the recent past have run quite a bit. The difference between the Spurs running style and other teams is that the Spurs will run only when they can, and they will take smart shots. The Spurs won’t pull a Baron Davis or Leandro Barbosa and hurl up a quick three in a 1 on 4 situation.

We have to take advantage of Shaq. Shaq can easily be forced into turning the ball over. After he is stripped he will be the last guy down the court, so someone will be wide open or there will be a mismatch on Timmy. Either way it is an easy bucket. The Spurs didn’t capitalize on Shaq’s presence the last two times we played the Suns. Maybe it was by design. Pop can surprise and frustrate D’Antoni now and he won’t have as much time to develop a counter.

When the opportunity is there the Spurs do need to push the ball, especially when Shaq is out there. If anything else just to kick start the offense. Getting easy buckets will make things easier in the half court. This team CAN’T run the whole game because they’re too old, but they can run selectively.

I always hate watching a game that’s headed into the fourth quarter and seeing the fast break stats flash up, and it’s like 18-6 in favor of the bad guys. But, if it results in a W, then I’m not wondering why we didn’t run more—instead, I’m doing my victory dance!

Um, I don’t really have a victory dance.

And also, we HAVE to exploit the foul situation. These guys play us well in the post, but not without amare and shaq having a combined 7-8 fouls by halftime. If Pop will capitalize on this, and tire them out while limitting their effectiveness by getting them in foul trouble early, it’ll be easier than everyone’s thinking. I would like to see Timmy and Frenchie focus solely on drawing their bigs’ fouls for the first 1-2 quarters while maintaining average scoring; then turning it into overdrive in the 2nd half. I think this is the key. The plodding, whistle-dominated game will frustrate them and disrupt their system, and they won’t have the resources to close out games.

Always loved how Pop coaches circles around the posers in the league (led by their President D’oh), and I’m anxious to see him play chess while all others are playing checkers again.

Considering the Suns are averaging more fast break points with Shaq than before the trade, trying to turn the series into an uptempo run-fest would be a poor decision.

The people who mentioned running selectively, particularly if the Suns start turning the ball over every other possession like they tend to do sometimes, were much more spot on.