I don't have time to poetically or cleverly portray my thoughts on this series, so allow me to simplify:  this series, assuming the Spurs role players can maintain a pulse, is about Tim Duncan.  It's not about The Sickness vs. himself or Nash vs. Bowen or Parker vs. Barbosa and it's certainly not about Shaq.  It's about Tim.  Why?  Because the Suns got Shaq for the sole purpose of countering Tim Duncan, and there's one obvious, glaring problem with that:

There's no way Shaq can stop Tim Duncan.  He doesn't have the lateral mobility.  He's lazy on the pick and roll.  He's foul prone.  Tim should eat him alive.  But that's not up to you, me, Pop or ever the refs.  It's up to Tim.  Listen to me Timmeh:  you need to make this a personal battle. 

This isn't about five vs. five.  This is about your four rings vs. his four rings.  This is about Shaq claiming he's the "Most Dominant Ever" despite never being the fourth quarter go-to-guy on a championship team.  This is about most people naming him as the best big man ever before naming you.  That has to bother you.  It has to.  The truth; whose peak was higher, who had the better career, who was better in the playoffs-- that doesn't matter.  What matters is that you see this as an opportunity to leave an indelible mark on your legacy as well as the legacy of your biggest rival.  You have to want to dominate him.  Embarrass him.  Put him in what you see as his rightful place.  This is your chance to take arms against your sea of troubles.  Oppose them.  End them.  Make this, for once, not about team, but about you.