Round Two Begins With Round One

I've been a Spurs fan since they moved from Dallas as the Chapparalls in 1973. I was thrteen. Back then rebounds were called 'carems', players were referred to by sports writers as 'cagers' and Tony Parker's "teardrop" (what a ridiculous term for a basketball shot) was known as a 'crip' shot, and the shorts the players wore were way too short. I just recently found the new SB Nation format and PoundingTheRock. Oh, I've been on some other SB Nation sites for a couple of years now, but this site I just found, and I must say it's pretty cool. And so today, the three headed ShaqNashMare monster brings their game, which was drastically altered midseason to compete with San Antonio, no matter what D'Antoni and Steve Kerr say, to the AT&T Center to do business with our Spurs. The Suns have a chip on their shoulders the size of a 2x4 8' long. They haven't forgotten last year and the second round series which should have been the finals. The Utah Jazz should send the Suns and the NBA schedulers a nice bouqet of forget-me-nots for allowing the Jazz into the Western Conference finals last year, but I digress... Round two of the Spurs/Suns heavyweight bout begins today with round one of these playoffs. The Suns need desperately, although they'll probably say otherwise, to win at least 1 game here in San Antonio. I don't think they will. Granted, Phoenix is a formidable foe and one of the elite NBA teams, and have been for several years now, but they have always been hidden under the shadow of either the Lakers or Spurs for just as many years, which makes this playoff series the premiere matchup of the first round. If the Spurs offense can get off to a good start against Phoenix, this series will go no more than 5 or 6 games. The Spurs have lived and died by their defense since Pop took over as coach but their offense has been puny if not downright ailing lately. This series will be huge. The Suns fans hate Robert Horry for his hard fowl on Steve Nash last year and the suspensions of Stoudemire and Diaw for game 5 is the stench that hangs in the collective noses of every Suns supporter. I'm diggin' it.