This smells fishy. An early, nationally televised game against a bitter "rival". All things that don't seem to work in our favor this year. But there's a first time for everything.
I'll admit to being a hack here: Most of the stuff from the first Spurs-Suns preview is the same, so I just copied and pasted. But if the shoe fits...
 San Antonio Spurs @ Phoenix Suns DetailsWhere: AT&T Center - San Antonio, TX
When: February 28th, 2010, 12:00 PM Spurs time (high noon)
Watch: ABC
How They Stack Up
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Matchups
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 Tony Parker Food Poisoning |
Point Guard I'm assuming Tony will play today, which isn't exactly a given, but that doesn't mean he'll be able to outdo Stevie "Ageless" Wonder. Advantage: Suns |
 Steve Nash Pretty Damn Good |
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 Manu Ginobili 6th Man |
Shooting Guard Manu's got his mojo going in the last few games. Keith Bogans will probably be matched up with J-Rich at first, but Manu will get the bulk of the SG minutes and should be able to win this matchup. Advantage: Spurs |
 Jason Richardson J-Rich |
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 Richard Jefferson Rich-J? |
Small Forward Even the corpse of Grant Hill can beat RJ. Prove me wrong, damnit. Advantage: Suns |
 Grant Hill Not George Hill |
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 Tim Duncan No Random Punctuation |
Power Forward Amar'e scores a lot. Luckily for us, he gives up just as many points on the other end. Oh, and we also have Timmeh. Advantage: Spurs |
 Amare Stoudemire Random Apostrophe |
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 Antonio McDyess Jumpshooter |
Center Lopez just had a career game the other night, but it happened against the Clippers. Even our defense isn't that bad. Dice needs to come back strong from a string of dissapointing games he's put together lately, and the Suns are just the type of team to do it against. Advantage: Tied |
 Robin Lopez The Lesser Lopez |
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 George Hill Great Role Player |
Bench & Role Players The Suns are still without Leandro Barbosa, but that doesn't mean they have no depth. Channing Frye was a starter not that long ago, and Dudley has really come into his own. Still, the BAM showed in the last game why they usually get the white box. And no, I'm not including 3 of last game's starters in the BAM. Only original members get that recognition. I want to see a strong game from DeJuan tonight, and am curious as to whether Malik will earn any minutes after playing very well against Kevin Martin. Advantage: Spurs |
 Jared Dudley Good Role Player |
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 Gregg Popovich Bring Back the Beard |
Coach I'm thinking Pop's beard had mystical powers, especially since the Spurs have been unable to come up with any of the final minute heroics from last season since Pop shaved it. Bring it back already. Advantage: Spurs |
 Alvin Gentry 7 Seconds and Loss |
| images via yahoo.com | ||
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Other Factors
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Intangibles Phoenix just blew out the clips. We got our asses handed to us by the Rockets. Advantage: Suns |
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Mojo There is no mojo. There is only pain. Advantage: Suns |
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Winner I always have a good feeling when we play the Suns, but not this time. I have hope, but not a feeling of inevitability like in seasons past. I'm going to go with my optimism, especially in light of the matchups. Spurs. Just because. |
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Keys To The Game
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Strength of ScheduleThis is the first game of a back to back set for the Suns, who will be playing Denver at home tomorrow. The Spurs also have a SEGABABA tomorrow night in New Orleans. Hopefully this game won't go down to the wire, because our guys will need some rest before that one. |
Some Other ReadingSunsBright Side of the Sun - These guys are our SBN siblings for Phoenix, and they do a phenomenal job. Valley of the Suns - The TrueHoop blog dedicated to the Suns. Spurs48 Minutes of Hell: I don't need to tell you how awesome 48MoH is, you already know. Right? |
Where to Tune InTVThis game is on national TV, so we got that going for us. Tune in to ABC for all the "fun". OnlineAs always, NBA league pass is recommended for those who are willing to pony up the cash. Almost every Spurs game will be broadcast there, which is especially helpful for those of us who aren't in the San Antonio area. You know, when we're not at the games. Please don't post links to illegal game feeds in the game thread. Links to illegal feeds are not permitted on SBNation, but you can probably find them out there on the internets if you're resourceful and desperate. In fact, nobody can stop you from googling "atdhe". You can also shoot an email to dmenendez@gmail.com for more assistance. Spurs League Pass audio is still free this year, so check it out. RadioIf you're in the San Antonio area and aren't near a TV, tune in to WOAI (1200 AM). |