Game 2 Preview : Spurs at Suns

Yeah Pop. We were all yelling during this game too. (Photo: Yardbarker.com)

Game two tonight in the Desert and the San Antonio Spurs are looking even this series.  As the situation sits up perfectly as it did against the Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio can take away home court from the Suns and return back home with momentum.

Phoenix has momentum with the performance they put out.  Steve Nash scored 33, 17 in the first quarter to set the tone for the Suns.  Our big three played well but we need more from the supporting cast.

After the jump you can check out our preview of tonights game!

NBAPlayoffs Game 2 | Suns Lead Series 1-0

 Where: US Airways Center, Phoenix, Arizona

When: May 5, 2010, 8:00 PM CST

Television: TNT

3-0

3-1

1-3

2-1

94.6

104.4

95.4

94.3

45.9

47.9

29.9

38.7

70.6

77.5

41.3

41.3

12.1

12.4

Lost 1

Won 3

THE MATCHUPS    

POINT GUARDSGeorge Hill | Steve Nash   

What We Say: George looked a frustrated during his time guarding Nash.  He also did not shoot the ball well, 2 for 9.  Surely he got a nice talking to by Coach Pop after the game and we will see a different George out in Game two, more aggressive on offense and defense. You can get it done, your a lot younger than Nash, remember that.Really not much to say about Nash.  You all saw the game, you saw what he did to us.  33 points is what he ended with and he simply made it look easy against whomever was trying to guard him. 

Advantage: Suns 

SHOOTING GUARDSManu Ginobili | Jason Richardson 

What We Say: Gino played well. His line score was outstanding.  Though when we needed to set up a and get a good shot, I felt that he rushed and took some bad shots, beyond the arc.  I do like what I see, broken nose, doesn’t matter, he will always be the Manu we all like.  I see him being more patient in game two. 

JRich continued his strong play, it has extended past the Blazers series.  He hit some key three pointers down the stretch for the Suns.  We know Coach Pop, he will have something up his sleeve to take care of Rich. 

Advantage: Even 

SMALL FORWARDSRichard Jefferson | Grant Hill 

What We Say: Jefferson needs to ask for the ball more.  He can take Hill to the hole, he can have himself a field day.  We will see if we see him call for the ball more.  When he did get the ball, nothing was falling for him.    

Hill helped out on the defenseive end, offense, he didn’t do much.  

Advantage: Even 

POWER FORWARDSTim Duncan | Amare Stoudemire  

What We Say: Timmy played well even though he looked a bit tired in the first quarter.  He did finish with a double-double, 20 and 11. Free throws, free throws, free throws.  Duncan needs to start dropping them easy ones down.  He is shooting pretty bad from the line (I know he always has but come on).  Also, we need to see the big man help out on the pick-n-rolls.   

Stoudemire is too athletic.  He can have anything he wants against Duncan and any of the Spurs if need be.  Though he did not do that he was patient on the offensive end.    

Advantage: Even 

CENTERSAntonio McDyess | Jarron Collins  

What We Say: We need to see Dyess on the floor more, POP give him more minutes.  We need more rebounding and defense. And we know he can provide that.

Jarron Collins????? Yeah insert what you will here.

Advantage: Spurs 

BENCH AND ROLE PLAYERSTony Parker | Leandro Barbosa

What We Say: Tony gave us that spark off of the bench with 26 points.  He though did not have enough help from his supporting cast.  Red Rocket needs to come in and knock down some threes.  What else is he out there for?  Bogans needs to be on the floor more.  Mason, where the hell are you?  We are in the playoffs, we need you to knock down some damn shots! Lets go!

Channing Frye hit some big shots for the Suns, those being threes.  The rest of the Suns bench did what we need ours to do, defense and energy.Advantage: Even

 What We Say: Phoenix started off the way they know how, fast.  Steve Nash set the tone for them hitting 17 in the opening quarter.  We cannot have that happen again, and I don’t think Pop will let that happen again.

Suns and their fans got a boost from winning game one, we just have to go in and take care of business, take the home court away like we did against Dallas and we will be okay.

Our big three needs to get some help from RJeff and company, we can get this done.

Keys To The Game

• Defense – We can’t let Nash get off to the start that he did in game one.  He got himself into the lane to easy scoring 17 in the first quarter.  Pick-N-Roll defense needs to also improve.
• Protect the Ball – Turnovers! Suns turned our mistakes into 27 fast break points, not good. We also need to stop forcing shots.
• Rebounding – +8 for the Suns on the defensive end.
• 3 PT/FT Shooting – No doubt needs to improve.

Some Other Reading

Suns

Sun-N-Gun – Fanside’s own Phoenix Suns home.  Nate does an outstanding job over there.

Bright Side of the Sun – SB Nation’s Phoenix Suns blog.  They do an excellent job. 

Valley of the Suns – True Hoop blog dedicated to Phoenix 

Spurs 

48 Minutes of Hell:  Tim, Graydon, Jessie and Andrew do an awesome job over at 48MOH. 

Project Spurs: Michael DeLeon and his gang over at PS always have good reads and also get indepth on stats of the games.  

Pounding the Rock:  Wayne Vore and company have a very entertaining blog over at SB Nation.  Simply a great, great place (outside of Air Alamo) for good Spurs enterainment.

Where to Tune In

TV 

This game will be on TNT

Radio 

If you’re in the San Antonio area and aren’t near a TV, tune in to WOAI (1200 AM)