[Arles]

Originally Posted by TroyF

1) Pop simply outcoached D'antoni. I mean crushed him. It was the biggest mismatch on the floor. The three Finley hits to send the game into OT was made mainly because Grant Hill wasn't in the game defending. Instead you had a small PG who had no prayer of getting a hand in his face. It was horrible strategy. The Hack a Skinner and Hack a Shaq moves that each were a turning point. And of course, the TD three. More about that in my next man to blame slot. . .

Agree completed on the Grant Hill point. Having Barbosa (6-2) guard Finley (6-7) on a final shot was stupid. Amare also killed the Suns by sagging on Oberto instead of doubling Finley on the screen.

2) Shaq. The media sure loves to fawn over him, don't they? OOOHHHH, look at that block on Timmy D. That was clutch. And Shaq sure loves to use excuses. The floppers won, huh Shaq? Well, yeah, SA flops. But as long as you have Amare, I really don't want to hear a lot about flopping, ok Big Diesal?

Shaq only played 4 minutes in the first and got his 4th 25 seconds into the 3rd. And, given 2 of those 4 fouls were obvious flop, it's not surprising he made some comments. I suppose if Duncan played 4 minutes in the first half because of flops he wouldn't have made any comments?

As to the 3, you tip your hat. The Suns should have fouled Manu when he drove inside the lane. But, Duncan would probably have been the preferred person to shoot the 3 when compared to Finley, Manu, Barry and others. If Duncan bricks that shot, everyone is talking about how Pop blew it on the final possession.

Yet lets look at the reality of this game now. The highest paid player on the court had to be taken out of the game for four minutes of the fourth quarter because he couldn't hit a FT. When he got his 5th foul, Manu attacked him and scored repeated layups because Shaq didn't want to get a 6th. This is even counting late in the first OT when the Suns had a good sized lead. They couldn't get the critical stop because Shaq didn't want to get a 6th foul.

Did you see Shaq's two blocks on Duncan and 2 rebounds in key spots? Heck, if Amare stops and shoots the jumper from 7 feet instead of barreling over Kurt Thomas, Shaq is the hero.

This is no more evident than on the three pointer by Tim Duncan. There is one thing the Suns couldn't afford to give up there. A wide open three pointer. To anyone. That's the only thing that can hurt you. The first mistake the Suns make there is not fouling when Manu starts dribbling. That's one of the single worst coaching moves we'll see this postseason.

Yeah, that was the big mistake.

Words can't even describe how idiotic that was. This was compounded by Shaq staying in the lane to prevent a Ginobili drive on a two point shot with under 5 seconds left. Instead of saying "gee Manu, take the two, we've won the game, Shaq decides to D up on him instead of running out to put a hand in TD's face. I don't care how you slice this, it was lazy and stupid basketball. (I'm a Nuggets fan, I know stupid and lazy basketball when I see it) And it's made by your highest paid player, the one you traded for to win a title.

The Duncan shot was a rotation issue where Bell was late. Shaq hedged on the screen to double Manu - remember when the screen was set, Manu was in 3-point land. Are saying Shaq should have left Manu open and ran back to Duncan to protect Duncan's 3?

Shaq rode him out to the center and forced Manu towards the hoop. That's where Nash or Amare should have fouled him. Then, Shaq was a good 20 feet from Duncan going the other direction. Bell should have closed on the 3, but that would have left his man open. Given the foul was not taken on Manu, there was no way for any of the other people to get to Shaq without leaving a better 3-point shooter open. Shaq was too far away (going the other direction) forcing Manu off the line to get there.

Getting back to the coaching, why was Shaq even in there? What good was he going to do for the Suns at that point? Stop a two point shot you wanted the Spurs to take? Maybe get the rebound so he can get fouled, miss two shots and give the Spurs a second chance to win the game? The guy had 5 boards in 30 minutes anyway.

I agree that Shaq should have been on the bench for a better defender. I'm not sure they had a chance to sub, but if they did, he should have been out.

The Suns have a chance to win the series and recover from this. But they'd better damned well have their coach get his head out of his ass and their 20 million dollar player to stop bitching about the flops and instead maybe run out at a three point shooter who is in the process of tying up the basketball game.

Mike D made some mistakes, but blaming Shaq is silly. If you would have told me that the Suns would win game 1 in SA if Duncan misses a 3-point shot with 3 seconds left, I would have gladly taken it. The Spurs hit two tough 3s to win the game, that's life. I agree with the fouling and subbing for Hill, but there's a very good chance one of those two doesn't go in and the Suns are heros. Also, the comments on flopping are just frustration. You give Duncan or Manu the foul situation Shaq had (with atleast 2 flops) and compound it with a tough loss and you would see all kinds of complaining on their end too. Honestly, I wouldn't pay it much attention.

We'll see what happens in game 2, but the Suns have to feel pretty good about themselves. I doubt Shaq plays 4 minutes in the first half of game 2 and Nash plays less than a day after being bed-ridden with the flu. In the end, the Suns are in a solid position - they know they can win in SA, they just have to have better offensive possessions in crunch time.