[UTA/SAS] Western Conference Finals discussion

Who will win the Western Conference title?


  • Total voters
    44

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
#2
This series will hinge on Kirilenko: if he plays like he did against Golden State, this will go down to the wire. If he plays like he did against Houston, Spurs in four, five tops.
 

Warhawk

Give blood and save a life!
Staff member
#3
I voted Spurs, but I *hope* Utah takes it. Love to see Sloan get a ring one of these years....
 
#4
I'm pretty sure San Antonio will win this series in 6.
One match-up will be really interesting to see : Boozer against Duncan
Boozer has to prove he's a beast even against the best. He was definetly unguardable against Golden Sate (i remember you GS, starting C is Al Harrington and thier only true C Biedrins was guarding Kirilenko :eek::confused:)

So it's going to be the best exam for Boozer.




Deron Williams must step up offensively because anyway he's going to have a HARD time guarding Parker.


Won't be a fun serie but it will be worth watching the adjustements in defense and offense game after game.

i'd like to see Kirilenko guarding Duncan and see what happens. Of course Drei can't guard TD on post up but Drei can make it very difficult for Duncan to get the ball.



Kirilenko won't have the same offensive product he had against GS just because it won't be Biedrins guarding him !
 
#5
I'll be very surprised if Utah could pull this one out, but it's not impossible. We'll just have to wait and see - and I'll be d*mned if I ever root for the Spurs when they're not playing Lakers.

I hope Bowen keeps his legs to himself. Last thing AK needs is another injury.
 
#7
I'm pretty sure San Antonio will win this series in 6.
One match-up will be really interesting to see : Boozer against Duncan
Boozer has to prove he's a beast even against the best. He was definetly unguardable against Golden Sate (i remember you GS, starting C is Al Harrington and thier only true C Biedrins was guarding Kirilenko :eek::confused:)

So it's going to be the best exam for Boozer.
It will be interesting to see whether Boozer can continue his great play in the playoffs. He was clearly the MVP for Utah in the first round, and GSW didn't have anyone to handle him, either. If he can play well against Duncan on both sides of the floor, he will give Utah a chance.


Deron Williams must step up offensively because anyway he's going to have a HARD time guarding Parker.
I think Fisher will start off guarding Parker, if for no other reason to try to help Williams avoid early foul trouble. Williams should certainly be able to check Michael Finley or Bruce Bowen.

I think the Spurs win in 6, but I'd really like to see Utah win this series. I think they need to steal the first game to really have a shot, though.
 
#8
I think Fisher will start off guarding Parker, if for no other reason to try to help Williams avoid early foul trouble. Williams should certainly be able to check Michael Finley or Bruce Bowen.

I think the Spurs win in 6, but I'd really like to see Utah win this series. I think they need to steal the first game to really have a shot, though.
oh yeah you're right
I forgot Fisher :) They will both try to guard Parker, Williams can guard Finley and Bowen, and Fisher can guard Bowen.
The help on defense will be very important for the Jazz to stop Parker and Ginobili ... there Kirilenko will be very helpfull
but the problem with the Spurs : if you rotate and help inside then Bowen, Finley, Barry, Horry will kill you from the 3pts line.
 

SLAB

Hall of Famer
#10
Im done with the western conference and most likely for the rest of the way.

I despise the Spurs...Every single player...Every single coach...Their style of play...Their cheap shots...Tim Duncan...Robert Horry...The list goes on and on.

The Jazz don't really bother me, but what does is that this is going to be a series of 78-69 defensive grind-em out thrillers...Yes, they are the deserving teams, but dang...Could there be a more boring matchup?

The only reason I will watch the east is for some hopeful LeBron magic...It won't happen, but what can hope. Oh well though.

Common football season!!!!
 
#11
The Jazz are my pick to go all the way, I have grown to like this team alot the passion they play with and there great team play I love it. Reminds me of the kings teams of 00-03, only with better defense lol. The Spurs have grown into the Bad Boys like the Pistons of the late 80's and that to me is exciting to. I like the smash mouth grind it out basketball. The Spurs yes there dirty sometimes, but there affective.
 
#12
The only way you're watching any more of the playoffs is if the least-talented and least-deserving of the four teams left gets to the Finals? :confused:
A team that gets to the finals strictly by their basketball game is deserving to be there, end of story. Besides, your mentioned things do not necessarily concide with "being fun to watch" (see Warriors, Golden State).

We have already seen SA vs Pistons finals matchup. Yes, it was kind of fun. No, I don't want to see it once more. Preferably, ever.

(Arguably Cavs, should they get there, would be more deserving for the finals than Spurs, but I'm not trying to start that again, just wondering about your criteria.)
 
#14
By what reasonable standard would the Cavaliers be more deserving than the Spurs?
Some people could (and indeed do) say that Spurs got a bit of a gift, if a small one, from the league officials. Cavs didn't get any such thing so far, and probably won't. So it could be said that Cavs (as well as Utah or Detroit) "earned" the spot more than Spurs did. I'm not saying that I think so (I don't), but it's a possible statement to make.

I think they're equal actually, as I said before.

By what reasonable standards do you then consider Spurs more deserving than Cavs?
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
#15
Proven excellence over time, and the fact that they have paid their dues; I'm a big proponent of "dues-paying," and the Cavaliers ain't paid enough, in my opinion.

That, and the fact that I am not in the camp of those that feel that the Spurs got a "gift." In the first place, I think that the Suns got what they had coming to them, and in the second place, I have thought from the beginning that San Antonio was the superior team, and believe in my heart that they would have won anyway.
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
#17
Probably not; forgive me if I seem unhelpful, but if you don't understand what I'm talking about when I speak of "dues," then I'm probably not articulate enough to explain it to you. The concept is just so intuitive to me, that I don't know how to convey it to someone that doesn't know what it is.
 
#18
I know what the word means, I just don't understand how it applies here.

Oh well, forget that I asked. In any case it seems like your criteria for deeming Spurs more worthy are quite subjective (not that it's a bad thing).
 
#19
Spurs players that i would like to share my opinions with you :
Bowen : too dirty, tried to get opponents injured. He will draw your jersey, grab you arm and it's perfectly done : when referees can't or don't look at it. He's the best defender on a guy like Hamilton or Ray Allen but he can't guard any power guard. How fun was it to watch Bonzi killing him everytime downlow on post up plays last year. Or Melo this year !
I respect him but it would be painfull to see him guard Kevin.

Parker : His rap songs, the lyrics are french and it's a blessing for non french speakers ! WTF ? When he speaks to french TV you have the feeling he thinks he is the french president. Me, Me, Tony P, Me, Me, Me. As a basketball player he's unguardable and he defends very well ! The only basketball thing i don't like with him is that he gets too much calls because he's small and light, sometimes he jumps on other interiors and gets free throws while it's an offensive foul.
Pop told him to not shoot 3pts anymore and he doesn't. That's something i have to respect, he's smart. last year he shot only 36 3s and this year 38. His firsts 4years : 787 !
I heard the Bulls did the same thing with Luol Deng and this year he shot only 7 3pts! That's really something intelligent, i give Spurs, Bulls, Parker, Deng credit for that.

Duncan : The best ! The only little problem i have with him is the star treatement he gets from referees, but you can't blame him for that, in a way he deserves it but sometimes it's too much.

Barry : I love him ! Don't take himself too much serious. Understand BasketBall is just a game and he has fun !

Finley : he's been a great players for the Spurs ! How much valuable is it for a team to have a veteran like Micheal Finley ? Priceless.

Ginobili brings fun and creativity to this team (gotta say it's not too much for the Spurs !). He doesn't have the regularity of a Rip Hamilton but he's way too skilled to just be a factor X.


I'd like to know more about Popovich if you know some good storis about him please post it :)

edit : i know i'm not on Spursreport ! :D
 
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#20
2 things:

1) How can people NOT enjoy this matchup? Two fundamentally sound teams playing playoff caliber basketball. The first quarter has been great so far.

2) Jeff van Gundy is LOVING being back on the broadcast team.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#21
Well that game didn't really do much for me...

Here's hoping the Jazz bring more fire to Tuesday's game.
 
#23
I think this series could easily be a sweep. Too bad. Probably won't watch much as I'm still a little miffed after having my entertainment ruined by the NBA in the previous series ;)

I'll watch Pistons/Spurs though!
 
#24
spurs in 5.

i like this matchup. i like both teams ( spurs much more of course ;) ) these are 2 well coached hard playing teams that play great D.

the game today was alright. it didn't really heat up until the 4th QT. the jazz did a nice job of making it intersting at the end. williams is going to be a stud next year. he can cause a lot of problems for the spurs in this series i imagine.

one thing for sure, it wasn't a 76-82 defense fest. 108-100, bring it on!
 
#26
i found the game to be very badly refereed, but what is new. that call towards the end, when duncan had the ball stripped from him was a real back breaker. it will be interesting to see the next game where at least one, probably two, of the big three plays bad, the jazz do not shoot as poorly, deron comes down to earth and duncan's whinings do not get him unjustified calls (one can always hope, i guess). the one thing the jazz have to absolutely do is find a few good offensive plays to open the spurs defense; the first half, they had nothing going for them. credit the spurs for that.
 
#27
This series will hinge on Kirilenko: if he plays like he did against Golden State, this will go down to the wire. If he plays like he did against Houston, Spurs in four, five tops.
i am thinking the same. the first game, kirilenko did not do much but you could see he was concentrated. his timing was a little off in his block, he did not trust his shot (unfortunately, this has become a real impediment in his game). the next game will show how much he wants to play basketball.
 
#28
....can also add JRich's flagrant 2 against the Jazz.
'Old-school' Horry would knock Nash down again
By Gene Wojciechowski
ESPN.com
Archive

SAN ANTONIO -- Trust me, they don't call him "Cheap Shot Bob" in this town. Instead, Robert Horry, the man whose shoulder shiver helped alter the look and feel of the NBA playoffs, received something Sunday afternoon that you don't see and hear every day: a spontaneous, heartfelt standing ovation that lasted a full 30 seconds.

For checking into the game.

"They just missed him," the Spurs' Michael Finley said of the reception. "As fans, you miss having a valuable part of your team."

Horry didn't put up much of a linescore in the San Antonio Spurs' 108-100 victory over the Utah Jazz in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. But he didn't have to. All he really had to do was show up.

"I'm just happy they accepted me back," said Horry, who can count on exactly one finger the number of times he's gotten a standing O for reporting to the scorer's table. "It was funny."

Or as Jazz guard Derek Fisher, a former Horry teammate with the Los Angeles Lakers, said, "I was actually jealous."

Exiled to David Stern's penal colony for two games, Horry finally returned to the court … and to a hero's welcome. The cheers weren't for his three rebounds, two assists and one blocked shot in 16:32 of playing time. It was for what happened Monday in this same AT&T Center. Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash can tell you all about it.

Horry's controversial body check of Nash in the closing seconds of Game 4 sent tremors through the Suns-Spurs series. Horry was suspended for those two games, but it was the one-game suspension of the Suns' Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw (for leaving the bench area after Horry's flagrant foul) that created a national uproar.

The short-handed Suns lost Game 5 at home and were closed out here Friday evening. Afterward, Nash said Stern's decision to suspend Stoudemire and Diaw "will forever haunt us."

It won't haunt Horry. The man previously known as "Big Shot Bob" has a long history of winning championships (no active player has won more than Horry's six NBA titles) and of making plays that matter. But the Nash controversy continues to puzzle him because, he said, he didn't do anything wrong.

"I'm still amazed at the notoriety that this one play got compared to Baron Davis' foul [against Fisher in the Golden State-Utah series] and Mikki Moore's foul [against Aleksandar Pavlovic in the Cleveland Cavaliers series]," Horry said. "Those were like malicious fouls in my eyes. Guys who can't protect themselves off their feet. Blow to the head."

According to the Horry School of Fouling, his shoulder check on Nash was perfectly acceptable playoff etiquette. That's why he didn't understand why everyone -- Nash, Stoudemire and Diaw, the media -- got bent like a paper clip.

"You know what?" Horry said. "If I had the situation to do all over again, I would still [do it]. That's just the way I'm programmed. You go over there and foul, and you foul them hard. The only thing I wish I could have changed is that it wouldn't have been that close to the scorer's table. Other than that, I'm an old-fashioned player, an old-school player who will foul you and foul you hard."

Nash was a rookie when Horry joined the Suns in 1996. They used to play one-on-one together in the Suns' practice gym. They took drives in the car together. Horry respected Nash then, and he respects him now. But that doesn't mean Nash, or anybody for that matter, gets a free pass in the postseason.

"I think on my part -- and I think [Nash has] been in the league long enough to realize -- it's just basketball," Horry said. "I can understand if I had clotheslined him and tried to hurt him, but that was just a bump. Hopefully, in his eyes, he'll look at it as just basketball and no hard feelings. Because when you're trying to win, you have no friends until you walk off the court."

Horry probably doesn't have many friends in Phoenix, not that he cares. He said Stoudemire and Diaw have only themselves to blame for getting suspended.

"They complained … like I can get in their heads and play Nintendo with their minds and bodies and get them to walk out onto the court," Horry said.

No, he said, this was about something more basic. This was about the unwritten code of playoff basketball that Horry, now in his 15th season, learned during the 1994 NBA Finals. The New York Knicks vs. Horry's Houston Rockets. Horry went in for a dunk, and Knicks enforcer Anthony Mason took him out. Horry bounced hard against the wooden floor.

"I had two sprained wrists and a hairline fracture in my *** after it happened," he said. "I knew what had happened, but I was hurt. I got up after that, but it was still painful. You just played on. You don't worry about it. Nobody [from the Rockets' bench] ran over there trying to push and shove, trying to cause anything. It was just a hard foul, and you get up and go."

Nash eventually got up, but it was obvious after the Game 6 closeout loss that he felt the suspensions had denied the Suns a chance to compete on an even level. I agreed and told Horry the best postseason series had been reduced to what-ifs.

Horry scoffed at it.

"Every year's going to be a what-if," he said. "That's the game of basketball. What if a guy turns his ankle? What if a guy gets in a car wreck coming to the arena? There are so many different aspects that could happen that nobody knows. Only the man upstairs knows."

Except that Horry's foul on Nash wasn't an accident. It was done on purpose and with the Suns' victory already assured. Doesn't matter to Horry. The playoff code is the playoff code. And he isn't the only one who thinks that way.

"It's a part of our game," said Fisher, an 11-year veteran. "It's not like he picked him up and threw [Nash] over the scorer's table. He hit him."

So I asked Horry what he'll do if the same set of circumstances presents itself in the series against the Jazz. Utah guard Deron Williams dribbling down the court … the Jazz comfortably ahead in the final minute … seconds ticking off the game clock.

Horry looks at me as though I've asked him whether he wears socks during the game. Of course he'd foul Williams.

"But I'd fall down this time and make it look like I'm trying to take a charge," he said. "I've got to look like I'm trying to get ready to take a charge and fall down. Then everybody would be like, 'Oh, he got knocked down, too.'"

Horry is laughing now. He gets up from the chair in front of his locker and begins to walk away.

"Can't tell more secrets," he said.

Gene Wojciechowski is the senior national columnist for ESPN.com. You can contact him at gene.wojciechowski@espn3.com.