Tuesday night signified alot more than just a playoff elimination - it was the end of the modern Suns.  Though I am optimistic for next year, I’m also a realist.  I understand that with the emergence of young powerhouses such as Utah and New Orleans, the Suns are going to be fighting an up hill battle.  Remember the years of Starburry?   With the current status of the Suns’ financial situation look for a similar type team.  After next year the run n’ gun Suns are no more.

Sunday afternoon I had the pleasure of getting to see the Suns play live.  I tried to stay optimistic - yelling, cheering, the whole nine years.  In the end it was a route, sadly it felt like a little too late.  The main thing that keeps a glimmer of hope alive is how evenly matched the two teams are.  If the Spurs can win three in a row, then surely the Suns can as well. Game 5 is tomorrow hopefully we can maintain energy for a whole 48 minutes - if not the Suns are going to packing it home early this year. 

This is unexpected.  There is not much to say, the Spurs are playing better basketball than we are.  I keep hearing all the Suns’ fans say “we have more talent”, well talent isn’t shit if you don’t have a coach.   The Suns’ franchise is a sinking ship and D’ Antoni is the captain going down with it.  I still have a bit of optimisim - if any team could win four straight it is the Suns.  Sunday will be a true test of character.

After game two it became apparent what the Suns needed to beat the Spurs - no it wasn’t Shaq or a solid back up point guard, it was a different mentality.  The Suns lack what championship caliber teams have: mental wherewithal.   This is the 2nd game the Suns have blown a double digit lead.  Though this is a Suns blog, I will hold back my blog until we win games 3 and 4 so I have an optimistic outlook rather than borderline suicidal.

The Suns did everything they had to to move up in the seedings, however, the other teams failed.

This means the Suns will be taking on a familiar foe in the San Antonio Spurs.  Many readers will remember how David Stern stole our championship last year, so in my mind this is the semi-finals of the 2006-2007 playoffs again.  Even if the Suns fail to win a championship, but beat the living trash outta the Spurs - the season is a success in my mind.  If the Suns go so far as to beat the Lakers and the Spurs then it is just as good as winning the NBA championship (even if we lost to Boston or Detroit).

So the keys to the series?

1) David Stern not suspending our players over a bullshit rule that was implemented to regulate teams that have little to no discipline (IE: Pacers, Pistons, Knicks, basically any team that has gone insane in the past couple of years and caused a small riot)

2) The referees calling the game like the regular season.  Everyone knows the Spurs get preferential treatment, it will be up to the Suns to make a statement in game 1.

3) The offense of Steve Nash.  Nash has been timid the last couple of weeks.  Whether it be the fact he’s trying to bring the team cohesiveness to a high - or he’s running out of gas is irrelevant.  Nash is a big time player - he will be ready to play come Saturday / Sunday.

4) Amare Stoudemire’s defense / foul trouble.  STAT has to be disciplined.  He cannot pick up childish fouls and he must make crisp, smart rotations on defense.  Was I the only one screaming at the T.V. when STAT was guarding Biedrinds at the 3-point line on Monday?  It made no sense at all.  STATs defense of Duncan while the Diesel is refueling on the bench will be key.

5) CAN YOU DIG IT?  This is it.  Time to see if our big gamble will pay off.  Season series is 3-1 in favor of the Suns but everyone knows the playoffs are a completely diffrent monster.  Lets see if the Diesel can drive the Suns to their first championship.

First it was Magic Johnson … then it was Kobe Bryant … who’s next you might ask?  Carmelo Anthony.

The NBA’s image was tarnished yet again as one of their emerging superstars was pulled over for a DUI.  This type of ignorance won’t stop until someone dies.  These athletes make millions of dollars the least they could do is call a cab, stimulate the economy a little bit.  For Christ’s sake what NBA player gets drunk in the midst of a playoff battle?  The last time I checked the Nuggets haven’t secured anything.  If I were Melo the last thing I would be doing is going out getting plastered two days before the most important game of the season. Seriously though who does he think he is, Boris Diaw?

Sunssource will keep everyone updated on the developments of this story.

Since the Suns were off tonight I decided to check out the other games going on in the NBA.  The Mavs really helped us out by beating Utah with a clutch 3 pointer … and Golden State came up way short, blowing a sixteen point lead.  Now we can only hope that the Lakers lose tonight.  These last four games are going to be intense - the Rockets game on friday is a must win.

The Suns walked into San Antonio and left with a supreme amount of confidence knowing they took the season series 3-1 and they dominated the Spurs on their home court.  The Suns perfectly followed my keys to the game: shut down Ginobili and the bench, let Parker and Duncan try to beat you.  Make no mistake, we had trouble with Parker in the first half.  His drives were furious and his outside shooting was surprisingly on.  Duncan was his typical self … that is until the 4th quarter when the Big Aristotle took over.  Shaq went on a tear, shutting down the Spurs interior offense.

Amare Stoudemire is beginning to look like a 6″11 shooting guard.  He moves with the speed and agility of a tiger.  Slashing and slamming his way to twenty-one points.  If he can carry this momentum into the playoffs then the Suns’ chances of taking the title are looking good.   Friday is a big game against the Suns.  T-Mac has been benched with some shoulder problems, so hopefully we can capitalize on this and take it to them strong.