Totally Uninformed Basketball Commentary

Take this for what it is, which is NBA playoff commentary from a guy who doesn't have cable, hence has actually, you know, seen very few of the games.

That said, I like San Antonio biting and clawing their way through the series with Phoenix. And, I like Phoenix calling them on it. Plus, I love Nash taking the high road until someone personally goes after him, at which point he goes all North-of-the-border batshit insane on Horry's geriatric ass. My guess on what he was yelling at Horry: "I'm gonna pound you so hard you'll be drinking maple syrup through a straw all summer, eh!"

Obviously, San Antonio knows that, although they can play the Phoenix pace well for a quarter or so a game, they can't keep it up for 48 minutes. Plus, if they let Phoenix go to the hole without paying some sort of price for it, the Suns will run them off the planet. So the physicality is necessary. And Phoenix knows how terrible NBA refs are, and if they can get popular sentiment on their side, that could swing 3 to 4 calls a game their way, which can be enough to win a tight series. And Nash knows that he is the face of the franchise, so if he holds the 'good cop' line while Stoudemire and Marion and Bell trash talk the Spurs, they get the best of both worlds, keeping a good rep while turning public opinion their way.

All that said, The Sports Guy makes some good points in arguing for a potential blowing up of the Phoenix roster in the offseason. In particular, I like KG-for-Stoudemire, with salary-fitting pieces thrown in. KG will slow down the Suns O, because he doesn't run as well as Stoudemire. Let's face it, nobody that big has ever run as well as Stoudemire. But Phoenix has been thriving as a defensive team this year (one of those counterintuitive facts that takes a Hollinger-esque points-per-100-possessions analysis to see), and Stoudemire is a liability here. He's not a great rebounder, and a bad defender. KG on the Suns would actually gnaw Duncan's face off, Hannibal Lecter-style, if that was what it took to get to the finals. KG has a lot of miles on the odometer, but has had short seasons the last 3 years, which has to help.

Damn, I really wish I had cable this month...