Does it look like Amare wants a ring? He’s gonna boof it on everyone.

Shaq or Tim Duncan has played in the last nine NBA Finals and have 4 championship rings apiece. Shaq has been the most dominant player of his generation; Duncan the most steady.

The competitive regular season in the Western Conference presently means absolutely nothing. These two teams have been wanted to get at each other for an entire year now in this arena. The monster trade of one of the most dynamic athletes of our time will pay dividends right here and right now. What an imposing front line. We all heard all the pundits scream like little sissies about how this trade was going to foul up the Suns winning program and I have to say…what winning program? What have the suns won besides fan and media acclaim? Shaq is Shaq. This move was imperative for the Suns to have a realistic chance in June and the irony of facing the defending champs after what happened last year is incredible. Teams will think twice now about bullying Nash because the Big Fella will assuredly have his back.

I spoke with Shaq and asked him how the transition into the Suns fast paced system was going: “It’s coming along well. Amare is always going to be our first option because on this team guys don’t really worry about getting shots. We are going to get Amare going first and everything else will fall into place. Whenever I get ballin’ expect a high percentile of my shots falling–around 60%.”

The season really wasn’t a true barometer of how this series might shape up because of the late addition of Shaq. Say whatever you want, but he wasn’t healthy.

I asked Amare if anything has changed with Shaq’s arrival and also what will be the determining factor in the Suns finally advancing to the NBA Finals and he offered: “We have to be totally aware every night. Every single possession is important–especially defensively. We have to know when to get a big stop defensively. Once we do that we can get to the next step. Our focus has to be different than in years past. Night in and night out we really have to tune in. We have to commit to shutting guys down defensively. We are definitely improving on the offensive end. No. Nothing has changed since the Big Fella. You are just seeing a little bit more now that I’m playing my natural position. A lot of people think it was the Big Fella but I’m just more comfortable out there on the floor now.”

Grant Hill is nursing a sore groin and is day to day for the first couple games of the series. Steve Nash, who has been thoroughly overshadowed this season by both Derron Williams and Chris Paul, is still a monster doing what he does. He is the boss on the floor and is looking to validate his bogus double MVPs which hopefully was an NBA aberration by claiming June victory. Leandro Barbosa, Boris Diaw and Raja Bell must play as frenetic as possible or Timmay will wing bank shot them to death when his team needs him to.

Manu Ginobli is one of the best players in the league and if he gets off to the tune of 20+ points in his limited minutes the Suns have no chance because possessions will be at a premium. While this team is getting older by the minute, Tony Parker seems to be alone in hitting his prime–albeit with pure professional reticence. Don’t sleep on Parker because this truly is the only match up in the Spurs favor individually (besides Duncan obviously). Bruce Bowen can’t kick and snatch and grab and bite and pinch the whole squad can he?

Shaq is not havin’ that.

Can you really count the Spurs out? They are the defending champs.

Greg Popovich is going to have this team ready as in years past but the question that will be have to be answered is how are the Spurs going to contend with Amare and Shaq? Mike D’antoni has become a better coach by–at least for now–trashing the Euroball for a more conventional playoff tested offensive approach.

Grant Hill begins gets his best chance to win a ring.

I’m calling for the upset.

Conditioning and foul trouble will become factor for the Spurs. Amare goes crazy and Shaq wins an Oscar in support. It’s just too much to ask of Tim Duncan.

Suns in seven

Game 1: San Antonio 117, Phoenix 115 Double OT

Tim Duncan: 40 points and 15 rips

Tony Parker: 26 points and 5 dimes

Manu Ginobli: 24points, including game winner

Amare Stoudemire: 33 points and 7 rips

Steve Nash: 25 points and 13 dimes

Shaq: 11 points, 5 rips and 4 blocks

Keys to the game: Phoenix foul trouble and San Antonio mental toughness

Hat Tip: Odenized 

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This entry was posted on Saturday, April 19th, 2008 at 7:33 pm and is filed under Amare Stoudemire, Manu Ginobli, Shaquille O’Neal, Steve Nash, Tim Duncan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.