Spurs in 6

    All roads to the championship converge deep in the heart of Texas. The San Antonio Spurs kick off this years playoffs against the sixth seed Suns on Sat at 3:30pm (central) and look to have a repeat of last year's result in the 2nd round of the Western Conference playoffs, which the Spurs won in 6 games.

     This series brings with it a heated rivalry fueled by epic regular season battles and last year's controversial call which suspended big man Stodumire and Barbosa who violated the NBA's apparently very strict off the bench rule. David Stern, borrowing a pair from his counter part in the NFL, suspended the two infringers and Robert Horry who put the hit on Nash that caused them to stand up. Make no mistake I believe the Spurs still would have won that series, in six games, however I can empathize with Phoenix fans who felt they were cheated.

    However, the Suns bring a new face and a new attitude to this series as Shaq has proved to be a good fit for the club that sparked a variety of trades (see my other article entitled Last Team Standing). Shaq provides an imposing figure on defense, something the Suns have been sorely lacking, and also a decent and surprisingly consistent offensive production as well as he has really allowed Amare to play his more natural PF position. 

    The Spurs are not going to allow this new look Suns team to beat them. San Antonio is on a mission to gain its 5th title and first back-to-back championship. San Antonio has sufficient depth at big man with Oberto, Thomas, and Bonner to put a body on Shaq to take fouls and Duncan will contribute his always stalwart defense. Tony Parker and Bruce Bowen will match-up with Steve Nash, Bowen in there to harass Nash which should frustrate the efficient point guard, hopefully generating turnovers. Manu Ginboli is a wild card that can really spark this team off the bench and should prove to be very effective.

     ESPN experts are across the board, save one, picking the Suns in 6, I believe that Pop is too good a coach and this is too good a team to allow the Suns to win more than 2 games, however I can see this becoming a legen-wait for it-dary battle of western conference titans. It's just too bad it is the first round because both teams have a legit shot at the title.