There aren't any (sane) Suns fans left who think this series can be salvaged. At this point its a matter of pride and heart. Getting swept by the Spurs is unacceptable. Getting swept on your home floor unfathomable.
The Suns need to come out and show the poise and composure that's been lacking all series. The Spurs are not going to hit all those open jumpers again but they are also not going to let down.
Shaq needs to step up after a horrible first half in game 3. He was catching the ball to far from the rim and not making any attempt to spin or go strong to the rim. Instead he was settling for out of range hook shots.
Nash needs to find a way to keep the offense flowing, the ball moving and to work some screens to get his own shot off. In the 1st quarter the ball was sticking and the Suns looked flat. They were getting the ball into Shaq but weren't even trying to run any down screens to get him in good position under the rim.
Defensively, its all about the activity, energy and rotations. The Suns aren't suddendly become a great defensive team. But with enough hustle they can overcome the lack of coherent defensive strategy and at least get enough stops to win this game.
If you want to see great defense, watch how three Spurs collapse on Diaw as soon as he beats his man. They close off the passing lanes to Shaq and Amare and force a tough pass out to Bell. Because the pass was contested it doesn't get to Bell in place where he can quickly shoot and by the time he gets set the Spurs have recovered back.
Most importantly, the Suns need to do much better in those key stretches of the game. Game 3 was lost in the final 2 minutes of the first half. The Sun had closed to within 7 and were down 48-41. They had actually outscore the Spurs at that point in the quarter by 7 points. The Spurs then went on a 13-6 run to close the half capped by Parker's inexcusable coast to coast drive at the buzzer.
Then in the 3rd quater coming out down by 14 they promptly gave up another run and within 4 minutes were down by 20 and the game was effectively over.
Most importantly, its time to show some of this...
