Phoenix Suns Daily Links: Game 1 Wrap Up

Are Suns fans over confident? Probably.....

NOT!!!

Just kidding :) I think we are properly confident. Surviving a nightmare collapse in Game 1 plus the laws of basketball gravity (size matters) plus depth and the probability that Timmy will wear down ... all that favors Phoenix.

Besides, what else would I say?

Suns Fans Very Confident About Game 1 Win, But Should They Be? | SB Nation
Then again, perhaps the real issue with the small lineup is that Popovich rolled it out too early. There's an argument to be made that it was better suited to being used later in the series, when the Suns weren't expecting it. Now that the Suns have seen it, they can make adjustments early in the series to counter it. I guess we'll see about that.

Jon Barry giving the Suns some love..(via Sport 620 KTAR)

Audio: Jon Barry KTAR 050410

• Game 1 - Quick Cap | Pounding The Rock
  Your best source for quality San Antonio Spurs news, rumors, analysis, stats and scores from the fan perspective.
• Nash Lands First Punch in Latest Slugfest With Spurs | NBA FanHouse
  If an NBA neophyte fan wandered into the Phoenix locker room late Monday night, they would have mistaken Steve Nash for a Suns staff member angling for a free meal.
• Paul Coro - Signs said to get Nashty | azcentral.com blogs - Coro's Suns dish
  Coro's Suns dish: Phoenix Suns update: Three fans' signs on the San Antonio bench's side of the arena all gave the Spurs their warning. "Let's get Nashty," read each of the three signs, dotting US Airways Center's south lower bowl. The man with the bum... />
• Paul Coro - J-Rich's riches and more notes | azcentral.com blogs - Coro's Suns dish
  Richardson always has been a scorer but he has never looked more confident in purple and orange than these playoffs, when he is averaging a team-high 24 points and shooting 54 percent from the field and 51 percent from 3-point range. He never has had a reputation for clutch shots but that was another one he hit Monday night, when he iced the game with a 3-pointer that put Phoenix ahead by eight with 1:23 remaining.
• Alvin Gentry Responds to Gregg Popovich's 'Hack-a-Lou' Strategy | NBA FanHouse
  PHOENIX -- There was a point in the Suns' Game 1 win over the Spurs when Gregg Popovich decided to have one of his players
• Parker Plays Like a Starter in Loss | NBA FanHouse
  PHOENIX -- The Spurs finished just seventh in the Western Conference during the regular season, but the reasons for that were obvious.
• Game 1 win sets the tone for the series | Valley of the Suns
  There’s a reason that the team that wins Game 1 takes about four out of every five series in the NBA. Grant Hill was talking on Saturday about how Tim Duncan’s three-pointer that capped a 16-point comeback in Game 1 of Suns-Spurs two years ago just kind of demoralized the Suns to the extent that it took them a couple games to recover (and at that point it was too late). Hill thought the same thing happened to the Spurs in the West Finals that year when they blew a 20-point lead to the Lakers in Game 1 and never recovered either, losing in five games. Hill said Spurs player corroborated that observation after the fact. As far as Suns-Spurs goes, Game 1 has always made for a telling and/or bizarre game this decade.
• Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash comes up big
  This team has a chip on its shoulder the size of the Grand Canyon. The Spurs are a reminder of how they've failed, not succeeded. Fans, too. They held a fair share of anti-Spurs signs and couldn't get enough of yelling at Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili.
• Basketbawful
  Richardson finished with 27 points while shooting 10-for-16 from the field and 3-for-6 from downtown. The Suns are now 30-4 this season (regular season and playoffs) when Richardson scores 20-plus points. On the other end of the good-suck spectrum is Jefferson, who logged 33 minutes but scored only 5 points on 1-for-3 shooting. Remember: This guy was supposed to be the Difference Maker for the 2009-10 Spurs. Instead, he's been their Walton's foot.
• George Hill: Hill is still starting at PG for San Antonio, and like Jefferson he played for 33 minutes. Too bad he forgot to contribute. The line: 2-for-9 from the field, 0-for-5 from beyond the arc, and only 1 assist. And Nash abused him so badly I'm surprised the Department of Family and Protective Services wasn't called in.
• John Hollinger leads the Smackdown | TrueHoop Blog - ESPN
  Stat Geeks agree the playoffs are fairly predictable... except for that one series with the teams from Phoenix and San Antonio.
• Suns avoid Game 1 collapse | ESPN
  Yet you would also have to say, based on this evidence, that it's going to be a vintage Suns-Spurs series on the drama scale, despite the repeated pleas from Gentry and other Phoenix types that the Suns' painful playoff history with these guys should be ignored, since so many Suns are new to the tension these teams generate.
• The Official Phoenix Suns Blog " Blog Archive " Suns Hold Off Spurs in Game 1
• SUNS: 10 Points on Suns-Spurs Series
• SUNS: Dragic Takes On Former Team in Second Round
• SUNS: Nash Leads Suns to Game 1 Semifinals Win Over Spurs
• SUNS: Postgame Quotes: Suns vs Spurs Round 2, Game 1
  You can’t get too excited – they’re a team with a great pedigree that knows how to come back in a series. I think we played well on both ends, did a phenomenal job on the boards, but we’ve got to stay hungry and get ready for Game 2.
• NBA Playoffs Spurs Suns Series Preview: The Welcome Embrace Of Ancient Enemies | Hardwood Paroxysm
  Do you know what nemesis means? A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent.  -Bricktop, Snatch (2000)
• NBA Playoffs Spurs Suns: Act One, In Which We Are Bestowed The Exposition | Hardwood Paroxysm
  Matt Moore waxes operatic about Game 1.