OCR Text |
Show SPORTS PAGE 8 THURSDAY 3/10 Daily Utah Chronicle Suns not NBA champion material Words ©f wisdom (Big. and. Com& > ^ Bean Rnn furnlfuzeJ 801.487.2602 3362 S. Main Street, Suite B Massive Student Discounts "You've got to be very careful if you don 7 know where you're going, because you might not get there," -Yogi Berra Lowest Prices in America Uiinnilf A _ A=B. That's the logical analysis a lab rat will use to deduce that stepping on a lever, which shocks the living hell out of you, is bad. Rats aren't very smart, and we are, so we should be able to understand this. See that? A>B, B>C, therefore A>C. It's Matthew Piper easy enough, right? Columnist So why doesn't anybody seem to be applying this logic to the NBA's Phoenix Suns? has come close to winning a Since New York and Chi- championship with a "run and cago stole basketball from Los gun" offense. Every year pundits expound Angeles and Boston, nobody UTAH VS. ARIZONA ST Ken Garff - Siegfried & Jensen Showdown Fri, Mar 18,2005* 7 PM l O O H l CHAMPIONSHIPS Students are FREE with student ID and guest passes are just S3. For more info on the Red Rocks, go to www.utahutes.com. 1615 S. Foothill, Salt I Special Offers at www.m8F!$ ••i PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE AN AGENT-WHO TAKES CARE OF THEM? Iff CALL ME FOR A FREE PROTECTION REVIEW. JOHN THOMAS 582-6600 231 SOUTH 1300 EAST (1II block off campus) /instate You're in good hands. Allstate Property and Casualty Company, Northbrook, Illinois. © 2000 Allstate Insurance Company Student fllumni flssociation Board flie Student filumni flssociation Board has positions open to Uniuersity of Utah students mho mill be registered for 2005-2006 academic year. ?:••%-; XT'- -"'^'"'i" '<"•"•'•/ > ' The University of Utah Student Alumni vij Association (SAA) offers a unique opportunity for students to work with U of U alumni and other students to participate in planning and participating in various campus ^*^|g:4v programs. BioLife PLASMA SERVICES I Help Save a Life! Donate Plasma Today. Receive $45 each week. Call 801-363-7697 609 S. State, SLCUT 84111 www.biolifeplasma.com Bring in this ad for a $5 bonus. (New Donors Only Please) T R A V i L Student Airfare FVT LIKE YOU Paris. London Amsterdam Rome Brussels UUJsl.HIJUJ Paris London Amsterdam Rome Brussels President and UP flpplications due monday, march 21 Board member flpplications due monday, march 28 flpplications must be turned in by deadline no later than 5:00 p.m. to the fllumni House, 155 S. Central Campus Driue. 581-3895 Applications and more information are available $288 $327 $350 $350 $424 .$26/nt $21/nt $30/nt $23/nt $27/nt Great Trips European Getaway" Start in London, travel by train to Paris •Book a 6, 8 or 10-day Eurail Selectpass in March and get an additional day free Suhjaa TO eharvgt »nd »vallotclity. Alrfaie to rouoduip. Airfare pflt#* s;e vaikl until Mar 15,2005 and may Irweatrt atlarwaids, 'Great Trips' do net iocluda alrfaiv. Taxw and other applicable 1*ti nol Included. 8/dayS <C*7QQ *P * »J»J "Europe Highlights" France, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, Austria, Germany, Holland, Belgium . _. . 16/days <t1 Q ^ R * •#•»»'•' fff^TRAVEL www.statravel.com the merits of an offensive superpower that is making easy work of the NBA field in the regular season. Don't get me wrong. The Mavericks and Kings are two of basketball's three most prolific regular-season teams over the last four years (San Antonio has the top record), employing high-octane offensive threats, who gladly sacrifice on the defensive end. These teams always do best in the regular season, for several reasons. First, NBA players don't actually start really hustling until at least March. If I shoot almost 100 percent unguarded and you want to sit at one end of the court all night, leaving each of us open for easy shots, Peja, that's fine by me. Hell, I'm just here for the $100,000 or so I get for my one-fifth contribution to i/82nd of my team's regular season success, which is not even important once April rolls around. If you think NBA players care about games in November, you are probably an NBA player's mom. In addition to slacking off on the court, a team does not thoroughly gameplan for their opposition in the regular season, and familiarity waivers as teams can wait months before facing each other. In the playoffs, teams are always well prepared. They focus on wealcnesses with the intensity on which a fierce lion can increase the grip on its prey, thus finding its mark. A good way of gauging a team's playoff chances in today's NBA is to examine how they played against the Spurs, who play in this carnivorous manner all the time. Incidentally, they are the only team the Suns haven't beaten this season. Well, at least until last night: I'm writing this before the Suns-Spurs game, which I absolutely believe the Suns could win at America West Arena. This is especially if Duncan gets called with tickytack fouls and misses 15 free throws because of the raucous crowd (which he will continue to do, it seems, until the day he hangs em' up and misses the hook). Nevertheless, the best player in the NBA doesn't have any other weaknesses, and those that I've mentioned pale in comparison to those of the Suns. In the two Spurs/Suns contests this season, Phoenix looked thoroughly overmatched. The Spurs destroyed them in San Antonio, 115-94, a n d pulled out a 128-123 overtime victory in Phoenix. The former exemplified why the Suns can't hang with the best, particularly on the road. The Spurs consistently hustled back on team defense, forcing the Suns to run the same high pick-and-roll all night against the Spurs' 1-3— Tony Parker, Manu Ginobilli, and Bruce Bowen—the best group of perimeter defenders in the NBA. Steve Nash penetrated several times, but he quickly abandoned his slashing strategy as Duncan amassed five blocks underneath. Amare Stoudamire—who has clearly emerged as one of the NBA's most explosive scorers—scored 37, but his efforts alone weren't nearly enough to overcome the balanced attack of San Antonio. Regardless of this absurd "Nash for MVP" campaign, Stoudamire stands as the ONLY reliable one-on-one scoring threat the Suns have in crunch time, when defenses don't allow wide-open looks. "The Matrix" does his best work in the cyber world, compiling incredible fantasy numbers, but never really showing when the pressure's on. Nash is an excellent shooter, but only when he shoots with the element of surprise. When there isn't any momentum flowing, as is often the case in snail-paced playoff contests, he tends to freeze up. The Suns overcompensated SEE S U N S PAGE 10 |