# Lineup that works best



## Kekai (Jan 12, 2005)

Nash
JJ
Marion
Amare
Hunter

I think we should try to play this lineup alot. Seems to work good


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## Sedd (Sep 1, 2003)

Kekai23 said:


> Nash
> JJ
> Marion
> Amare
> ...


Yep they had a lead for awhile with that Lineup. That lineup hits the boards harder and got a few more stops.


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## jibikao (Nov 14, 2004)

Without JJ, I agree with your lineup. 


My gameplan is to actually let Duncan go one-on-one ALL THE TIME. Sonics did it in Game 3 and it was successful. 

Our defense rotation is weak at best and it doesn't help that we tend "not to foul", so doubling Duncan does nothing but disturb our fragile defense. 

And double team Duncan will lead to Barry going for huge 3pt... agrrr :curse: 


Some of our starters weren't in foul trouble in the 4th quarter. We should foul hard to dare them to come in. We are just too soft on the defensive end. I mean Sonics did it to Parker/Manu. 


Adjustments will be made for game 2. I expect a win. If we lose game 2...man, we need some kinds of miracle to win this whole series. Hopefully we have Red Sox in us!!! We haven't given up and I don't see why we should. 

We just need ONE win to get our confidence back. Just ONE win. This Spurs team is far from being invincible. If anything, we suffer more mismatches 'cause of short-handed roster and no JJ.


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

Kekai23 said:


> Nash
> JJ
> Marion
> Amare
> ...


Which JJ? Joe or Jim? If Joe is even plays, we should have him come off the bench for a bit, and start Jim Jackson. Having Joe and Q could lead to things off the bench. Q needs to do something though.


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## SPUROFTHAMOMENT (May 23, 2005)

Yeah, keep Hunter in for 30 minutes again. Let Marion keep playing the SF so Bruce Bowen can pester him like he did Ray Allen and Carmelo Anthony. Let Amare keep trying to guard Duncan so he can foul out as usual. Its funny how he picked up a quick 2 fouls in the first and Nash, Richardson, Marion and Hunter all end up in foul trouble. Guess that's how home court works out huh?


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## thekid (Apr 3, 2003)

Hunter was on Duncan a lot as well. I think Phoenix gets a major boost with Joe Johnson expected to come back.


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## jibikao (Nov 14, 2004)

SPUROFTHAMOMENT said:


> Yeah, keep Hunter in for 30 minutes again. Let Marion keep playing the SF so Bruce Bowen can pester him like he did Ray Allen and Carmelo Anthony. Let Amare keep trying to guard Duncan so he can foul out as usual. Its funny how he picked up a quick 2 fouls in the first and Nash, Richardson, Marion and Hunter all end up in foul trouble. Guess that's how home court works out huh?


Now you know how much Duncan is getting away. Duncan should be in foul trouble just like Amare in the 1st quarter. He should get the 2nd foul when he leans FORWARD on Amare with his hands up. Luckily Amare could finish that shot. You can put your hands up but not leaning forward, that's a foul. And Amare certainly WILL NEVER get away with that if it's Duncan on the other end. Hell, sometimes you can't even breathe on Duncan. It's a FOUL. 

Offensively, we were good enough. Defensively, we were tired/out of focus/stupid mistakes like doubling Duncan when BARRY steps in the court. For god's sake, Barry hit 3 long 3pt at the exact SAME SPOT since our 2nd matchup. Make a freaking note on that please. Don't double team Duncan when Pop sends a shooter in!!!

If Duncan wants to go one-on-one, let him do it. Hard foul him if necessary. We fall EXACTLY into Spurs' plan when Barry steps in. Our defense rotation is already bad enough and having Duncan passing out just totally destroys it. That's an adjustment we need to make.


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

Hunter played extremely well in Game 1, even with a couple of moves to score on Duncan. However, it seems that playing this lineup plays into the Spurs' hands. You guys haven't been playing Hunter 30 minutes all season long, why suddenly change? If the Suns would stick with their usual lineups and matchups I think that would be better off for them.


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## jibikao (Nov 14, 2004)

KokoTheMonkey said:


> Hunter played extremely well in Game 1, even with a couple of moves to score on Duncan. However, it seems that playing this lineup plays into the Spurs' hands. You guys haven't been playing Hunter 30 minutes all season long, why suddenly change? If the Suns would stick with their usual lineups and matchups I think that would be better off for them.


Well, the problem is our "usual" lineup includes Joe Johnson with Jimmy Jackson as the backup. That's our "normal" lineup. 

Suns is not a deep team at all. Their whole roster only costs 43 millions this season. Not sure how much Spurs' cost but Mavs' is 90 millions. I mean there is a reason why our bench is so weak. I think Suns is saving money for JJ's contract and Amare's extension and once that's taken care of, then we will be able to strengthen our bench. 


Suns is the only team in the league that can win 62 games with only 6 players and we were fortunate enough that injuries seldom occur on the starters. And quite frankly, Joe Johnson is the LAST player we would expect to get injured. He hasn't missed any single game for the past 2 seasons...sigh. What a freak accident to fall like that. 


Well, I guess Suns is jinxed...sort of.


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

jibikao said:


> Well, the problem is our "usual" lineup includes Joe Johnson with Jimmy Jackson as the backup. That's our "normal" lineup.
> 
> Suns is not a deep team at all. Their whole roster only costs 43 millions this season. Not sure how much Spurs' cost but Mavs' is 90 millions. I mean there is a reason why our bench is so weak. I think Suns is saving money for JJ's contract and Amare's extension and once that's taken care of, then we will be able to strengthen our bench.
> 
> ...


Spurs are 24th in payroll with 46,876,876. They are in GREAT shape with the players they have.

We're 25th with 45,717,136. It'll prolly go up in the 50's if we resign JJ and extend Amare but we're in good shape.

And Dallas is 2 with 91 million.

http://www.hoopshype.com/salaries.htm


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## 1 Penny (Jul 11, 2003)

I think D'Antoni should pick his poison.

They let Amare score his 35+, we should let Duncan score and not let him get his teammates involve. Duncan shooting 2 is much better than one of the other spurs to hit a 3 or score off an open look and get them in rhythm.

Give Duncan single coverage and let him score his 40, and take his teammates away, they dont stop Amare either. If you notice, as good as Duncan is, against the Suns its always a team mate stepping up to beat the suns. First it was Parker, then Ginobili... and Game 1, it was a combination of Barry/Parker.

Let Duncan do the offensive work and take his teammates out of the game.


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## jibikao (Nov 14, 2004)

1 Penny said:


> I think D'Antoni should pick his poison.
> 
> They let Amare score his 35+, we should let Duncan score and not let him get his teammates involve. Duncan shooting 2 is much better than one of the other spurs to hit a 3 or score off an open look and get them in rhythm.
> 
> ...


This is the gameplan I like the most. Sonics did it in game 3 and both Parker/Manu were out of focus. 


Like I've said many times, DO NOT double team Duncan. Yes, he can score but let him. When we double team Duncan, our defense rotation is weak at best. And with great slashers like Parker/Manu, we WILL not cover in time. That's why it leads to so many open shots in the 4th quarter 'cause when Duncan passes it out after Nash trying to double team him, Nash can't cover Parker in time. Parker is too quick for that. 


And besides, Duncan is the one that is sightly injured. Let him do all the work!!!


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