Jedi Suns Must Conquer Darth Duncan

By Scott Bordow
East Valley Tribune
May 22, 2005

Man has had a nemesis since time began. Caesar had Brutus. Richard Nixon had the Washington Post. Elmer Fudd had Bugs Bunny. And the Suns have Tim Duncan. When Duncan put on a San Antonio Spurs uniform in 1997, he became Phoenix’s kryptonite. The Suns are 0-2 against the Spurs in playoff series in which Duncan participated. (Duncan missed the 1999-2000 first-round matchup, which Phoenix won, with a knee injury.)

Ancient history? Perhaps.

Only four players — Amaré Stoudemire, Shawn Marion, Joe Johnson and Jake Voskuhl — remain from the Suns team that was defeated by the Spurs in the first round of the 2002-2003 playoffs.

But Duncan’s mastery of all things purple and orange hasn’t waned. Over the past two years, the Suns are 1-6 against the Spurs, and their only victory this season, a 107-101 win on March 9, came when Duncan was injured.

The Los Angeles Lakers and Shaquille O’Neal used to be Phoenix’s biggest rival. Now, because of their dominance, it’s Duncan and the Spurs.

"These are the guys we’ve been thinking about for a while now," Stoudemire said.

This is the Western Conference finals everyone wanted to see. Well, everyone except Mark Cuban.

It’s Phoenix’s speed against San Antonio’s size.

It’s Tony Parker dueling with Steve Nash.

It’s Marion trying to guard Duncan, Manu Ginobili and his 48-point bomb against Phoenix on Jan. 21, and Stoudemire, on the verge of greatness, facing arguably the NBA’s greatest player.

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Please. That’s a double Whopper at Burger King.

This is prime rib.

"Are you asking me if I want to go through San Antonio instead of Memphis? No. No, I can’t say that," Suns coach Mike D’Antoni said.

"It’s going to be that way because San Antonio was going to be in front of us. It was a given. They are waiting for us a little, but we have the home-court advantage so it’s going to be a great series."

Logic says the Suns’ magic carpet ride will end here. They’re physically spent and emotionally exhausted after expending so much energy against Dallas, and it’s hard to imagine their batteries being recharged in time to keep their home-court advantage.

More tangibly, San Antonio is the one Western Conference team that poses huge matchup problems for Phoenix.

In order to stay out of foul trouble, Stoudemire likely will guard Nazr Mohammed rather than Duncan. That leaves Marion on the Spurs’ centerpiece. As good of a defender as Marion is — it’s a crime he wasn’t voted firstteam defense All-NBA — Duncan is a different animal than the soft and overrated Dirk Nowitzki.

Phoenix will have to doubleteam Duncan, and that will create open shots and lanes to the basket for his teammates.

A wise man would say Spurs in six, but the Suns have flied in the face of logic all season.

There is a resilience about this Phoenix team that is truly remarkable. Most clubs would have set their body clocks to Game 7 after trailing the Mavericks by 16 points in the third quarter Friday.

But the Suns never quit, and they never quit coming.

There, too, is a confidence — almost a cockiness — that permeates Phoenix’s locker room.

It comes not from the modest Nash — although the belief system starts there — but from guys like Stoudemire, Marion and Quentin Richardson, street kids with an attitude.

There hasn’t been a Suns team in recent memory with the same posture — the 1992-1993 club knew it was good and played the part — and that inner strength gives Phoenix a puncher’s chance.

"We want to prove to everyone who is the best team," Marion said. "The only way to do that is to meet up and get the job done."

Seven months have passed since the Suns headed to Flagstaff for training camp. No one thought they’d get this far. But here they are. Who’s to say they still don’t have a few miles left on their tires?

COPYRIGHT 2005, EAST VALLEY TRIBUNE. Used with permission.