Is This the End?

I was waiting to post my postgame comments on game five until my anger and frustration had subsided so I could make an objective analysis of this game...but I'm even more angry after a full day.

What David Stern and Stu Jackson did to the Suns was obviously sickening - but the game was in reach for the Suns.

Phoenix had a lead for the entire game until the final three minutes. Shawn Marion was doing everything in the first half...he had 20 points and 11 rebounds at halftime and was playing excellent defense. Marion, however, was guarding the talentless Oberto and didn't have to use much energy on defense...so his offense was able to excel in the first half.

Unfortunately, in the second half I feel that Mike D'Antoni made a terrible decision by switching Marion to guard Tony Parker. Marion is a good, no, great defender. He is able to guard anyone from power forwards to point guards. Sometimes his versatility is a detriment to him however, as it was the case in game five. When D'Antoni switched The Matrix onto Parker he effectively took away the offensive game of Shawn Marion. By guarding Parker and following around a quicker smaller guard, Matrix had little energy left for the offensive end of the court - he scored only four points in the second half. Also, by sticking on Parker, Marion is away from the basket on defense. If anyone watches the Suns on a regular basis you'd know that The Matrix is best around the basket where he can rebound and block shots.

In my opinion, however, this was not the biggest blunder of the night by Mike D'Antoni. Taking Kurt Thomas out of the game for offensive purposes in the last two minutes of the game absolutely KILLED the Suns. Thomas had 14 points and 12 rebounds and did an excellent job of guarding the dangerous whiner Tim Duncan. KT is the only Sun capable of guarding Duncan one on one over the course of an entire game. Duncan will get his points regardless of who guards him...he's that good...however, with Kurt Thomas on him Duncan's points didn't come so easily. So what happened late in the fourth quarter? Thomas was on the bench.

Marion was stuck with the defensive assignment on Duncan, and other Suns like Nash and Bell had to help and double - leaving their men alone for wide open threes.

When you don't guard guys like Bruce Bowen, Rat Ginobili, and Mike Finley they will knock down their jumpers. Why D'Antoni decided on this strategy is beyond me - but it didn't work. Even without Amare and Diaw the Suns had a chance for this win.

Could the Suns season come to an end tomorrow night? What happens next? We go back to San Antonio down 3-2 and the Spurs have a chance to close us out in their own building. We need to come out with the same passion and fire that we had in game four. I have cautious optimism that the Suns will win...however, I wouldn't be surprised if we don't. We shall see on Friday night.