Suns at Heat

[Reality]

Should be a good one.

Suns: 9 straight, 28-7 best road in NBA.
Heat: 14 straight until Rockets red glare a few nights ago.  20 of 21 at home.

Somethings gotta give.  Do you dismiss PHX as run n gun pansies?  Or do you think Phx will expose Shaq for being slimmed down but still a fat plodding oaf?
120-105 in Phx in January.

Or is Shaq gonna clog the middle so bad that Phx will live then die by the missed 3 pters?

I honestly don't know how to call this one.  Role players could be a key.  Can Zo do anything when it counts?  Can Phx backup point guard the Braillian dude keep up the good work?  

I think anyone who says dogmatically who will win is just guessing.  I'm gonna say Phx is gonna out tempo the Heat.

[rickortreat]

I think the Suns are for real.  A pretty exciting ballclub to watch.

As much as I have criticised Shaq in the past, he is the most dominant big man in the game.  Duncan is more talented in my opinion, but Shaq has demonstrated the ability to come out on top often.

I can't even fault him for loosing when he went to the finals with Orlando.  Akeem was just a superior player at that point.

Miami is a very good team for the most part, but they can be beaten, provided the other team has the players to match them.  If you can stop Wade you can beat the heat.  

I'm not sure how this will play out.  Typically the best teams are the ones who score from the inside like Miami. High shooting percentage, go to the free throw line and tough defense is what champions are made of.

But Phoenix spreads the floor well, and have great confidence in their outside shooting.  I've never see an outside team shoot well enough to win consistently against an inside team, but that doesn't mean it's impossible.  The Suns may be the first to show that you can win from the outside, expecially if you have slashers like they do.

Shaq is big and strong, but he's not quick enough to stay with Amare.  If Amare keeps him off-balance and gets him into foul trouble,  the Suns can win the game.

Take this one seriously, as both teams would like to send the other a message:  If we meet in the finals, YOU'RE going down.  

[SPURSX3]

Should be a good one.

Suns: 9 straight, 28-7 best road in NBA.
Heat: 14 straight until Rockets red glare a few nights ago.  20 of 21 at home.

Somethings gotta give.  Do you dismiss PHX as run n gun pansies?  Or do you think Phx will expose Shaq for being slimmed down but still a fat plodding oaf?
120-105 in Phx in January.

Or is Shaq gonna clog the middle so bad that Phx will live then die by the missed 3 pters?

I honestly don't know how to call this one.  Role players could be a key.  Can Zo do anything when it counts?  Can Phx backup point guard the Braillian dude keep up the good work?  

I think anyone who says dogmatically who will win is just guessing.  I'm gonna say Phx is gonna out tempo the Heat.

the Suns are NOT pansies, but if t you have a good piont gaurd and someone to handle Amare - you got a very good chance against them.  I am gonna lkean towards the Heat on this one.

[NYCdog]

Did somebody say the Suns are for real....the same team that lost to Golden State at home the other night?  

The Suns are the Mavs of 2001....high scoring pansies that dont have enough up front and wont achieve anything come playoff time.........just like those 2001 Mavs.  

About a week ago or so, the Rockets rolled into Phoenix and Yao of all people, made Amare and the Suns front court his bitches, nabbing 22 rebounds and  rejecting Amare 5 times to go along with 27 points.....simply put, dominating the game. This preformance by Yao helped Houston whip Phoenix like they havent been this season, losing by 20 at home.

If Yao can deficate on Amare's head, imagine what Shaq will do to the Suns front court tonight.

And remember, Miami can shoot the 3-ball just as well as Phoenix. So if Miami's shots are falling tonight...lookout. Its gonna get really ugly for Phoenix.

EDIT...And BTW, the real teams that are for "real" are those two other teams I talked about.

[WayOutWest]

Last year Amare couldn't get anything going with Shaq on the court.  Shaq is just too dominant a force.  Shaq is the immovable object on defense against the athletic Amare and the irresistable force on offense.

I look for the Heat to win this one in a statement game.  The Suns only chance is to run their arses off, Shaq can't play the uptempo game, that's the Suns only hope but they'll have to control the boards in order to get the running game going, tough to do against the Heat.

[Reality]

Dwayne Wade all the way.  He took over late 3rd early 4th with Shaq on the bench.  Before that it was close.  Heat in an early 1st qtr blowout but Phx fought back.

Shraq once again didn't dominate squat.  He played well but also picked up too many fouls, a couple silly ones on Nash where he bumped Nash then looked at the refs expecting the Laker treatment.  I do agree he was the Immovable Object, sitting on the bench for 22 minutes of the game.

After Wade broke open a close game and with his scoring and assists got the Heat up by a dozen, Shraq came back in with about 6 game minutes left and padded his stats with a bunch of dunks and layups, about 10 points worth.

Pet peeve of mine for both teams and entire NBA.  If you are going to intentionally foul to prevent the basket, then do it.  Don't pattycake the other player for the made shot 2+1.

[westkoast]

I really wish I got more Heat games.  Dwayne Wade is a monster and I have a feeling he is going to be something special in the playoffs this year.

I said it before and ill say it again...Shaq is benefiting once again from having a very good perimeter player.