Game 7 On

I was watching tape until 1:30am last night. Observations:

- I thought Lakers were going to close out in Game 6, but the Suns finally got stuff going in the half court offense. They ran screen-roll every time with Nash, and when they didn't get roll, Nash pulled it back outside. Then Diaw or Thomas had a mismatch in the low post against Smush, and Nash got them the ball. If Lakers ran double at the post, the post player flipped it to shooter on the baseline opposite. Or, if the post pass wasn't there, Nash was 1-on-1 against Kwame and he ate his lunch with a variety of left drives and cross over pull-ups. Dude is only 6'2"!!!

- Kobe was sick, filthy, nasty in the end game. Unreal shooting touch, especially the two long threes. I respect is game, but I still don't like him. Suns best move was to put Marion on Kobe, something I was going to e-mail D'Antoni to do. Marion is the same size, and just as quick. I think for Game 7, Suns need to put a variety of defenders on Kobe, maybe get Bell to bait him into going 1-on-1, and then finish with Marion in Q4.

- Smush looks totally lost. No confidence whatsover. Suns need to go right at him, Luke Walton, and Kwame and tag them all with early fouls.

- Diaw and Barbosa finally have their stroke going. Take it to the hole!

- Put Kobe on Nash, that's the key for Lakers winning game 7.

- Here's an anecdote from page 2 on ESPN. What's with this Mamba stuff for Kobe? You can't give yourself your own handle...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060505
"Living in Hollywood. Which gives me a chance to hear stories like this: During the timeout right before Kobe's game-tying layup in Game 4, the Mamba waited until Jackson was done talking, then went over to Smush Parker, grabbed him by the shoulders in full view of everyone sitting near the bench, then started poking him in the chest while repeatedly screaming, "You steal that ball! You steal that ball! You steal that [bleeping] ball!" Apparently Smush looked terrified, like a 14-year-old minding his own business in Compton who was suddenly being ordered to rob a liquor store by the leader of the Crips. But Smush stole the damned ball. And if there was video footage of this moment in the huddle, I think I would pay three grand for it. "

Can't wait for Saturday 5:30pm.
V