Sunny Side Up

Because of a pair of second-round sweeps (thanks for making the playoffs boring, guys) the Suns and Lakers won't square off in the Western Conference Finals until Monday night. Since it's basically been forever and a day since either have played, I'm sure both have been taking advantage of the time to rest up, make adjustments, and participate in questionable photo-shoots.

While Kobe and company may be able to get away with playing dress up, the Suns have only a razor thin margin of error if they want to be the David to LA's Goliath. Aside from bringing a slingshot to hurl rocks at Bynum's head, this is what Alvin Gentry should be telling his squad to do.


Half-Court? Hell no.

A half-court offense should be banned from discussion in the Phoenix Suns Organization. In a half-court set, the Lakers size on defense will negate any sort of penetration off screen-and-rolls. Comparatively, The Suns are tiny: Jarron Collins (6'-11''), Channing Frye (6'-11''), Amar'e Stoudemire (6'-10''), and Louis Amundson (6'-9'') are all a few inches shorter than Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. And if we can take anything from the Lakers/Jazz series, it's this: giving the ball to a smaller guy around those two will result in one massive block party.

Boozer forgot to bring to the chips.

The one hope they Suns do have in this regard is the return of Robin Lopez. Out since the end of March with a bulging disk in his back, Lopez's return for the Conference Finals will be a huge plus for the Suns. He has proven to be a defensive stud, offensive rebounding beast, and registers as the biggest (255 pounds) and tallest (7'-0'') guy on the team.

Even if he can return though, the Suns will still need to push, push, push it. They will need to get into the open court and force those giants to run baseline to baseline.

Three's Company

And when they can't get out and run? They'll need to shoot the three ball at a good clip, because good two point looks will be as rare as hen's teeth. The key here will be Channing Frye. If he has it going, one of the Laker bigs will have to come out to guard him, spreading the floor and de-congesting the paint a little for the Suns. The Suns led the league in 3-point field goal percentage during the regular season, so we know they have it in them. It's on them to line 'em up and knock 'em down.

Stoke that Fire

For the Suns to have a shot, they'll have to hope that Jason Richardson and Goran Dragic will stay as hot as the Phoenix desert in the middle of July. Richardson has shot a solid 47% from the field and a blistering 52% from three-land in the Suns first ten games this post-season. His solid production is a huge lift to this Suns squad, as he tends to have a knack for taking long threes in big moments (for better or worse). When they don't go down, it kills the team. But when they do, they're daggers. J-Rich also needs to behave himself out there and not try something like this again.

Meanwhile, Goran Dragic needs to forget that he's, well, Goran Dragic. The last time he had a case of amnesia, the guy dropped 24 points in a quarter. I don't claim to be an expert, but I'm pretty sure that's really good (how's that for analysis?).

Better watch out, Wilt.

I highly doubt The Dragon will go off like that again, but he will have to step up when called upon to provide that spark off the bench.

Find Chinks in the Armor

The word on the street is that the Lakers are pretty good. It's hard to find faults, but the Suns will need to exploit the few they have. One is Derek Fisher. It's fairly common knowledge that Fish has dropped off on the defensive end in recent years. Case-in-point: Westbrook and D-Will have lit him up this post season. Steve Nash will have to do the same.

Also, save for Game 4 in Utah, Ron Artest has been shooting dismally. Give Ron Artest room at the 3-point line and pray he jacks up enough bricks to build a second Great Wall.

Not Over the Hill Yet

Whatever Grant Hill has been doing (I'm guessing he drinks this before every game), he needs to keep at it. The old timer has been rejuvenated this post season and has assumed the role of defensive stopper for the Suns. For the Western Finals, he'll have to match up against a guy named Kobe Bryant. Hill's primary goal should be to disrupt Braynt's low-post game. If Hill can pester Bryant down-low, Kobe might go away from facilitating on the block and slip back into hero mode. Thanks to a busted finger on his shooting hand, Kobe's outside game has fallen off this season. And Kobe taking contested long range shots, instead of throwing it in to his big men, will be a huge positive.




Nash Equilibrium

Nash needs to have the series of his career for the Suns to have a shot. He needs to drive at Fisher to create open threes in the corners. He needs to run the two man game to perfection with Amar'e. He has to force the issue, make threes, and get to the line. Nash has a lot on his shoulders, no doubt. This may be the two time MVP's best shot at reaching to the Finals and getting that elusive championship ring. The whole city of Phoenix is looking to him as their savior; he will have to shift into another gear to get over the hump. Oh, and Steve, you should shut up Phil while you're at it, too.

Get Lucky

Even if all of the above falls into place, the Suns will still have to get lucky. Like "Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate" lucky. They need to hope Bynum gets into foul trouble, Gasol has an off series, or that Joey Crawford is having a bad day and tosses Kobe. The Suns need to hope the Lakers don't hit their threes and hope that they make theirs.

The Suns should probably eat a bowl of this, too.

And while they're munching on hearts, stars, and horseshoes, they should probably hope the Lakers forget to set their alarms or get caught in that nasty Los Angeles traffic. Who knows? The Suns may steal a game on the road because The Lakers couldn't make it to the Staples Center in time.