The enemy of my enemy is my…what exactly?

Who will you root for in a Spurs-Lakers Western Conference Finals? Isn’t that a question along the lines of would you rather freeze to death or burn in a fire? In any case, here’s the head-to-head matchup:

PG – Derek Fisher vs. Tony Parker

SG – Kobe Bryant vs. Manu Ginobili

SF – Lamar Odom vs. Bruce Bowen

PF – Vladimir Radmanovic vs. Tim Duncan

C – Pau Gasol vs. Kurt Thomas

Bench:

Luke Walton vs. Michael Finley

Jordan Farmar vs Jacque Vaughn

Ronny Turiaf vs. Fabricio Oberto

Sasha Vujacic vs. Robert Horry

Coach:

Phil Jackson vs. Greg Popovich

6-4, I hate the Lakers more

7-2-1, Burnsy goes with San Antonio

Or if you’re not into the head-to-head matchup stuff, you can go with the theory one astute caller brought up with us: Who does David Stern want in the NBA Finals? Any good Suns fan should go with the opposite. The answer, then, is pretty obvious, especially if the Celtics can win four more home games. Beat LA!

Getting away from the NBA, Burnsy consults glass half empty guy to talk about baseball’s best team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Here’s what he came up with:

1. Eric Byrnes still sucks and Carlos Quentin has 11 homeruns for the White Sox.

2. They’re beating bad teams (i.e. the whole NL West) and struggling versus the good teams.

3. With the return of Doug Davis, the numbers game may cost Max Scherzer a spot in the n rotation.

4. Their lineup remains very streaky, especially “Special K” Mark Reynolds

A sign of progress, though: two questions that were listed at the beginning of the year are no longer there:

1. Brandon Lyon replacing Jose Valverde

2. Lack of a #4 hitter (Conor Jackson has filled that)

Back to the NBA, anybody remember tomorrow’s big anniversary? I didn’t think so. Yeah, it’s one year to the date the Suns didn’t get the Hawks draft pick. Very painful indeed, especially since Atlanta will not partake in this year’s lottery. Mike D’Antoni will, though. He’ll represent the Knicks. Jay Z (no joke) will represent the Nets. Beyonce will not be there, and the Nets pick may be around too much long either. A report out of Jersey has the Nets considering trading that pick along with a package of players to the Denver Nuggets, in exchange for Carmelo Anthony and Marcus Camby. In the post-Kidd era, it seems New Jersey may be considering building around Melo. But why? Anthony heads a list of younger superstars that we would not build a franchise around:

NBA: (wouldn’t): NBA: (would):

1. Carmelo Anthony 1. Chris Paul

2. Allen Iverson 2. Dwight Howard

3. Tracy McGrady 3. Lebron James

4. Dirk Nowitzki 4. Kobe Bryant*

5. Amare Stoudemire* 5. Tony Parker

Deron Williams

Baseball (wouldn’t): Baseball (would)

1. Alfonso Soriano 1. Brandon Webb

2. Alex Rodriguez 2. David Wright

3. Prince Fielder 3. Chase Utley

4. Carlos Beltran 4. Jake Peavy

5. Ryan Howard 5. Albert Pujols

NFL: (wouldn’t) NFL (would)

1. Matt Leinart* 1. Tom Brady

2. Tony Romo 2. Peyton Manning

3. Ben Roethlisberger 3. Larry Fitzgerald

4. Clinton Portis 4. Shawn Merriman

5. Carson Palmer 5. Eli Manning*

*Wouldn’t have made my list a year ago

SPN Page 2 columnist Bill Simmons’ most recent column bids adieu to the SSOL (Seven Seconds or Less) era.  Like Simmons, Burnsy has fond memories of the Suns fast paced style of play and what it brought to the NBA.  What it didn’t bring was an NBA championship, but will the exciting Suns be remembered more than the boring Spurs in the end.  After all, trophies don’t always equate to legacies.  Case in point is in the film industry; where often times the Best Picture of the year is not necessarily the best picture through the years:

 

1960 Best Picture:  The Apartment

Movie you’ll remember more:  Psycho

 

1975 Best Picture:  One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Movie you’ll probably remember more:  Jaws

 

1977 Best Picture:  Annie Hall

Movie you’ll remember more:  Star Wars

 

1980 Best Picture:  Ordinary People

Movies I’ll remember more:  Caddyshack, Raging Bull

 

1981 Best Picture:  Chariots of Fire

Movie you’ll remember more:  Raiders of the Lost Ark

 

1990 Best Picture:  Dances with Wolves

Movie you’ll remember more:  Goodfellas

 

1994 Best Picture:  Forrest Gump

Movie you’ll probably remember more:  Pulp Fiction

 

1996 Best Picture:  The English Patient

Movies I’ll remember more:  Fargo, Jerry McGuire

 

1998 Best Picture:  Shakespeare in Love

Movies you better remember more:  Saving Private Ryan, American History X

Even still, this latest chapter in Suns history is very painful.  But how do some of indelible marks from the 08’ playoffs rank with others from the last four years.  You be the judge:

 

1.       Diaw and Amare leaving the bench (bar none)

2.       Joe Johnson’s departure

3.       Amare’s knee problems

4.       Joe Johnson freak injury versus Dallas

5.       Not fouling in the closing minutes of Game 1 this year

6.       Not pulling the trigger on the Garnett deal

7.       Not getting Atlanta’s pick last year

8.       Giving Boris Diaw a huge contract extension

9.       Trading Kurt Thomas and then watching SA trade for him.  (Anybody think the Spurs would’ve won without him this year?)

10.   Not keeping the draft pick that would’ve been Andre Iguodala/Luol Deng

11.   Not keeping the draft pick that would’ve been Rajon Rondo

12.   Trading James Jones

13.   Not signing Michael Finley

14.   Signing Marcus Banks

 

Lastly, with the Suns set to begin a rebuilding process if not this year, very soon, who has the best chance to supplant that brand as Phoenix’s favorite pastime.  Burnsy says there’s a better chance of Phoenix/Glendale becoming a “Cardinals town” than a “D-Backs town.”  His producer disagrees, although one would be hard pressed to find too many good football organizations that haven’t captured the imagination of their respective populous.   Guess it’s a wager on the Cardinals ability to win … in more ways than just one.