(Note: My first NGS assignment is the post previous to this one)

For the last three years I have prayed for some combination of Dallas, Phoenix, and Sacramento to be in the Western Conference Finals. In my perfect world, they would be playing in The Finals for all the marbles. The reason is simple - they're fun to watch, and the NBA desperately needs teams like them.

Finally, I've gotten my wish, and I'm allowing everyone on the bandwagon.

Game 1 was an exciting 121-118 thriller won by the amazing Suns. The unreported story in this series, if not the entire postseason has to be the incredible job done by coach Mike D'Antoni. He's starting a so-called "3" in Shawn Marion at power forward, and 6-8 Boris Diaw, listed very generously at 220 pounds, as basically a point center. The Lakers tried to take advantage inside with 7-footer Kwame Brown and 6-10 Lamar Odom, with some success. The Clippers tried to work them over in the same manner with Chris Kaman (7') and Elton Brand (6-11), yet the Suns are still standing.

Every series you, Joe/Jane Fan are told, "You can't win with a fast break team!", "The Suns are too small!", "Steve Nash can't play defense!", "The playoffs are different - the Suns are too soft!" - in short, every week we're told by the so-called purists and pundits that the Suns are a gimmick that will fail.

58 wins should have told us otherwise. Coming back from 3-1 on the Lakers, and winning two Game Sevens should tell the world that win or lose, this team is special.

And while all of those same purists (Poor Charlie Rosen of Foxsports.com is probably guzzling Pepto-Bismo by the quart) are scrambling to hail the Dallas defense as their new key to victory (with some justification), it's worth noting that the Spurs were lit up for 100+ points in every Dallas win.

These two teams play up-tempo basketball. As former NBA star and current analyst Eddie Johnson said about the Suns, "Some teams run part-time, some teams run a lot of time - the Suns run ALL the time... They are committed to running. I love how people talk about how you can slow down a running team. A running team can't be stopped from running, if you want to push the tempo, you can if you want to..." Keep that in mind.

These two teams are special because they have two things in common:

1. They can put four to five players on the floor that can score at all times: Dallas is starting four players who can score and they bring Jerry Stackhouse and Keith Van Horn off the bench. The Suns have five starters who can score (and that’s with Amare and Kurt Thomas hurt!), plus James Jones and Eddie House can light it up on a given night.

By contrast, most NBA teams have two or three players who can create a shot for themselves. At most. The other players would be lucky to break double figures in an empty gym. No wonder defense rules.

Or perhaps it isn't the D after all. Boris "3D" Diaw couldn't get any burn on a horrible Atlanta team, but he comes to Phoenix and wins Sixth Man of the Year. Don't give all the credit to Nash. The Phoenix system highlights what he does well, and D'Antoni allows Diaw to operate inside as well. Check that game-winner in Game 1. Textbook upfake, drop step turnaround jumper. I've seen Diaw channel Kevin McHale and Hakeem Olajuwon all year.

Raja Bell set a career high in scoring and led the NBA in 3 pointers. Are you telling me that the desert air helped his shooting eye? Tim Thomas spent the first eight seasons of his career as a human heart donor. Is it a salary drive that has turned him into a valuable asset? Or maybe someone has found out what he does well?

2. Dallas and Phoenix have coaches that trust players on the offensive end: I forget the number of times that I've seen Dirk, Jason Terry, Nash or Raja Bell pull up and nail a transition three, sometimes with no one under the basket. But what is really telling is the number of times I've seen them MISS a three and D'Antoni simply nods. Dallas coach Avery Johnson preaches defense, but allows offensive freedom. It’s hard to picture a Mike Fratello not blowing a blood vessel in the same situation.

And maybe that’s why he’s home while the Suns and Mavs are playing.

Watching these teams (and Sacramento a couple of years ago) makes me wonder, why can’t more teams emulate them? I love Steve Nash and his game, but I really doubt that he’s the only point guard who can play this style. Off the top of my head, Chris Paul, J-Kidd, and Sam Cassell could probably pull it off (although Kidd’s horrific excuse for a jumper would require some adjustments). And we are always told what great athletes the NBA possesses right?

Consider that the average team in the 1960s thru the mid 1970s hoisted over 100 shots a game. Today’s teams put up about 85 per game – and that is an increase over the last few years. Hence, we are either to believe that the slower, less athletic players of the 1960s are better players than today, more reckless than today's players, or we need to look for different causes. Maybe it’s the shorts?

My gut feeling is that today's micro-managing coaches are the problem. Ego and a overriding desire to keep games close in the fourth period cause coaches to dictate every possession. Think about that. How many times do you see a team that doesn't have the coach calling 80% of the plays? Running requires a different mindset. And just like a passing coach in football has to accept that some series will be a three and out, a NBA coach that runs all the time must accept that will be some wasted possessions. Based on what I’ve seen, that’s asking a bit much of a Jeff Van Gundy or Larry Brown.

Finally, peer pressure is real. The so-called purists will have you believe that if you aren’t playing physical defense, you aren’t seeing and playing real basketball. Last I checked, all of those ‘real’ basketball teams San Antonio, Houston, Memphis, New Jersey – all of them are home watching Dallas and Phoenix.

Common sense seems to dictate that teams will get better shots if they attack quickly before the defense sets up. (Think of a football team running a no-huddle in the middle of the game.) The Suns and the Mavs believe in that. The Mavs feature a more diverse offense, which makes sense since Avery Johnson has Stackhouse's post-up game, and Dirk's improved inside game to lean on when running ops aren't there.

Prepare yourself for the contrast between the Heat and Pistons, and Suns and Mavs. No matter who wins the West, fans will be entertained by the matchup. If we get the Suns and Heat, I’m banking on Shaq needing an oxygen tank by halftime of Game 1. The Mavs run only slightly less, and one can only dream of the sight of Ben Wallace having to chase Boris Diaw or Dirk 30 feet from the basket. If Detroit comes out of the East, imagine their 7-man rotation running a track meet for 48 minutes.

The NBA is back. Hop on the bandwagon before you get left.

Thumbs Down to ABC

David Stern and ABC did fans and the league a disservice by putting so many great games on cable - not a single Suns-Clippers game was on free TV. Even in LA, Game Seven was the only game that was on free TV. Cleveland and Washington couldn’t be found on ABC at all. We all know that Game 7 of the Mavs and Spurs should have been viewed by a nationwide audience.  

The NBA wants to regrow an auidence that has been lost in the post-Jordan era. When are they going to understand that the game had gotten so boring that people went elsewhere? And that the teams that they have featured are part of the problem?

No sane person expects a blackout of San Antonio - not while Eva Longoria is kicking it with Tony Parker. But to absolutely NOT show the Clippers and Wizards on free TV was a horrible business decision.