Spurred on

The reason the Suns made the Shaq trade was that they felt they couldn't beat the Spurs and the Lakers in the playoffs without him.  Judging by the two games against the Spurs since the trade, it was a good move.

The Spurs are struggling a bit, especially offensively, and I feel a big reason for it is that they are missing Brent Barry.  He is certainly not a big name, and he doesn't put up huge numbers, but he plays three positions, gives them an extra ball handler, and can still shoot lights out.  There is no way Phoenix plays zone for as long as they did last night if Barry is on the floor.  It was surprising Matt Bonner wasn't given a chance to bust the zone as well.