Now that everybody knows everybody, the road to the WCC s/b pretty clear:

* Win a road game (preferably game 2 since winning game 1 will only make SA madder)

* Hold home court (make em start thinking they could actually lose the series to these NBA Nobodies)

* Prove em right.

SA's success is a function of their execution. Like a well oiled machine, if everything's hummin, they just keep rollin along. To win this thing, VDN will need a monkey wrench, a highly motivated rotation, and a sound strategy.

The monkey wrench could be something as simple as showcasing Bledsoe on Parker at key points throughout the series, and unleashing Young to play like ball-on-fire for his next contract. As far as motivation, lets just say everybody drank the kool-aid before game 7 in Memphis so... The strategy s/b the easiest. Can you say DEFENSE! Forget the offense. That'll take care of itself if the defense is locked and loaded.

Considering this approach, if everybody plays smart on defense, and takes the game to SA, then there's no doubt in my mind that we'll have dejavu all over again.

In the playoffs, it's all about the D baby.